Woodworking

Man you guys are good, I've been contemplating getting into woodworking for a while, but I've got no space. We've got a 2 car garage, wife takes up one slot with the Highlander and my Harley Sportster is in the other slot. But a couple of weeks ago I just bought the Ridgid portable table saw to try to get started. Man that's a nice saw. Got it the day after Thanksgiving at Home depot for $299. I don't know where I can get cheap lumber from though.

 

LOL, yeah I know, I wish there was

 

I fit both my Taco and wife's CRV in the garage along with the ww tools. It can be done, but you need to carefully consider purchases and space planning. When my truck is in (right side) I have about 6 inches clearance to the edge of my tool space, which is about 24" deep all along that side wall. Obviously I have to move the vehicles out to get any woodwork done.

Two years ago I made space for a workbench by buying a black and decker plastic storage shed to put in the backyard to hold the lawn mower, wheelbarrow, and all the various home maintenance equipment. That was really the key to being able to make the garage dual purpose for parking cars and doing woodwork.

Tablesaws tend to be the largest piece of equipment. I've heard good things about that Rigid portable, but no first hand experience. I got a Ryobi portal hand-me-down tablesaw from my Dad a few months ago, but still haven't used it. I built that Murphy Bed (pics above) using a high-end circular saw guide (EZ Smart). That's extremely space-efficient.

When you find cheap lumber, let us know. However, if you really want to invest the time, it is possible to find people who have cut down trees that basically let you have it free if you move it off their land. Then you pay somebody with a portable saw mill to come and slice it into lumber for you. But then you've got to store it and dry it properly.

 

near 7 year thread resurrection... am i setting a record?

starting a new job working at a furniture restoration place in a couple of weeks
half-excited, half-scared-to-death... as my current job has been very good and is hard to leave
also, although i've completed a University program in "Cabinetmaking", i'm fairly green at this whole thing
those classes, which included 15 hours of lab a week, are the only experience i have