There are many woodworkers that will ramble on about the basic shop accessories that you will need for a woodworking shop. many think that room is the most important to do certain jobs. There are others that think it is the equipment that provide the basics and most of this is true, but if you can not do your wood working safely then the accessories will have very little significance.

Here are some very healthy accessories to have around a good woodworking shop:

1) A good sturdy table to work on that is big enough to sustain your woodworking projects, with out the fear of them falling off and causing injury.

2) Saw horses to handle those long pieces that extend off the saws and planers in the shop. Saw horses help prevent kick backs by keeping the wood level. They also give you a platform to hold or feed bulky pieces into the machines.

3) Air evacuation is also important in a good woodworking shop. If your shop is enclosed it is a good rule to have a dust evacuation system in place. This will cut down on any fire hazards due to the dust from happening and also give you better air for breathing. You should still wear a respirator and all other safety equipment, but this will improve the air quality in the shop.

4) Push sticks for close to the blade feeds on saws and planers. You can buy or make these digit savers and are good things to have on those close cuts of wood.

5) Good lighting is a must. The light in a shop can give you visibility to see those tight places that are around joints of the wood. Giving you insight to nails that may be protruding from wood surfaces when you are cutting wood.

Granted there are many accessories that are good to have around a shop, but including safety into the equation never hurts. Accessorizing your shop with the essentials is good along the lines of shop equipment and it adds to making the job easier and safer to do. A fire extinguisher and a first aid box that mounts on the wall can keep it up out of the way, but also keeps it in a general location that is easy to find at a moments notice.

The other hazards of wood working accessories may include a shop vacuum that you can hook up to smaller hand tools like a palm sander. This is neat and it allows you to interchange with other tools as well to keep the dust down in the shop. Every shop needs to have peg board on the inside walls of the shop. It allows you to keep tools up off the shop floor and keep them from becoming a tripping hazard.

Anything worth doing in a shop to accessorize and organize it for your safety is good. It shows that you are not only an applicable woodworker, it shows that you are a safe one too. The tools that are in a shop are all dangerous, so when you accessorize the shop keep this in mind. You can have the best tools around and the accessories that you put in place in your shop could mean the difference in what every woodworker needs to have in their shop.

Learn more about this author, Rex Coker.
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