The Little Wood Shoppe

(the picture on the left is not the little wood shoppe)

Perhaps you didn't read the title of this post? I invite you to glance up at it and notice especially the word "little," because that's what this shop is. The whole "building" this shop is located in is approximately 4' x 8' when its completely empty. Before I transformed it into a wood shop it had built in shelves on both ends that were about 12" wide leaving the actual floor space at about 6.' The walls were open studs so in order to make it possible to work there in the cold weather I dug out some discarded insulation from the dumpster that was put there by workers who are doing some remodeling on the Villa main building. I found enough to adequately insulate the whole thing. Then I purchased some cheap paneling to cover the walls and keep the insulation in place. Doesn't really look too bad.

In transforming this space into a wood shop I extended one of the shelves on one end about 4" or so and on the other end about 3." Somehow this isn't coming out quite right as I now have about 5' of floor space that way. Then in between two shelves on either side I built in a shelf across the back of the space to give me a place to put some power equipment that I wanted to purchase. And so I ended up with a workspace of approximately 3' x 5', a small work shop to be sure.

After building some drawers under one of the shelves, covering all the workspace with some nice plywood, I painted the work table to make it easier to keep clean. I hung up or found a place to put all my hand tools in an an orderly, easily accessible place, and I was ready for some power tools. (I'm sure you guys are really interested in this, huh).

I had decided that my chief hobby products would be those I could do on a lathe sitting down. I fixed a metal stool with casters to roll around for that purpose. I purchased a mini lathe, a small disc/belt sander, and a mini table saw (this thing almost looks like a toy). I have them all arranged on the work table and have a small work bench left on one end. I think its all pretty neat. The tools are all in working order and I have used them all.

I have now finished my first pen and pencil set made from osage orange wood, better known as hedge wood. I will keep this first pen and Clara will keep the first pencil. Hopefully I will be able to make many more. I have enough pieces cut to make quite a few pens and pencils. I will also be making other things of course, some on the lathe, some not. A small wood train is in the offing for a relative.

So that's what The Little Wood Shoppe is about. Perhaps you will hear more about what's going on out there in another post in the near future, which I hope can include some pictures of products and the shop itself. Until then I remain

Pilgrim on the way