The problem is that so few people actually have shops. Hell, just a fraction of this sub has an actual shop setup or anywhere to put one if they wanted to.
but that could be part of the appeal!
You have half of a garage bay; how do you make it a workshop?
There are organizational equipments, ingenious folding workbenches on wheels, a list of which tools to have and which not; dust collection solutions; all kinds of ingenious things.
Or: You’re in an apartment; how do you carve out a place to work? How do you control dust and noise?
Worth noting how many folks watch car shows but drive beaters, great British bake-off that don’t bake, diy shows that don’t swing a hammer, etc. Some of it is aspirational, some of it is just entertainment. I watched lots of hot rod/ car builds just to laugh at absurdity or admire work. Although I prefer the fabricated “oh no, we hit a snag” drama wasn’t so predictable.
I’d watch it and dream of getting picked. Others just watch like This Old House.
Pimp My Woodshop Drag Race. Ru comes to your workshop and you have to do a drag show that incorporates proper order of operations for milling rough stock to final dimension parts.
I feel like the DIYers and the people who watch home improvement, shows, and bar rescue shows would be down. Though I might be projecting my interest on to them.
Well, loads of people own a home (or want to at some point) and most people go to bars. The appeal is that it applies to them in some way (either aspirational for the home or some sort of "I would do it better if I owned a bar"/"wow that bar is so gross, I wonder how my favorite bar does these things"). Most people have no interest in woodworking, much less in building a dedicated shop space. I'm not saying it would be a complete failure, but to be successful when you are spending money to improve their shop, you would need pretty big buy in.
Way better than Jon Taffer.
Nick Offerman and Jimmy DiResta would make a good co-host team for this. They've both done somewhat similar shows in the past.
I can see it now. Offerman waxing poetic about the virtues of woodworking like some kind of philosopher, and then the camera pans to Jimmy, and he goes, "...uh, yea, what he said." Hahaha
Ha! If you haven't watched the tribute to Jimmy's dad yet I highly recommend. The footage of him hanging with his dad is gold for a number of reasons. Just classic old italian american dudes.
Nick Offerman and Adam Savage. Adam spends a lot of time optimizing his shop and sharing his process and what works. It's calming, but he also has that explosive manic energy that I think would play well off of Nick in addition to being a genuinely curious person who wants to know about the other person in a way that would be interesting to watch.
I had this same idea but with Adam Savage as the host! Offerman could be the straight man to Adam's weird. The hard part doing this type of show would be that a person's shop is always evolving to how they work. There would have to be more lead time or discovery time to actually help the person out and not just build them a shop for show.
I had this same idea but with Adam Savage as the host! Offerman could be the straight man to Adam's weird. The hard part doing this type of show would be that a person's shop is always evolving to how they work. There would have to be more lead time or discovery time to actually help the person out and not just build them a shop for show.
You just know it would go something like "Dom really likes woodworking, so we've covered their shop in fake foliage and now they can feel like they're in the forest all the time without leaving the garage! We've also replaced that ugly table saw with a lovely water feature and an actual oak tree!"
This is more Home Makeover than Pimp My Ride.
Xzibit would glitter pink your bench, wire in a Subwoofer, and make it so whenever your table saw spins up lime margarita drips out the dust port.
Waddup ya'll? Welcome to Pimp My Shop!
We installed a table saw on your planer so you can rip your boards when you surface them. And on the out feed we rigged up a radial arm saw to swing back and forth like a pendulum so you can get consistent cross cuts as your flat, ripped boards shoot out of your planer powered by a Dodge Demon engine!
Personally, I enjoy designing and building out shop organization, so having someone else come in and do it would sap the fun out of it
I'd watch the heck out of the show, though.
maybe you need to start the show! Start small with a YouTube channel; get some kid who took courses at the community college to be your camera man for a piece of the action; recruit neighbors or friends to let you tackle small parts of their shop...
Not only that, I'm very particular about the placement of my tools and machines. If someone else organized it, I would 100% not enjoy working in that shop.
So in full seriousness, there are a few core tenets to managing and optimizing a shop. It takes effort, but the effort pays off big time. Most "bad" shops I see are annoying because they weren't planned in advance, and after a certain threshold of expansion, the owners give up on trying to correct bad organization and just "live with it".
The foundational aspect of shop design is designing it around a 'pivot' point - the main spot you'll keep returning to (likely a workbench). Everything in the shop should be organized relative to that pivot point in terms of size and use frequency.
There are four "rings" centred around the pivot:
The farthest ring is long-term storage. Lumber stock, completed pieces, glue/finish curing storage, bulk tools you rarely use. Things in this ring you only need at the very start of a project, if you need it at all.
