Wall Paneling

I gave up on the idea of pallet slats as wall paneling.  Tearing down pallets and cutting the boards was a lot of work with very little payoff.  Plus, a friend of mine gave me a bunch of used 1/4" wall paneling.  I'm talking about that stuff popular in the 70's and 80's that comes in 4'x8' sheets and is supposed to look like vertical boards of varying widths and frequently used in trailer houses. Now I just need to get some shag carpet, and re-paint my tools Avocado Green or Harvest Gold. It was pulled out of renovated house, full of little nails, outlet cutouts, etc, but once again it was free and I happily accepted! Turns out it was just enough to do my whole shop - including ceiling.  Once again, this meant shuffling everything to clear a section of wall, putting up paneling, shuffling everything around again to clear another section of wall, etc.  But the only cost was time and a box of nails.

It also meant re-doing my end wall cabinet/work area again.  So here is my shop as it currently stands:

Standing in the doorway looking in.

My old Delta Milwaukee jointer. I haven't used it much lately as it needs a major overhaul (but not quite a "restoration"). The threads on the adjusting rods are gummed up so I can't adjust it much, and the knives are painfully dull. When I restored an old Craftsman jointer (which I no longer have), I just remember how much trouble it was to get the tables coplanar and set the knives and I just haven't felt like tackling that again.

What's left of a Shopsmith Mark 5, Model 510 I bought and parted out on eBay (which helped me reach my necessary budget to build the shop). Right now it just holds my planer and miter saw, and home made accessory shelf. I have plans to make it more of a functional stand for the miter saw and planer (with left/right and infeed/outfeed supports) rather than just storage space. Cleaning, stripping, and repainting the legs are very low on the priority list.

My 10ER sanding station/lathe/jigsaw. One day I'll build a better base for it, but that is also low on the priority list. The parts for my 3rd 10ER are on the lower shelf awaiting a full restoration.

Toolboxes, grinder, and designated area for my shop helper, Zakk. Although he prefers to be right under my feet wherever I'm at.

Main storage cabinets and a workbench area. Still need to get some pegboard hooks and finish the doors on the cabinets. Then I need to fill it up with MORE TOOLS.

My 10ER dedicated drill press and my entire collection of clamps. The stand for the 10ER came off my old crummy Craftsman table saw. I cut down the legs, reinforced them to hold the weight, and added casters to I could roll the 10ER in and out of the corner when necessary. I have an idea for a counterweight and pulley system to make raising and lowering the table easier. We'll have to see how that works out.

My Mark 5 newly converted to a "shorty." I took the tubes to my dad's last weekend and cut 14" off using his handheld bandsaw (which cut through them like butter). I was afraid to cut any more off, but now that I've assembled it, I think I could have cut off a couple more inches. So far, I really like the reduced length. 14" doesn't seem like much, but between that and moving the accessory shelf to the planer/miter saw stand, it really freed up a lot of room. It didn't make it in the picture, but right above this is a long shelf that has all my spray paints and stuff like WD-40, Kroil, glue, wax, etc.

My main table saw and outfeed table (which typically also becomes my main workbench area). Some more storage and my stereo (vintage 70's 8-track!) in the background.

Even though the table saw is rather crummy (but it was free!), I do like this setup with the outfeed table. I can easily slide the whole thing away from the wall if I need more space to the left.

So, there you have it. It's not much, but it suits me quite well. I still have a lot of tools to acquire, and there's a lot of room for improvement, but there's really not much I've really wanted to do but just couldn't with my current collection.