Shop Talk

Well, if there’s one thing I love, it’s talking shop. I actually keep a blog almost specifically to allow me to talk shop. I know no one else in close proximity to me that does this kind of woodworking, and sometimes the life of a loner; a rebel, just isn’t as sexy as Pee Wee Herman makes it sound.

Anyway, back to the shop.

Anyone who reads me regularly knows how much I love my shop. Anyone new to this nonsensical babble can get a primer on what I think of my shop here (first) and here (second).

At some time early in my foray into working wood, I realized that a shop doesn’t have to be all business. It can, and should, be a happy place. A place where you can pause and look around, and like what you see.

This morning, kind of early, I did just that; paused and looked around. And what I saw was, well, disgusting.

You see, I just finished a dandy little knick-knack of a project and, as I am wont to do, destroyed my shop in the process.

I looked around this morning, and came to the conclusion that my shop was a complete disaster. Months of normal, day-to-day work in the shop along with the occasional fun project coupled with my habit of working like a slob has produced a condition heretofore unseen in this little 24’X24′ box of life ongoing. Disaster. Utter. Complete. I don’t even have the vocabulary of superlatives to describe the state of disrepair.

This will wind up a two- or three-part post on The State of the Shop. I’ve never really done a “shop tour”, knowing full well that’s something most working-class guys love. We love seeing how other people set up their shops, and bragging a little on the ways we do things in our own.

So, in the interest of keeping posts brief and to-the-point, some ‘before’ pics, with short descriptions, soon to be followed by The Great Clean and a shop tour, with ‘after’ pics and better descriptions.

Enjoy wallowing in my filth.

*These pics start at the man door and revolve 360 around the shop.