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A couple of years ago Wood magazine put out their 2005 version of Best-Ever Home Workshops. As I remember they featured nine mostly smaller shops, and only ran a couple of photos of each shop. When they asked for contributors for the next issue, I sent in an article and photos of my shop – along with a note saying that their last issue was way too small; featured mostly smaller shops; and did not have nearly enough photos of each workshop!
Boy was I surprised when they chose my shop for the next issue of America’s Best Home Workshops, but they also let me know that they would be featuring 15 shops, with an average ten pages and 15 photos of each shop. They must have had more than a few other requests similar to mine.
I later read in a couple of forums where some woodworkers who had smaller shops were not all happy with the issue featuring the larger shops. I would imagine that the next issue will be back to covering more normal size home workshop, but I do hope that they stay with the idea of running more photos of each shop, to make for a more interesting issue! Otherwise it’s like going over to visit a friend’s workshop – but then only being allowed to see one corner of it!
We all had to start with a smallish work shop when were younger and working full-time jobs. My first shop was one-half of a one car garage like most other people. However, as we get older, usually our shop size manages to grow - along with other parts of our anatomy.
We retired in 1997, and started traveling out of Florida during the long hot summers that we had been forced to endure during our working years. We are only home from October thru May, the time of the year to enjoy the best of Florida’s beautiful weather.
Our extended vacations to cooler climes forced us to re-think our housing needs. While a motorhome made for a great summer retreat, the dream home that we had built 15 years previously had become more of a mill-stone around our neck. It required way too much maintenance to be left on its own for so long, not to mention the high taxes and insurance. When we returned home from a long trip it seemed as if we then spent months working on the house to get things back to normal. The dream home was fun for years, but eventually it outlived its desirability!
When we decided to move to the country into a new, smaller home, we tried to build a lifestyle that would be as maintenance free as possible. Of course country lots are usually far larger than city lots, so the possibility of a larger workshop finally became a reality.
I considered many different types of workshop construction and finally settled on the steel building shown here. The reasons were many, but mainly for its low cost per square foot and maintenance free design.
This is being written for those who have to endure cramped quarters for now, but hope to dream of someday having a larger space to work in. Of course there are many ways for everyone to reach their dreams, and here’s wishing that you all have your dream shop one of these days. While my shop may seem obnoxiously large to many of you, I bet it cost far less than many of you have invested in your own shop.
Since this forum is about shop design, I thought I might start off talking about the workshop itself, and eventually start on the cabinetry that I have been building for years. I’m a newbie to shop forums, so if this post is out of line – kindly let me know, or guide me to what is more appropriate.
Boy was I surprised when they chose my shop for the next issue of America’s Best Home Workshops, but they also let me know that they would be featuring 15 shops, with an average ten pages and 15 photos of each shop. They must have had more than a few other requests similar to mine.
I later read in a couple of forums where some woodworkers who had smaller shops were not all happy with the issue featuring the larger shops. I would imagine that the next issue will be back to covering more normal size home workshop, but I do hope that they stay with the idea of running more photos of each shop, to make for a more interesting issue! Otherwise it’s like going over to visit a friend’s workshop – but then only being allowed to see one corner of it!
We all had to start with a smallish work shop when were younger and working full-time jobs. My first shop was one-half of a one car garage like most other people. However, as we get older, usually our shop size manages to grow - along with other parts of our anatomy.
We retired in 1997, and started traveling out of Florida during the long hot summers that we had been forced to endure during our working years. We are only home from October thru May, the time of the year to enjoy the best of Florida’s beautiful weather.
Our extended vacations to cooler climes forced us to re-think our housing needs. While a motorhome made for a great summer retreat, the dream home that we had built 15 years previously had become more of a mill-stone around our neck. It required way too much maintenance to be left on its own for so long, not to mention the high taxes and insurance. When we returned home from a long trip it seemed as if we then spent months working on the house to get things back to normal. The dream home was fun for years, but eventually it outlived its desirability!
When we decided to move to the country into a new, smaller home, we tried to build a lifestyle that would be as maintenance free as possible. Of course country lots are usually far larger than city lots, so the possibility of a larger workshop finally became a reality.
I considered many different types of workshop construction and finally settled on the steel building shown here. The reasons were many, but mainly for its low cost per square foot and maintenance free design.
This is being written for those who have to endure cramped quarters for now, but hope to dream of someday having a larger space to work in. Of course there are many ways for everyone to reach their dreams, and here’s wishing that you all have your dream shop one of these days. While my shop may seem obnoxiously large to many of you, I bet it cost far less than many of you have invested in your own shop.
Since this forum is about shop design, I thought I might start off talking about the workshop itself, and eventually start on the cabinetry that I have been building for years. I’m a newbie to shop forums, so if this post is out of line – kindly let me know, or guide me to what is more appropriate.
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**one and only purchaser of a BT3C official thong** 
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