Tour of The Carmichael Workshop


Steve Carmichael is a woodworker in Atlanta, Georgia who has a YouTube channel and Website to share his creations. He took the time to show us his shop. Here it is:


My shop occupies my wife’s side of our two-car garage. The space is about 12’x20’. On my side of the garage, I built a temporary 8’x12’ music room in the back corner and our gardening equipment is stored just inside the garage door.

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Prior to inheriting my father’s workbench and tools, I had a few small bench top tools along the back wall of the garage so that my wife could park inside. Now, the workbench sits in the center of the space with tools around the perimeter. This layout has a comfortable workflow, plus it allows me to set up my video camera to shoot scenes at my workbench or at any tool.

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Starting just inside the garage door on the left, I have a Craftsman 10” Contractors Table Saw and 7 gallon air compressor. You will notice that my father was a Craftsman fan. The table saw is near the garage door so I can roll it out onto the driveway if necessary.

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I never use the left side of the table saw fence, so I attached the left wing with door hinges so I can fold it down out of the way. I can fold it up temporarily and secure it with one bolt if I need it.

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My router table has a Craftsman router mounted in it. The fence is stored underneath. This surface collects table saw accessories and cutoffs, so I rarely use it.

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On the wall of my music room, I have some shelving for glues, paints, and finishing supplies. I also have a cordless drill charging station that keeps my drills ready to go. I never use that giant C-Clamp, but it looks impressive.

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My KFF lathe has an MT1 taper and a 38” capacity. I have a cheap set of turning tools that work ok for pens and small projects. I just bought a new bowl gouge and plan to upgrade the others that get frequent use. Watch my Drumstick Turning video to see it in action.

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I built a workbench on the back wall. I keep pen turning supplies organized in the wooden tool chest. The Mudflap Girl Pushstick is handy for ripping thin strips. I made a screen for Screenprinting Shop T-Shirts. On the bench, you can see my Invisible Birdhouse…or can you?

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This old grinder appears to be a machine shop project that my father built while at Georgia Tech. It works great and is very heavy. Notice that GA TECH is actually cast into the base.

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This Craftsman vise holds my earliest memory of starting to make things. When I was a kid, this vise held everything I sawed, drilled, hammered, bent and squeezed.

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This is a view of the workshop from inside the house. The orange traffic cone was going to become a cyclone dust separator before I got a ClearVue Cyclone. The bottom section of the garage door rotted, so I built the new section using pocket hole joinery.

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I use a lot of quick grip clamps. My best clamps are the Jack Clamps on the right and the Bessey strap clamp on top. I plan to upgrade the cheaper clamps slowly over time.

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I love my Van Halen Tool Chest. It brightens up the shop and gives it some rock n roll atmosphere. I like combining my passions for music and woodworking when I can.

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I placed my spindle sander, drill press, and bandsaw together so that my Shop-Vac hose will reach all three. In the center of this picture, you can see my 2×4 Acoustic Telecaster Guitar. Yes, it works!

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This Craftsman 12” bandsaw is my favorite tool. It uses 80” blades that are readily available. I think it is one of the best deals out there if you are looking for a budget-friendly used saw. Apparently you can get an 80” sanding belt and use it as a sander too.

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My lumber rack is a scaled-down version of The Wood Whisperer’s rack. I’m not sure if this is the best solution for me, since I tend to store more small cutoffs than long boards. I may change this up soon.

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I plan to build a rolling cart for my Craftsman sliding miter saw. My DeWalt DW733 planer sits on a rolling cabinet near the garage door. The cabinet also contains my sanders. I can roll this onto the driveway to keep the mess outside. Note the black and yellow Van Halen paint job.

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This Craftsman 13” Scroll Saw uses pin blades, but I am able to get by with it. Pinless blade adapters are available for these saws, but I would prefer to upgrade to a better saw at some point.

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I have a 3-wheel Craftsman 10” Bandsaw as a backup. I like that it is portable and I may use it for craft show demos someday.

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My 1940’s Dunlap lathe is a Sears product that was also sold with the Craftsman logo at one point. I have a 3/4 hp motor for it and I intend to make a video on getting it running again. It also has an MT1 taper, so my lathes can share attachments.

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This Craftsman Jig Saw is the very first power tool that my father taught me use. I wore it out, but I think it still works.

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When recording videos at my workbench. I have two clamp lights on poles in front of me. I also have a third light shining on my back-left side, which is out of the frame on the right. I can move these lights anywhere in the shop to set up a shot.

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Here is a peek inside my music room. The enclosed room inside the garage helps to keep the sound somewhat contained. My kids and I use it for practice and recording.

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If you would like to see a guided video tour of my workshop, here is my Shop Tour Video. p>

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my workshop. It is constantly changing as my needs change. Someday I would like to have a dedicated shop so that I could have more space. Plus, I’m sure my wife would be happy to have her side of the garage back!


Don’t forget to subscribe to Steve’s YouTube channel and check out his Website!

Also, be sure to follow him on your favorite social media to keep up with any updates he puts out:

 


 

4 COMMENTS

  1. I’m thinking Steve could use some more lighting. Now that I just moved, I’m missing all of the light I put in my old shop. It’s bad enough moving a camera around for every shot, when you have to move a couple lights too it just sucks..

    • Hi Ty – I just upgraded to brighter bulbs in all of my lights this week so that helps a lot. I have my light poles connected to long cords, so it’s easy to move them anywhere in the shop. It would be nice to have each station lit up though.

  2. Great shop, thanks for the tour. You should have a lot of enjoyment out of that old lathe when you get itt going.
    Larry from Freeport,Long Island, NY
    PS I see the invisible bird house next to the lamp.

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