Shake, Rattle and Roll

It’s springtime clean-up in the shop. Yes, that time of year when I relocate stuff, vacuum all the accumulated bandsaw dust, and find stuff that I looked for in August, but lost in June. In other words the shop get a good shake up.

I have described my shop as ten pounds in a five pound bag. I have an eight by ten former greenhouse, but need a twelve by twelve space. Ain’t gonna happen.

I do have an abandoned basement workshop. it’s dank (literally), damp and dark. Today it is pouring outside, and the basement is slowly filling. The reason I moved into my greenhouse was because of the impossibility of ever weather-sealing the basement. When we moved here in 1997, I had no choice but to work downstairs. Perhaps you think there is a certain poetic justice to a marine carver working on boat carvings while partially submerged? Enjoy your laugh. It wasn’t pleasant.

One day I had a job that needed to be gotten out fast, and the basement was filling fast as the spring thaw hit in ernest. The snow melted, and the melt went into the shop, and into my shoes. In desperation, I set up an impromptu bench in the greenhouse, and went to work. Over a few months more and more tools “wandered” out of the basement and into the greenhouse.

For comparisons sake lets compare ammenities.

The Basement – dank, dark, isolated with overhead limitations, and poor storage options.

The Greenhouse – Light and airy, birds singing outside, great workspace, but limited in storage area. A short walk to the garden for inspiration.

So the Greenhouse won. The basement still houses a table saw, a massive bandsaw I don’t use and the laser. It is the repository for things that can’t be fit into the greenhouse.

And about twice a year a shake up is needed to reorganize the ten pounds in a five pound recepticle.