Sorry to hear about your Dad. I do hope things will improve for him.
I guess I was a lucky one. What they thought I was suffering from proved to be an infectioon, but the idea of what it could have been knocks one for six.
Have to throw myself into the woodworking now to make up lost time, or at least try to!
Don`t know if this is of any use, but i placed my sliding chop saw a little higher than all the other machines in my shop. The timber stacked on the outfeed table from the table saw is about 4" high. As the maximun cut on the table saw is 3" any timber i put through it goes straight under my chop saw.This maximises space but leaves the chop saw always ready for use.
I didn't think I'd ever see a workshop narrower than mine.. Certainly you're a lot tidier!
My planer feeds over the top of my lathe bench and I'll have to put a chopsaw, on the opposite wall. Like you, I have to put cupboards on the back wall too. Doesn't leave much room to work at the bench, but we manage. It's also a good indicator of my weight. When I am cutting dovetails and I thump my posterior into the planer, I know I need to lose a few pounds!
Thanks Baz.. it's probably going to be a total move round in my shop then!
Mine`s about 3 years old now & i`ve had one major re-model, i`m happy with it now!!!
As for keeping it clean, i just hate not being able to find things, i`m usually sorting my van out about 5am & i hate going into the shop & not being able to lay my hands on exactly what i need for that day.
Derek calls it an operating theatre, so i have to keep it clean, i don`t want to let the side down.
Derek's shop is like an operating theatre, compared to mine! Not for much longer though. Like you, I prefer a space I can just walk into and either set to, or find what I am after. I'm not manic about it, but it's the ideal situation. I no longer rely on my woodwork for money, (although I get the occasional commission). So just knowing it's tidy settles my mind.
I'm in the process of planning another shed. I need somewhere to store 12 foot boards and sheet materials (Well, lumber really!) I might also shift my lathe there, as I don't often do any turning now. Trouble is, the lathe is a Coronet, with a handy, accurate 10" saw attachment, which always there, ready to use and I might miss its presence!
I don't know what your shed is made of, nor its relationship to other buildings........but here is a thought: why don't you cut a hole in the wall where the saw's sliding mechanism goes, then build a box over the outside to keep the rain and mice out, and the noise in. This way, you might save up to a foot of floor space inside your workshop.
As for cleanliness in workshops....don't start me!!! Tidiness and cleanliness are two different things. Only one is important to me.
My shop is an integral garage and the only hole I wanted to cut into the wall, was through to the hallway, as a serving hatch. But SWIMBO didn't feel inclined to be in the refreshment busainess, unless I came indoors to eat!
I couldn't do as you suggest though. The outer garage wall is part of my side entrance, which is only 3' wide even now. Anything else projecting from it, wouldn't be practical. Also I would be letting more noise out, so I'd have to watch the neighnbours.
But thats a sound idea, and one I used in my old shop, in front of my table saw. People weren't so fussy in those days, and you didn't get 'ASBO's' for pursuing a hobby others didn't quite find acceptable! People were more straight with you, and would just knock on your door and talk out to some amicable solution.
True, neatness and cleanliness are different things and it's quite posible to have one without the other. I've met plenty of eccentrics who have one but rarely both! One colleague was an Obsessive Compulsive and used to measure his shirt sleeves to ensure they were both rolled up by the same length! I'd swear he had cardboard rolled up in them to keep them stiff! Yet he was sloppy at his job. Takes all sorts!
Careful John, I'm a (self-diagnosed) OCD-sufferer myself!
If you were to walk in to my 'shop, you'd see I have no knowledge of the world 'cleanliness'. As for "tidiness", well, everything has it's own place at the end of a day in my sanctuary - everything!
Don't let it worry us! I have to count panes in windows. Just have to. I also sat in our new hospital waiting-room recently and felt compelled to count the vanes in the flourescent lightshades. 1600 or more if I remember correctly. What does that make me I wonder!!! Sad or what?
In fact, I don't like to see stuff littered everywhere, but when it is, the upside is, I know I have to have a good clear up. That's when I usually find some long-lost well-loved chisel or plane!
Iv'e mine mounted on drawer runners on the bench and draw it forward to come in front of the bench when I require to cut any thing long so as it clears the vice and bench drill ,I got the runners out of a metal desk they double extend, if you know the type.
That's a real bright idea. I do know the type of runners you mean. It's doubtful I could find a desk like those old Military metal types, although there's always Leavesleys, on the A 38.
The other alternative would be to splash out on those heavy-duty, fully extenable runners designed for heavy drawers in kitchens. Do you have a 'swing-frame', some kind of swing-out legs, underneath for security George?
I don't at the moment but it is probaly a good idea to fit one for added safety incase I put any heavy wood on to the saw. My saw is a Record they gave it away during a promotion with the band saw I purchased, it's just a chop saw a bit limited on width',
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