The Sequel Is Never As Good As The Original.

Oldwolf Workshop IX

Oldwolf Workshop 9: Live Free or Workshop

Oldwolf Workshop Nine: Red, White and Workshop

Oldwolf Workshop: The Quickening

Son of the Oldwolf Workshop

You get the point . . .  I've moved shop a couple times. With movies the sequel often fails to live up to the promise of the original, but with workshops. I'd say with every move I've learned a little more and been able to refine things down to a pretty specific set up that works for me.

Okay, Okay. Moving on.

The new shop loses a little square footage from my last one, but it makes up for it in insulated walls paneled in 4/4 pine recycled from shipping crates. The shipping information was clearly printed on several of the boards. There is evidence of a wood burning stove existing in here at one point as well, but I don't think it was very clean or well maintained because all the boards were dark, sooty, and oily. Three factors that suck light right out of the bulb and create a dim atmosphere unconducive to cutting dovetails.

The first order was paint. The previous owners left behind a full can of oil based white primer so I started there, covering one and a quarter walls and ceiling. The improvement was immediate.

Old wall color meet new wall color.

The second order was a lumber rack. I haven't used a real lumber rack in years, instead leaning boards against walls and stacking them on rafters, but the paneled ceiling and slightly more compact footprint meant I needed to be more organized. With one wall painted I could install the lumber rack by the garage door, pretend I was more organized, and get the piles of lumber off my workbenches so I could use them.

I picked up some 2x4's and threw together a simple four shelf lumber rack using the tailgate of my pickup as a workbench.

I decided glued and screwed lap joints would be workmanlike enough. Unable to get to my tool chest I dipped into the tool box I haul around for general carpentry tasks to handle the job. No marking gauge? No problem. This old trick of holding the pencil point to a mark on the speed square and sliding the square (and pencil) along the board works fine in a pinch for rough work,

No premium Bad Axe Carcass Saw? No problem. The little job saw I keep in that tool box worked just fine to establish the shoulders of the lap joint.

No nice wooden handled chisels? No problem. I keep a full set of decent plastic handled chisels in that tool box too. Hey what's a hand tool woodworker without these things, even when doing general carpentry. After this I'm considering adding a marking gauge to the box as well.

No router plane? Who cares. The rough surface from the chisels chunking out the waste is fine for this application. The only downside? Having your Father-in-Law sit in a lawn chair during the process and explain to you repeatedly why a radial arm saw is the only real way to cut joints like this.Never mind a radial arm saw is the only power tool I have experienced a close call using, I will never own one, I will never use one.

Seriously I'm already working on a pickup tailgate, how am I supposed to find and set up a radial arm saw? I know he meant well and I was laughing about it by the end of the day. Yesterday I caught him cutting a sandwich in half and asked him why he didn't dig out the electric knife. We've got it figured out.

The shelf end of the lap joints. sawn shoulders and split out cheeks. Put the two together, attach it to the wall using some "L" brackets and screws and you get . . .

A simple lumber rack!!

That evening I moved the lumber over and reclaimed the space atop my workbenches.

The new shop was underway.

Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf