This is Where the Magic Happens (BeckerHead Workspaces)

[Dexwithers]

Spring Cleaning Time I guess.

This is where I do all My Mods to my Becker Knives, among many other things.


I spent a few hours in my garage today cleaning up my work benches and stuff so I can start some new projects.

I took some pics and thought I'd share since It won't stay clean very long.

These are my two main work benches. I use that swivel chair on wheels so I can just turn around to either bench. I can have multiple things going on at once this way.

This is one of my secondary workspaces. Use it mostly for forming Kydex and stuff but do use it for other stuff too.

Here is another workspace I try to keep clean. I have a glass sanding plate I made that I usually leave there and can just run over and have 4 different grits available at all times. I also use this space to cut stuff like leather and other items as well. It is also the place where I do my soldering and electrical stuff.

Please post pictures of your current workspaces!! Let's see where your Becker Modifications take place!!

 

[Darksidedenny]

Nice dex i sure wish i had that kind of space and tools instead doing the all by hand hillbilly thing on my balcony....

 

[Dexwithers]

Nice dex i sure wish i had that kind of space and tools instead doing the all by hand hillbilly thing on my balcony....

Thanks man. And I started modding and making sheaths on our old dinning room table in our living room at our old house. When we moved a couple of years ago, I didn't care what kind of house we moved to as long as I had a large garage/workspace and some land to practice some bush crafting stuff.

And I remember the days of making stuff and doing mods to stuff, wasn't knives at that time tho, on the balcony of my old apartments. I sure don't miss it. haha

You will get there one day man. And I learned so much by doing stuff with nothing, it makes you really appreciate the large tools when you eventually get them.

 

[Darksidedenny]

I know man...i USE to have all that.different time,different country.either way looks like a good place to hang out and do stuff

 

[plastid]

Do you have tunes on in that nice looking studio?
and

those
clip boards *very official*

 

[granitestateofmind]

Oh. So this is how you roll. My space was clean...for about two minutes. I'll post up some pics tomorrow or the next day...my garage is getting a little cleaner; of course I haven't done much out there in months because, well.....winter. Sub-zero. Noticed the shop vac out there wasn't doing a very good job and thought I'd pop it open and clean the filter. Turns out the thing was filled, I mean absolutely packed with sawdust. So full it crushed the filter a little bit...serious neglect and abuse. Your shop looks great, Dex. I can't believe your wife doesn't know what you're doing out there.....

 

[ThePointyEnd]

I'll play. My digs are no where as spacious as yours, Dex. Mostly for kydex and light modding/ tinkering. But, this is where a lot of that goes down.

Small grinder, dremel press, small vice up top. box-o-kydex, saws, and various stock below.
The main pressing area is in the kitchen next to the oven.

Have another main work surface, will clean that one before posting.

 

[Murphnuge]

Clean work areas?!

 

[james terrio]

Clean work areas?!

I know, right?

 

[Semper Praesidio]

Clean work areas?!

Inconceivable....

 

[tjswarbrick]

This is mine a couple months ago, when I had completed my car stereo install but hadn't begun my 11 to 151 mod.
My parents came to visit; Mom tried to convince my Dad that this is what a garage/workspace is supposed to look like. I tried to convince her that This Is Not Normal:











And, yes, this is clean! Tough to tell with the bikes on the floor.
You should see it right now...

 

[Dexwithers]

I know man...i USE to have all that.different time,different country.either way looks like a good place to hang out and do stuff

Aw man, that sucks that you actually had a nice place to work and know what it feels like to have the right equipment and now you don't.
And yea, I love my space, Get lost out there for hours.

Do you have tunes on in that nice looking studio?
and

those
clip boards *very official*

Haha! I like that, official. Yea. lol. Well I always forget to use the clip boards and end up with papers everywhere. I do have a clipboard in a drawer that I use often.

And of course I have tunes man. If you look in pic #3 next to the canteen, you can see the Bose sound dock thingy I took from my Wife. Her boss gave it to her one christmas and she never used it so I finally just took it and put it to good use. I don't even think she remembers. lol

90% of the time I have either David Russell or Buckethead pumping thru the speakers. The rest of the time it's just whatever I'm in the mood for, sometimes it's podcasts.

Oh. So this is how you roll. My space was clean...for about two minutes. I'll post up some pics tomorrow or the next day...my garage is getting a little cleaner; of course I haven't done much out there in months because, well.....winter. Sub-zero. Noticed the shop vac out there wasn't doing a very good job and thought I'd pop it open and clean the filter. Turns out the thing was filled, I mean absolutely packed with sawdust. So full it crushed the filter a little bit...serious neglect and abuse. Your shop looks great, Dex. I can't believe your wife doesn't know what you're doing out there.....

Yea mine is never clean. It's good to get reorganized every once in a while. I have a wet vac filter in mine and have been washing it with the water hose every couple of months to keep from having to get a new one. haha.

And our garage is not connected to the house so If my wife needs me, she will text instead of walking out side to find me. lol. I think she has been in the garage as far as the workbenches maybe 4 times since we moved in.

I'll play. My digs are no where as spacious as yours, Dex. Mostly for kydex and light modding/ tinkering. But, this is where a lot of that goes down.

Small grinder, dremel press, small vice up top. box-o-kydex, saws, and various stock below.
The main pressing area is in the kitchen next to the oven.

Have another main work surface, will clean that one before posting.

