I’m a pretty gregarious guy when it comes to shop sharing. But I do have a few rules.

Not a lot of people around here to get in my way or into my stuff. I have a great place for my stuff, but unfortunately, the few others who live here – two, counting the cat – know where that is. To that end, if you’re going to get into my stuff, please observe the following:

• Please don’t take my tools.

• When you take a tool, use it for its intended purpose. If you need a hammer, use a hammer.

• A screwdriver handle is not a hammer; a screwdriver blade is not a nail remover.

• After you’ve taken my tools, please put them back.

• When you put them back, please do so in the same place where you found them.

• My workbench is not a drop-off area for things destined for the storage room “later.”

• The drawer where I keep all my masking tape is not a craft supply center.

• Don’t open a can of stain with a can opener. Remember what happened last time.

Simple rules make for a happy woodshop, so for anyone in this house who might be reading this, please take them to heart. I won’t say who I suspect of occasionally violating any of the above, but it ain’t the cat.