Starting on the new shop

[tod osier]

It isn’t all that many times in your life that you get to set up a new shop. I’ve been planning my shop setup in WY and this is my first installment. I started with a miter saw station just because that is what I saw myself needing most as we transition to WY. I think I have a pretty solid plan overall. I’ll have a smallsh full shop in the house (heated) and a rough cutting station in the barn with a second miter saw and station to break down panels with the track saw.

I wanted to have the saw be able to cut a 12’er both left and right and this is what I was able to come up with.


For the left cut on a 12’er I’ll have to shoot under the stairs, but that isn’t something I’ll do very often, anyway. I have 8' to the wall now with the access door closed.


I wanted to have some options for “T” bolts in the surface of the table for either a stop or to extend the fence. Rather than routing in an aluminum t track, I thought it would be fun to shop make the "track" and I liked the control this gave me working the the little bit chippy melamine.





I also thought it would look neat to not have any showing fasteners on the table too, so I mechanically fastened the top from below.


Bought a set of these Amana Tool countersinks, glad I did, they work nice.


I cut all the stuff in CT and brought it out here. I brought the carcasses unassembled in the truck (23 pieces 24” x 30-31.5”). I’m happy to say that everything worked out well.


Building carcasses.


Pre built tops came in the boat.


I was craving something fun to work on this winter in CT and my other project was a bunch of birdhouses for Mountain Bluebirds (and Violet-green Swallows) here in WY. I was able to get a dozen houses out of a sheet of ACX and some scrap.


Out in the sage.


Success.

 

[HenryHawthorne]

Good stuff! Congratulations.

 

[Eric Patterson]

Tod

You obviously put some real thought into the new shop including moving it across the country and construction methods. I don't envy starting over with a new workshop but you are making it look easy. Keep the progress and reports coming.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

Tod

You obviously put some real thought into the new shop including moving it across the country and construction methods. I don't envy starting over with a new workshop but you are making it look easy. Keep the progress and reports coming.

Ditto @tod osier
I thought his process was quite resourceful. I will say having 12 foot of support table for his miter saw is a bit of overkill. If I had that much table top, it would take two days to clear the clutter before I could even see the surface.

 

[tod osier]

Tod

You obviously put some real thought into the new shop including moving it across the country and construction methods. I don't envy starting over with a new workshop but you are making it look easy. Keep the progress and reports coming.

I think I'm kinda done for a while on this, having enough to get by for this year. The next step is power and lights and I have some constraints there that I'm not super excited to work on/around. I might work on that in the fall once it gets cold again, but that doesn't seem like as fun of a project.

It is getting nicer and nicer weather here (was in the teens nightly, 12F was the low this week, but the days are in the 40 and on its way up) and I have a lot of outdoor projects, so I'm transiting out there. We are putting the barn up this summer (Morton is anyway), so I have a fair bit of prep there.

I want to build a lot of ability to keep things organized and storage into the space, but I don't see myself doing a similar thing with cutting in CT and bringing it out to WY, so further serious infrastructure work will probably wait until I get all my tools out here.

 

[tod osier]

Ditto @tod osier
I thought his process was quite resourceful. I will say having 12 foot of support table for his miter saw is a bit of overkill. If I had that much table top, it would take two days to clear the clutter before I could even see the surface.

I'm getting neater and neater in my old age and I'm finding what works for me to keep organized is having a place for everything. That is what I'm shooting for anyway.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

I'm getting neater and neater in my old age and I'm finding what works for me to keep organized is having a place for everything. That is what I'm shooting for anyway.

Oh I have a place for everything, inside the building is the place. Getting more specific, is more a matter of recall. I'm seeing the need for labels on boxes. Labels with increasingly larger letters.

 

[tod osier]

Oh I have a place for everything, inside the building is the place. Getting more specific, is more a matter of recall. I'm seeing the need for labels on boxes. Labels with increasingly larger letters.

I have to tell you that I spend a lot of time looking for tools that I just used ("just" being anything from 2 minutes to 6 months). It is getting rough. Another reason to get my act together and get better organized.