Setting up shop - a good book

[Cheryl]

I'm transitioning from our old house to our new house, where I will *finally* have some decent studio space (1300 sqft). I've been thinking a lot about how to best configure the space for outlets, water use, etc. Ran into a book by a woodworker that is nonetheless quite useful, I found. It's called

Setting Up Shop. The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop, by Sandor Nagyszalanczy. The Taunton Press, 2001.

What I liked was that it covers ventilation systems, spray booths, as well as prompting you (well, me) to think through what order you use your machinery for efficiency, space needed for clearance, and the details, like figuring out how many outlets you need (and whether to suspend them from the ceiling, etc.)

If you're short on studio space, it'll just make you drool, but if you're in my (happy happy) shoes, give it a look-see.

[Don Burt]

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If you're short on studio space, it'll just make you drool, but if you're in my (happy happy) shoes, give it a look-see.

Sounds good. I just ordered it from the downtown library. Thanks.

We've been planning an addition to the house that will include shop space for five years. Architect, contractor, local restrictions and SWMBO scopecreep have delayed it. We watch HGTV and make obscene gestures at the TV, to people with seemingly endless budgets who 'cleverly transform an ordinary bungalow into a magnificent arts and crafts home' (I could be clever too with a $500000 budget). But its given me a lot of time to think about layout. My light table/cutting surface is going to be pretty neat. Hope to gloat about it here in a few months. (right)

[Kaye]

Keep us posted on what works and what doesn't--what you really like and what you wish you'd done differently. Some of us have our dream studios on a little longer timeline and could benefit from your experience.


I'd welcome anybody's comments on workshop design/layout.

Kaye

[Bert Weiss]

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If you're short on studio space, it'll just make you drool, but if you're in my (happy happy) shoes, give it a look-see.

Sounds good. I just ordered it from the downtown library. Thanks.

We've been planning an addition to the house that will include shop space for five years. Architect, contractor, local restrictions and SWMBO scopecreep have delayed it. We watch HGTV and make obscene gestures at the TV, to people with seemingly endless budgets who 'cleverly transform an ordinary bungalow into a magnificent arts and crafts home' (I could be clever too with a $500000 budget). But its given me a lot of time to think about layout. My light table/cutting surface is going to be pretty neat. Hope to gloat about it here in a few months. (right)

DB

It's kind of like the Steve Martin story of how to make a million bucks and not pay any taxes. "First, make a million bucks. Then, don't pay any taxes. if the IRS comes after you, just tell them "I forgot"".

I have a very simple and effective light table. It is an 8" deep plywood box with daylight colored fluorescent bulbs. The top is 13mm glass (10mm would be fine). The diffuser is thin polystyrene white plastic, placed under the glass. I made it able to rotate from horizontal to vertical so that it could be used as a photo backdrop. But, reality is, I haven't used that feature much, only as a tilt table to make laminated glass.

[Paul Tarlow]

We watch HGTV and make obscene gestures at the TV

ROFLOL - Norm Abrams is good for that kind thing. I swear he has a $500 tool for everything from sharpening Norwegien reversed thread ceramic coated screws to cutting compound angles while standing on one foot during the Harvest moon.

I hate Norm.

- Paul