My General Play Area
Shop and Bow/Train Room
I spend a lot of time puttering in my shop and in the bow room/train room. Since moving into this house six years ago, both have been in a constant state of disaster, as I just couldn't seem to fit the activities and tools that were once in a 3 1/2 car garage into a fairly small one car garage. Over time, I found I had given up some activities and gotten involved in others, but all of the paraphernalia of all of them still cluttered up the place. About a month ago I reached the "I can't stand it" point and essentially cleared out to the walls and made the hard decisions on which thing would never happen again... making rifles, carousel horses, ventriloquist figures, and just how much machine and woodworking tooling I really needed or had room for to enjoy the smaller and/or different projects and activities I really was engaged in.
This project took a full month and involved getting rid of some heavy equipment completely, replacing some other units with smaller versions, throwing away projects that would never be completed, supplies that would never be used, etc. The end result is a very nice, open shop that I can actually do some useful work in, and an organized bow room that has room for a modest but satisfactory model railroad... I think the 15th one that I will have built.
Anyway, for those on the Treadle On list and the Howard Hill Shooters lists who kind of follow what all I get involved in, here are some pictures so that you can visualize the animal in its native habitat...
Shot from open garage door. On right: storage shelves, workbench, more storage shelves. Center: door to bow and train room, small drill press, heavy belt sander, wood lathe. Left side: door to Ann's shop and rest of basement (not really visible), storage cabinet, band saw, corner of heavy roll-around work table.
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Shot from back by lathe/drill press: just out of site at edge of picture is door to rest of basement, then the big storage cabinet, band saw and roll around work table. There is considerable area for wood storage behind the roll around table. |
Closer shot of the wood lathe, belt sander and drill press... all on wheels.
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Workbench. Made from a bowling alley surface, with two large Record wood lathes, 2 1/2' x 5', weight approx. 250#. Even this is on wheels. When the bench is moved, the back shelf surface with the little parts bins on it stays put. Mechanics tool chest to right. |
The right side again: shelves, mechanics tool chest, workbench and more shelves. Note the table saw on the shelf. This shelf matches the height of the roll around work table, so that when the saw is needed, you just roll the table over and slide the saw out.
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Here is the full length shot again, but with the furnace room door open. The furnace room is the bow room and train room. I do a lot of shooting from the driveway, generally about 13 to 14 yards, but I can get 20 from the street edge.
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To the left of the target box is the arrow making work bench I set up to learn to make arrows this winter... and to the right of that, on the other side from the train surface, is the bow wall... |
The bow wall... mostly Howard Hills. Everyone asks how the deer was taken. I am not a hunter... the deer was taken with a 57 Chevy many years ago...
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From ;the furnace
room door... my main target box (see complete story of this box on
the Bulletin Board). Blue foam table surface at right will be model
railroad... in HO this time.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of my basement play area. I also paly in the sewing room and in the backyard. I'm pretty lucky...
Dick