Laminated Curved Tool Rack Project
Setting Up Shop Series
Try and build something simple in your shop. Build a birdhouse or a trivet and see how the work goes. Will it flow easily through to completion? Will it be a weekend project that actually takes a weekend? Or will you find, like I did for a time, that your new shop is not set up for working yet. Yours may actually be a storage facility, a retreat center, or a private bar, but it is most certainly not a working shop.
A few years back I found that my new little shop was so cluttered I couldn’t find my tools or the clamps were under another pile of stuff or I had to move something off my bench to do the next simple job. The only sense of Flow I got was by opening my roll up door every few weeks and tossing things out. Cathartic. But then I had to go outside and pick everything up and put it back in my way again. There was simply no room. Sigh. I came up with several solutions and I am finding my way back to having a shop again.
This January I am offering my Setting Up Shop video series to help you make better sense of your own shop situation. It will absolutely show you some simple things that will help you make your shop a better and more efficient place to work in. The class offers 12 lectures every Saturday from 11am-1pm Pacific Time. Jan. 11th, 2025 to Mar. 29th, 2025. The lectures divide into four chapters.
Chapter One: Shop Flow
Tool/ bench placement, walking and work patterns
Vises and clamps and benches
Racks for tools, plywood, lumber
Chapter Two: Concepts
Understanding wood movement, defects, drying
Sharpening hand tools
Flat, straight, and square
Chapter Three: Hand Tools & Machines
Measuring & marking tools, saws and chisels
Shaping & smoothing tools: rasps, files, scrapers
The most important machine in your shop, the band saw
Cutting tools: saws, drills, routers, sanders
Chapter Four: Strategies for Building
Sawhorses, staging areas
Project flow, work stations, jigs
The Setting Up Shop, the Video Series promotes the value of woodworking with our hands and our mind and heart at the bench. Your shop is at the center of making things. Learn what to consider when setting up your special work space.
To enroll please go to our website Class page: https://northwestwoodworking.com/classes-2024/. On that page is information about the series and a link to enroll on Venmo or by mail.
Student comments:
Clough Shelton, Walla Walla, WA
Gary, I want to thank you for such a great experience from your class. I learned a huge amount from you and also enjoyed your stories and anecdotes.
Andrew Rudin, Washington D.C.
Hi Gary: I just wanted to share how much I got out of the sessions, which will prove invaluable to me as I begin to set up my shop space.
Gordon Cumming, Bend, OR
Gary, It was a very informative class on sharpening. I’ll have to watch it again to help absorb the information. And thanks for the link to the supplies. Gordie
Organizing my router with a simple drawer.
Thanks again to Highland Woodworking for their continuing support of our educational efforts. Please check out their site if you need tools, hardware, band saw blades, the Wood Slicer is awesome, or just some general information.
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/
And if you have a woodworking question I’ve been answering them on my podcast, Splinters. More to come in a few weeks. I’m happy to answer them on my upcoming podcasts, so send your question along to
studio@Northwestwoodworking.com
Setting Up Shop Video Series
Join us for the Setting Up Shop Video Series. It starts Jan. 11, 2025. Lots of information on tools, machinery, lay-out, and shop flow. Plus we build some cool shop projects like this curved laminated tool rack.
https://northwestwoodworking.com/