should we do a shop tour? i don't have a project video for you thisweek or next week, but i often hear from people asking if i could do an updated shop tour. i guess it's been a couple years since i did a shop tour. and while i don't have any significant newtools to show you, i can show you other changes i've made in the shop that you may not have noticed in the show and i can talk about some changes i'm thinking about making. if you look at the bottom of your screen,
that's a purple bench that's in my front yard. and this is what my house looks like from a couple hundred yards away up on top of this big hill across the street, which is all completely dry right now because it never rains in california and this could all go up in flames any second now. one thing i've been wanting to do for a long time is paint a big "hi google!" on top of my roof. there's always a lot of traffic noise here because we're about
a half a mile away from the 101 freeway. somebody's been building up here. or at least they started to and probably gave up when they decided it's a lot of work hauling all that lumber up this hill. and here's what my shop looks like from the bottom of the hill. there's two ways into my shop: the garage door, or through the kitchen, into my office.
i'm actually editing this video right now. inception. i usually go out to my shop this way through this door. my shop is a two-car garage but i also use this outdoor area as part of my shop too, including my truck. i use this to haul lumber and all sorts of things, but you've also seen me use the bed as anadditional workbench.
my dad bought this truck new in 1976. my dad didn't drive this truck a whole lot and i don't drive it a lot either, which is why i like to show off this: this truck has 121 thousand original miles on it. and that's not too bad for a truck that's almost 40 years old. i've always kept my table saw right at thefront of my shop so that i can roll it out really easily. i love being able to use it outside all year round.
those of you who are new to the show may not realise that saw was given to me by a bunch of guys online who secretly got together and raised money. these are their names up here. you've probably seen this plaque. it was all spearheaded by laney shaughnessy and i am forever indebted to all of these guys. they really helped get woodworking for mere mortals off the ground, up and running.
for 13 years, right in the center of my shop, i've had this big 4' by 8' workbench that i've always enjoyed because i can walk all the way around it. it's great for setting things on... sometimes too many things get piled up on it. lately i've been considering paring it down and making a smaller version, maybe 3' by 7', which would give me more room around it. aside from painting the walls white, the biggest shop improvement i've made inthe past year
was to bring this workbench out, away fromthe wall. now i have access all around it, too. one of the things i really love about my shop is that i have a lot of natural lighting. i always have the garage door open and i put that window in when we moved into this house. but for shooting video i need more light, so i have five banks of these 8' long, daylight balanced, fluorescent bulbs. lumber storage is always a problem. no matter how much space i have, i always seem to fill it up.
i built this rack a couple years ago thinkingthat would be plenty of space. it's filled up. in fact, i've got these boards sitting here because i don't have any room left on thatrack. i've got lumber down here. and here. ooh! there's some more! and this. and all my pallet wood!
two sliding closet doors from my closet makeover. and melamine left over from that same job. there's wood in this rafter above my garagedoor. and let's not forget this is all filled with scraps of lumber. hey, look who's here. it's my shop cat. her name is kitty. the first thing i'm thinking about changingis getting rid of this tool hutch. there's a lot of tools on here that i don'tuse that often. this is my worst workbench for clutter.
it's always filled with junk. i think the main reason i built this was thati thought it looked cool in a woodworking shop. but it's not really that efficient and i think if i took it down and just hung french cleats on the wall, it would be better. i still have plenty of room if i want to addstuff. i've got this empty wall here that's beensitting here for six months. i'm trying to change the way i think abouta shop.
that if i have i have an empty space, i need to figure out something to put there. i kind of like having this blank wall. if you're looking for extra storage spacein your shop, don't forget about the space behind the door. i love having my clamps stored there. another thing i really like having in my shop is a utility sink. if you're setting up a shop for the first time and you have plumbing available, definitely put in a sink.
i'm not so sure i like having my power toolsup here in these shelves. it's a little difficult to reach them while i've got my lathe and scroll saw over here. so i'm thinking about moving those and that would free up a space here that i could put a lumber rack in. but somehow, no matter how many storage solutions i come up with, i still manage to clutter them up. this is my finishing cart here that has twodoors on each side but it's just piled with stuff. and this i love having for spray paints andother types of finishes
but it's completely full now so it's overflowing. i still like this system for hanging my various table saw sleds. they're just hanging from these chains so i can kind of sort through them easily. once in a while somebody asks me about this little door and what's behind the door. and what's the mystery spot? that's just this tourist attraction down in santa cruz with one of these optical illusion houses
that sits on a hill really weird and it all has to do with aliens. it's just an entrance to my crawlspace that goes under the house. and it's also filled with junk. i love my green, sliding door cabinet andi haven't filled it up. yet. something really ambitious that i don't know if i'll ever really get to is right out here, around back of my shop
is this garden shed. think what a great place this would be for either storing lumber or especially putting in a dust collection unit out here. right now it just has the lawn mower and gardening junk. so i guess i'd have to figure out where to put that. it would also be nice to build a storage shed over here. thanks for watching, everybody and my next project video will be on july 11th.
of course, you can always keep up with me over on facebook and twitter. i'll be posting there for the next couple weeks too.