Shop Tour - Small Basement Shop with Old and Heavy Machines

[Phillip Mitchell]

I made a 2 part video walkthrough of my humble basement shop in it’s current iteration.

Part 1 -

Part 2 -

I work full time in this space and a furniture maker / custom woodworker and somehow make it work...I dream about a shop with 4x more space and windows and a wide open floor plan, but for now and at least the near future, this is my spot. I started my business in 2018, but started playing around with putting tools in here around 2013. The shop layout and machines have changed several times and this is my latest arrangement that I don’t think can really be drastically improved.

Thanks for looking and feel free to leave questions / comments if you have any.

 

[Millmarks]

Definitely heavy duty equipment there. Your shop reminds me of mine, every inch of space utilized. The drawback I have is with the limited space, it's difficult to work on multiple pieces such as glue ups drying and trying to work on the next piece. Do you have space for pieces like that?

 

[creasman]

That's some heavy iron. Nice to see these vintage tools. What sort off woodworking do you typically do?

 

[Phillip Mitchell]

Definitely heavy duty equipment there. Your shop reminds me of mine, every inch of space utilized. The drawback I have is with the limited space, it's difficult to work on multiple pieces such as glue ups drying and trying to work on the next piece. Do you have space for pieces like that?

LOL. Short answer - no, not really. I suppose it depends on the sizes of glue ups, etc but that and finishing can really be a bottle neck of efficiency and production....Things like flat panel glue ups are easier to stand up on edge, lean against something on the floor, etc but I have a hard time working on more than 1 medium-large project at a time just bc of limited space to spread parts out and certain areas being so called multi use areas where I may need to push one thing out of the way to do another task. It’s always a struggle and having some creative workflow can sometimes help, but other times it just can’t be solved simply enough.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, lots of heavy iron. I prefer simple and stout machines that aren’t going to leave me hanging when a circuit board craps out.

 

[Phillip Mitchell]

That's some heavy iron. Nice to see these vintage tools. What sort off woodworking do you typically do?

Are we allowed to post website links here? If so -

www.stillwaterwoodworks.com - for a mostly updated portfolio type look and

@stillwater_woodworks on Instagram for more in the moment process stuff.

Thanks for the reply. Love the old and heavy tools!

 

[bob vaughan]

Awesome! I love it.

 

[Oka]

Inspirational. Great to see someone doing without a huge space. Really helps others see what is possible with something not big.

 

[NYTransplant]

It's amazing you can get all of that heavy equipment into that square footage. I have a basement shop as well and can relate to the need for storage of non-woodworking stuff, though I have too much crap, and I need to get rid of it .

Is there a function to the raised area of the floor?

 

[ssmith]

Nice! Looks like an industrial-level shop - there probably aren't many homes out there that need 480V service.

Space is obviously a challenge, do you also have trouble finding parts to keep your older equipment running?

 

[Phillip Mitchell]

Awesome! I love it

Thanks for watching Bob!

Inspirational. Great to see someone doing without a huge space. Really helps others see what is possible with something not big.

I appreciate that. I don’t know how much else major is actually possible in this space, but I feel like it’s at least pushing the limits.

It's amazing you can get all of that heavy equipment into that square footage. I have a basement shop as well and can relate to the need for storage of non-woodworking stuff, though I have too much crap, and I need to get rid of it .

Is there a function to the raised area of the floor?

Thanks for the reply. I have gotten rid of the crap over the years and a lot more seriously when transitioning from hobby shop to business shop.

I built up the floor with sleepers and Advantech in that section many years ago when the stairs were still in and that was more of a dedicated hand tool / bench space and I didn’t want to be dropping edge tools on the concrete as well as have a more cushioned floor to work on. I don’t regret it and wish the entire floor was like that honestly but I clearly have no extra ceiling height to give up as it is. There have been times where the ~ 2 1/2” inches of height that took away has made a difference in handling certain work.

Nice! Looks like an industrial-level shop - there probably aren't many homes out there that need 480V service.

Space is obviously a challenge, do you also have trouble finding parts to keep your older equipment running?

Industrial machines in a subterranean environment! To be clear I only have a 200
Amp 240V single phase sub panel for the house /shop and I make the 3 phase with VFD/RPC and use that 480v transformer at the end of one of those 3 phase circuits.

Finding parts can be a challenge but thankfully it doesn’t come up that often. I try not to buy machines that need many parts or a lot of repair to get them working properly- just don’t have the time for it.

 

[MikeH]

Thanks for the tour. The shop is great.