Smart Workshop Solutions: Building Workstations, Jigs, and Accessories to Improve Your Shop

I found this book to be very good in listing useful shop jigs/solutions. It is rare in that it gives enough of the key dimensions to actually build the items. What I think I like best is that in some cases, it shows several similar jigs. You can combine the best of all if you like (which is what I usually do). This book is a great value.

...just like the tittle says. The book focusses on nine specific problems and the solutions and workstation projects to handle the related challenges. A trademark of Taunton Press books is the abundant photographs and excellent illustrations. Each chapter has a logical progression in which the writer talks about the problem, suggests a solution with photographs, working drawings and a cut list to build the jig, cabinet or workstation. This is not a step by step instruction book but if you have a workshop, you probably have the skills to finish any of these projects. Even skilled woodworkers can appreciate the hints and tips that accompany each project. For example, how to fit the hinges on a blade storage cabinet and details of the mortise and tenon joint on an out feed table. I like the side bar articles such as the one on how to build a table-saw kill switch.

The book is 172 pages long. Some of Taunton`s books are over 300 pages and others are broken up into several volumes, for instance The Workshop books and The Toolbox book. All of these books are wonderfully inspiring. Smart Workshop Solutions is new material that adds to earlier books and magazine articles from this publisher. Some readers may enjoy the pictures of shops that belong to other well know work workers like Brian Boggs, Andy Rae and Bill Hylton. I wish the book was longer so it could offer more ideas and solutions.

This book is excellent. Wonderful ideas for organizing any shop, big or small. Good drawings, and beautiful color photography, throughout make this a visually pleasing book to look at, and dream of one's "perfect" shop. If you want to get your shop running at peak efficiency, this book will get you pointed in the right direction!

I recently had the chance to read this book and despite some initial reservations, I came away with quite a few good ideas for my small home shop. What took me a while to understand is that most books of this type simply give many different options for how to solve a problem in the workshop without giving detailed specifics on any one choice. This book does the opposite - there are few "solutions" to choose from, but the ones that are offered give a great amount of detail so you can easily reproduce the same results in your own shop.

So, for example if you don't already have an idea of what you want to do to solve your clamp storage problem, then I would say look in other places first to gather a lot of ideas and get a feel for what will work as a solution for you. Then if the idea you like best happens to coincide with one of the solutions in this book you could turn here for detailed plans on how to build what you need.

That's my advice, hope it helps in some way...

Paul Anthony's SMART WORKSHOP SOLUTIONS tells how the right fixtures an accessories can transform a workshop. From assessments of clamp racks and wood storage solutions to router tables and tablesaws, this covers the basics to obtaining and building accessories which lend to the woodworker's achievements.