Gentle Galoots,

Back in May I wrote that MLW and I were downsizing to a smaller house with no
stairs. The new house had to have room for hobby space for both of us: a shop
for me and an art studio for her. We chose a house with a a 3-car garage. The
garage is extra long, so I was able to fit my shop in one bay with room for my
car too. The car goes in the driveway when I need extra workspace.

Here is a shot showing the main work space with my old and new workbenches:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wzhbgn3pwaosd4k/New-Shop-Both-Benches.jpg?dl=0

Here is a shot of my old workbench against the back wall:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w77890een1kq27a/New-Shop.Old-Bench.jpg?dl=0

Anyone who missed the detailed description of my new bench and is interested can
find it in the archives:

https://swingleydev.com/ot/get/257138/single/

The new shop came with a couple of 2' x 4' benches against the side wall. One
has a pegboard behind it and a particle board top, which I covered with a sheet
of 1/4" maple plywood. I hung a 32" x 48" sheet of 1/2" plywood behind the other
bench with french cleats and added some magnetic strips for storing chisels:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qx8cy4rf0qb3u86/New-Shop-Wall-Storage.jpg?dl=0

The plywood and french cleat idea came from the Winter 2019 issue of FWW's
"Tools & Shops." Because of the offset provided by the french cleats, you can
use screws anywhere on the plywood without worrying about the drywall behind it.

Plane storage (not shown) is mostly in an old bookcase built by my grandfather,
who died in 1941.

Here is a shot of my new saw till. It doesn't have a permanent location yet,
since empty wallspace is at a premium. I made it from a plywood slide-out
salvaged when we had the kitchen cabinets in our old house redone a couple of
years ago. I just turned it on end, added a piece of wood at the bottom to catch
the horns, and sawed a few slots in what is now the top. Not as elegant as some,
but works fine.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hqsslfdx1kqhuom/New-Shop-Saw-Till.jpg?dl=0

 The down side of getting the new shop organized is that now I've lost my excuse
for not completing any projects....

Cheers,
Chuck Taylor
north of Seattle USA