Theory of evolution

All living things evolve, and so do woodshops. 

No matter where I’ve lived, I’ve changed my shop around — relocating cabinets or shelves, changing one work area to another, adding to the infrastructure, etc. All of my older shops were small, with the largest being a two-car garage, so the changes I made were generally to better utilize a small space. 

Adding something new meant removing something else, simply for lack of room. In my last shop, for example, my lumber rack could only go in one possible spot. There were no other options.  But my current shop is the largest I’ve ever had, easily three times the size of that two-car garage, so my lumber rack to go in a number of spots.

I originally put the rack right by the door of my walk-out basement, an easy spot to deposit lumber right after bringing it inside. That’s also where my processing area is.  It’s worked great for eight years. 

But now I needed a largish working space for my laser center, but it had to be someplace with an easy way to direct laser exhaust outside. Kinda tough to do when all the walls are concrete. But the spot with my lumber rack was perfect, as it abutted the back wall, which was framed, not concrete. 

With that in mind, looking at the photo above (clockwise from top left) let’s take a tour on the evolution of that important corner of the shop. The empty basement had lots of possibilities, and I immediately chose that corner by the door for my processing area. I framed and drywalled the basement, started painting the walls, and built that rack. 

Lumber racks are, by nature, a storage area, so over the years that corner ended up being a depository for lots of non-lumber things, as you can see in the lower left photo taken a few months ago. That lumber rack could go to several other spots — a bit farther away from my processing area than I’d like, but still not too inconvenient. 

With the rack moved and mess cleaned up, you can see the result in the last photo. A compact work area for two lasers, with ductwork and inline fan hidden inside the backs of those cabinets, and on out the wall of the back of the house. In all, I’m very pleased with how my woodshop has evolved. I’m sure Charles Darwin would approve.