Off Topic What are the biggest non knife related shop upgrades you have made?

Greenberg Woods

Greenberg Woods

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
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This might be a bit of an odd questions, so ill give some background.

In March of 2021, i found out that my current shop landlord was 105% nuts. He had been taking tenant money and not paying the building owner, the building was barely fit for code, he was a paranoid schizophrenic and we had to get out fast. I moved into a new shop space in a barely built out warehouse, it took several months to get power/ walls and other basics set up. Because of that, my shop setup was really lacking, and only recently have I been making the commitment to improve the setup on my workshop.

Ive installed tons of bright ceiling lighting, shelves, ran power strips to sensible locations and mounted them on the wall instead of on the floor, as well as my personal favorite investment, a nice cart to move stuff around.

I want to hear about the best none knifemaking shop upgrades you have done for your shop. Not a new grinder or anvil or forge, but a comfy shop chair, a glue rack, belt organizers and the like.

Ben Greenberg
Greenberg Woods.
 
Swapped all of my 48" fluorescent bulbs to 6000K daylight LEDs and moved light switches to more accessible locations
Installed a ceiling mounted heater with a wifi controlled thermostat so that turn my heat up and down via my phone. Shop stays at a minimum of 50F all year. I'll probably add a window unit AC this summer.
I also just purchased a collapsible 3 shelf service cart. It's mostly for holding my parts and tools while I'm in the driveway working on my vehicles, but I'll also use it for keeping projects organized in the shop while I'm working on them. Bonus: It folds up and tucks out of the way when not in use.
I've also been slowing adding shelves and storage where I can, hoping to get as much stuff off my my workbenches and floors as possible.
 
Figuring out that the Xtreme duty modular shelving from Menards makes for very affordable and practical work benches.
 
Swan M200MkIII speakers and an Audioengine B-1 hi-fi Bluetooth making my digitized music library (available from my computer upstairs) controllable from an iPad.

Burina LED light bars. My basement lights up like daytime now. I use a mix of 5k and 6k bars to get different views of the steel.

Dewalt 20V MAX 1/2 gallon cordless vacuum. Makes spot cleaning easy and I tend to clean-as-I-go now.
 
Heat is something that made the shop 365 comfortable. Bought a Reznor ceiling mounted natural gas heater and can spend all night in the shop if needed without dressing in layers.
 
Heat and cooling are important. Heat in the whole shop. AC in the office and finishing room.

6000K LED lights. You won't believe the difference until you change to them.

Power - lots of it. 300 amps isn't hard to use up in a fully loaded shop. 3 phase is a blessing if available. More power allows bigger equipment like 10HP motors on power hammers, large salt pots that draw 30-50 amps each, induction forges, large capacity compressors, etc.
 
Dark infrared heating, an old painting because my shop is a place I enjoy being and an old 5ft pooltable
 
Color. Color can make your office more comfortable
I’ve purchased flooring. Rubber gym flooring which I intend to paint to a color that’s comfortable to my eye. And then paint the walls different colors.
 
Strong LED ceiling lights. Hot and cold water zink. Separate fuse box for shop, with plenty of 3-phase groups.
 
One thing that I also enjoy is one main power switch.
All electricity in my shop goes trough one switch. So when my shoptime is over I hit the one switch next to the door and all power is off.
Never worry about heating, machines, light or anything else left on.
 
I have two big workbenches on wheels. One for the grinders and one for the buffers. I like to do these jobs outside:

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No shop is complete without a drone landing strip:

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A horse entrance is handy:

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A view don't hurt neither:

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I have 2 different height workbenches. One for sitting and one for standing. I think that I use them both equally.
 
I have various chairs and stools in the shop for different processes.
I also have a seated togi-dai (sanding/finishing bench) that is nice for hand sanding. It is made from an old exercise sit-up bench. It folds up ans stores behind a door if needed. I can use it in the shop, on the deck, at a demo, or in the kitchen on a rainy or cold day. My sweetheart of a wife is OK with me doing sword finishing in the kitchen ... occasionally.

Here is an old thread about it:

Togi Dai

Last week I said I would take some shots of my togi dai. I use it to sand and polish knives and swords. I had a rigid one until recently, when I spotted a sit up bench sitting out on trash day. It was brand new, as far as I could tell. It folds up in seconds, and is very sturdy when set up. I...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
Click the thumbnails for clear images.
Notice the hair-on calfskin work bag on the floor in the second photo. Horsewright ain't the only one with cows around. Mine are all dead, but they were cows once.


Me at the togi-dai working on a wakizashi:
1648083710594.png1648085770260.png
 
Sitting is a big one! I recently bought an adjustable height shop stool for when I'm grinding a blade. It 100% instantly improved the quality of my grinds. I use it when I'm doing certain processes at the mill now too.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I have various chairs and stools in the shop for different processes.
I also have a seated togi-dai (sanding/finishing bench) that is nice for hand sanding. It is made from an old exercise sit-up bench. It folds up ans stores behind a door if needed. I can use it in the shop, on the deck, at a demo, or in the kitchen on a rainy or cold day. My sweetheart of a wife is OK with me doing sword finishing in the kitchen ... occasionally.

Here is an old thread about it:

Togi Dai

Last week I said I would take some shots of my togi dai. I use it to sand and polish knives and swords. I had a rigid one until recently, when I spotted a sit up bench sitting out on trash day. It was brand new, as far as I could tell. It folds up in seconds, and is very sturdy when set up. I...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
Click the thumbnails for clear images.
Notice the hair-on calfskin work bag on the floor in the second photo. Horsewright ain't the only one with cows around. Mine are all dead, but they were cows once.


Me at the togi-dai working on a wakizashi:
View attachment 1774170View attachment 1774188
Click to expand...
Man, that thing looks about as handy as can be! Kind of reminds me of a shaving horse.
 
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