Popular Woodworking 2003-08 № 135, страница 68

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Why is George Jaeger smiling? Well it could be the excellent deal he got on the complete Stanley 45 plane lying on his bench. Or it could be the majestic view surrounding his enormous stand-alone shop (right). Either way, when you look at the spacious, well-organized and well-appointed shop interior (one-quarter of which is shown above), it's easy to see Jaeger has created his ultimate workshop.

Gimme that Countryside

While Willenborg chose to make the most of his existing house, Jaeger and his wife chose their "retirement home" with an existing barn in mind for his shop.

As you approach Jaeger's place along the back roads of the northern Kentucky countryside, you can appreciate the beauty and solitude. You might also think of the distance to the nearest lumberyard. For some woodworkers, that distance might be too far.

The Jaegers' home had been built with all the contemporary comforts only a few years before, and the former owner had added an ample barn (32' x 40') with

sliding cargo doors at either end and about 12' of headroom.

Inside Jaeger's shop is a great collection of machines and tools he's gathered for decades. Some of the machinery he even made himself, such as his tilting-top router table and shaper. Most of the equipment has an acquisition story behind it that shows as much joy at the getting as in the using.

The 1,280 square feet of storage in his shop is almost an embarrassment of space. In fact, there's so much room in his shop that Jaeger stores his fishing boat below his lumber racks.

The shop has most amenities: heat (no air conditioning ... yet), excellent lighting from both windows and a score of both fluorescent fixtures and incandescent task lights (it seems fluo-rescents do funny things to spinning forms on the lathe).

There's one thing missing, however. During our visit, Jaeger's wife suggested that we "make use of the facilities" before heading out to the shop.

While Jaeger also recognizes the importance of adequate dust collection in his shop, his solution is a bit lower-tech than Willenborg's. A large filter-bag dust collector is tucked away in a closet, with a special access door to change which blast gates are open. Jaeger did add an extra window to the "closet" to avoid losing any natural light.

A nice collection of hand tools round out the shop's equipment. It's Jaeger's ultimate workshop. You might have different ideas for your own shop, but that's the beauty of woodworking. It's a little different for everyone, and what we bring to it makes it our own, ultimately. PW

Willenborg took advantage of being able to create what he needed in his shop space.The Oneida cyclone dust collection system (above right) is built into a separate room, with the ducting running under the poured concrete floor. Where the ducting meets the machines, he incorporated Ecogates (above) that automatically open and activate the cyclone collector when the machine is turned on.

Jaeger wanted efficient dust collection, but also wanted it tucked away. His dust collection room was built out from the existing wall, forming a bump-out with worktop space on either side.To avoid losing any of the natural light pouring in from the windows, he added an interior window to the bump-out.A lift-off door panel (shown removed at left) allows easy access for emptying the bags.A small Plexiglas access door (far left) lets him not only see which blast gate is open, but allows easy access while still keeping the room sealed.

66 Popular Woodworking August 2003