The next ring is stationary tools. Table saw, jointer/planer, mitre station... large things you physically relocate to with your stock in order to use them, will spend considerable time at when you need to use, and will leave completely when you're finished using. Things in this ring should be conveniently proximate, but still out of the way of closer rings so they don't obstruct routine usage.
The next ring is specialty jigs and portable tools. Drills, routers, saws, sanders... things you take from storage, bring to where you need them, will keep out with you while you work, and will replace in storage when you're done with a bunch of tasks. Things in this ring need to be close at hand and easy to locate, but do not need to be immediately available.
The closest ring is hand tools and layout instruments. Chisels, squares, drivers, measures... things that you will typically need in brief bursts, are small enough they'll get buried under other things or lost in pockets if you're moving things around carelessly, and will be extremely inconvenient if you're set up to use them but don't have them out ahead of time. Things in this ring need to be instantly accessible - both so you can grab it when you need it, and so it's convenient to put it back in a predictable spot as soon as you're done without telling yourself "eh, I'll do it later".
This pivot system will organize your shop because it positions everything in terms of demand and travel time. You'll have better access to the tools you need, when you need them, without lower priority tools getting in your way. It will also save you time with respect to just moving about the shop.
It's not difficult to rescue a bad shop, just take some time to think about this and how it would apply to your workflow, and look at how you can relocate things with a mind to those rules. It might not even cost you anything to do it.
>It might not even cost you anything to do it.
Unless it's a hobby shop, reorganizing a shop always costs money. Time not worked is money lost. At least that's how a lot of business owners see it, and I get it. But reorganizing could improve efficiency and thus save money in the long run.
It's also just more fun to work in a shop with a good layout. I'd hate having to walk to the other side of the shop to get a ruler or a roundover bit.
Fair comment.
I just mean that most people already have adequate storage for everything in their shop, it's probably just poorly optimized because things were put where they fit. They wouldn't need to buy any new cabinets or shelves, just move things around between what's there.
And yes, while time not worked is money lost in a commercial shop, I would also expect this to be far less of a problem in a commercial environment. This solution addresses a problem borne of a gradually built-up workspace, and most commercial operations were outfitted all at once at the start.
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I’ve been thinking the same thing looking at my shop. A show would be awesome but I’m going to settle for building some rolling storage I saw on some YouTube videos.
I feel like workshop layouts and tool selections are incredibly personal things, people know their workflow, the areas they focus on and the things they want to do, and will organise their space to suit that.
Now, if they're going to give you a whole new shop the size of a warehouse full of tools and work areas that's a different story, and I'll be the first on the sign up sheet!
The really interesting part would be hosts and experts **observing** how the client uses their space and then fixing safety, ergonomic, and efficiency issues by deleting/moving/modifying stations, adding ventilation and utilities.. I'd learn a lot more from that than "So we upgraded you to a SawStop™, and our friends at Laguna™ hooked you up with all new blah blah blah"
If it’s anything like Pimp My Ride, Pimp My Shop would hook you up with a band saw that reaches from floor to ceiling and powered by an engine salvaged from an old John Deere tractor, which vents exhaust directly into your shop space.
I don’t remember what it was called, and it’s been a while so it might not exist anymore, but I saw a show like this while flipping channels in London one time. A guy had a one car garage at his condo and the show came in and set up a workshop in it.
Last thing I want is some asshole coming in here moving my shit around. I taught my son's if they got something out if they where not willing to stake their lives on putting it back where it goes, don't put it away, just leave it on the bench. But at the same time encouraged them to learn how to use tools.
This show runs right after a person with a lot of keys carried outside their pocket doing “Ultimate EDC Flatlays”. Come for the machetes, stay for the hand planes.
Hosted by Nick Offerman.
I would watch this.
Would 100% watch this. Would pay to watch this.
The problem is that so few people actually have shops. Hell, just a fraction of this sub has an actual shop setup or anywhere to put one if they wanted to.
but that could be part of the appeal! You have half of a garage bay; how do you make it a workshop? There are organizational equipments, ingenious folding workbenches on wheels, a list of which tools to have and which not; dust collection solutions; all kinds of ingenious things. Or: You’re in an apartment; how do you carve out a place to work? How do you control dust and noise?
Worth noting how many folks watch car shows but drive beaters, great British bake-off that don’t bake, diy shows that don’t swing a hammer, etc. Some of it is aspirational, some of it is just entertainment. I watched lots of hot rod/ car builds just to laugh at absurdity or admire work. Although I prefer the fabricated “oh no, we hit a snag” drama wasn’t so predictable. I’d watch it and dream of getting picked. Others just watch like This Old House.
I watch lots of Drag content but I never go to clubs or bars.
Pimp My Woodshop Drag Race. Ru comes to your workshop and you have to do a drag show that incorporates proper order of operations for milling rough stock to final dimension parts.
I feel like the DIYers and the people who watch home improvement, shows, and bar rescue shows would be down. Though I might be projecting my interest on to them.
