Show me your Neander Cave!

[Adam Johan Bergren]

I am about to move into a new house, and I am interested in setting up a hand tool shop. I'll have a small power milling station in the garage, but I plan on doing most of the work in a ~12' x 12' room, to be outfitted with a solid workbench and a nice hand tool cabinet. I only have a basic set of hand tools, but I am planning on the full set. Milling with power, but all joint cutting, surface prep., etc., completely by hand.

Anyway, as I'm looking for inspiration, I would love to see photos of hand tool shops. Anything welcome, as I'm sure ideas will flow from all, so LET'S SEE 'UM!

[Jim Koepke]

Mine is almost an embarrassment. It is no where near where I want it to be as I have been too busy to take much time to set it up to what I want it to be. Later today, I can take some pictures. It may be a good lesson in what not to do.

jim

[Richard Magbanua]

Here are a couple pics of my space. It's a small 16'x16' cottage just behind our house that also serves as a playhouse with a train table. It allows me to make shavings and firewood throughout the year while keeping an eye on my little one. The pic of the inside shows my setup for sign making. That's how I make my tool money. I would like to make a nice cabinet someday but for now I've opted to place things on shelves for easy access. Since this picture I've added a few more shelves on the walls and a hanging clamp rack. I would definitely recommend a tv/dvd player and a stereo. Good therapy to practice dovetails and listen to music while drinking a good beer.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Here's mine. It's about 13½' x 7½' (just under 100 ft²).
113752

[JohnPeter Lee]

My basement shop is about 10 X 14, and I've got a table saw, drill press, grinding station and compound miter saw station crammed in there, along with my bench and storage. Wood storage is hung from the joists.

[Adam Johan Bergren]

These are great! I love the cabinets. I definitely need to build one like those shown here. Thanks all for posting, and please keep them coming to anyone else out there!

[Joe Cunningham]

Mine's a mess in the basement. Definitely cavern like, and pretty much not worth showing here...but here is my only pic anyway, with my open plane cabinet. This was my dad's workspace and I haven't completely changed it to suit my work--he did most of his woodwork with his shopsmith, which I still use for some things, though I am probably 90% neander. That might change if I ever buy a planer, as thickness planing is probably the part of a project I find least appealing.

I have a cheapo stereo I picked up for $15, though sometimes I just use my iPod and headphones.

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[Jim Koepke]

I have yet to decide how all this will be organized. Until then it will stay loosely organized.

There is a bench where most of the planes rest, well, they are bench planes, right? My most used bench chisels are kept in on of the drawers. Another drawer holds small planes.
There is two shots of the back wall where most of the way to the right behind the band saw is the sharpening set up. Then there is a wide view shop with the stand in the middle where tools for work in progress accumulate.

The lathe and drill press are behind me in the wide shot along with some wood storage, a lot of stuff still in boxes and my two roll around tool boxes. Overall, the shop is 25X25. There are also a couple rows of fire wood and a rototiller stored in the "shop" area.

jim

[Dominic Greco]

I am about to move into a new house, and I am interested in setting up a hand tool shop. I'll have a small power milling station in the garage, but I plan on doing most of the work in a ~12' x 12' room, to be outfitted with a solid workbench and a nice hand tool cabinet. I only have a basic set of hand tools, but I am planning on the full set. Milling with power, but all joint cutting, surface prep., etc., completely by hand.

Anyway, as I'm looking for inspiration, I would love to see photos of hand tool shops. Anything welcome, as I'm sure ideas will flow from all, so LET'S SEE 'UM!

The back half of my shop is where the bulk of the work is done. So that's what I'll show. Besides, who wants to see where I store my rider mower and snow blower? :p

Than Hand Tool side
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/Myhandtoolshop1.jpg
Above you can see my bench and on the wall off to the left is my hand tool cabinet. I finished the major portion of the cabinet project about 6 months ago and have been trying to finish off the tool hanger scheme for the doors.

The "Turning" Side
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z287/DominicGreco/newshop1.jpg
I've got my lathe tucked into the back left corner of the shop. Until about 2 years ago my shop was fully dedicated to wood turning and the layout reflected this. Back in Oct of 2008 I insulated the wall, hung the pegboard and the wainscoting and hooked up the rest of the outlets. After that I re-arranged the shop to be more hand tool oriented.

[Bob Strawn]

Proof, http://toolmakingart.com/images/Outdoor%20Shop/Outdoor%20Shop%2003.JPG

http://toolmakingart.com/images/Outdoor%20Shop/Outdoor%20Shop%2008.JPG

The tables are either cedar or treated pine. Because of the vise, the middle table is covered at night and during bad weather.

Here is the ceiling.
http://toolmakingart.com/images/Outdoor%20Shop/Outdoor%20Shop%2021.JPG

Bob