In the shop part 1

[muskrat man]

.First let me say this, I am no expert; I know what works and what doesn’t. I'm sure there are a lot of tricks out there I don't know, but that’s why we are here, to share information and help each other. This is what I use and how I use it, I have learned most of what I know by trial and error, and I'd like to save anyone who wants to try the aggravation and mistakes that I made in the beginning.

This is my shop, it isn't big, nor equipped with expensive machinery, as a matter of fact, all the power tools in the shop can be bought at your local Lowes or sears.

Let’s start with power tools-they are handy, yes-but anything you can do with a machine you can do with hand tools if you have enough time and patience. The most used power tool in my shop is the dremel. They are excellent tools and if you are a hobbyist of any kind, you probably already have one. Mine is a 400XPR I bought it as a kit with many other bits and the flex shaft. IMO the flex shaft is a must have another very handy item is the keyless chuck adapter so there is not use for collets, this makes bit changing a snap, of course accessory options for the dremel are endless, so I'll show a picture of the bits I use the most. I have 3 different sizes of round ball shaped bits, two types of cyndrilical bits, 2 sanding drum mandrels, a mandrel rigged with a scotch brite wheel , and one rigged with a reinforced cut off wheel. You need a good supply of sanding drums and they are VERY handy. My dremel is suspended from the ceiling with a cable. I run cut off disks at a high speed and the sanding drums and cutters at medium speeds.

Ok, enough of that moving on. The belt sander is the second most used power tool in the shop. You can do anything from truing a liner to making an entire knife on a sander. I keep 4 different types of belts on hand 50 grit for heavy removal of metal and wood, 220 grit for fine tuning shapes and contours, 400 for scratch removal on springs and such, and a scotch brite belt for cleaning blades, liners springs and such. Mine is a 2x42" sears craftsman. It is a decent machine and is on its last leg. I have had it for quite a few years now. When it dies I plan on replacing it with a 2x72".

A drill press is a must have item, mine is a cheap delta, but serves its purpose well. I use mine the most for drilling pin holes in handle material and other such chores.

A buffer is a great little item, when it comes to fine polishing and blending of surfaces; it's hard to beat a buffer. Mine is a cheap delta, but like the drill press I have had no problems out of it and it does its job well. I keep one wheel rigged with a coarse compound and the other with a finer white compound mainly for polishing handles.

A band saw is another must have, a table saw will suffice, but a band saw does the job better IMO. You can rough shape handle slabs, slice handles, or cut your own slabs from small logs depending on how large your band saw is. Mine is a craftsman I got for $150 at sears, I wish I had gotten a different one. It has been nothing but trouble. I have already returned two of them due to malfunctions, and this one is acting up after only 3 months.

That covers most of your power tools; you are only limited by your budget when it comes to power tools.

I plan to get a 2x72" sander, forge, anvil, and a much better saw when the budget allows. But for now they'll do.

I'll do a bit on specialty and hand tools tonight

[CCBill]

Thanks, Kaleb...
That was nicely written and very descriptive. Good pictures. Gives a good idea of how you think your shop should be layed out, for what you do. I have a 400 sq. ft. shop, but about 350 ft. of it is stacked with "stuff" we had to store somewhere, when we did a recent house re-model. I plan to clean it out some, this Winter, so I will have room to move around.
Anybody else willing to show pictures of their shop lay-out? I hope so. Thanks again.
...CCBill...

[muskrat man]

If I could get this storm door installed and all of this other junk hauled out to the shed I would have about 12' more wallspace. But for some reason the stuff just refuses to move

P.S, if you'll notice I have lamps all over the place, good light is a must have!