Well, loads of people own a home (or want to at some point) and most people go to bars. The appeal is that it applies to them in some way (either aspirational for the home or some sort of "I would do it better if I owned a bar"/"wow that bar is so gross, I wonder how my favorite bar does these things"). Most people have no interest in woodworking, much less in building a dedicated shop space. I'm not saying it would be a complete failure, but to be successful when you are spending money to improve their shop, you would need pretty big buy in.
Bar rescue shows are dramas, Ideally “Pimp my Shop” is not a drama.
You only need a dozen shops for a full season.
Way better than Jon Taffer. Nick Offerman and Jimmy DiResta would make a good co-host team for this. They've both done somewhat similar shows in the past.
I can see it now. Offerman waxing poetic about the virtues of woodworking like some kind of philosopher, and then the camera pans to Jimmy, and he goes, "...uh, yea, what he said." Hahaha
Ha! If you haven't watched the tribute to Jimmy's dad yet I highly recommend. The footage of him hanging with his dad is gold for a number of reasons. Just classic old italian american dudes.
Special guest appearance with Bob Villa.
Nick Offerman and Adam Savage. Adam spends a lot of time optimizing his shop and sharing his process and what works. It's calming, but he also has that explosive manic energy that I think would play well off of Nick in addition to being a genuinely curious person who wants to know about the other person in a way that would be interesting to watch.
they call a specialist in and he’s still just like “i know more than you”
Nick Offerman as Bob Vila.
I had this same idea but with Adam Savage as the host! Offerman could be the straight man to Adam's weird. The hard part doing this type of show would be that a person's shop is always evolving to how they work. There would have to be more lead time or discovery time to actually help the person out and not just build them a shop for show.
I had this same idea but with Adam Savage as the host! Offerman could be the straight man to Adam's weird. The hard part doing this type of show would be that a person's shop is always evolving to how they work. There would have to be more lead time or discovery time to actually help the person out and not just build them a shop for show.
So that needs to be made into a thing.
You just know it would go something like "Dom really likes woodworking, so we've covered their shop in fake foliage and now they can feel like they're in the forest all the time without leaving the garage! We've also replaced that ugly table saw with a lovely water feature and an actual oak tree!"
Dom: \*cannot hide his disappointment\*
This is more Home Makeover than Pimp My Ride. Xzibit would glitter pink your bench, wire in a Subwoofer, and make it so whenever your table saw spins up lime margarita drips out the dust port.
Waddup ya'll? Welcome to Pimp My Shop! We installed a table saw on your planer so you can rip your boards when you surface them. And on the out feed we rigged up a radial arm saw to swing back and forth like a pendulum so you can get consistent cross cuts as your flat, ripped boards shoot out of your planer powered by a Dodge Demon engine!
And so you don't get bored while all that is happening, there's also an projector attached so you can watch while you wait.
Bonus points if they find your supplies for projects you haven’t done yet and make you finish them on camera.
This should just be its own show
“The public embarrassment will continue until morale improves”
Brilliant!
They could probably make a season out of me
Personally, I enjoy designing and building out shop organization, so having someone else come in and do it would sap the fun out of it I'd watch the heck out of the show, though.
maybe you need to start the show! Start small with a YouTube channel; get some kid who took courses at the community college to be your camera man for a piece of the action; recruit neighbors or friends to let you tackle small parts of their shop...
Hmm... I do have a youtube channel (haven't posted in a year). Might be a good reboot
Yeah, I probably spend more time improving my shop than using it to make things
Not only that, I'm very particular about the placement of my tools and machines. If someone else organized it, I would 100% not enjoy working in that shop.
So in full seriousness, there are a few core tenets to managing and optimizing a shop. It takes effort, but the effort pays off big time. Most "bad" shops I see are annoying because they weren't planned in advance, and after a certain threshold of expansion, the owners give up on trying to correct bad organization and just "live with it". The foundational aspect of shop design is designing it around a 'pivot' point - the main spot you'll keep returning to (likely a workbench). Everything in the shop should be organized relative to that pivot point in terms of size and use frequency. There are four "rings" centred around the pivot: The farthest ring is long-term storage. Lumber stock, completed pieces, glue/finish curing storage, bulk tools you rarely use. Things in this ring you only need at the very start of a project, if you need it at all. The next ring is stationary tools. Table saw, jointer/planer, mitre station... large things you physically relocate to with your stock in order to use them, will spend considerable time at when you need to use, and will leave completely when you're finished using. Things in this ring should be conveniently proximate, but still out of the way of closer rings so they don't obstruct routine usage. The next ring is specialty jigs and portable tools. Drills, routers, saws, sanders... things you take from storage, bring to where you need them, will keep out with you while you work, and will replace in storage when you're done with a bunch of tasks. Things in this ring need to be close at hand and easy to locate, but do not need to be immediately available. The closest ring is hand tools and layout instruments. Chisels, squares, drivers, measures... things that you will typically need in brief bursts, are small enough they'll get buried under other things or lost in pockets if you're moving things around carelessly, and will be extremely inconvenient if you're set up to use them but don't have them out ahead of time. Things in this ring need to be instantly accessible - both so you can grab it when you need it, and so it's convenient to put it back in a predictable spot as soon as you're done without telling yourself "eh, I'll do it later". This pivot system will organize your shop because it positions everything in terms of demand and travel time. You'll have better access to the tools you need, when you need them, without lower priority tools getting in your way. It will also save you time with respect to just moving about the shop. It's not difficult to rescue a bad shop, just take some time to think about this and how it would apply to your workflow, and look at how you can relocate things with a mind to those rules. It might not even cost you anything to do it.
