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This is my second shop in our current house. It takes half of our 2-car garage.

This corner of the shop is right by the garage door:

There I have my old Jet dust collector. I piped it throughout the shop using sewer pipe using this post from Jay Bates as inspiration. I learned more than I’d ever imagined I’d want to know about sewer piping specs while I did this. I am super happy with how it turned out.

I keep my extra stock on shelves I built inspired by this Wood Whisperer shop tour.

My bandsaw is a laguna LT18HD 18″. I love this machine because it’s a beast, and because it was a very touching gift from my one of my best friends for my 40th birthday.

My jointer is an 8-inch Powermatic 60HH (helical head):

It took me years to bite the bullet and get one, and I don’t know how I could live without it for so long. One thing I learned about woodworking is that if you are able to make things flat and square, you are 90% of the way there. I love this jointer, big time.

I have had my DeWalt 12″ planer for many years now, and I still love mostly everything about it except it not having a helical cutterhead. The blades which keep chipping and it’s a pain to replace them. I have a friend that installed a helical cutterhead in his, and I may do that. Or, if I can get myself to justify spending the money, may one day upgrade to a Powermatic.

I have a Jet bench drill press which I upgraded to from a smaller one a couple of years ago:

One thing I love is my California Tools air compressor and the hose wheel I installed on the wall. This compressor is so quiet it’s hard to believe. I use it mainly for cleaning the dust in the shop, for my nail guns, and every now and then to pump air into my cars’ tires.

My Festools are another splurge. I have the tracksaw, the plunger router, a small sander, and the vacuum which is super nice because it can connect to all the tools and avoids a huge mess:

Speaking of splurges, my SawStop was another Xmas gift. I also installed the router table on the side so the entire top is cast iron. The sled on top is one I built from a Wood Whisperer video:

This cabinet is my latest iteration for small part organization. My previous version used Stanley cases, and it was a pain because I had to pull them out, open them, get the part, close them, put them back in, and I’d always end up with open cases all over the shop. So I took the yellow containers and built a cabinet, so they fit like an exact grid. I used some spare wood and spare drawer runners I savaged from built-in furniture I got rid of in the new house.

I keep my squars on the wall. A year ago I bought the Woodpecker squares and they are just so beautiful. I keep the other ones attached with magnets to the bandsaw:

Here’s the back of the shop:

I keep my paints, glues, and finishes in a shelf. One day I’ll organize this inside of a metal cabinet (for the flammable stuff). A couple of tips: that Aero Kroil penetrating oil is awesome. I also keep camellia oil for my hand tools. WD-40 I mostly use for removing rust from cast iron surfaces (scrub with 00 steel wool). Isopropyl alcohol is handy to clean up epoxy (my father taught me this a few years ago):

In the top compartment of my toolbox I keep some of my favorite tools. The 123 blocks are the one tool you didn’t know you needed until you got it: I use them all the time as weights, to square things up, as stop blocks, you name it. I also have in there my 30 year-old calculator, an amazing set of wood drill bits, and my caliper which uses inches (unlike most calipers) and no batteries. Here’s a great video on woodworking calipers. I have a Woodpecker tiny square, and one of my favorite things: a square my brother gave me which is super well made. I also love my Bondhus hex wrenches:

These are some of my chisels:

On the left I keep a couple of my grandpa’s many-decades-old chisels which I restored. I learned to cut dovetails by watching Matt Cremona’s videos (here’s his video on dovetail chisels), and I got the same dovetail chisels he uses and they are amazing. On the right side I have a set of Lie Nielsen bevel edge chisels.

These are some of my hand tools:

On the right is an old Stanley #4 I restored a few years ago. I have a low angle Lie Nielsen plane, some marking tools, bowtie and dovetail jigs, and a Stanley #80 I bought off of Ebay that is awesome for cleaning up glue-ups.

Here’s the area below my assembly/worktable:

I use a recycled mustard container for wood glue. I got a Tormek for sharpening my hand tools but in retrospect I think I regret it. It is still not as foolproof as I wished. I’ll probably do another post about my tool sharpening journey another time. My Hilti drill is also one of my favorite tools: so well made. I keep my chop saw behind: I don’t use it that much, I tend to do my cross cuts on the table saw with my sled.

Here’s a view of the duct that goes to the table saw, the router, the planer, and a floor dust-sucker which I broom stuff into and it’s the best. Another thing I love having is the power cable hanging from the ceiling which I can pull to anywhere in the shop and quite far outside too: