My shop is a converted two-car garage right
off the kitchen - very convenient! I put in a radiant floor heated
by an on-demand propane water heater, with dreams of going solar
someday. I need more room for lumber storage and finishing, but
for now, it is a cozy, comfortable place to work.
Tools
I will not give an exhaustive inventory of my tools, but here are
some of the highlights:
Powermatic 66 table saw with Excaliber sliding
table and overhead blade guard. I also like and use the removable
Biesemeier anti-kickback splitter.
Delta 18/36 drum sander. I
used to have a Performax 16/32, but replaced it with this one when the
housing cracked due to an errant rubber cleaning stick. They each
have their pros and cons, so probably come out about even in my book.
Felder
FB-540 21" bandsaw with 14" resaw capacity. This bandsaw
is a joy to use and a real step up from my old Delta 14" with
riser.
Felder AD731 12"
jointer/planer combination machine. This was my midlife crisis
purchase and I wish I could have afforded the 16". This
machine gives amazing results on the often very difficult woods that I
use.
I have a homemade router table with an
Incra jig attached, which sees frequent and appreciated use. I use
a Bosch variable speed plunge router, with springs removed, in the
table. It has a very useful height micro-adjustment method.
Makita
10" sliding compound miter saw with the little light
attached. This is a nice tool, but I wish someone would come up
with the perfect dust collection system for these things.
Also,
there is a floor-standing Delta variable speed drill press.
All these tools
are hooked up with the Ecogate
automatic dust collection system to my Oneida 2hp dust
collector. Ecogate opens the blast gate and turns on the dust
collector when it feels the vibration of the motor of the tool that is
turned on. This system was an excellent investment for many
reasons!
I have a
reasonable and useful collection of hand planes, chisels, Japanese saws,
scrapers, and various other assorted items.
Store bought jigs that I
find useful include the Leigh jig for dovetails and mortise and tenons,
the Micro-fence with circle cutter for my Porter-Cable or Dewalt
routers, and the Jointech Smart Miter, sliding table for the table saw.
I
use the Tormek sharpening system and really like it. I also have
the requisite collection of water stones and diamond things.
I
keep my vacuum pressing system in the house due to space constraints.
Oh yes, and most important of all, the Fein
vacuum cleaner!
I am sure I am forgetting many things, but this gives
some idea.