Quick! Grab a camera

[Debbie]

WOW, I was successful - lets try another... This is part of my shop inside of my studio. I also have a mobil shop parked in the front yard. This is where I spend my winters and by Spring I feel like getting a bull doser and a scoop shovel to clean it, but I have fun when I'm in it - lots of thing to play with!

[E George]

Hi All,

 

Here's my bench. Items shown are as follow:

1. Old (circa 1960's) Sears fifth HP Industrial grinder hanging from a light chain. The electric cord is secured on the wall so that the motor won't torque.

2. GRS Magna Block - for anyone starting out this is worth the price.

3. Cutting Boards that my wife discarded. One I made into a "mini bench hook" that has brass pins on the bottom. Another I use for clay sketches.

4. I also use old place mats that my wife has discarded.

5. Over on the right is a cut down "kittie litter" box that I use to store sheets of sand paper. They are mad of heavy cardboard.

I also have one for drawings and operating manuals for power tools. These are normally stored in the cabinets on either side of the cabinet.

6. The dust collector is a Razaire. someone on "The Carving Path" said that it was a quiet collector. I like the shape.

7. The benches are made from 2x4's and 3/4" plywood. My father made them for jewerly work and I got them when he passed away.

I installed a roll out rack for storage of tools.

8. In addition to the "carving station" I have a "sharping and painting station". There is a power tool area with jig saw, band saw, 8" table saw and

drill press

[Guardian]

The flat anvil is what I am curious about. Is it a commercial unit, or did you make it out of parts? I could use something like that to adapt my carving bench/desk, to hold a jeweler's peg, without modifying the structure of the desk (I think).

The benchpin holder comes in different shapes -- I have one with a metal plate too, it is quite common and most jewelry suppliers sell them....

Ellen

[Janel]

Thanks Debbie and E George for the photos. Every set up is different and each one is interesting!

 

How about the rest of you? Are you ready to post your photos yet?

 

Any new additions or great changes to any body's work spaces?

 

Janel

[Geoffrey Gonzales]

I love my garage! The opposite wall is my painting studio. It's actually looking pretty clean today.

 

[StixnCanes]

Johnny Come Lately, here.

 

Some of you have absolutely great workshops, workbenches and work areas.

 

I thought I'd join in and show you mine. It's outside on the patio but, living in LA, the weather is wonderful most of the time. The epiphyllums are blloming now and they are beautiful. The flowers only last a coupke of days, but they are spectacular.

 

My main poroblem is whenever I get up I lose my seat to one of our cats. Oh well, I needed a break anyway.

[DreamingDragonDesigns]

Some photos of my bench. These are very definitely not with the bench in a cleaned up state. I'll try and remember to take pics after I next clean it to show the difference.

 

Feel free to ask about all that junk.

LJ

 

[Scott]

I live in a small one bedroom house and my work bench is in the living room. I have a small vacuum exhausted to the outside for dust protection when carving whether it be power carving of sanding. I have a 6" belt sander and a 16" skroll saw that I use outside weather permitting or vent outside via a shop vac. Yes I am limited but hey, you do what you gota do to do what you like to do, Right?

[Sam Smith]

Hi,

Here is my workspace during a project. I made a mold of a generic clay bust in 1/6 scale. Since I have a number of studies to sculpt this gives me a same scale starting point. The final figures will be that scale so I can stick any head I like onto a figure. I find 1/6 scale ideal for macquettes since it is large enough for good detail and small enough to cast easily. Plus I am used to it from the years I made prototypes for GI Joe.

Dick

 

 

oooo, I see a stereoscopic microscope.... drools

 

 

Sam.

[artaka]

hi im new to forums hope this works ok

heres a picture of my bench i like to sit on the floor to work

ive had various benches through the years and always end up on the floor

just when i was in need a close friend gave me this lovely oak worktop

im a jeweller and specialise in chasing and repousse .

am getting in to microcarving and have just started my first piece

 

[Jim Kelso]

Welcome Artaka. That's a nice bench. I used to sit on a platform which was similar to sitting on the floor. Don't know why I don't still.

[alain]

Started with this

 

And and 4 years later..... finished or end with these

the regular glasses increasing 3.5 time

 

[Janel]

I am reviving this thread with a photo of my bench, though the set up is not of work in progress. It is too neat, with a little deliberate disarray.

 

[WayneT]

Hello Janel,

 

Well this is my workbench, not as flash as most people but it's still a work in progress. Currently I'm working on a Kowhai flower made from Rumi.

 

So much that I want to do and so little time and cash to do it!

 

Cheers

 

Wayne

[lopacki]

Saw this thread yesterday but when I cam back I could not find it again. I am posting images of the carving bench I had set up in the house, it will soon be moved into my brand new studio, as I just today started to move all of my equipment in. Needless to say I am pretty excited, I have not had a true studio for over ten years, we started the building almost seven months ago and its finally done.

