Shop ?: Flat Work to Round Work

[Mike Goetzke]

I've played around with turning for a few years on/off but just making pens. I then decided to purchase a few bowl blanks and really liked it and enough so to buy a bigger lathe (3520B) about a year ago. My shop is in my garage. I have 1/2 of the garage so the wife can still park her car. Over the years I have acquired many tools of the trade and at the point that I really can't make the shop not look messy or find needed extra space around my lathe. A few years back I finished a large kitchen project where I used rough sawn wood throughout and justified an 8" jointer, drum sander, and a 15" floor standing planer. The jointer is the biggest space hog. What I'm trying to say is if I want to turn I probably need to get rid of or downsize some of my tools (boy that was hard to type)... but I love milling my own lumber!

Any experience/help appreciated!


Thanks,

Mike

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

My situation is similar. When we bought our current home in 2006, I got one stall out of the three-stall garage for my shop. I now have two stalls, but only after agreeing to shovel out my wife's car every time it snows. I do flat work and turn and even with both stalls I have precious little space to waste. My BS, TS, router table, drum sander, jointer and planer are all on shop-built mobile bases. Mobility helps.

Only one suggestion: Get that car out of your shop, Mike.

Larry

[Grant Wilkinson]

I put all my machines on mobile bases and move them into position when I need them. Like you, my space is limited, but I manage to have both flat work machines and lathes in a pretty small shop.

[charlie knighton]

my limited flat work power tool (ie table saw, work table) make great places to finish turnings on

[Paul Gilbert]

I once downsized (after Katrina put 7' of water in my garage.) Carrying all of that cast iron out to the curb really hurt. When we bought a new home in Dallas, TX - a long way from the sea - my wife and I compromised on a three car garage, one stall to be hers and the other two for my shop. Well - after I got finished with replacing all of my tools her side got real crowded. Eventually she gave up and now it is all mine.

My suggestion is to make it hard for your wife to get into her car. Eventually she will just give up and ceed the space to you. Then you will have a bigger lumber storage area.

[Roger Chandler]

Space is so very precious to me! I have a full compliment of woodworking tools......flat and turning........not willing to give any of them up!!! I have all my bigger tools on mobile bases, and can configure them around when the project size demands I do so. I only have a 14x20 utility building and have two lathes, two bandsaws, cabinet style table saw, large router table, radial arm saw, a number of benches that house my hand power tools, a dust collector a large tool box, jointer, & compound miter saw, etc, etc............you see I am cramped.........way cramped for space. When I decide to do flatwork and have glueups of panels and mill lumber, I open the shop doors, pull out some folding tables and use the back yard for them when I need space to work.

Needless to say, every nook and cranny has something stored there and every nail has something hanging on it..........in time I will build a larger shop with some better features for organization........but for now.......I am not downsizing, I plan to upsize!!! ;)