Below are some pictures of my Carving Studio and woodworking shop. 

I teach fish carving classes from time to time in the upper level of my shop.  When I am not teaching upstairs I use the many carving stations as specialized areas to carve and paint my commissioned carvings in progress.  The lower level of the shop is used for larger scale projects. 

Lower Level - Fabrication Area

View walking in from the lower level entry door looking SW.  Large open work area used for woodworking projects and large fish carving commissions.  I installed halogen and incandescent track lighting on both levels which gives me gives me a multitude of pinpoint lighting options for whatever projects I am involved in.  Since I spend a great deal of time in my shop I built in many creature comforts, air conditioning, heat, insulation, soundproofing, bathroom w/hot and cold water, microwave, refrigerator, drinking fountain, telephone, cable TV both levels, Stereo, computer network w/internet access, home/shop intercom, security cameras, infrared and motion alarm system, backup generator, halon fire suppression, 3 independent air filtration systems, eye wash station and a 2 direct vent spray booths.     

Looking west from the center of my shop.  Cabinets and countertops provide ample storage and work space.  Centered on the shop ceiling is the lower level air filtration system, 4000 CFM Electrostatic Filtration scrubs all the air in my shop and studio five times per hour. 

Looking toward the south wall of the shop.

Looking east from the center of the shop you see the bathroom and stairwell to my upper level carving studio.

My SuperShop™ Multi-Use lathe, Bandsaw and Arc/Gas Welding Station with overhead accessory console.

My homemade 4000 CFM Electrostatic Air Filtration System.  Air is pulled through the three washable electrostatic air filters into the blower housing and routed through a air plenum between joists discharging the filtered air upstairs into my studio through yet another filter.  I designed and built this system to achieve two goals, first the obvious...clean the air in my shop quickly, second to circulate the warm air that rises into my studio back to the lower level.  By discharging air at a high rate upstairs into my studio the vacuum left behind as the air leaves the lower level pulls clean warm air down my stairwell, through my shop and back through the filters again.  This helps keep the entire shop warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  It also keeps my upper level studio pressurized with clean air, so any airborne dust or paint fumes are quickly swept away as new clean air enters the shop at 4000 cubic feet per minute!  No matter how much airborne dust I generate in the shop the air is clean in less than a minute! And best of all the blower motor used is silent.  When the filters become dirty I just have to simply remove them, and wash them out with a garden hose.  The whole cleaning process takes less than 10 minutes and only needs to be done once a month.

Looking from the center of the shop towards the stairwell upstairs. 

Upper Level - Carving Studio / Classroom

Simons hangs out with me all day no matter what I am working on.  We raised him from a baby (4 weeks old) and he has spent so much time with me carving, fishing, or whatever the family is doing he is right at home in the shop or on the water.  Simon is now 6 years old and has seen more carving and fishing time than any other Macaw alive!

Looking west from the entry of the studio.  The freestanding 18'x7' U shaped workbench provides space for 10 carvers when I am teaching carving classes or myself to work all day in comfort.  The workbench is another of my silent air filtration innovations, a closed system with a 6100 CFM silent blower pulling air through the bench top inlets.  Each work area has a 4"x12" air inlet pulling air from the work area and discharging it into a filter box at the far end of the bench.  By the time the dust filled air reaches the filter box 90% of the dust has fallen out leaving little for the final filters to deal with.  The entire bench is a dust collector.  With two service panels at either end of the bench I can easily clean the settled dust from within the bench as it builds up. 

Glass paneled figured maple cabinets line both walls housing mold making and casting materials, paints, equipment, supplies, reference castings, tools and other carving / painting related items.  Along the ceiling is a mixture of Florescent, Halogen, and Incandescent lighting to aid in carving and painting operations.  Natural daylight fluorescents light the studio while independent incandescent and halogen track lighting provide directional accent lighting to help during the carving phase by creating shadows.  The lighting in my studio is second to none! 

Each work area has a bar stool, raised foot pedal ledge, dust collection inlet, rubber tool mat, electrical outlet, ceiling mounted powercarver chain, adjustable overhead lighting and a converter to change the table top dust collector into a lap style dust collector.  Each carver has 40" of bench top work area to use.

Looking from the far corner of my studio towards the stairs.  My carving equipment is mounted on the ceiling in a sliding track that allows me to walk up and down the center of the work bench while carving. 

Looking from my carving seat in the middle of the workbench.  Simons perch where he spends a good part of the day sharing my food and shredding scrap pieces of wood.  In the upper right is my TV, below that is an X-Ray reader that I use to draw patterns, on the far right is my awards cabinet and reference book collection.  Centered over the stair banister is my reference aquarium which houses live models of fish being carved when possible, below that my refrigerator, coffee maker and clay warmer.  Left of the aquarium on the back wall is the air conditioner and vacuum former.  Far left is my painting bench and wall mounted spray booth.

 The same tracking used in hospital curtains runs the length of my studio ceiling where I hang carvings in progress.  Roller bearing hooks provide a fast and easy way to position and hang my work.  I simply clamp a hemostat clamp top a fin and hang it up.  High ceiling keep you from walking into overhead fish.

55 Gallon Reference Aquarium.....a live fish can answer more anatomy and painting questions than a ten foot stack of reference pictures. 

Reference books, finished carvings and some of the major awards I have collected over the years.

Heated, resin curing case keeps my carvings dust free while the resin water splashes cure off.

CO2 airbrush bottle and HEPA air filtration system.