More floor space

Our family of four lives in a modest 1800 square foot (170 m2) side split house. Every room does double duty. The rest of the family calls the train room “the rec room.” The heavy shop is tucked into an alcove of the laundry room, which is also our recycling centre and pantry and provides […]

Unused tools

It’s hard to believe, but I bought this vise at the same garage sale where I got my drill press for fifty bucks fifteen years ago. For a lifetime, the drill press and vise had been part of a piano repair business, but even in 2003 nobody wanted real pianos anymore, and even fewer wanted […]

Workshop cabinets get topped

There is nothing quite like a mitre joint in a countertop to reveal how out of square your house is. Because the saws and sander are all out in the garage on the other side of the house and up a flight of stairs, the countertops were like an exercise class without so much rewarding […]

It’s in the red drawer!

“Which drawer is it in?” She hollered from in front of the basement cabinets. “The one with all the party supplies!” I yelled from my comfortable perch beneath my book. The sounds of drawer slides and the abuse of soft-close pistons floated up from the basement. Oh for Pete’s sake, I thought, as I got […]

A second bench for the workshop

I keep having to tell myself that all this work on the workshop is in fact work towards the locomotive. Finally this weekend, I managed to get the second cabinet finished to the point where it can be painted. Like the first, it is almost entirely made from scraps left over from my other projects. […]

The heavy shop takes shape

When I asked my wife what she thought of the new workshop cabinet, she said it looks “workshoppy.” Okay, I’ll admit, the joinery is not as nice as I would like, but you’ve gotta love those 4″ deep drawers, and the big cavern behind those doors is sized for a future Sherline mill. I’m also […]

Plans for the Heavy Shop

It’s time to admit it: we have a small house. When we bought it, 1800 square feet (167 m²) felt like a palace. Indeed, we turned down larger homes because we felt we would rattle around in them. Now that this one is filled with two kids and a dog, there is little hope of rattling around. […]

The heavy shop emerges

For a little over a week, I’ve been pecking away at the huge pile of boxes that has filled the part of the basement that has always been tagged for the “heavy shop.” They’ve literally been packed for years, and occasionally I’ve come down to find another heaped on the pile. Now that the cabinets […]