oldretiredjim

I don’t think of myself as a woodworker but I do stuff with wood. I bought a small repo house in Salt Lake in 2004 and have been working on it since. Some stuff I contracted and some I did myself. I didn’t really get a shop until 2008 although there was an old single family garage type building on the lot that I could work out of. Most of my projects relate to the house, garden, outside stuff, and my other habit – fishing. For the first 4 years the garage thing served as a base to store tools and other stuff. I did get a stove in the building in 2005 so there was some heat.
One thing that drives me now in most things is weight. I can no longer handle the loads I used to. I use a lot of cedar and until recently, straight grained red fir because these woods are light and easy on my saws. Since much of what I have built to date is used outdoors these woods hold up well against the weather.
Recently we installed an insulated steel overhead door and I cut a deal with my wife so that if she let me get rid of her kiln (she is a potter) and clear her stuff out of the garage I would let her drive her car into my space. That means being very careful with what and when I do things. She works most days until 630pm so that means I pick up my tools and what I am working on by 5pm or so. I don’t find this a burden because I am pretty anal about putting things away and vacuuming after myself. And when I am done picking up I can sit by the stove with a beer and listen to music.
Anyway, I’m posting pictures of what I call my shop and some of the projects I’ve worked on.