Dreaming of a workshop

I was pottering around the garage earlier today, thinking about the partition wall we want to build and sorting out some of the timber to use to build it. As I pottered I thought about how I'd turn the larger part of the garage into the workshop I've always craved.

I'm not a big woodworker, but I've always wanted to develop a space where I can be creative and make things as the need and fancy takes me. I've even drawn up some plans for a multi-use workbench incorporating my drill stand, a mitre saw and storage space for tools.

Along with the dream plan, there's a dream list of things I'd like to have in there. This includes a sharpening system like the Scheppach Tiger. This is a wet and dry system with jigs to help put a keen edge on a wide range of blades. I'd even sharpen the kitchen knives and garden shears!

It would certainly get some use given the 15 chisels, 5 hand planes and 1 or 2 other sharp implements at my disposal!

After sharpening comes the possibility of a saw table. I have a circular saw (actually I had 3 but I've just given one away), and I've worked out a simple way to make repetitive cuts on a bench, but a table saw might be nice. Similarly a nice piece of kit to have would be a planer thicknesser.

Whether I'd go for a stand-alone saw like this, or a bench top one that I could build a rolling cabinet for that would also house the planer I don't know.

And while I think about, maybe a sanding machine would be a nice touch!

How far I'll get I don't know. At the moment the garage is full of bits and pieces, timber, old garden chairs, insulation left over from the log cabin project and lots of tennis kit. If I get the partition built and then build some shelves and cupboards into the utility end of the space, then the workshop end might start to take shape. I've seen an idea for making some insulation panels for the up-and-over door to help make it less draughty.

Here's to the dream!