The Red Barn Wood Shop!
Shop may be too strong of a word for the little barn styled garden shed that I started working out of about three years ago. The 10X12 foot space was very confined and there was very little room to work. The more tools I added, the tighter it got.
My main focus for the past few years has been to design and build what I call marble machines. Little handcrafted one-of-a-kind marble runs that click and clack as the marbles work their way up and then plunge down their various courses.
As a palette I usually start with a 7x9x3/4 inch oak board. I typically sand it then coat it with a semi-gloss finish. I then work to determine how I am going to use a little electric motor to propel 1/2 inch steel bearings up to a height of about 9-10 inches. After working out how I am going to get the bearings up, I then work on ways to bring them down using various types and shapes of wood and 3/16 inch or 1/8 inch thick brass wire rod.
About six months ago I added an addition to the garden shed and converted it into what I can now loosely call a shop! I have about 220 square feet of workspace. Still tight after adding a Rikon 14-inch band-saw to the tool mix. However, the addition of a fine bandsaw restarted the creative juices, setting me off on a new venture in building a few custom birdhouses...
My main focus for the past few years has been to design and build what I call marble machines. Little handcrafted one-of-a-kind marble runs that click and clack as the marbles work their way up and then plunge down their various courses.
As a palette I usually start with a 7x9x3/4 inch oak board. I typically sand it then coat it with a semi-gloss finish. I then work to determine how I am going to use a little electric motor to propel 1/2 inch steel bearings up to a height of about 9-10 inches. After working out how I am going to get the bearings up, I then work on ways to bring them down using various types and shapes of wood and 3/16 inch or 1/8 inch thick brass wire rod.
About six months ago I added an addition to the garden shed and converted it into what I can now loosely call a shop! I have about 220 square feet of workspace. Still tight after adding a Rikon 14-inch band-saw to the tool mix. However, the addition of a fine bandsaw restarted the creative juices, setting me off on a new venture in building a few custom birdhouses...