new workspace

[Spyros]

4-5 years ago I built this shed in the back yard

Until today the shed has been 100% for woodworking.  But that had to change because my leather working kit has grown and it needs a proper home, I had to share the space.

As you enter the right hand side is still woodworking, but it is now only a much reduced kit. 

Because leather working obviously doesn't mix well with saw dust, I can still use the space for drilling/gluing/assembly etc, but anything to do with cutting or sanding will have to be done outside on sawhorses.   I'm fine with that, all my tools are portable anyway.

The other side is now all about leatherworking

 

 

[Spyros]

These are the basic essentials.  I'm a big fan of magnets

The main surface is 12mm HDPE screwed on the bench.  I haven't tried HDPE before, see how it goes.  The floor is all epoxy so if anything spills it's easy to clean up

I made the chair myself, it turns into a ladder if I want to reach something up top

The main drawer is just for off cuts, cloths, towels etc

 

 

To the left is my Flintstones tablet holder.  I made it as a joke because the tablet is over 10 years old, but it's so practical that I've never stopped using it

 

[Spyros]

The box is where I keep my most used items, KS blades, maul, box cutter etc

The other containers up top are mainly for sandpaper and canvas

To the right is a rotary tool for polishing, electric creasing tool, brushes for glue, bulldog clips, press

Boba Fett in the corner needs to get airbrushed at some point

the tambour box is just for random other stuff

And the drawers on the left are mostly hardware.  Amazing how quickly hardware builds up

 

Aaaand that's it pretty much

I haven't actually done any leatherworking in here yet, I just finished it today.  I hope it works well

 

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Spyros

[HaloJones]

Now that is a nice area

[Retswerb]

Must... not... reveal... my... jealousy...

Seriously though, this looks like an awesome space and it looks like you’ve thought through it well. Only thing I’m surprised not to see is some sort of stone surface, but you know your own needs best.

[Spyros]

Thanks guys

 

20 minutes ago, Retswerb said:

Must... not... reveal... my... jealousy...

Seriously though, this looks like an awesome space and it looks like you’ve thought through it well. Only thing I’m surprised not to see is some sort of stone surface, but you know your own needs best.

No, you're absolutely right, it's just that I haven't found a good one yet.    We're still in lockdown over here so I can't visit the usual places to check out their offcuts.

[billybopp]

Yup!  That is a really nice workspace, but it's far too neat and clean!   I suspect you cleaned it up to show us.  

- Bill

[Spyros]

22 minutes ago, billybopp said:

Yup!  That is a really nice workspace, but it's far too neat and clean!   I suspect you cleaned it up to show us.  

- Bill

Yeah I just painted it, and yep it was a photo opp 

There was caked sawdust everywhere... the only way to clean was to take everything outside (incl the benches) which was a massive job, and I figured if I'm gonna do all that I may as well give it a coat of paint.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Spyros

[ehvhram]

looks great , nice job!

[battlemunky]

Good looking shop!

Check out monument suppliers, I got a 24"x12"x4" finished but unpolished headstone for $20 just because it had an errant dark gray streak in it breaking up the uniformity.

[Spyros]

Still looking for a good stone, but I did make some final adjustments to the shed.

First some storage for my leather.  I just cut 3 freestanding pieces of marine plywood and a couple of cross-beams to keep it all together, then screwed it on the studs.  Simple but it does the job and keeps the leather out of the way.  

 

 

[Spyros]

Then a ramp to roll the bandsaw out quickly when I want to use it.  No cutting and sawdust anywhere near my leather!

That took a bit of cutting with the angle grinder, which I hate, too noisy.  I just cut a few pieces of angle iron for the frame and mounted them on the concrete with dynabolts, this is a photo from underneath the ramp:

Not going anywhere.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Spyros

[Spyros]

Then I made some bins to the left and right of the HDPE, for my most used items that I wanted close to hand.  just straight up screwed some timber borders on the bench, it does the trick to keep things from rolling around.

 

and then I made proper storage solution for my countless hand press bits

This is where you will find me half the time holding a spring snap in one hand and looking at those bits trying to figure out WTF I'm supposed to use LOL

Edited November 1, 2020 by Spyros

[Spyros]

And finally that's enough of woodworking, time to cut some leather and make some stuff I needed for the shed

First I needed some storage solution for my sharpening kit. 

The main challenge here was to keep the stones from banging against eachother, so I needed a box with some sort of pockets.  This is what I came up with:

and this is the finished tool box:

I like it, it looks like an old school first aid kit or something

The funny thing is, of all the bags I made, which one did my wife want the most?  My sharpening kit tool box of course! 

"Oh wow, a square bag!  Can I have it???"  LOL 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Spyros

[Spyros]

And finally I made a quick tool wall for some wood working tools that needed a home.  Just rivets and eyelets, quick & easy.

And a quick catch all for keys, glasses, phone, because they always seem to find their way exactly under my leather when I want to punch a hole.

aaaaand that's it, I think I'm done making stuff for the shed

[Spyros]

Oh yeah I forgot, I flipped over the top layer of my middle (black) bench to get a clean surface.

Before:

After:

This material is called form ply, basically construction grade plywood with this black composite film on top that nothing sticks to.  They use it in construction to make molds to pour concrete into.  They beauty of it is that you can pour epoxy, wood glue, leather glue, dyes, anything at all, you can just wipe it off, or if it's dry you just push it gently with a hard spatula and it comes off.  Perfect for glue ups and dyeing, I used it a lot for both leatherworking and woodworking.  If you don't scratch it (which is the mistake I made before) it lasts and stays clean forever.  Love it!

[SaintJoy18]

Spyros, such a beautiful set up! Looks extremely well thought out and planned. I'd like to make one small suggestion though. Roll your leathers with the flesh side out so the sun and fluorescent lights don't discolor the grain.I'd hate to see those nice sides become unusable due to UV damage.

[Spyros]

7 hours ago, SaintJoy18 said:

Spyros, such a beautiful set up! Looks extremely well thought out and planned. I'd like to make one small suggestion though. Roll your leathers with the flesh side out so the sun and fluorescent lights don't discolor the grain.I'd hate to see those nice sides become unusable due to UV damage.

Good call mate, I will do that thank you

[Garvey]

Great looking shop Spyros!  I'm jealous.  I would love to add a shed to the yard for a shop, unfortunately my yard is too small.  I'm currently stuck using a desk in the corner of my basement bar/game room.  It's working for now, but I'm just getting started.

 

P.S.  Boba Fett looks an awful lot like a Death Trooper.

[toxo]

Really nice! Is that a programmable drill press/tapping machine?