That’s No Garage, That’s My Shop

Here’s the picnic table in its original wood stain, circa 1987.

It was about 15 years ago that I built my own workbench: a rite of passage for any woodworker.

After making my first project in Junior High, and then working my way through college building in the Mizzou scene shop, I was very much a DIYer throughout our early family years. After making bookcases out of plywood to hold our album collection in our first apartment, I continued to make things for our home. In our first house, it was about outdoor living: a wooden fence. A patio cover. The picnic table that I made is still with us, 32 years later.

The Easton Press collectible books are pretty. They read well, too.

In our second home, I really got busy. Space saver closets. A breakfast nook. More patio furniture. End tables. Loft beds for the boys. An entertainment center. A desk.

I’m sitting at that desk to write this post. It’s been my official office since I stopped my daily commuting on the LA Freeways in 2009.

It wasn’t until I decided to make a Christmas gift for my mother, though, that things began to get dicey.

Yes. I blame my mother.

Mom, you see, has this obsession with snowmen. I decided I would make her a snowman routed bowl, and that prompted a whole slew of other bowls in different shapes and sizes. I chronicled that process in one of my early blog posts, Making A Snowman.

Once I had made a couple of dozen bowls (!), I commented to who would become the elder Mrs M that the same technique for making bowls is how you would make cutting boards.

Major mistake, that. Life altering, even.

She immediately said, “Make me a cutting board.”

OK, so I made 5 in that first batch, and gave 4 of them away that Christmas. Velda’s board got another one of those early blog posts, which you can read, here. The picture is not very good, though; here’s a better picture from when I restored her board a couple of years later:

Velda’s Cutting Board. Goncalo Alves (Tigerwood), Black Walnut, Honey Locust, Jatoba & Cherry. Edge grain, and 2 years old as shown. 16″ x 21″ x 1-1/4″.

From there, it was just a hop & a skip to what has become Mr M’s Woodshop. Our 2 car garage hasn’t seen a car in more than a decade. It’s become the center of my seriously out of control hobby … with about 450 square feet of dedicated space.

The problem? The shop is bulging at the seams. I’m working in a mess right now. The main culprit, I’ve decided, are the piles & piles of end cuts and off cuts that I’ve collected and refuse to throw away. Hardwood doesn’t come in nice even-sized boards, unfortunately. Some are 8′ long. Some are 9′. Or 10′ … or any length up to 16′. The widths are similarly variable, from 4″ up to, in rare cases, 14″. When I do what I do, I inevitably have the odd bits & pieces left over, and those are the hardest parts to use. They require TLC. They require special sizes. They require individual glue-ups; there’s no efficiency here.

So, those cut offs keep waiting for the next open slot on the calendar to get cleaned up … and I keep filling those slots with special projects.

Like the 2 I’m working on this week.

Oh, and did I mention I’ve got a new tool coming? That tool is the solution to some of these cut-offs, thankfully, so I want to save those cut-offs until I have time to process then with the new tool.

It’s about time. It’s about space.

And I hope my result is better than that of the obscure 1967 TV series from the creator of “Gilligan’s Island” with that lyric for an opening theme.

So, in all of its glory, here is the over-used chaos I call my ~~garage~~ workshop, before its transformation with the mandatory cleaning and new tool placement that will be the solution to my problem.

I hope.

The top clamp storage rack was added to my original rack, behind the trash can, to solve almost all of my clamp storage needs. That’s great … I now enough clamps to do 13 simultaneous sets of glue-ups, which is about right for my shop.

I need lots of clamps. And when I’m in glue-up mode, as with these chess boards, I give up floor space while waiting for the glue to dry.

As pieces come out of the clamps, they are put in front of the workbench for their next process … which had better be done quickly. Floor space is precious.

The garage’s original workbench, installed by our home’s original buyer, is overwhelmed by the things I try to keep close at hand.

Under the workbench is just as overwhelmed. Not to mention in front of it!

Too many containers of screws & hardware – that’s 4 drawer units in this picture.

And 2 drawer units in this picture. Something’s gotta give.

Chaos. Gotta go, when I can figure out how.

Above the workbench hang my plans for upcoming boards. Most of the things I make start on these clipboards.

The garage is not my own … Mrs M insists on keeping a path to her freezer & # 2 refrigerator. At least I can store my magnets on the freezer door!

The workbench is the center of any shop. Here, I’ve got a glue-up waiting to happen on top … while the planer & a stack of cut-offs are stored underneath. Space cannot be wasted. Ever.

At the end of the workbench, is this rolling cabinet of cut offs. On top of the cabinet is my sanding station, with all of my sanding supplies, kept close at hand for when I’m sanding, always on top of the workbench.

Beside the cabinet are 2 large containers of cut-offs, on a rolling platform.

A great representation of my chaos. A ladder, a bag of recycling, lumber storage, finished product and a plywood piece, all within 24″ of each other. Not. Good.

The back side of the workbench is a path, thankfully … with plywood and lumber storage cluttering the way. Not. Good.

The router table is either in use, or it’s holding whatever is currently in production. Flat surfaces do not stay clear very long.

Lumber storage, in this case behind the router table. This has got to go to clear floor space for the new tool.

The end of the tool line, with the finishing supplies on the ground, left over from my last 2 large special projects. That’s gotta go.

The table saw sits in the garage door, next to the original workbench. This works fine … until I have to cut lumber longer than 8′.

The table saw is the most important tool in my shop … and makes for a very expensive table.

The rolling cabinet under the edge of the table saw has a top that’s filled with a chaotic mix of jigs, Grr-rippers and sawdust.

Under the table saw, another drawer unit of hardware, collecting dust until I can properly place it.

The back of the table saw has storage for wood blocks used when I get big lumber orders, and overflow of jigs & mineral oil gallon jugs. Not efficient at all!

The drum sander is one of my 4 most used tools … and if not in use, it’s all too frequently full of something.

Below the drum sander, I store jigs. And dust collector bags. And, uh, a mobile tool platform kit. Not efficient at all.

Below the jig storage, here is lumber just stacked on the floor. Not. Good.

This is the main lumber rack, with 3 shelves that are 8′ long. When the rack is this empty, I have trouble doing the wood combinations that I like to do.