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Setting Up Shop: Completely Revised and Updated is the newly updated version of what has been the standard comprehensive reference on workshop design, planning and improvement. It's a must-have for novices setting up shop and advanced woodworkers who are always seeking to improve their shops and upgrade their tools. This ultimate guide provides a systematic approach to planning that takes into account budget, skill level and future needs.
A Classic, Revised and Updated.
- New photos and fresh new format.
- Includes new technology on dust collection, pneumatic tools and safety.
- Written by a recognized expert and top-selling author.
From the Introduction
There's a magic place in the back of every woodworker's mind: a place where all the lumber is straight, the blades are sharp, the tools are precise, the benches are sturdy, the light is good, and the air and the floors are clean. While heaven might be the only place that accurately fits this description, the place I'm talking about is the ideal woodworking shop.
As primitive and compelling as the urge to find shelter, kill food and attract a mate, most woodworkers are driven by a deep desire to create the ultimate shop. This powerful desire affects (or infects) woodworkers both great and humble; professional and amateur; traditional and modern. So all-consuming is the inner fire that drives many people to lay out, set up, organize, equip and improve a woodshop that it often drives them into bankruptcy or even divorce court.
There are lots of reasons for wanting a good woodshop. Professionals create a workplace to facilitate earning a daily dollar. Their shops are often the poorest and most sparsely equipped because they are too busy meeting deadlines to worry about how cleverly arranged their machines are or whether or not they have all the latest, greatest power tools known to mankind.
Others create workshops mostly for their own entertainment. To these hobbyists and weekend warriors, woodworking is an engaging pastime, a source of enjoyment and personal fulfillment. For still others, the raison d'etre of donning an apron is the creation of their workshop; the act of planning boards or cutting mortises is relatively uninteresting compared with the satisfaction of setting up a fastidiously appointed woodshop they can show off.
It's clear that what constitutes an ideal workshop means different things to different people, but there are some basic qualities that any shop worth its druthers should possess. Without getting into an argument about the exact specifications of such a shop (its size and proportions, how it is laid out, where the best place is to put the workbench, and so on), here is a list of things I think most of us should expect from a first-class woodworking shop.
- Provide a shelter that protects us (and our tools and supplies) from the effects of bad weather and harsh sun, and keeps us warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
- Provide a cozy place in which we can earn a living or escape from all the burdens and distractions of our daily lives.
- Provide a secure place to keep our valuable tools and supplies.
- Control humidity so that we can work comfortably, our tools won't rust, and our lumber won't swell or dry out excessively.
- Provide fresh air to breathe and some means of controlling wood dust and fumes so we don't have to breathe them.
- Contain and control the noise generated by loud machines and power tools.
- Provide abundant light, day or night.
- Provide safe and adequate electricity to power our machines and portable power tools.
- Provide a well-organized space to work in as well as easily accessible storage for building materials, small tools, accessories and supplies.
- Provide a space that's flexible enough for future changes in equipment or work style.
While it is well beyond the goal of this book to tell you exactly how to create a shop that would fulfill all these goals, I will systematically explore all of these various elements that are integral components of a complete woodworking shop. The intent is to give you the ideas and information you'll need to make the myriad decisions that face you, whether you are setting up a new shop for the first time or remodeling your present shop.
The book begins by looking at the nature of the physical structure itself: where it's located, how much space it provides, how easy the ingress and how secure, how to keep its climate comfortable and well ventilated, and how to provide adequate electricity and lighting. Subsequent chapters examine equipment: what kinds of hand tools, portable power tools and machines are required for woodworking, how to decide what to buy (or what not to buy), how to get the most out of tools you already own, how to arrange machines and work areas to make your shop safe and efficient, and how to choose or build comfortable benches and workstations. The final chapters deal with several other important shop issues: storage of tools, lumber and supplies; the control and collection of sawdust and the use of compressed air; and both personal and material safety issues.
All of the ideas and suggestions presented in this book are tempered with the knowledge that every woodshop is highly individual in character and substance: A strategy for storage or electrical wiring that is the Holy Grail for one woodworker may well be the Tower of Babel for another. That is to say that there is no single right way of doing something. This is especially true when it comes to things like shop layout, choosing equipment and designing storage. What works for you and suits your tastes, budget and style of work is best (and don't let any busybody know-it-all tell you any different!). That said there are less-subjective elements of shop setup that are worth following more closely, such as the design and installation of compressed-air and dust-collection systems.
Throughout the book, I invite you to learn and benefit from the experience of veteran craftspeople who have contributed to its pages so as to avoid their pitfalls and mires of frustration. While you can always remodel, reorganize and rejuvenate your shop - which, incidentally, is part of the process of keeping pace with changes in the tools we own and the way we work - few of us have the time, resources and patience to endure working in a shop that doesn't suit us like a comfortable pair of shoes.
Whatever a shop is to you, what it isn't is just some place with four walls and a door. Like the difference between a house and a home having to do with where the heart is, you have to follow your heart as well as use your mind when transforming a simple building that others might call a shed or a garage into what you proudly call your woodshop.
About the Author
Sandor Nagyszalanczy is a professional furniture designer, former senior editor of Fine Woodworking, and author of nine books, including The Homeowner's Ultimate Tool Guide and Tools Rare and Ingenious from The Tauton Press. He lives in Bonny Doon, California. |
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