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

~ (Author)

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

Product Description

The proliferation of home woodworking has been a boon to lumber yards and do-it-yourself stores but problematic for the hobbyist, who is often more eager than educated when it comes to setting up a home workshop. Furniture designer and builder Sandor Nagyszalanczy addresses the problem in Setting Up Shop, a no-nonsense how-to guide with hundreds of specific suggestions and proven practical advice on building a new workshop or improving a worn-out one. Specific chapters cover shop location; floor and wall materials; electricity and lighting; heating and ventilation; and storage areas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Taunton; illustrated edition edition (April 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156158360X
• ISBN-13: 978-1561583607
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #492,286 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 120 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

45 of 46 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.

34 of 35 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

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.