Here's My Workshop!
Glenn Miller
Walton, NY
Click on any picture to see a larger version.
My shop is 20' x 30' and located in Walton, NY. Walton is located in the western Catskills and is in the watershed for New York City which has water supply reservoirs here. It's an interesting history since the now-flooded river valleys used to be prime farm land. The land was taken by eminent domain, the residents moved and the valleys flooded. The water is transported from here to NYC in large concrete tunnels.
One of the main industries here is logging. There's lots of hardwood - cherry, maple, oak, ash, etc. So there are a number of sawmills and wood suppliers in the area. The things I build are primarily constructed of local hardwoods.
I retired 13 years ago from a position as Agricultural Engineering Consultant for an investor-owned electric and gas utility. I obtained my degree from Cornell University in 1970 and received my draft notice the same month I received my diploma. I served 6 years in the Marine Corps and started a dairy farm in Orange County, NY when I resigned my commission as a captain in the Marines. For various reasons, we sold our herd of registered Holsteins four years later. In the registered cattle business, everyone has a prefix which is generally used as the farm name and precedes the name of every animal bred and born on the farm. Our prefix was "Over the Moon", which is the name I use for my woodworking business today.
Subsequent to our exit from dairy farming, I took a job driving a bulldozer at a coal fired power plant near Elmira, NY. At that time, I happened to encounter a gentleman who operated a small (6 person) woodworking operation called Arthur Reed Wood Artisans (ARWA). I went to work for them part time and eventually quit my job at the power plant and went to work for them full time. ARWA did retail store interiors including display cases and slat wall displays as well as entry doors and office furniture like boardroom tables and chairs. We also did interior woodwork for the Rockwell Museum (a western art museum) in Corning, NY and display cases for the Corning Museum of Glass.
In 1983, I had an opportunity to work in the field of agriculture again and took a job with the above-mentioned utility. I left woodworking behind until my kids graduated from college and I retired.
In 2008 I decided I would try my hand at woodworking again and bought a bunch of equipment. I put the lighter and smaller pieces (jointer, bandsaw, router table, drill press) in my basement and the heavier equipment (table saw and planer) in the attached garage. Carrying projects up and down stairs got old in a hurry and my left leg had been shattered in a deer/Harley collision in 2005. In 2012, I decided to build my current shop and now I can work on one level and stand on a heated floor.
The building is super insulated (R50 ceiling, R38 walls, R28 foundation) and will cost about $200 to heat electrically this winter. Below are some interior photos of my shop:
Below are some of the projects that I have completed in my shop:
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Japanese style bench in cypress
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Cherry entry door with oak storm/screen door
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"Scorpio" cherry and maple dresser
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Oak and laminate wet bar
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Ash hutch in blue, yellow and black dye
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Small "live edge" coffee table with Delware River rock
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A team of saw horses
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Stereo cabinet in cherry and curly maple
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If you have any questions you can email Glenn at
gmiller@citlink.net
.
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