You asked about the basement woodshop, so here is a tour of the shop as it is today. But I have some big plans and significant changes to this little shop space. We’ll look at that in an upcoming video.
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Below you will find useful links that will help you in your journey as a blacksmith.
To find more information in blacksmithing in the US or to search for your local ABANA affiliate group visit.
https://www.abana.org/
Blacksmithing tools and supplies
Self contained air hammers – http://www.saymakhammers.com/
General blacksmithing supplies – https://www.oleoacresfarriersupply.com/
General blacksmithing supplies – http://www.piehtoolco.com/
General blacksmithing supplies – http://www.centaurforge.com/
General blacksmithing supplies – https://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/
General blacksmithing supplies – http://www.blacksmithsupply.com/
Square head bolts and lags – http://www.blacksmithbolt.com/
New anvils – https://www.oldworldanvils.com/
New anvils – http://www.nimbaanvils.com/
New anvils – http://fontaninianvilandtool.com/
Industrial supplier – http://www.mcmaster.com
Tong blanks and tools – https://kensironstore.com/
Fire brick and refractory – http://refwest.com
Blacksmithing and related activities can be hazardous. These videos are not a substitute for competent professional instruction. Your safety is your sole responsibility. Always use appropriate safety equipment including eye and ear protection when working in the shop. Follow manufactures safety guidelines for the use of all equipment. In the event something shown in one of these videos seems unsafe, it is up to you to make the appropriate changes to protect yourself.t yourself.
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You are correct in reference to the bench top joiner. You are better off finding a nice used 6" preferably long bed. In my experience you can find them for same cost as the bench top. Unfortunately the take up space but it is probably the one power tool that needs to not be bench top
Well done. I loved this video. I'd really like to see more of your woodworking processes if you have time to make the videos.
Owned a bench top 4” craftsman. Not a fan. For the last 15 yrs I have run a 6” Intermatic stationary. I would think a 6” stationary or bigger would be the way to go. There are plenty of mobile bases out there so you can move it out of the way. Keep the bench! Use it for an out feed table for the jointer and/or build the table saw( sounds like one is coming) so the bench can also be used as an out feed table. I have worked out of a basement wood shop for twenty years until moving to our retirement home. Now in a 20×30 stall in the barn. Your dust collection system is the one to get right. Interested to see what you do.
Always nice to visit the wood shop, thanks for the tour.
Another excellent video sir
Rember the number one rule. Whatever you throw out today, you will need tomorrow.
I don't own a jointer, but have always regretted buying the 'junior' version of any tool. I'd say get the big one, since you want to work large pieces and it will be more suitable. Love your awesome content John! I've learned a lot from you as a hobbiest blacksmith. Thanks for all you do!!
Hello John, I have a suggestion for the clamp storage place. What you can try is to make individual upside down L shaped hinge hangers for the rows of clamps. That way you can swing the rows out to find the ones you need at the time you are looking for them. Also they will stay on the L shaped hanger as they are swung outward this making the search a little easier without worrying about clamps falling in the floor or on your feet. Being a blacksmith you can make the upside down L shaped hangers in the blacksmith shop nice video project and a productive item for your wood workshop. Thank you for the great content you create and the variety you have been posting is really nice. Thank you, Steve
As a lifelong woodworkers I consider myself a machine age woodworker with the additional skills of a hand tool woodworker. When I was a carpenter 90% of the finish work on the job site was primarily hand tools, we rarely had a table saw or jointer on the job. I would avoid bench top machines, I have never had good luck with them. I tried a few because there were cheaper but they just didn't work out. My pride and joy in my Delta Great White 10" table saw with a 52" rip width. If you ever come up with a solution to the material storage for small pieces of hardwood I will see if I could make that work in my shop. Piles are not efficient as you know.
Great timing on this video – my son and I just started planning on how to convert a garage attic into a small work space. It was good to see some of your tools and we'd like to hear more about how your benches are constructed.
Fun tour! I like 1554, too!
John, Thanks for the tour, so glad I'm not the only guy that seems to take a long time to get a round toit, (those things are rare).
