Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155865 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-01
• Released on: 2006-10-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781561588381
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Setting Up Shop is designed both for professional craftspeople who often have the poorest and most sparsely equipped shops because they are too busy to make improvements, and for hobbyists and weekend warriors who need a shop for entertainment as much getting work done. Author Sandor Nagyszalanczy does a good job of pointing out the relative benefits and drawbacks to various shop configurations and locations. In fact, one entire page is devoted to a chart comparing shops located in attics, basements, garages, or a spare room in the house, and how each rates for various factors, including noise, dust, headroom, access, structural limitations, heating, cooling, and moisture. This is a great how-to book with very useful topics in each chapter, including upgrading your electrical system; making sure you have the proper lighting, heating, and ventilation for your shop; picking the right tools and brands; deciding where to place machines and tools, benches and work areas; ensuring shop safety; methods for collecting dust; and more.

Each chapter is personalized with a visit to the shop of one craftsperson or another. The journey is made better by more than 240 color photos, as well as a healthy dose of black-and-white photos and line drawings. In the end, of course, the definition of a good or a smart shop is fluid, depending on its primary use and the need to change things from time to time. And both professional and hobbyist woodmakers can have as much pride in their shop as they do in a handmade chair. Nagyszalanczy has worked out of the same shop for nearly 20 years and admits that he takes offense when someone refers to it as a "garage." "You have to follow your heart as well as use your mind," Nagyszalanczy writes, "when transforming a simple building that others might call a shed or a garage into what you proudly call your woodshop." --John Russell

About the Author
Sandor Nagyszalanczy of Bonny Doon, California is a professional furniture designer and freelance writer, photographer and consultant. With nearly 25 years of experience building custom furniture, he is a former senior editor of Fine Woodworking magazine and has appeared on The History Channel's "Modern Marvels" and ABC Television's "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings." Sandor has authored and photographed nine books published by the Taunton Press, including: Woodshop Jigs and Fixtures, Fixing and Avoiding Woodworking Mistakes, Woodshop Dust Control, The Wood Sanding Book, The Art of Fine Tools, Setting Up Shop and Power Tools: An Electric Celebration and Grounded Guide, The Homeowner's Ultimate Tool Guide, and Tools Rare and Ingenious.

Customer Reviews

What a great resource!
As a library administrator, and avid woodworker, I get to see and read a lot of woodworking and shop building books. This is among the best I have ever read. I even purchased a copy of this one for myself. I was really impressed with all of the common-sense advice for day-to-day problems encountered in any workshop. Many of the other workshop books on the market are either too simplistic, or serve only to showcase famous woodworking shops without detail. This book gives all the nitty-gritty that you will need to set up or rework your dream shop. It definitely helped me.

Many practical ideas for the rich and the not-so-rich
I have to disagree with the other reviewers that this book only
has info for folks with cash to burn. There are a lot of great
ideas that can be implemented at all sorts of investment levels.
And a number of the shops they feature are not crazy "dream"
shops -- there are several one-car garage and basement shops that
are quite reasonable for any person who is serious enough about
having a shop that they'd actually go to the trouble of buying
a book about setting that shop up. And I also have to say that
this book is much more practical than "The Workshop Book" in the
Taunton Press Workshop Classics series. While I love the latter,
this book has more information about electrical wiring, shop
lay out, bench ideas, and storage. If you are serious about
setting up your first real shop, this is the book you should have,
period.

Prevented some mistakes . . .
I have always considered myself to be proficient at getting things organized and not having too many regrets afterward. I work more happily and efficiently when things are properly setup. This book answered several questions that I was considering in reworking my shop/2 car garage. The author provides you with the thought processes not exact layouts or locations for equipment. The author covers the advantages and pitfalls to various shop problems and locations. He effectively covers working with what you already have and does not necessarily recommend building a shop from the ground up. Mr. Nagyszalanczy does a commendable job of getting you to think through your needs and habits, along with his insight ( and examples of others' shops ) to set up a functional, habitable and not necessarily costly work shop. This book saved me time, money and some amount of frustration and embarrassment. Well worth it.