I like to keep my tools organized, so I built dividers into the drawers.  (right)

There is nothing quite as satisfying as a clean shaving revealing the deep clear wood from a razor sharp hand plane.  (left)

I have a collection of hand planes including the one in the center which I built myself, and I use them all, even the antiques.

I have a dust collector that is connected to the larger machines with PVC pipe.  (left)

Each machine has a blast gate that when opened, engages a small switch turning on the dust collector automatically.  (right)

Even so, the shop is usually coated with a pleasant light layer of sawdust and shavings - just can't catch it all.

I outfitted some of my tools with homemade dust collection portals, as in this bandsaw example, using standard PVC plumbing fittings and ducting elbows.

Of course the workhorse is my 10" tablesaw.  It is just a "contractor's" saw but it is aligned and trued.  I also added a homemade plywood "funnel" underneath to catch sawdust for the dust collector.

My lathe has been a special tool for me.  For about a year after I got it, I was "obsessed" with it, making endless bowls and vases, which made great Christmas gifts by the way.  I am self taught here as well, learning from books and videos from the library.  I am really enamored with the way a bowl slowly takes shape as it is being cut, similar to the way clay takes shape on a potter's wheel.  I found that "green" wood turns the easiest, with some of the shavings producing a continuous strand 8' long!  Many of my bowls have the bark edges intact as I like to keep the natural shape of the wood whenever possible (see the woodworking gallery).

I have the lathe weighted down with 3 sandbags to keep it from shaking while turning out of center wood pieces.