A visit to a friend’s woodshop

My friend builds custom furniture for his clients. Donny is a craftsman and he’s passionate about woodworking.  I want to build beautiful things like him, just on a smaller scale.

I plan to build a woodshop behind our house soon, so I asked for a tour of Donny’s shop. We met on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Donny’s place is not a showroom. It’s a bona fide “let’s make some sawdust” woodshop. I loved it! In the first room, you see stacks of rough boards waiting to be planed, joined and sanded smooth.  There’s a lot of wood here, but he often orders what he needs for each project.

The second room is where the magic happens. His Laguna table saw is the workhorse and takes center stage. He can tilt it up on two wheels and move it if he wants. His planer, jointer and drum sander are on the opposite wall. He can move these, too, if he likes.

Donny has a dedicated mortising machine. (I admire its commitment, but I’m not sure it’s the same kind of “dedication”. Sorry.) We both love its growling operation, accompanied by smoke and the smell of burning wood. It’s fantastic. These days, though, he turns first to his Festool domino machine. (For all you Festool haters, he loves its ease of operation and has come to rely on it. He’s still learning all its capabilities.)

The dust collection system is in a third smaller room. Smart, for no other reason than because it’s noisy. Note to self: my new shop needs a small, but accessible closet for the dust collector.

Donny plans to upgrade his miter saw station. He has the perfect space for it. He can span two fixed waist-high storage cabinets with a workbench and have all the room he needs to chop longer pieces of wood. He thinks this change will improve his shop’s functionality.

He has a sign on his assembly table which reads “Feet on the floor.” 

He wants his business to grow and this idea makes him get out of bed or off the couch and go make it happen. 

We are kindred spirits in so many ways.

Donny, like many woodworkers, has dozens of specialized tools. Some he buys new, but he looks on Facebook Marketplace first. We agree tools don’t always have to be bought new. There is something special about what a well-maintained vintage tool can add to the feel of a shop. They make me want to spend more time there. 

I will use what I learned from my visit – shop  layout, tool reliability and portability, dust collection set up, even wood and tool sourcing.

Thanks, Donny. It was fun literally to “talk shop.”  I appreciate your willingness to show me around and answer tons of questions.

Please, look for Donny Hinds on Facebook and friend him. He’s a good guy.

His website is: SalemWood.co. Tell him I sent you.