Workshop
Below are pictures of our humble 800 sqft. workshop. Each tool / station is hooked up to a centralized dust collection system. The 4” ducting wraps around the entire shop and each area has an electronically controlled gate which is signaled to open or close whenever a tool is activated. The centralized 1.5hp dust collection turns on and off automatically. We also utilize a 6hp shopvac which is connected to 40-feet of hose for additional cleanup. Both systems have their own cyclone to separate sawdust, making cleanup and maintenance much easier. We create approximately 15-20 gallons of saw dust per week.
Workbench / Router Table
Our workbench is modular / portable and measures 4’ x 8’. It has an integrated router table with lift and an Incra LS fence system and dust collection. We built the workbench by hand but the design is from Ron Paulk (Ultimate Workbench) which we purchased.
CNC / 3D PRinting
Our CNC is made by Next Wave Automation. It has the 25” x 50” extended bed with a 2hp water cooled router. We also have the laser attachment for custom etching and a 4th axis for rotary 3D engraving. We also use a 3D printer for making custom parts.
Band Saw, Drill Press, Lathe, Planer and Jointer
This band saw is awesome. This 14” Rikon is amazing at resawing lumber and we have several blades so it can produce very detailed results. Although we do have a scroll saw too which keeps this saw dedicated to resaw work.
The Nova 1624 II lathe is a powerhouse. We can eventually turn up to 29” diameter or 44” long items. We use Carter Axe turning tools.
The Dewalt 13” planer does a great job and makes our lives much easier. We use it for turning rough lumber into dimensional stock as well as with our cutting boards after glue up.
The Cutech 8” jointer is used to square up our dimensional lumber. It is used primarily to get the first 90-degree surface before using either the table saw or band saw when cutting down to size.
The ceiling mounted fan is made by Powermatic. Its basically a micro filter and circulates the air 5x per hour. We create a lot of fine dust but you wouldn’t know it when this is running.
Lumber Storage, Drum Sander, Table saw and Dust Collection
The paint booth is used for staining wood, polyurethane and painting.
The wood storage cart holds various species of hard wood. It measures 4’ x 8’ and holds 300-400 board feet of wood and up to 10-sheets of plywood. It is normally full and is the critical supply of wood for our projects.
The drum sander is a recent addition to the shop. I sands material 16” wide but due to the open side design, can handle up to 32” wide material when you run it through twice.
Our dust collection system really works well. Saw dust can be a serious health risk in a workshop. Between our vacuums and the Powermatic filter, the air is always clear of airborne dust which is the most dangerous. These systems do not eliminate all of the sawdust we create but they certainly keep us safe and make the clean up process easier as we work on projects.
We’ve had this table saw for many years. Nothing too fancy, it does the job. We’ll upgrade at some point but we also have a track saw which is great for breaking down large sheet wood.
More storage, clamps, adhesives and in the background is our miter station and Pocket hole machine
Here you can see where we store some of our other wood and supplies.
In the background is our miter saw which we’ve owned for years but the 18’ station was built by hand using Ron Paulk’s miter station plans which we purchased. Our Kreig pocket hole drill is great for large projects.
You can see our Dewalt Scroll Saw in this picture next to the workbench. Our drills, track saw, jig saw, planer, router and the various sanders (orbital, belt and square) along with reciprocating saws and a few others are on the wall French cleat shelves. All of our drill bits, router bits and saw blades are stored here and on the peg boards. Sandpaper in grits ranging from 60 to 3,000 is also located on these shelves.