New Workshop gloat (and small art show)

[Olaf Vogel]

I've been passionate about woodworking most of my life. But since finishing high school, I've not had access to a decent shop.
I live in large city, so space is a real commodity. And full time job is really getting in the way of my hobbies. :)

5 years ago we bought a house with a decent backyard. I built my first shop (10 x 14 feet). That rekinded my love and excitement. But I outgrew that shop very quickly.
So, about 2 years my wife actually talked me into building a shop at the cottage, more space, less building code issues and time to play.

By the time I got going, it was spring last year, the wettest on record and we couldn't pour concrete. So construction didn't start til late summer, continued in a soaking wet fall and the worst winter in 40 years.
At one point I was building, getting frustrated that the tools weren't working properly, cords were stiff, everything jammed. Then I realized it was -23 C and I'd been out there for 7 hours.
Crap - called it quits and had a beer in front of the fire.

But finally its come together. Most of the hard work is done, lots of fussing left, electricals still to connected etc.
But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait to get all the machines running.

Last weekend we hosted a small art show, as part of a local tour of artists studios (http://www.tourofthearts.ca/ )

90% of the work was my wife's paintings
I had a smattering of my work thrown in (most still pending a finish coat), but surprisingly had quite a bit if interest.

Here's a few pics.

290270290271290272290273290274290275290276290277

Olaf

[Daniel Gross]

Awe sum shop, I love the band saw.

[Terry Beadle]

Your wifes paintings are awesome. Such feeling and great craftsman ship. Hay! The turnings look good too!!! Hoot!

You guys are really lucky!

Thanks for posting.

[charlie knighton]

thanks for sharing, good stuff

[Dennis Ford]

Nice.
That is a very interesting band saw, bet it works great. I would love to see another picture of the lathe also.

[Olaf Vogel]

Thanks for the feedback.

My wife's a professional graphic artist, which has helped her entry into the art world.
She's done a few shows, and would love to earn a living from painting, but that's really tough to do.
Nevertheless she's had good interest and has been selling at decent prices. (I keep telling her to raise prices. There's no point even trying to produce something for $8/hr)

The bandsaw is from 1907 and strangely has no feet, it must be mounted on a post. Got tons of attention from people who knew nothing about woodworking tools.
I bought it locally for $200 and am still stripping and clean it. But its good to go (well, as soon as I connect it to the fuse panel :)
More info here: http://www.vintagemachinery.org/members/detail.aspx?id=13079

I don't have a great recent pic of the lathe, only the one below.

In my last shop, I had it bolted to 6x6" to raise it to the right height. But with big pieces I still had the lathe bounce around - scary.
This time I ran rebar up from the concrete floor, poured concrete footings around the rebar and the feet of the lathe. It ain't movin'.
I'll need a jack hammer if I want to move it - but there shouldn't be any vibration now! :)

[Fred Perreault]

You've done a good job. That's a shop worth waiting for......

Good Luck,

[Mike Wilkins]

Congrats on the new studio space. And I love that bandsaw. A great conversation starter for sure.

[Michael Poorman]

Olaf,

That looks like an awesome shop! I'm still in half of the garage... Y'all's work is awesome and I love that bandsaw too! Old tools are just awesome, I've got a bigggg 1920's Tannewitz table saw that's a beast!