Out of the old...

The move is basically done. Because I'm still friends with my old shop-mates, one of whom has chosen to stay and try to reboot the space, I have a feeling that I'll be called on at some point to help with a final clean-out. But (with a few exceptions) my stuff is out, the floor's been swept, and, well... it's back to a state of pure potential.

Dawning Clarity

The new space is slowly coming together, and it's finally starting to look like I thought it would. There have been blips, like the stereo debacle... though that's been resolved at least. On Wednesday I got my shelf brackets up, only to realize that my plywood and plywood scraps were all still at the old place. Sigh...

One of the problems with downsizing is that I can only move so much stuff at a time, and there's no room for new stuff until the last batch is put away. So, if there's something (like plywood) that I haven't brought down, and that I need, it's a mental tweak. ("What do you mean there's no plywood scraps? When have I NOT had plywood scraps just lying around?!?") But in the grand scheme, I haven't had any serious issues.

One of the things I'm looking forward to having is an office: It'll give me a place to do admin stuff without being distracted by any of the million things in the shop,  keep a small fridge and coffee maker, a good place to store books that will be safe from dust or varnish splatters, and a place to disconnect for a few minutes at a time, and regroup when I need to. I'm also going to use it for drafting and as a creative/brainstorming space. I went back and forth on whether or not to bring my desk into the space, I'm glad I did. The office is a mess right now, as it's been catching a lot of move-in overflow while the space shakes out. So, aside from the photo above, there's not much to blog about. But it's going to be very cool when it comes together.

Another thing I'm happy about is my new Festool MFT. I opened the box on Monday night. I didn't think I would be, but I've been reading up on the thing a LOT recently, and decided to take the plunge. I say this timidly, but it may just displace the crosscut sled for my table saw. I've spent a lot of time and head scratching on that sled, and I'll probably rebuild it, just on principle. But the more I wrap my head around what looked like a pretty boring work table with a gimmick... well...

I shouldn't be surprised. Festool has consistently impressed me at a very high level for a considerably long time. I'll write the love song later, but this relationship continues to pleasantly surprise me. 

And so on. Putting together a new shop is a lot of work, but it's basically like building a new bench. It's a workspace, and it's all about functionality. I'll talk about layout soon, and some of the principles at work. Right now, I'm tired.

Wow, I have a lot of stuff.

This morning when I came in, the shop looked like this:

The stub wall is down, lumber had taken up the middle of the floor, along with plenty of other stuff. The ambient air cleaner needed to go up, and so on.

By the time I left today, the lumber rack was up, and 4 pallets had been emptied of stuff. My desk is in the office, the air cleaner is up.

Now, it looks like this:

Yeah, I know. Not much different.

Sighhhh.

Day One

I'm back, 95(+/-)% of my stuff is moved into the new place, and today is the first morning that has started in the new place.

I came in, coffee in hand, ready and motivated to start kicking some of these piles down. And then I realized that I haven't moved the stereo yet.

Fail.

A quick break

I'm on the other side of the country right now, visiting family, and seeing a good friend get married. The shop move is 95% done. I do have some odds and ends to move out when I get back. And I have two commissions to get in motion, even while I get some of the basics set up. But I'm looking past the move now, and into the future. There's been some soul searching going on. I've been thinking about what I really need in my shop, in our home, in my life, and trying to clarify what's useful. And, I'm getting ready to clear out the dead wood. A big part of that will be redefining my relationship to the shop.

Moving everything into the new space is one thing. Putting most of it away is another, and it's been an ongoing process as I move. I've talked about the hazards of setting up a space that's so full of stuff that it's no longer capable of being productive. That's been very much on my mind over the past couple of weeks. A lot of stuff that I won't need for a while has been stored away elsewhere in the building. And some other stuff will get sold, or thrown out. I'll get into final contents and layout soon enough. I'm letting some of that simmer on the back burner while I'm on vacation.

A new shop needs a new mission statement. And part of the new statement will define this shop as productive, and not creative in nature. There is (and will continue to be) a high level of artistry in some of the things that I've built, and a lot of creative sparks that regularly fly. But when the rubber hits the road, the shop is not a studio, or a refuge. It is a tool to make things happen, and a testbed for finding better ways to do the work. That's going to inform many of my choices going forward...