My shop (at current development level)

[tom A nelson]

I wanted to share some information about and photos of my shop. The entire structure is 30x60, including the "porch in front.One part you won't see is the 12' wide wall that divides off the storage room (12x220 and the spray room (12x8). That makes the shop inside 36x30. Additionally there is an attached structure in the back holding my compressor and dust collector (clearvue). All pipes to collector are 6" metal, with the long run in the attic. The return air from the collector is a 10" insulated flex air conditioning return. I have a diverter that allows me to send air from cyclone to the outside or back into the shop. I share the shop with my wife who takes one wall for working on her gourds. The pictures are the back and front of the shop and my wife's working area. (Next posts will show my stuff)

[tom A nelson]

I wanted to group some machines around a central duct so i have my router table, 2 bandsaws (14' &18"), sander, and drill press grouped around it. It works well so far. Near the octoplenum is my shop built workbench.180676180677

[tom A nelson]

The dust collection at the table saw works well. The whale (shark) guard is a big help. The miter saw collector works well for the fine dust, not so well with the larger chips. I am wiling to vacuum them up occasionally. I just worry about the fine dust. 180678180679

[tom A nelson]

My jointer and thickness planer are woring well with the dust collection system. I had to modify the dust cover for the 22/44 sander. It is also working well. 180680180681

[tom A nelson]

I put in 2" pvc to 4 locations in the shop and made my own dust ports. With a 20' hose I can reach anywhere in the shop. With the small clearvue cyclone on the 15gal cardboard container, I don't have to worry too much about the filter. Using a submicron filter helps clean the air also. I can afford to use it since so little dust actually goes into the vacuum. I am also able to connect the hose to my smaller machines that need more velocity. That means I can use the sander on my workbench or on the sanding station.

[tom A nelson]

I am not yet satisfied with the lathe collector. It misses a lot of chips and shouldn't. I am happy with the air filter. I leave it on for 4 hours when I leave the shop. I need to give many thanks to Bill Pentz for his advice on collectors and modifying machines so each has a large enough dust port. Also my brotherin law who works in hvac for getting all the pipe at a great saving.

[Vince Street]

Very nice shop. I especially like the drawers in your workbench and the compact clamp storage. The storage unit beside your clamps looks like fine furniture.

[George Bregar]

Nice shop Tom!

[Dan Friedrichs]

Wow - very nice, indeed! That is a huge jointer! How big is it?

[Brian Schroeder]

Very Nice! Really like the Octoplenum idea, nice, simple and space efficient.

[Von Bickley]

Tom,

GREAT looking shop......

[Carl Babel]

Beautiful shop, but someone parked an aircraft carrier in the middle.

[Ray Newman]

I like the building design. Also very good use of the your DC system. Bet it took awhile to figure out the design and placement.

[Ole Anderson]

Man, that is some crazy amount of flex for your DC setup. Great shop with lots of room.

[Charlie Jones]

Wow. It makes my 18'X20' look like a closet. Great shop.

[tom A nelson]

The jointer is a grizzly 12" with spiral cutterhead.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great Shop Tour Tom. I can tell that you have put a lot of work into this. How long have you had this building and been at the process of equipping it? My shop remodel seems to be taking forever. I'm probably one or two more Saturdays away from being able to create saw dust again. I hope to start with some DC control, so I really enjoyed seeing all of your efforts on that topic.

[tom A nelson]

The shop was a retirement gift to (and from) my wife and me. We started in 2003 with the building and had most of it done (walls and electical and earlier dust collection with abs pipe) by 2006. I met Bill Pentz at a wood working show and listening to him convinced me to upgrade the shop's dust collection. He spent some time with me going over the basics and I started doing the collector in 2008. It took almost a year to get all the piping in and all the new shrouds on the machines. (I had to learn how to work with metal piping and strapping it and all the other things my brother in law taught me- he works in hvac. Bill P has been kind enough to come over and guide me occasionally in the dust collection. The vacuum system was his idea. I was basically done by 2009 and then had to upgrade a couple of tools so I could create new kitchen cabinets with olive wood veneer. (We have 200 olive trees). That of course dictated that I have a larger jointer and a bigger bandsaw which I reluctantly bought :). Now I am starting on the kitchen and plan to get all the cabinets made in the next year. The model for the kitchen is the storage unit seen in one of the photos. My wife uses it for storing her gourd embellishments. We love the shop and enjoy spending time together out there.

[Van Huskey]

Thanks, shop tours are some of my favorite threads!

[Paul McGaha]

Great Shop Tom.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Bob Riefer]

Beyond all the smart ideas in your shop, I just love the feel of it. If you lived next door, I'd be over all the time :)

[Todd Kinsfather]

That shop building would be my dream shop. You are very fortunate and have done some great shop fixtures and DC work.

[Neil Brooks]

Wow.

Beautiful shop :)