Show Us Your Shop
We want to see how you make the most of your workshop.
I’ve had two houses with small “shops” in the basement. I’ve been reluctant to put too much money or effort into them because they’re also storage spaces, utility spaces, and, in the first house, the laundry space. Instead of investing in nicer, stationary tools, I continue to use portable tools.
Instead of setting up dust collection, I often lug my tools outside for projects. But when I built a big work surface for my current “shop” and then added a small table that put my tablesaw at the same height as the surface-and for the first time had decent outfeed support— I felt inspired. Then I spent a few days in Casey Knips’s shop, and drank the Kool-Aid.
My first visit to Casey’s shop was for his article on modern pocket-door details. For that project, Casey didn’t build anything in his shop, but he made easy work of milling and profiling hundreds of linear feet of jamb parts. On my next trip, he was building a custom door, and I realized how Casey’s layout, storage, and accessories made his shop not only convenient but comfortable, safe, and easy to keep clean.
Returning home with shops on my mind, I was serendipitously handed new research that said many of our readers own or have access to woodshops. This is new feedback; we’ve always leaned toward on-site solutions for getting the job done. So I asked Casey if he’d be up for writing about his shop, which will be featured in FHB #327 in an article titled “Talking Shop.”
I’m going to use a few of Casey’s ideas to refine my “shop,” and hopefully someday I won’t need to qualify it with quotation marks-probably once I have legitimate dust collection. And although it’s unlikely you’ll ever see my shop in this magazine, we’d love to see yours.
Share Your Shop With Us
If you have a great shop design, clever storage solutions, helpful shop jigs, or custom accessories, send photos and a brief description to [email protected] or tag us on Instagram. I look forward to getting a peek inside your shop.
— Photos by Brian Pontolilo.
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