 

Once I get the studio up and running I'll post a group of images of the vairous benches.

 

All my best ............. Danny

[WayneT]

Hi Danny,

 

I had a look at your new studio you are building on your web page and it is certainly impressive. I can see why you are excited and keen to move in and start to create in that space!

 

Cheers

 

Wayne

[Ed Twilbeck]

I posted when this topic first came out since then I have purchased a small wood carver's bench. I have it siting on a all metal storage rack. It was the only bench that i found that would fit in my small studio, which is a 4ft by 6ft closet.

 

[Yuri]

My general woodworking bench, at present full of bored-out blanks of what will become a bunch of musical instruments. (mostly tabor pipes.)

Second picture: the bench at which I do all my small carving. (The larger carving is done at the previous bench.)

Third picture:An absolutely essential part of the equipment. Hanging on the windowsill is a pilot-grade pair of earmuffs. They will screen off any noise. The point of them is that they also enable me to listen to music while buzzing away. (They are extremely expensve beasts, at the time I bought them were about 800 NZ$. However, I was extremely lucky in that I got them for 40$, as they were discarded by the pilot that wanted to get them fixed. The problem was with the microphone, for which I have no need whatsoever.)

And, by popular demand, the last picture: The actual bench where all (that is all my small carving takes place. Yes, I am apparently the only idiot on this forum that carves on his knee. (sitting in that prolapsed armchair in the second photo.) Well, I know, I know. It is unhealthy and whatnot. I've been using this bench for the last 20 years, and so far have no more health complaints than anyone else. I tried time and again to switch to a more upright existance, but never could manage it.

[Janel]

Yuri,

 

I covet that bench of drawers in the second photo. It looks like the top bench/photo also has drawers included. Beautifully made work benches, too. Does the cloth covering on your favored work bench need replacing now and then?

 

Janel

[Yuri]

Yes, the general woodworking bench has drawers , too. They open both ways, so I can access them from each side. Plus two more at thye very bottom that open the long way.

The carving "bench" gets a piece of leather thrown over it whenever it is used, so no cloth replacements are needed.

The benches all were made by myself.(there are others , you can see the corner of one in the first photo) Using mostly offcuts and generally cheap timbers. For example the edging of the main (in my case, as carving is only a small part of what I do) bench is rata, one of the densest timbers around, that was just too cracked up to use for anything else. But it is perfect for the purpose, incredibly tough and hard-wearing.

[andrew S]

i have grabbed a camera and this is the small studio i have set up in suzhou's jade carving alleys in china. i am using a locally made fixed carving point which can use small burrs and larger tools for shaping, grinding and sanding (you can see them on the left of the machine). i had to make the larger tools myself. i also have a design and detail table where i sketch out my designs and use a micromotor. there is no water in my studio and i cool my stone with gravity fed water from bottles which i fill from a well outside. i share the studio with a chinese carver who sleeps there at night. he is very helpful and kind. you can see more pics of my studio on my website at

 

http://www.jadefiend.com/?page_id=5054

[Colin]

there is no water in my studio and i cool my stone with gravity fed water from bottles which i fill from a well outside.

 

Hi Andrew, I also use a gravity feed water system as you do. But, there is a slight difference. I capture the used water in a bucket. The water is dripped into it via a cut off coke bottle funnel, which I have packed (1/2 way) with scotch mits to catch the big bits from my carving area. I then reuse the water which has a lot of fines (mud) in it. It just seems to me that this water (muddy) assists my carving, by making the tools cut faster and cleaner. I mentioned it to an Engineer mate, and he said that in a small way I was emulating those who drill oil wells. They also use (secret) mud mixtures for drilling through hard substrates.Who Knows...Colin

[Janel]

I would like to bring this topic forward again. There may be some dust collection systems shown in the posts. And, if anyone wants to contribute just grab your camera and post your resized photos in your new posts.

 

Janel

[Sampsonman]

Wow, i am slightly jealous of all the great looking work beches here. My main bench ends up getting covered in projects on the go and so often i have to spend a half hour or so clearing away stuff to make enough room to work. I also end up doing a lot of my work at the living room talbe so i can have the tv on for background noise as well as the computer close for quick reference when needed. My workshop is currently unheated and in the summer i am so busy i don't have much time to do projects so since i have most of my time in the winter and the wood stove is in the living room i end up doing lots of my work in there. Nothing like sanding some stone in front of a warm fire. I don't have any pics of my living room table that is currently covered in jade, dremel bits and little pieces of sandpaper but i do have a shot of the bench in my workshop that i can share. I had just finished cleaning my rock tumbling barrels and had them piled on top of the rock samlpels i had collected in the last couple trips. It is almost organized chaos, .... but mostly just chaos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sampson

[Tony N]

here how i have set up in my kitchen i run the air compresser from the laundry its a bit messy but you get the idea