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Woodworking in such a small space hasn't limited what I can accomplish, it just forces me to be more organized.

Our last house purchase put me in the position of no longer having a large woodworking workshop, I am now in a space 12' X 12'. Fortunately there is also a single car garage and a small room with a bench in the basement that I use for tool storage. Working in such a small space hasn't limited what I can accomplish, it just forces me to be a lot more organized.

I find it is necessary to think on a smaller scale, yet not limit the functionality of a tool, for instance a contractor model table saw without the wings on the table takes up just a little more space than a bench top model. This gives me the advantage of more power, a better fence and the ability to cut any size dado. Adding an extension just long enough for a router insert saves the floor space taken up by a dedicated router table, putting the saw on a mobile base lets me park it out of the way. It also allows me to use the saw outside when the weather is nice.

One of the handiest accessories in a small shop is a workmate, it serves as a small workbench as well as a clamping center. I use one as the base for portable power tools such as the jointer below and for a small router table.

4" jointer mounted on open bottomed box made from 2 X 6 material.

Plastic bag collects shavings from jointer mounted on Workmate.

Cutting Large Sheets

To cut full size sheets of plywood or hardboard I use a sheet rack and a cutting guide for my circular saw. Depending on the weather this is either done in the garage or on the patio in front of my shop. I have always used this method, even when I had room, I don't like wrestling 4 X 8 sheets on the table saw.

Do to the size of the shop and the fact that it is basically a one man shop, except on rare occasions, I have been using a shop vac which I connect to the machines as I use them. Because of the small area dust in the air was my biggest worry, a Delta Ambient Air Cleaner solved this problem. I still wear a dust mask when I am doing anything that creates dust particularly when working with MDF. Before I got the air cleaner it seemed like just moving around in the shop, even when I thought it was clean, would stir up dust. The beauty of this machine is that it is portable so I can take it to the garage with me when I am cutting sheets of plywood down to size.