I also firmly believe that if you are going to make or repair tools with handles you should be able to make at least some of them, at least those that need special designs, lengths, sizes and such. I have a brother that can make fantastic handles for anything, i just let him know what I'm wanting and he has never disappointed me.
As far as the benchtop jointer/planer, if you're going to use it with large pieces of wood my suggestion would be to have a niche in a workbench that can handle it, infeed and outfeed so it's the same level and can help stabilize the workpiece, preferably make it so that you can change it out with other benchtop tools.
Anyway, I've rambled on long enough, great video as always, loving the diversity, keep up the great work.
John V.
Bench top jointers are fine, but for anything long you're going to want to build infeed and out feed tables.
I am a hybrid woodworker and I have two suggestions for power tools. As someone who started out with hand tools (except my table saw) and has a small 12×20 shop, one I suggest getting a shop fox 6” bench top jointer. Shop fox is made by Grizzly industrial and is a wonderful tool. I have ran small parts and large on it, the key to getting longer parts flat is having rolling stands level with the in feed and out feed on the jointer. This takes care of supporting the weight of a larger workpiece. I have ran 4ft long x 1ft wide by 3” thick back leg rock maple blanks for a Maloof rocking chair and they came out perfect! And I didn’t break a sweat. Second is a dewalt table saw DWE7491RS this has all the features of a large cabinet saw unlike its smaller counterparts and I have never regretted buying it. Thank you for all you do!
Looking forward to seeing you at handwork John.
As to jointer. It is all about size of project parts. The bench top 4" & 6" are good for smaller parts and typically lighter cuts due to smaller motors. If you are doing chairs and side tables. Good.
But if you are building 6' or longer parts…well you upgrade. I have a grizzly 8" with long beds. I can easily do larger boards. Just did 13ft maple 4/4.
I love the crafts, whether they be blacksmithing or woodworking. Hell I'd even watch you do some leather working if you had a project in mind. Thanks as always John!
Nice tour of shop.i can spend full day there. Always excited to see so many beautiful tools
Try & avoid the set-up tear down , set-up tear down situations as much as possible !!! It eats up a lot of time & grows old quickly !!!
Love your videos John. Make another channel just about your woodworking with maybe some crossovers. Sure people would love that. Keep safe.
👍👏👏
John, great tour. Thanks. As for the jointer – I'd get the big one. I don't have unlimited space, but everything is on wheels (apart from the anvil) and I just wheel out whatever I need. Even my big bench is on wheels. I used to have the exact same space problem, but wheels are the key!
Nice shop and tour John!
Hi John! I am looking for a joiner thicknesser for a while. Since I only have a small basement shop, about half the size of yours, and I have to move to another house in a few jears, I don't want to go for a 300+ pound machine. Unfortunately the cheap tabletop combi-machines all seem to be pretty crappy. I think, I will go for two separate machines by Shinko. Qualitywise they look good, even with helix-cutters. In Germany you get them only at Dictum. There should be a reseller in the US. If you are interested, I can give you a note, when I will have tested them in a few month. Have a nice day (I hope, my spelling didn't make your eyes bleed 😜)!
I was a professional contractor, power tool only, until I retired 6 years ago. Since then, I have transitioned to using mostly hand tools, although I do still have all of my power tools. From my own experience, you will never be happy with a bench top jointer. If you can make the room, then a full-size jointer on casters is the way to go. If you can't make the room or find a jointer that fits your budget, then I would suggest sticking with the hand planes. With practice, you will find that you are able to joint a board in not much more time than it takes to set up and use the power tools. If you are working on a larger piece of lumber that is really rough or twisted, consider using a small hand held power planer (these look like a belt sander) to get things close, and then finish up with the hand planes. The same holds true for the opposite face if you are only doing one or two small boards. For projects using a larger number of pieces that all need to be the same thickness, such as your face frames, then a thickness planer is the way to go. Sorry for the long post, but hopefully, you will find this helpful.