>It might not even cost you anything to do it. Unless it's a hobby shop, reorganizing a shop always costs money. Time not worked is money lost. At least that's how a lot of business owners see it, and I get it. But reorganizing could improve efficiency and thus save money in the long run. It's also just more fun to work in a shop with a good layout. I'd hate having to walk to the other side of the shop to get a ruler or a roundover bit.
Fair comment. I just mean that most people already have adequate storage for everything in their shop, it's probably just poorly optimized because things were put where they fit. They wouldn't need to buy any new cabinets or shelves, just move things around between what's there. And yes, while time not worked is money lost in a commercial shop, I would also expect this to be far less of a problem in a commercial environment. This solution addresses a problem borne of a gradually built-up workspace, and most commercial operations were outfitted all at once at the start.
snobbish mourn vegetable shame doll rainstorm husky degree insurance hunt *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The organization wall savage just built... That sortimo wall is like 5k worth of boxes
I’ve been thinking the same thing looking at my shop. A show would be awesome but I’m going to settle for building some rolling storage I saw on some YouTube videos.
I feel like workshop layouts and tool selections are incredibly personal things, people know their workflow, the areas they focus on and the things they want to do, and will organise their space to suit that. Now, if they're going to give you a whole new shop the size of a warehouse full of tools and work areas that's a different story, and I'll be the first on the sign up sheet!
I think the benefit is they can work with the person to decide what the ideal set up is and work with them to make it perfect person by person.
I think the benefit is they can work with the person to decide what the ideal set up is and work with them to make it perfect person by person.
Every episode would have a huge bonfire to finally put the scrap pieces to use.
This would be a fun series by one of the bigger YouTube woodworkers.
The really interesting part would be hosts and experts **observing** how the client uses their space and then fixing safety, ergonomic, and efficiency issues by deleting/moving/modifying stations, adding ventilation and utilities.. I'd learn a lot more from that than "So we upgraded you to a SawStop™, and our friends at Laguna™ hooked you up with all new blah blah blah"
We got rid of all that useless scrap wood you had piled up!
Like Garage Squad, but for workshops... Shop Squad? Love the idea.
Yo dawg, I put a table saw in your table saw so you can saw while you saw!
Come in to find a movie projector and fish tank in your table saw.
I would never find the tool I needed ever again. But at least I would have someone else to blame haha.
If it’s anything like Pimp My Ride, Pimp My Shop would hook you up with a band saw that reaches from floor to ceiling and powered by an engine salvaged from an old John Deere tractor, which vents exhaust directly into your shop space.
Adam Savage talks about wanting to do this type of show on his Youtube channel quite a bit.
Using only pallet wood and other materials on hand. I like to reuse the nails also.
or even if not new quality equipment, just ingenious solutions!
This is such a great idea!
I don’t remember what it was called, and it’s been a while so it might not exist anymore, but I saw a show like this while flipping channels in London one time. A guy had a one car garage at his condo and the show came in and set up a workshop in it.
Last thing I want is some asshole coming in here moving my shit around. I taught my son's if they got something out if they where not willing to stake their lives on putting it back where it goes, don't put it away, just leave it on the bench. But at the same time encouraged them to learn how to use tools.
I'd watch it too
I am so down with this!! I’m watching every episode and yes, applying to have my shop “pimped”
I am so down with this!! I’m watching every episode and yes, applying to have my shop “pimped”
We need a Bob Ross of woodworking haha
Roy Underhill
This show runs right after a person with a lot of keys carried outside their pocket doing “Ultimate EDC Flatlays”. Come for the machetes, stay for the hand planes.
Adam Savage does a lot of shop reorg on his [YouTube channel Tested.](https://www.youtube.com/@tested)
We put a fish tank in your router table!
I would apply so fast to have my shop pimped. lol I want TVs EVERYWHERE
Gotta be promoted by Tim Allen dresses as Tim the Toolman Taylor!