Neatniks R Us (Not!)

One of the great things about possessing and occupying the barn is that I have 7,000 square feet of space.  And occupy it I do.  Lots of storage, lots of work space(s).  As a matter of fact, I have more than a dozen work stations allowing me to set up multiple projects, moving from one to the other as needed.  Or more truthfully, moving from a cluttered one to a less cluttered one.

Thus the down side to occupying the barn.  It needs more regular cleaning than I am inclined to do.

I have two dear friends, MikeM and MartinO, whose shops are so neat and orderly at all times they are what critics of shop videos would say, “It looks like no one ever works there, they are too clean.”  I can attest that Mike and Martin are indeed so orderly their shops do look that way.  Whether it is by necessity or temperament, the shops reflect the orderliness of the men themselves.  Everything is in its place, put away immediately after use.  Everything is kept clean, all the time, beginning with the moment a task is completed.

I will resist the churlish temptation to brand this as some sort of psychosis (smile).  Alas, I do not possess the traits these two neatniks have as my operating system.

For the past few months I have been paying the price for my own poor housekeeping habits, working my way back into regular shop time by cleaning the place, one work station at a time.  The end in in sight but I know well enough the trial of messiness will return soon enough.

Here’s a partial montage of my work stations.  I apologize in advance for the photography; trying to get good images when the space is ambient light and blinding snow reflection is blasting through the windows.

On the east wall, directly underneath a double row of windows is my FORP monster workbench, 8-1/2 feeet long and probably close to 500 pounds.  This bench gets used almost every day, currently is is the working platform for assembling my parquetry units for the big tool cabinet I’m making.  Underneath the bench is a cabinet full of marquetry/parquetry tools and supplies, and my stash of adhesives.  They are located here to be near the wall propane furnace.

Turn around from Roubo and you’ll find my third child.  If I was a Viking I would have this one buried with my in the mound.  This bench, with one of my Emmerts on board, is my most used piece in the whole shop.  I’m currently using it tp layout the doors of the parquetry tool cabinet.

One step behind and parallel to this bench is an early Roubo, not really successful but good enough to use as my metalworking and tool repair bench.  It has an Emmert machinists vise on it, and many jigs underneath.

Midway along the north wall is another Roubo bench, now my primary finishing station.  Underneath are cabinets full of brushes, pigments, and tube paints, etc.

Turn around from my finishing bench and you will find the Studleyesque bench I built for the exhibit now almost a decade ago.  It is perfectly usable as a general bench, but I mostly use it for my sellable inventory underneath, and packaging orders to ship out.

Down in the northwest corner of my shop is my “fine work” bench, a salvaged and renovated Sjoberg I use for all manner of small scale work.  Gunsmithing, engraving, checkering, silicone mold making, chasing, etc.

Literally adjacent to the Sjoberg bench is my writing station.  You might not think writing is work, but I promise you it is.  The chair frame was made by my Roubo translation collaborator Philippe Lafargue.  I use a turned over seat deck from a long gone project as my lap desk.

In the corner opposite my engraving station is my waxworks, encompassing all manner of wax processing.  It’s on top of a large map case unit full of veneers, mother of pearl pieces, and other exotic material.  Keeping the waxwork tidy is an unwinnable proposition, I just try to keep it usable with minimal fuss.

And this is just some of the stuff inside my 15′ x 35′ heated shop.

Stepping outside the heated shop is the “great room” in the center of the floor.  In the center of that is this Nichiols that I use whenever I am traveling to demonstrate traditional hand tool work.  It gets used here too, currently for making a Japanese planing beam and the base frame for the parqutery tool cabinet.

The north side of the great room is just tool and supply storage, but along the south edge is the space for my lathe, chop saw, and a vintage machinist lathe I bought at Donnely’s and then it was restored by my long time friend Jersey Jon.

At the east end of the room, in front of the wall o’windows, are two rolling benches with a variety of power machines, and next to them is my drill press.

On the opposite side of the floor from my shop is a space I originally designated as a classroom.  It contains several work stations for students, but now serves as an intermediate space for things in process of being “put away.”

Then on the fourth floor is my Gragg chair workshop.

At one end of the 40 x 24 space is my Roubo workbench, steam box and many bending and assembly jigs.

I also have a couple of large assembly tables that can be situated as the need arises.

So there is a truncated account of all the work stations I need to clean.