Setting Up Shop: The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop [Paperback]

Sandor Nagyszalanczy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Every woodworker dreams of setting up an ideal workshop, a dream that calls for hundreds of considerations and practical decisions. Professional woodworker Sandor Nagyszalanczy offers expert advice in this book and walks the reader through the steps necessary to outfit a functional shop that suits every need and budget.

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561585556
• ISBN-13: 978-1561585557
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #726,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sandor Nagyszalanczy
Woodworking Author, Furniture Designer & Craftsman

Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1954, Sandor Nagyszalanczy (pronounced Shawn-door Not-sa-lon-see) escaped during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and immigrated with his family to America, eventually ending up in Los Angeles, California in the early 1960s. He later attended the University of California, Santa Cruz and received undergraduate degrees in Environmental Planning and Design Theory. He worked as a metal smith and sculptor for several years before resetting his sights on functional woodworking. Sandor maintained a business as a craftsman/designer of high-quality woodwork for ten years, creating custom furniture and cabinetry for both residential and commercial clients. His work has been displayed in nearly a dozen galleries on the West Coast, and at nearly two dozen woodworking exhibitions, including: "American Style, Arts and Crafts Movement in the United States" (Macy's Department Store, San Francisco, Ca.), Furniture in the Aluminum Vein (National Invitational Exhibition at the Kaiser Center Art Gallery, Oakland, Ca.) and a one-man show (The Highlight Gallery, Mendocino, Ca.). In 1982, Sandor joined the faculty of Cabrillo College in Soquel, California to teach classes in the use of craft materials (wood, metal, leather, plastic).

Sandor became a member of Master Craftsman status in the California Contemporary Crafts Association in 1982, and also served as secretary to the Northern California Woodworker's Association and as a founding member and President of the Santa Cruz Woodworker's Association. He started a regional woodworker's newsletter in 1983, which precipitated requests for articles from several national woodworking and crafts magazines. He was recruited as an editor for Fine Woodworking magazine in 1986. During his six-and-one-half year tenure with the magazine, Sandor authored nearly three dozen feature articles. Editorial work demanded extensive travel in North America as well as occasional trips to Europe and the orient, where he visited woodworkers of all specialties to develop articles and take photographs. As a spokesman for Fine Woodworking, Sandor presented numerous lectures and seminars on a variety of woodworking topics, and served as a juror for several major woodworking exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada. He also served on selection committees for Taunton Press' Design Book Four and Design Book Five, and acted as the Associate Editor of Design Book Six.

After leaving full-time duty at Fine Woodworking Magazine in 1993 as Senior Editor, Sandor returned to his home and workshop in Santa Cruz, California. His first job was to tackle a major commission for the Minneapolis Institute of Art replicating an important Prairie-style dining set for the Purcell/Cutts House in Minneapolis, MN. He served as a contributing editor for Fine Woodworking from 1993 to 1996 and West Coast Editor for American Woodworker magazine in 1997 and '98. He has also written and photographed dozens of articles for other print magazines, including Woodworker's Journal, as well as on-line magazines, including CornerHardware.com.

In the past fifteen years, Sandor has written and photographed more than a dozen books published by the Taunton Press: Woodshop Jigs and Fixtures, Fixing and Avoiding Woodworking Mistakes, Woodshop Dust Control, The Wood Sanding Book, The Art of Fine Tools, Setting Up Shop, Power Tools; An Electric Celebration and Grounded Guide, The New Woodshop Dust Control Book, The Homeowner's Ultimate Tool Guide, Tools Rare and Ingenious, The New Built-In Ideas Book, The Complete Illustrated Guide to Jigs & Fixtures (Fall 2010). He also authored "Dust Collection and Control (2003, WMH Toolgroup) and is photographer of Router Joinery Workshop (Lark Books), The New Woodfinishing Book, Wood Finishing Fixes, Build Like a Pro: Painting & Finishing and Tiling Complete (Taunton Press). Sandor's books and magazine articles have received ten National Association of Workshop Writers "Golden Hammer" awards, including an unprecidented eight consecutive first-place awards (2001-2008).

Sandor has presented innumerous seminars and workshops at woodworking shows & exhibitions, guilds and association meetings around the country and has been an instructor at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. He's consulted on powertool design for several major woodworking tool manufacturers, and is currently a consultant to Chervon International, helping to develop portable powretools for the Sears Craftsman brand. He has also served as an expert witness in two liability cases involving woodworking accidents.

Sandor has appeared in three videos produced by the Taunton Press, including Short takes: Sliding Compound Miter Saws. He's also appeared as a tool expert on numerous television programs including: Peter Jennings World News Tonight (ABC Television Network); Modern Marvels: Hand Tools, Modern Marvels: Sawing, and Tool Box (The History Channel); Collectible Treasures (Home & Garden Television); DIY Tools & Techniques (DIY Channel); and an infomercial for The Drill Doctor (various networks).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great resource!, June 29, 2000

By 

Scott Pointon "Former Marine, Librarian, Wood... (Crest Hill, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Setting Up Shop: The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop (Hardcover)

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.

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many practical ideas for the rich and the not-so-rich, July 10, 2002

By 

John C. Lynch (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Setting Up Shop: The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop (Paperback)

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.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prevented some mistakes . . ., February 2, 2001

By 

Todd J. Niblo (Portsmouth, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Setting Up Shop: The Practical Guide to Designing and Building Your Dream Shop (Hardcover)

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.