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America’s Top Shops

A -Warmed Workshop Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a fertile area for timber and . Tom’s 62'-long freestanding building combines a woodworking By Robert J. Settich and machine shop.

Most of the wood that Tom botched woodworking projects. orchard into a wall-mounted Elder carries into his shop exits On the contrary, Tom’s a very stove to keep his 1,792-- safety-conscious guy who works foot shop comfortable, even that go into the compost pile. to exacting tolerances in both during the coolest and dampest Butas smoke you would up the be flue wrong or ashes to wood and metal. The cold fact months in Harrisburg, Oregon. guess that you’ve met a careless As with many craftsmen, Tom’s woodworker who incinerates his trimmings from his 800-tree introduction to woodworking is that Tom feeds his filbert 48 woodcraftmagazine.com June/July 2010 A high-efficiency dust-collection system keeps Tom's shop so clean that he never needs to dust the trophy heads hanging on the south wall.

The Workshop At A Glance Size: Overall shop, 62' long. exchanger; ceiling mounted One end is 32'-square with 220-volt electric heater. bathroom and kitchenette. The Lighting: (20) fluorescent fixtures remaining 24'-wide section 8' long, each contains two tubes. contains a machine shop. Electrical: 90-amp service Construction: Outbuilding with panel fed from house. insulated stud walls and attic and Dust collection: Oneida 3-hp began in his youth. In junior 12"-wide wood siding. Peaked two-stage, cyclone dust high he took an interest in roof has extended overhangs. collector with felt filter bags. making gunstocks and small Heating: Wall-mounted wood Air compressor: 5-hp woodworking projects. His only stove with powered heat motor, 60-gallon tank. formal woodworking training occurred in the school’s shop class, but it was enough to comfort level. He also reversed less attractive .” Tom’s encourage a lifelong interest. the plan to serve his southpaw wall-hung clamshell tool cabinet As time allowed, and as his ways and chose blood-red and base cabinets provide passion for the subject grew, he Jatoba (Brazilian cherry) for its further testimony to his love found himself at the local library hardness and sheer good looks. of handsome quality woods. reading magazines and checking For contrast, he embellished the Like his choices of workshop out woodworking books. It was with bird’s-eye . woods, the way he preps in one such book that he found By mixing woods of great color stock differs from the more the classic European-style traditional approach. Unlike most workbench that he later built for through with his philosophy. shops that rely on a tablesaw himself, dovetails and all. Unlike Saysand figure, Tom, “Why he simply not use followed nice and to break the European style, however, Tom woods and do the best job you down and dimension stock, Tom’s opted for metal screws in his can working with them? It won’t go-to tools are his 24" Agazzani and changed the height to his save you any time by going with and 38" Woodmaster

Photos: Susan and Joe Essin June/July 2010 woodcraftmagazine.com 49 America’s Top Shops

Tom's laminate-topped assembly table features pull-out trays that keep hardware in easy reach.

The shop's main heat source is a scratch-built stove fed with prunings from Tom’s filbert orchard. A lean-to shelters the wood from frequent rains.

drum sander. “Now,” he says, “I the optional reversing switch use my bandsaw more than my tablesaw for such tasks. When reverse the feed belt direction for(for another an extra pass $150). to eliminate This lets him this tool safer and even faster.” the need to carry the milled I’m working by myself, I find stock around to the front of the with a 1" carbide-tipped blade, a drum sander between sanding With its outfeed rollers and Incra 3-hpTom motor, outfitted outfeed his bandsawrollers, and , Tom's 3-hp, 24" bandsaw an Incra fence for routine chores. feeds from the normal direction cuts with speed and precision. For serious resawing (he’s sliced topasses. achieve For the the best final results. pass, he stock up to 15" wide) he installed Tom knew that without a output, he purchased a Magic a shop-built fence with stainless Heat brand heat exchanger. steel rollers. With this setup he system, the drum sander has sliced a piece of 10"- wide couldhighly quickly efficient fog dust-collection the shop. So activates an electric blower to white to .008" thick. “You he chose a dual-stage Oneida pumpMounted heated in the air flue, into this the unitshop. could hold it up to the light and 3-hp cyclone and designed and To supplement the stove, see right through it,” he says. Tom also has a ceiling-mounted After resawing, Tom runs the lumber through the 38" 5-hp it.built The a plenumsystem operatesfitted with with 16 enough to circulate air, control Woodmaster drum sander. “As polyester felt filter bags to serve humidity,electric heater and prevent set at 50˚, rust long as I did my part steering up to 99.9% of particles down from blooming on his tools. the wood past the bandsaw astonishing efficiency, capturing blade,” Tom notes, “I can sand “I find the bandsaw safer out all the mill marks with a beforeto .2 microns. returning A furnace it to the filter shop. and even faster than couple of passes at 100 grit.” To scrubsTom theheats air his one shop final with time a the tablesaw.” make his sanding station more wood stove that he built by 1 accommodating, he built infeed welding together 4" steel and outfeed tables. He also added sheets. To maximize⁄ its heat 50 woodcraftmagazine.com June/July 2010 Bandsaw Clamshell wall cabinet 6' sliding Dust door collection racks

