Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Prelude to the move

My first shop was a basement shop. It was tiny, and I put so many tools in it that it ceased to be viable as a workspace. The table saw was the beginning of the end of that shop. My second shop was a space in a building that has since shut down. I had 800 square feet, all to myself, and in one year, I came close to putting too much stuff in it. Close, but not quite. I left that shop in 2008 for my current space, which has 3500 square feet for three of us. I'm moving out over the course of September. No, I haven't filled it with too much stuff. It's actually too big. 3500 sq feet is way more space than we need. Certainly more than I need. 

The new space is a shared space. The machine room is communal, and already set up. Many of my big machines will have to be stored, since they won't be needed. My personal area is about 300 square feet. In there I'll have a bench, a table saw, and a few other things. I've had five years of having lots of room to experiment with what is and isn't necessary. Now I get to see just how efficient I can be with 300 square feet. 

I'm not worried about having too much stuff. The communal machine room will take some pressure off, and there's storage space elsewhere in the building. So, I'll be able to flex and shift until I get things settled, which I couldn't do in my basement, way back when. But after 5 years of experimenting, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I need... And what I don't. It's actually going to be pretty liberating to get rid of some dead weight. And I'm not going to miss all the walking around.

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