Don Campbell's Workshop

[Don Campbell]

Hi ,
My name is Don and I live in Michigan . I am new to this sight and am enjoying all the cool posts about workshops and tools , tool boxes, etc.
I would like to share my little one car garage workshop . I have puttered my whole life with a couple cheap little welders and never had a nice shop. This is far from my dream shop but it was all I could afford and all the space i had . Hope you enjoy my small shop project.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Looks like your on your way to having a nice workable shop, great.

PS. I'm jealous of your Tennsmith.

 

[bazzateer]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Looking good Don. Keep the updates going.

Were you named after the Bluebird guy?

 

[lilredex]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Welcome! Many have had less to start with...including myself. You already have some good stuff in there. Let's see some of your projects.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

I bought ten cheap tool boxes from Lowes and Home Depot and bought three countertops to attach to the top of them. This gave me maximum bench space along three walls . I also bought 2 rolling steel tables for the center. You can see my small hand shear and my brake I installed wheels . Even my drill press has wheels. All the benches have wheels and can be moved . I mounted two small drill presses and two small belt sanders on top of two the the tool boxes and they can be moved around too. I bought 5 steel tables total at the local farm store . I used one for my little welding table and attached a back and two sides for splatter sheilds. You can see two other metal tables bolted together and a countertop attached to it for my big workbench. It is also on wheels. I had three old Craftsman vises from the 70's and I repainted them and attached them to three different tables. The last table I used for my old Lincoln 225 Buzz Box and my little wire welder. I also sat a top tool box under it. This was before I attached the splatter 2 foot tall splatter sheilds.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Don, your workshop looks great. I like the way you have kept the red colour theme.
A small shop makes you very creative in terms of storage. Keep up the great work and the pics coming.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

This was my little dream come true even though it was such a small workshop. These pics were taken 7 years ago . I have built several projects in this little shop that you will be fun to share

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Thanks , I had to try to get maximum use out of such a small area. I liked the red too.

 

[scotty t]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

very nice, i like they way you used tin on the house wall.

 

[bosty2]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Those are some AMAZING projects you built Don! You are an artist! Were those for yourself or did you make them for somebody? Do you do your own painting? Nice work!

 

[MScott]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Hi ,
My name is Don and I live in Michigan .

I like the use of metal for the ceiling. I will be using the same in mine when I get to that stage.

Might be a good idea to put your location (state) in your profile. That way people don't have to look back to this post to see where you are from. Makes any future posts or answers to questions more relevant.

 

[justanengineer]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Don, I gotta admit to being a huge fan of yours for years, ever since I first saw your models 10 or 15 years ago on the ACMOC site. Great work and beautiful shop! You really are one of those guys that prove its not about the size of the shop nor money invested, its about the talent contained within to get the job done right.

 

[66BulldogGS]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

WOW! Very jealous. I have a garage, but not much space out there for workspace between the '66 GS, Polaris Ranger, and zero turn mower. You have a very cool workspace. Definitely have made the most out of a small space. Would love to have a little space of my own like that. Maybe when a rebuild the shed in the backyard I'll just make it bigger and do something like this.

 

[Openboater]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Your projects are amazing, Don. t

 

[zmotorsports]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Great looking workshop Don, and welcome to the forum.

Mike.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Welcome. That's a nice space and cool projects. You should check out this thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132812&highlight=model+son

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Nice brake. Is the last picture in your first post a beverly shear ? I didn't see jump shear, but I'm sure you have one !

 

[xtremek]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Hey Don, welcome from a neighbor from the center of the mitten. Looks like you've got some nice sheetmetal tools. I love the space.

 

[AMCguy]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Welcome to the Garage Journal Don. That is a great space you have created. I like the red too.

As soon as I saw your photos I realized you are "that" Don Campbell. I have been fascinated by your miniature works for years.

Get ready guys. We're in for a real treat.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Thanks ,
I have always done 100% of the cutting , welding , bodywork, painting myself. Far from perfect on all of the above, ha,ha. The Brake and the hand shear are Tennsmith .
We live in Gaylord, Mi. so far we have 80 inches of snow this winter. Were kinda in a snowbelt. I putter a lot in the little workshop in the winter.

 

[softailgarage]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Nice shop Don. Ya know your kinda screwed now being on the Journal? Yep, pretty soon you'll find yerself buyin up tools and before ya know it you'll have more projects goin on and will be busier than a one legged man in an *** kickin contest. Sooo, welcome to The Garage, keep up the fine work!

 

[lilredex]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Did not put two and two together either.......

