Getting things ready for Fall.

It's been some journey getting my wood shop cleaned, organized, insulated and ready for cold whether so I can work throughout the year on whatever I need to work on.

I have an abundance of "White Oak" that I'm excited about turning into paddles and like most things I do I've got some interesting idea for pattern designs too. 

I've totally finished the ceiling and insulated the shop what a difference that makes.  We had a warm week the first week it was done and the shop stayed cool.  Then the whether turned suddenly and you could see your breath outside walking from the house to the garage.  But the second I stepped in the garage I could feel the difference.

Such a struggle

It's been such a struggle trying to get everything together.  These pictures are about 2 or 3 months old and I should have more pictures this week.  Finding time has been ridiculous.  We got a lot done this past week though.  I hope to start production this October.

Building a Paddle making workshop

The above picture is only part of what I first walked into when we moved into our house.  The previous owner left everything like you see it.  If you see the white lamp in both pictures it will give you an idea of the size. 

The concrete floor was, or is, breaking up and has no re-bar in it.  I believe the garage was built by the original owner of the house and he didn't have any building code based on where the house was at the time, in relation to the town.

I suppose, at first, I thought I'd just go in and clean it up and then build what I needed to build so I could get going on producing paddles.  Little did I know how long it would take.

Once I got all the crap in the area, which was the first pictures you saw, cleaned up I had to start gutting the area and pour more concrete to stabilize the floor.

This is how the area looks today.  Believe it or not it's organized. 

Custom Wood Paddles

It's taken longer than I anticipated to get my shop going after moving from Tacoma.  I'm in a nice space now but I'm still trying to get organized.  Most of the wood I have right now is White Oak.  I have some designs in mind but I'm open to making custom paddles for a customer too.