Very good post, Mike. I recall as a boy growing up in New Jersey billboards in Pennsylvania advertising a Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) restaurant with the slogan, "Get to know what good is". You have certainly gotten to know what sharp is! Great work.
Humor is a great lubricant.....We can use more of it.
Photography and woodworking are compatible hobbies. I did the darkroom work for three of Pat Warner's books on router woodworking. Pat is a real guru; I learned a lot from him. i believe he may even have learned a few things from me; after the first book his negatives were increasingly easier to print.
A couple thoughts for making good use of space in your shop:
I love the way the Shakers lined their walls with "Shaker pegs". They were so functional. In a workshop, I think the Shaker peg idea, but with French cleats, would be useful. (French cleats are boards about an inch thick, by about three inches high. The board mounted to the wall has a forty five degree angle on the top (high side out). The other board, mounted to a cabinet or base of something, has a forty five going the other direction. They lock together with gravity. I think this would work well with something like a small cabinet for carving chisels or slightly larger for turning tools. The appropriate cabinet could be placed in a convenient location for a particular project and stored away when not in use.
The other thing I use is mounting tools on plywood bases. They are stored on shelves when not in use, and then clamped on the bench for use. I use my dry grinder this way; the pocket screw tool; and the Omnijig. They work OK this way with no need for a dedicated (space using) stand.
One of my photography instructors made the comment that good work can be done with very simple equipment if carefully thought through. You apparently think very carefully.
Ken
Humor is a great lubricant.....We can use more of it.
Photography and woodworking are compatible hobbies. I did the darkroom work for three of Pat Warner's books on router woodworking. Pat is a real guru; I learned a lot from him. i believe he may even have learned a few things from me; after the first book his negatives were increasingly easier to print.
A couple thoughts for making good use of space in your shop:
I love the way the Shakers lined their walls with "Shaker pegs". They were so functional. In a workshop, I think the Shaker peg idea, but with French cleats, would be useful. (French cleats are boards about an inch thick, by about three inches high. The board mounted to the wall has a forty five degree angle on the top (high side out). The other board, mounted to a cabinet or base of something, has a forty five going the other direction. They lock together with gravity. I think this would work well with something like a small cabinet for carving chisels or slightly larger for turning tools. The appropriate cabinet could be placed in a convenient location for a particular project and stored away when not in use.
The other thing I use is mounting tools on plywood bases. They are stored on shelves when not in use, and then clamped on the bench for use. I use my dry grinder this way; the pocket screw tool; and the Omnijig. They work OK this way with no need for a dedicated (space using) stand.
One of my photography instructors made the comment that good work can be done with very simple equipment if carefully thought through. You apparently think very carefully.
Ken