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doncampbellmodels/sets/

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Thought you might enjoy seeing the two largest projects I built in my tiny workshop .This is why I wanted everything to be able to move on wheels to get more space if needed. My regular garage is hooked to the shop so I can push some tables out along the wall in my other garage and free up the center space.

 

[MyKingdom]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Here is the other big project I made in my little workshop . I had to cut a door in the east wall into the other garage to get these out, ha,ha.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Re: Sharing my little workshop



Thanks for posting.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

I have built models for 18 years but it is my latest garden tractor projects over the last year and a half that have been the best. Talk about getting the most use out of such a small space, ha,ha. Here is my recent shop projects and each time re-arranging the shop for the best use. Can you imagine if I had a real shop what I could have built , ha,ha. Here is my hot rod jd for my grandson, my jd 4020, my narrow front 730 with loader and my jd 9630 4x4 articulating tractor project. All done in my tiny shop.

 

[MPowerKC]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Wow, amazing projects. That boy has one cool grandpa!

 

[BigGMC]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

As soon as I saw the name, I wondered if that's the same Don Campbell that makes scale models........ I'll be damned! lol

Welcome to this site!

I've visited your page many times and am amazed at your creations, my 2 boys like seeing the pics of your work as well (they also want me to buy them some to play with.....)

Carry on then.....

 

[NASTYZEN]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

You Sir, sure know how to optimize your shop! Mad sklils!
Welcome to the GJ. 8 Posts and you have me drooling already.
More build pictures please!

 

[Crfdell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Dude you rock a build thread would be awesome or a link to one you have already done.

Hats off you are a master.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Thanks for the kind words ,
Yes I did built steel toys for 18 years but a year and a half ago I got spoiled making the working mini tractors. I have two models started and I can't force myself to go back to working on them, ha,ha. Now I want to build a garden tractor with tracks. Here is the Cat offroad truck and the Letourneau Wheel Dozer I am having trouble finishing. This is the first year in 18 years I have not finished a single model. But in the last year and I built my cool mini tractors, restored a jd110 round fender and built a four wheel wagon and a two wheel wagon to pull behind them.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

It all comes back to having a nice little workshop , I am 62 so i was 55 before I got this nicer place to work. It never stopped me , as long as I had a 220 plug for my welder I was buying metal and welding. I made over 15 snowblades over the years, a couple tractor cabs, a few trailers , etc. For 11 years I built my toys in my old workshop that was 9 feet by 15 feet . Now that was really rough working conditions. Here are a couple pics of some models in that small area. My workbench was only 5 feet long .

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Those are really awesome!

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

I have never in my entire life seen anything remotely close to this. WOW!!! I can't even describe how impressed I am. You deserve your own show on the old SPEED channel or SpikeTV instead of the usual two-bit chumps with scripted drama. The amount of knowledge and talent depicted in your pictures is amazing. It would be worth it to have a camera crew follow you around, and learn from your techniques. The entertainment would be highly worth it.

I don't understand how you have time for that much work. And how did you get your start doing this? ie: did you start out in bodywork or fabrication for a career?

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Don,

I've seen your work before and it's very good! I'm glad you found us here at GJ!

I'd say you're definitely the king of doing a lot with a little around here! Keep up the good work and stick around!

 

[bazzateer]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Some Skills there Don. You really should make some models of your namesake's speed record Bluebirds.

 

[Don Campbell]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Thanks again for the kind words. I started out 18 years ago making some horse drawn toys like sulky plows, potato diggers. Then I built a couple combines , then a couple modern potato harvester models. I had 25 models built and decided to go to my first toy show in Dyersville , Iowa. We went to just show my models not to compete for the trophy. Several people talked us into signing up for the trophy. Many people tried for 25 years to win their Gold plated Tractor Trophy . Would you believe I was lucky enough to win it the very first toy show . The excitement was soon over as a few people complained to me I won. I told my wife I would never do that again and 18 years later I never have. From farm toys i went to Construction toys and then to mining equipment toys. Now the mini tractors. I was a meatcutter/meatmanager for 20 years , then I operated my own small one man lawn care and snowplowing business for 18 years. I never thought of the toys as a business but as a hobby. I am always the first to admit nothing I have ever made came out even close to perfect. But I have had a fun time trying .

 

[shadab]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Don, you have an impressive shop. I am inspired to have a look at the pics of your shop.
Every thing is very nicely and orderly placed. It is superb.

 

[MPowerKC]

Re: Sharing my little workshop

Perfect or not, this is beautiful work. What you've been able to accomplish within a modest workshop is truly awesome and inspiring. It proves once again that you don't need a 30' x 50' shop full of specialized tools to do some amazing things.