I spent over 24 years in the United States Air Force and when I started serving there was very little money to buy hardly anything. So I started building bookshelves for my home and small end tables and a coffee table. Being in the military it seemed we were moving every two or three years so it was hard to get a real shop setup, so I was building everything with portable tools like skill saws, drills, routers and lots of hand tools. It wasn't until I retired in 1994 that I was actually able to have a permanent home to setup my shop in my garage.

In 2014, the recession hit and I was let go by a defense contractor. This was actually a blessing in disguise because now I could devote pretty much all of my spare time to woodworking. My wife says she's buying me a storage shed for Christmas so I'll be moving my wood supply out of the garage along with some of my tools I only use once in a blue moon.

Right now, pretty much every machine in my shop is on wheels except for my lathe. I'll leave most of the tools on the wheels until I win the lottery and can afford to actually build a real wood shop in the back yard. My most recent purchases were a Nextwave CNC Router and a Table Saw.

Above is a picture looking into my shop from the vantage point of the garage door. On the left is my Grizzly 10" Table Saw. Above that is my Kreg Router Table with a Triton 3-1/4 HP Plunge Router . Above that is a Craftsman 10" Radial Arm Saw and behind that is my 12" Jet Bandsaw. To the right of the bandsaw is my Steel City 14" Bandsaw and next to that is my Dewalt 735 Planer. In the back middle is my retirement gift to myself, my NextWave Shark 3D CNC router. To the right is my 6" Grizzly Joiner/planer. And completing this view is my Craftsman Drill Press and my Dewalt Scroll Saw.

This is my latest toy, my Jet 1642 Lathe. I purchased it last spring and I'm having a ball learning how to turn. I have a segmented bowl blank ready to go. Behind the lathe is some of my wood collection.

This is my primary workbench with a portable bench in front holding some Christmas gifts I'm making. Above on the left is more spare wood.

With a small shop, you have to be creative in storage. So the ends of the wood rack become clamp holders.

A picture of my collection of portable work benches. I'm a firm believer that you can never have enough work benches or clamps.

Terry can be reached directly via email at terryz854@cox.net .