Thanks for sharing man. And I love my dremel press. I have the old style and have used it for years. I do need a belt sander like that! Nice!

Clean work areas?!

I know, right?

Inconceivable....

HAHA! You guys are right. 99% of the time you can't even walk in my shop and there is 2 inches of wood shavings on the floor. It is nice to walk in sometimes and be able to see the floor and the tops of my benches tho.

This is mine a couple months ago, when I had completed my car stereo install but hadn't begun my 11 to 151 mod.
My parents came to visit; Mom tried to convince my Dad that this is what a garage/workspace is supposed to look like. I tried to convince her that This Is Not Normal:

And, yes, this is clean! Tough to tell with the bikes on the floor.
You should see it right now...

Very cool TJ. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you have utilized the space very well and fit lots of stuff in there. The overhead hanging storage thing is cool too. Saves lots of space.







Man, I have looked everywhere for my before pics I took a month or so ago when did my last cleaning and can't find them anywhere?

Anyway, I am planning to add an AC, just have to get an outlet wired up, so I can work year round and I am going to add a wall to split the shop up so I can control the environment a little better. The humidity and temperatures here in Texas are not conducive to the main purpose of what I want to build in my shop.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Maybe when I have time I'll do a big spring clean on my workshop and post up pics... Good motivation here. Thanks! I wish I had as much space as you do. If I did, I think it might stay *slightly* cleaner.

 

[TMHunt]

Heres some pics of my shop.........WHEN it was clean.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/992806-shop-tour
^Link^

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Clean work areas?!

I know, right?

Inconceivable....

OK,okok... ya' got me... "Clean" might have been a little strong of a word choice. It's just that I couldn't think of a monosyllabic term for "put the crap in piles of similar crap so that people viewing the picture can tell that it's not a game of where's waldo, or just one big pile of crap."

Anyways, here's "Location 'B' for the guild of .... "

large box has clamps, templates, and large WIP's small box has Misc. tools. There's much, much more stashed around the house in various nooks, crannies, and millennium falcon-style smuggling compartments; but this a lot of what I keep in the "Lab".

@Dex: If there's two things I'd recommend that everyone who's able try, it's the HF 1/30 sander (had mine going on 3 or 4 years--can't remember) and a little polish called "white Diamond" --ooh shiny

 

[tjswarbrick]

The overhead storage was a lot of fun. It's held up over 10 years now, so I guess I did okay with it. 4 people in a "quaint" 2BR with less-than-1-car garage you've got to get creative. We just built (as in, finished last night) an Ikea wardrobe/closet in a hallway to store linens and such.

White Diamond - I'll have to try that.
My Dremel workstation isn't quite as solid as it once was. I generally prefer the drill press, and may take the dremel station down to make room, and just use the dremel by hand. May.
I've been trying to decide between a HF or Porter Cable belt sander. I really want the PC, but have trouble finding the cash. I know some people have been really happy with the HF, while others immediately wish they'd gotten a Grizzly or something. I don't want to find myself in that last boat.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

And our garage is not connected to the house so If my wife needs me, she will text instead of walking out side to find me. lol. I think she has been in the garage as far as the workbenches maybe 4 times since we moved in.

I took a page from my grandfather's old shop.

My grandmother got tired of waiting for him or yelling for him out in one of the out buildings when lunch or dinner was ready, or someone was calling on the phone. So he rigged up a big fire alarm bell like they use in schools out in one of the buildings and installed a button by the back door. If my grandmother needed to alert him to something, she rang the bell - a couple of short rings meant "time to eat". A long ring meant 'telephone call' and multiple LOOONNNGGGG ring meant "get you're bxxx to the house right now."

Out in my shop, cell phones don't work UNLESS all 3 doors are open, so I took an old siren control unit from back when I was running EMS calls. It has options for buzzer, siren, wail and yelp. If someone needs me at the house, they select a mode and push the button. Emergency is "dual mode" - siren and yelp simultaneously. Message delivered.

A cheap version would be a doorbell ringer and button with a wire run from the house to the shop/garage. ETA - or down to a basement.

 

[TBL]

My summer project is going to be my garage this year! I need to get a shed for the back yard. Then move the majority of the contents that don't need to be in the garage to the shed. After which I plan on emptying the remaining contents into the house while I epoxy coat the floor. After the floor I will be building new benches and then comes the mounting / organization of tools. Few more months of saving and I should have enough to get it all done.

 

[granitestateofmind]

The overhead storage was a lot of fun. It's held up over 10 years now, so I guess I did okay with it. 4 people in a "quaint" 2BR with less-than-1-car garage you've got to get creative. We just built (as in, finished last night) an Ikea wardrobe/closet in a hallway to store linens and such.

White Diamond - I'll have to try that.
My Dremel workstation isn't quite as solid as it once was. I generally prefer the drill press, and may take the dremel station down to make room, and just use the dremel by hand. May.
I've been trying to decide between a HF or Porter Cable belt sander. I really want the PC, but have trouble finding the cash. I know some people have been really happy with the HF, while others immediately wish they'd gotten a Grizzly or something. I don't want to find myself in that last boat.

FWIW, The Craftsman 2x42 seems pretty excellent so far (although I've been told it runs too fast) and I'm digging it. Not too expensive, seems well made and the motor is smooth. Even has a little dust collection on the disc part and I rigged up a collector for the belt part that is working reasonably well. For around $150, I'm really happy with it. Hope to put it to use on my 4 this weekend. I still gotta find the time to take some more pics of my spaces.