Visited Tod Evans Shop Today....pics.....

[Dennis Peacock]

Today was a very good day for Mark and I as we got to go and visit with Tod Evans up in the North part of the state. I think that since he's farther north that we are, we can classify him as a Yankee. :p ;) :D

This was a "spur of the moment" kind of thing and our schedules just happened to work out that we could go visit Tod for a short shop visit today. We only really missed one turn going towards Tod's place today, and only wound up in Idaho......Sorry Ken, we didn't have time for a visit today, we had to stop and......uh-hem.....ask fer direkshuns since we missed our turn. Travelled ALL the twisty-turney roads and finally made it to where civilization was around once more. :rolleyes:
Found Tod's shop, drove up and stopped in front of his shop. I looked out my drivers side window, and there was this B I G D A W G..!!!!! Looking me straight in the eyes!!!!!!:eek: Not one of them, but THREE of them thar B I G D A W G S looking at me and licking their chops as if I was a super-sized Happy Meal or sumpin'.!!!!!!!

Mark decided to sit in the car and I acted as if it didn't bother me one bit and said, "I'm getting out to test the waters." Yes....I was nervous, but I wasn't gonna let Mark know that I was nervous with them there BIG DAWGS. Luckily Tod came out and rescued both of us and asked us to enter his humble shop dwellings. Which we gladly did.

Upon entering his "show room" I was AMAZED at the high class work that Tod has done insde his showroom. Need I say that all was extremely well crafted and very well designed from the woodworking aspect of this room.

We ventured out into his shop and my FIRST thought when I walked into his shop was: "No wonder he can get a straing line rip on a board as good as a jointer, he's gotta freaking Mini-Max MASSIVE Slider for a tablesaw!". Well, Tod quickly let me know that with a powerfeeder he gets just as straight cut on his Delta Cabinetsaw as he can on the Mini-Max....and using a 24 Tooth rip blade to boot!!!!!

Saw all his really cool Mini-Max tools, various other Powermatic powerfeeders, SCMI tools, dual Emglo compressors and such. He even has a small "football field" for a vaccum table!!!!!!

Tod....you haven't seen the end of me yet. I need to come up for more education and next time Zahid may come with me/us to get some carving teaching, so, be ready buddy.......!!!!

Here are the pictures......

[Dennis Peacock]

and more pictures from around the shop......

[Dennis Peacock]

one more picture of what I classify as an awsome planer.....

Once again, Thanks Tod for a great and educational visit.

[lou sansone]

now thats a working shop.. great tour and I am sure you learned a lot from Tod.. I know I do

Lou

[Jim Becker]

Some very nice iron, there...and Tod's "shop manager" looks like he's on top of things...literally!

[Todd Davidson]

Very cool Dennis. Gotta love when you can mix an educational experience with a good time. Tod's shop is quite impressive.

[Gail O'Rourke]

Sounds like a great visit and Tod, your shop totally rocks.

[Art Mulder]

Nice bunch of pictures, Dennis. I think I'd be afraid of getting lost in a shop that big.

But what about photo #4 -- How many amps is he pumping through that monster speaker?? Forget the tools, he's going to need ear protection from the sound system!

...art

[Tim Shetler]

Nice bunch of pictures, Dennis. I think I'd be afraid of getting lost in a shop that big.

But what about photo #4 -- How many amps is he pumping through that monster speaker?? Forget the tools, he's going to need ear protection from the sound system!

...art

What a well-equipped shop Tod. Looks like Mackie 1530 active speakers w/500 watts per cabinet ? NICE! :) .

Tim

[Shelley Bolster]

Dennis.........I am totally green with envy. That was a great opportunity, not only to see such an awesome shop but of course to meet "the man" himself. Tod has been somewhat of a mentor to me since first coming on to SMC........a couple of questions through PMs and I could tell this guy really knew his stuff. He has spent a great deal of time explaining everything from finishing techniques to solid core door principles and construction details. He is so generous sharing his knowledge and asks nothing in return. I am sure you walked away knowing more than you went with. Thanks for taking the pics Dennis.......always great to see get togethers....even small ones!

[doug webb]

So THAT is what a woodworking shop looks like. I could move my whole shop in and doubt he'd even notice......Thanks guys for the tour; looks like ya'll enjoyed yourselves. doug

[Vaughn McMillan]

What a well-equipped shop Tod. Looks like Mackie 1530 active speakers w/500 watts per cabinet ? NICE! :) .

Tim
He needs speakers like that to hear all the way at the other end of the shop. It's a long way across the room. :D

Great shop tour Dennis, and Tod, you've got not only a sweet shop to be proud of, but you're no doubt pretty proud of the little munchkin too. Growing up in a place like that, looks like a future woodworker to me. (I'm guessing he got his looks from Mom's side of the family? ;) )

- Vaughn

[John Bailey]

Thanks for the tour. Great place Todd. Wouldn't mind seeing the rest of your spread either. I've got a feeling I'd like it.

John

[tod evans]

thanks all of you! like i told dennis i`m just an old hippie who cuts big boards into little `uns and sells `em for all i can get:) yes sons the light of my life even though he`s allready showing hellion tendencies. as i`ve said before dennis, mark and anyone else just come on over i`ve always got time to bs. and i`m sure most of you have figured out i`ll chip in my 2cents wether or not it goes against the grain:).......02 tod

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely equiped shop Tod! As far as your son.....I'm gonna disagree with some others....I see the light in his eyes he got from his Dad! The one photo with you holding him is precious indeed!

