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Here's My Workshop!
By Jeff Streba
Salt Lake City, UT
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Six years ago we moved down the street into a larger house. Our house has a three car garage,
however my wife had the wisdom to realize it was really only a one car garage and a two "car" shop. This
was the endorsement I needed to commence building a divider wall, wiring, insulating, dry walling and
finishing the shop. The space is 20' x 24' or 480 square feet. A window A/C unit keeps the space cool in
the summer and an electric 18,000 btu heater provides plenty of heat through the colder months. There
are 10-four bulb florescent light fixtures that supply plenty of light.
Living off a teacher's salary, most of what is in the shop has been recycled. The entry door was found in
the street during a neighborhood clean-up. The redwood cabinet doors were previously a porch deck. It
took a lot of work planing them down, gluing them up, and making doors. I made the pulls on those cabinets myself by using my blacksmithing skills. I must admit I'm a better woodworker than a blacksmith. The carcass of
the wall cabinet was found on Craigslist in the free section. The second floor of our house was an
apartment so when we remodeled it back to a single family living space I moved the apartment kitchen
cabinets into my shop. The base cabinet is an old 1950's sheet metal type cabinet. My workbench top is
made from a bunch of 2 x 4's I scavenged when I was in college.
Some of my machinery is also on its second or third life. I paid $125 for both the 1950's vintage drill
press and table saw 25 years ago. The table saw has been upgraded with a 1 hp motor, a better fence
and maple butcher block extension tables. Those butcher blocks used to be a kitchen table I got at a
garage sale for $5. The radial arm saw, dust collector and lathe were also garage sale specials. However,
I have purchased some tools new, like a 15 inch spiral cutter head planer. Wow, what a great machine to
run. It sure beats my old bench top model. All the machinery that is against the walls are on rolling
bases.
I build everything from chairs to desks, picture frames to kitchen cabinets, and tables to lawn furniture. I
hate doing the same thing twice. Friends and visitors get a kick out of the variety of chairs around our
dining room table. I enjoy making furniture from the Arts and Crafts time period, not only for its
simplistic beauty but also because the movement promoted self-reliance and working with your hands.
The Stickley brothers published furniture designs and encouraged people to make their own furniture. I get immense satisfaction from the whole process; designing to finishing. Woodworking offers a lifetime
of learning, problem solving, and internal happiness.
You can email Jeff at
Jeffstreba@gmail.com
. You can also visit his website at
http://www.qualitycraftsmanship.us/
.
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