One can Straighten things with the help of a router, which you already have, (two sliders and the router mounted on a beam with the workpiece fixed to the table) it doesn’t have to be rocket science, 😊
As for the ‘cheap’ bandsaw, if it has thick rubber on the wheels then that will quickly flatten the teeth on one side of the blade, one need crowning on the wheel, (so the teeth hangs in the air) or it will also not track properly. Took me a long time to figure that rubber-sabotage detail out🧐…
I'm hand tool only when the journey is part of the goal, but I will use a few power tools when it's all about finishing something to get back on a more enjoyable project. I don't have any big power tools, though. Sawing etc. is done by hand. I just have some electric drills, a few air tools, and a drill press. Well, and an angle grinder, but I don't use that for woodworking! I also use an electric sewing machine, and my soldering iron uses electricity 😅
A bench top jointer would probably do the job, but I would consider adding a catch table or roller stands to both end when working with piece that twice the length of more of the jointer.
I wish that when my high school had closed down that I had offered to buy one of the woodshop lathes. That was before I was interested in projects that needed machines like that. Nowadays I would be willing to pay good money for that, but back then I could have had one for a song. They may even have given me it for free. If I had the foresight to make a bid it would have paid me back 10 times for the effort by now. That's the benefit of hindsight, you regret the things you haven't done. I loved working on those lathes back then, they made short work of any job a student could make.
Love the variety in your craft! I use your holdfasts all the time 🍻. Avoid a bench top jointer. The 6” helical PM and Jet are fantastic. Bed length is more important that 6” vs 8” in my experience. PM makes the longest 6” that runs on 110 power.
I love the work that you do…
Thanks for the video. I like the combination of wood and metal. Have you seen this solution for a jointer by Izzy Swan: Don't buy a JOINTER until you watch this video! He has the same situation as you. With a large band saw machine you can make really cool things as WorkshopCompanion shows in the video: Bandsaw Magic: "Making a little known trick a little more known"
I love that you started doing all sorts of different videos John. They're so interesting to watch! Keep it up, best regards
I love everything crafty. I have no problem with the addition of woodworking videos or anything else. Thanks for sharing the journey.
Love the big Roubo style bench! You nailed the issue with the benchtop jointer. We have a 6" Delta floor standing jointer in the shop, overall length is 44 or so inches and that is limiting for long 6 or more foot long boards. Especially if they are 8/4 or thicker and 6 to 10" wide, that's a lot of weight to counter balance while keeping the downward force on the outfeed table. My vote, with your dollars, is get as big of a jointer as you can fit into your workspace.
as a woodworker, I'd have to agree with the majority on the benchtop jointer. This is solely based on the projects you mentioned in this video. Now, depending on your long term goals, you could probably work your way through the bigger projects using one. 731 Woodworks has a great video on the Wahuda brand one he has. That being said, if you're willing to invest in it, a great space-saving option would be getting a jointer planer combo. That's what I eventually want to get for my shop unless I find a way to expand it. Anyway, another great video! I love seeing these ones in the woodworking shop too! Can't wait to see how your shop here evolves!
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to upcoming excitement in the basement and other shops you have. Wood and iron are a great pair in so many ways.
When I finally kick the bucket and St Peter opens the pearly gates they will lead straight into a shop like this one, beautiful thanks for sharing.
My blacksmithing is 90% in support of woodworking. Second smithing project was a very crude adze long before Internet shopping. Farriers taught me to forge weld and the various hewing axes and a bunch of different adzes. A couple slicks I really wish you'd been around to talk me through.
My wife and I recently purchased a combination jointer plainer from grizzly, as we wanted both of the tools, however in our garage work shop, we didn't have the room for both tools. It has the replaceable carbide cutters, and we are very pleased with the performance of it, and it isn't to bad to move around, I would highly recommend it to anyone. here is the P/N for the one that we purchased. G0959
Thanks for sharing your wood shop John! I have a small wood shop also and have gotten into blacksmithing 🙏🏼
Nice shop. Small but functional. I like it. A table saw would be nice. Don't think you need a jointer. Hand tools can do that job quite well. A planer would speed things up if you were working with larger material. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
Think of it this way if our ancestors had the choice to use power tools they would have.