[John Renzetti]

Hi Dennis, Thanks for posting the pictures of your visit. Tod, great shop. Really liked the picture of you and your son. Hope to take you up on the open invitation to your place someday.
take care,
John

[Howard Rosenberg]

Must have been great seeing a shop like THAT and finally meeting Todd.
Howard

[John Miliunas]

Rock 'n Roll, dooooooooooooood!!! Tod, your shop is what dreams are made of! :D And yes, I know...It's all "one piece at a time" and all yours!!! That's certainly the way to do it, my friend! :) But, having such a wonderful space, with all them wonderful tools, still does NOT take away from the talents and skills behind them to create wonderful pieces of work and you're doing just that! :) I've tried to equip myself with some nice tools to take that part of it out of the equation. Still working on the "skills" part, though!:rolleyes: :D :cool:

[nic obie]

Cool shop tod. I love your mix of tools. Getting something like that together takes time and perseverance.

Dennis, thanks for the photos. Looks like we all enjoyed them.

[Joe Blankshain]

Thanks for the tour Dennis. Tod that is some shop, I have a bad case of tool envy. Hope I get there someday along with the talent that you have to use the tools well.

[Reg Mitchell]

Thanks Denis,
It's hard for ppl like myself to get out and about to visit other shops. Its like walking into the shop with the pics you have give, now if you could only get Tod to tour our little dwellings and give tips that would be the cats meow ;)

[Mark Riegsecker]

That's a great shop, not too neat (comfortable) always nice to see pics. Thanks Dennis.
Tod, I noticed your table saw with a power feeder, how did you mount that on the saw and if you bolted it, did you actually drill holes in through the top? I just ordered a Delta power feeder for my shaper never having seen one it looks huge I'm wondering now if my shaper top is large enough and if I'm expected to drill holes to mount it.

Mark

[Dennis Peacock]

That's a great shop, not too neat (comfortable) always nice to see pics. Thanks Dennis.
Tod, I noticed your table saw with a power feeder, how did you mount that on the saw and if you bolted it, did you actually drill holes in through the top? I just ordered a Delta power feeder for my shaper never having seen one it looks huge I'm wondering now if my shaper top is large enough and if I'm expected to drill holes to mount it.

Mark

Mark,

I can't answer as accurately as Tod can....but each of his machines had holes drilled and tapped so that each powerfeeder could be bolted down and used with complete safety and sureness of it being secure to the machine. So, I'd say Yes....you'll need to drill and tap the holes for your setup as well.

[tod evans]

yup, dennis beat me to it, i drill-tap and mount right to the machine. some folks don`t want to "blemish'" their cast iron with feeder holes but i`ve found the holes don`t affect operation once the feeder is removed and i look at my equipment as a tool not some thing of beauty to be preserved as if it where never used. congratulations on your purchase your work will be much cleaner than that done by hand.

and thanks to all of you who have commented since i last checked in! i`d be honored to come visit and if i`m ever able to catch up on a few of my 412 projects that are unfinished we`ll load the whole clan up and head out like jethro-n-granny. maybe in a year or two? dennis and mark saw some of my unfinished projects i`ve got a lot to do!.....02 tod

[Norman Hitt]

Bee-you-tee-ful...!!!!!!! Lots'a nice Goodies that make it even more Fun to let the Talent Flow. 'N yep, I can see down the road 5 BIG DAWG "Greeters" and a sign that says "Evans & Son".;)

[Mark Riegsecker]

[quote=tod evans]yup, dennis beat me to it, i drill-tap and mount right to the machine. some folks don`t want to "blemish'" their cast iron with feeder holes but i`ve found the holes don`t affect operation once the feeder is removed and i look at my equipment as a tool not some thing of beauty to be preserved as if it where never used. congratulations on your purchase your work will be much cleaner than that done by hand.

Tod,

I had no idea what I was doing as I fed that 3" stick into that 3" cutter for cove molding but when I turned it over it was so wavy as to be unusable and it was a one shot thing, no do overs, so I decided instead of wasting more wood to get a Delta 8 speed 4 roller on sale. I took advantage of that, almost over, Amazon $100 off $500 purchase. I will put it on my General 3 hp shaper. The shaper top is not real small, about 2'x3', but if the feeder is sized like you have it's going to make the whole thing look puny:D. I don't know much about metal but I can drill and tap.

I'd sure like to visit your shop or any shop for that matter but few live close to me. I guess it's true that "nothing much going on here" I'd also like to visit Paul Cresti as well as Charles Plesums to look at their MM setups but...:eek:
Then I hear about an Atlanta show. Well more things to put on my "I gotta do that" list.

I'd buy a camera to show you the set up when I get it in place, but do you know how much lumber I could get for that? Besides I can't even figure out how you guys put your avatar picture on. And speaking of avatar what about that Jim Becker, a man with a thousand faces:D

Thanks for the reply
Mark

[tod evans]

mark, the general will be fine with a feeder, just pay attention to where your holes are in relation to the webbing in the cast iron, it`s best to avoid the webs. when you start using the feeder keep in mind that it`s okay to remove one wheel to get tight to the fence when running small stuff. when i take one off i leave two on the infeed side and one on the outfeed, don`t forget a slight angle toward the fence is necessary. you can also move the feeder to your tablesaw for painless, handsfree ripping of multiple parts....enjoy! ...02 tod