Lumber Wood storage stove Kitchenette

Assembly Workbench table 12' sliding Planer door Drum sander

Bathroom Tablesaw table Planer

Drafting table The Floor Plan Materials enter the shop through a 12'- wide sliding door that has sheet goods and Bandsaw lumber storage racks immediately next to the opening. Tom prepares to break down sheet goods by supporting them on his assembly table and sawhorses. He then uses a Festool circular and guide rail to 1 12' sliding Bench cut blanks 8" oversized. The components door ⁄ Tool Solid stock also rests on the assembly machine board tablemove andto the sawhorses tablesaw for for initial final sizing. rough- crosscutting to length with a Festool . Metal Tom squares one edge of each blank at lathe the before moving the lumber to the 24" bandsaw for resawing or ripping. Air Metal compressor lathe The lumber then passes through the 38" drum sander to remove milling marks. Project parts then move to other stations, such as the router table, tablesaw, or workbench for further machining. Tom usually glues up his projects at his and its laminate surface resists drips. assembly table, because the top is dead flat June/July 2010 woodcraftmagazine.com 51 America’s Top Shops

Smart ideas for the taking Two-way shooting board Adjustable 1/4" hole Brass knob (or star knob) Tom Elder has a zero-tolerance fence 1/4" all thread 11/2" long 3/4T × 2W × 91/2"L joinery policy: if a joint isn’t perfect, Adhesive-backed Fixed fence it doesn’t leave his shop. To achieve 11/4T × 2W × 91/2"L 9" 1" counterbore, 1/4" deep 15/8" Angled fence shooting board. The triangle can be 43/4" adjusteda flawless for fit, right- he built or left-handthis two-way shaves, 1/4" all thread or removed for shooting square ends. 2" long 45◦ By shimming the adjustable fence, 15" 3/8" dowel he can achieve dead-on accuracy. Nut Washer #10 x 1/4" threaded brass inserts 3/4" Base 3/4T × 91/2"W 3/8" Determine UHMW Cleat by width of layer bench top

11/2"wood Ledge screw 11/4" 11/8" 3/4T × 27/8"W

Spacer strip Cleat Nesting Sawhorses 1/4 × 1 1/4 × 23/4" Though two are shown here, Tom built four 26" such maple sawhorses that nicely nest together 13/4" to reduce their footprint when not in use. 1" Based on similar sawhorses he found at the 2" 81/2" , he added top spacer 2" strips to bring the sawhorses level with his Notch 3/4" Rail assembly table, expanding the supporting roles 3/4 × 3 × 26" 273/4" Strecher strips sustain damage when Tom breaks down 3/4 × 3 × 24" sheetof both goods, shop butfixtures. they’re The easily sacrificial replaced. spacer 21/4"

Leg 81/2" 3/4 × 3 × 251/4" 18" 3" Tenon 3/8T × 21/4W × 3/4"L Tenon Foot 3/8T × 21/4W × 11/2"L

R=2" R=3/8" 3" 3/4"

52 woodcraftmagazine.com June/July 2010 A window on Tom and his woodworking my bench; it is the most project was a gunstock, it important item in the followedWhile Tom’s that first his secondwoodworking shop.” The shop, striking in its appearance, goes getting married in 1959, Tom’s way beyond being a thenwould dormant be a rifle interest rack. After in showplace. Tom enjoys making gunstocks returned, making furniture although the time demands such as the quilted of work and family made and bird’s-eye maple woodworking an occasional china cabinet he built rather than continuous hobby. for his granddaughter, For much of his adult life, shown at right. A more he worked as a mechanical recent project is the contractor in the metallurgical quilted maple and and forest industries, and was Gabon hand able to retire 20 years ago at and presentation box age 50. He and his wife bought (bottom) that he crafted their current home about 17 for his son. The set also includes a lignum years gutting and rebuilding the vitae adjusting . house.years ago Tom and recruited spent the a friend first two to With all of his inroads help him frame the workshop, into making furniture, and then completed it himself. Tom occasionally With the shop built, Tom began returns to his earliest woodworking roots, and making shop essentials. making gunstocks from walnut How To Submit “Ifilling could it getwith by power without equipment all the and maple. He couples this with machinery,” Tom quips, “but not his considerable gunsmithing Your Shop skills. “I buy barrel blanks,” Got a top woodworking he says, “thread and chamber shop filled with ideas for them, put them on the actions smarter woodworking? You could be featured in Woodcraft Magazine and worseand, of than course, when build one the hobby figured earn a $350 Woodcraft gift stocks to fit.” Life could be a lot card. Send a short writeup, photos and/or sketches, fulfills the needs of another. and rough floor plan to: America’s Top Shops • Woodcraft Magazine • P.O. Box 7020 • Parkersburg, WV 26102-7020, editor@ woodcraftmagazine.com

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