Stressed Out? Try Hitting the Woodshop
Building things with your hands just might boost your mood while giving you personal new pieces for your home
Could it be that we’re in a renaissance of working with our hands? I mean really working with our hands? You know, with heavy tools that leave calluses, on projects that at the end of the day, week or month give you something that can't be emailed or uploaded, but that can be used for a physical purpose? As we become more plugged in — working at desk jobs where our hands touch only a keyboard, mouse and iPhone all day — many are feeling a new desire to unplug and do something more tangible.
That's what author Matthew Crawford has discovered and shared in his book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. With a PhD in political philosophy, he ditched a job as the executive director of a think tank after only 10 months to start his own one-man motorcycle repair shop, where he’s never been happier.
The fact is that humans have a primal urge to work with their hands. Psychologist Kelly Lambert has observed that mice that worked hard digging up Froot Loops were more emotionally resilient to stress than those given the treat without effort. For humans, working with our hands to solve problems modifies our responses to stress by creating dopamine and serotonin in our brains, which makes us feel happy.
So, in a sense, having an almighty home woodshop can be a great antidepressant.
That's what author Matthew Crawford has discovered and shared in his book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. With a PhD in political philosophy, he ditched a job as the executive director of a think tank after only 10 months to start his own one-man motorcycle repair shop, where he’s never been happier.
The fact is that humans have a primal urge to work with their hands. Psychologist Kelly Lambert has observed that mice that worked hard digging up Froot Loops were more emotionally resilient to stress than those given the treat without effort. For humans, working with our hands to solve problems modifies our responses to stress by creating dopamine and serotonin in our brains, which makes us feel happy.
So, in a sense, having an almighty home woodshop can be a great antidepressant.
The woodshop is where we engage some of our most primitive instincts: to work with our hands to solve problems and build things. These instincts helped shape the survival of early humans.
We humans have had an intimate relationship with wood since the dawn of our existence. Some of our earliest inventions were made from wood, and they served practical purposes: tools for eating, hunting, fishing and fighting.
The need for this return to hands-on activity is solved with the home woodshop, that temple of a place where people can kick up sawdust and actually make something, whether it’s furniture, cabinets, art or something else.
The need for this return to hands-on activity is solved with the home woodshop, that temple of a place where people can kick up sawdust and actually make something, whether it’s furniture, cabinets, art or something else.
Interior designer Rhonda Vandiver White designed this woodshop for her husband inside their three-car garage. “It’s very much a man cave,” she says. When he moved into White's traditional-style house three years ago after they got married, he needed his own private space where he could carve wooden dragons, cowboy figurines and other sculptures.
The walls in the 10- by 10-foot space are knotty pine with a Gladiator storage system from Sears. There’s a wood storage shelf above, and the space has heating and air conditioning and even Wi-Fi.
White estimates that the project cost a total of $20,000 in materials — about $15,000 for the door, beadboard, HVAC, electrician, LED lighting and plans; the Gladiator system was about $5,000. (She estimates that the total for another space this size with a designer's fee would be about $25,000.)
When Family Handyman magazine commissioned architect Marcelo Valdes to design a woodshop shed that the average homeowner could construct in one weekend from local lumber store materials, he responded with a concept that stuck to a one-word mantra: "simplicity."
“Traditional sheds are always so cottage-y,” Valdes says. A more modern approach, he knew, would bring along with it the simple design he strived for. “It’s not modern because it’s stylish. It’s modern because it’s simple,” he says.
“Traditional sheds are always so cottage-y,” Valdes says. A more modern approach, he knew, would bring along with it the simple design he strived for. “It’s not modern because it’s stylish. It’s modern because it’s simple,” he says.
His sloped-roof design with polycarbonate windows uses 2-by-4, 2-by-6 and plywood board and batten with a poured concrete slab floor. Valdes estimates it cost $3,000 to $4,000 for materials.
Contractor Phil Johnson built this space in Lanham, Maryland, for a retired firefighter who's now a woodworking hobbyist who builds furniture.
The 672-square-foot space is made from half-inch plywood on a concrete slab. After braving a Maryland winter in the space, the homeowner added insulation.
Johnson estimates this project cost $40,000 to $50,000 for materials and labor, including work by an electrician.
The 672-square-foot space is made from half-inch plywood on a concrete slab. After braving a Maryland winter in the space, the homeowner added insulation.
Johnson estimates this project cost $40,000 to $50,000 for materials and labor, including work by an electrician.
Jeff Parsons, a woodworker in Newfoundland, Canada, built this mecca of a woodshop for his woodworking business, which he started after he left the medical field to pursue his passion of making things out of birch, cherry, mahogany, redwood and oak.
The self-taught woodworker now makes cabinets and wine cellar storage, which he sells through his company, Fine Grain Woodworking.
He says a table saw is a must in any home woodshop and that it can accomplish almost anything. For smaller spaces, he recommends portable machines that you can move around and store easily.
The 700-square-foot shop has a wood planer, a jointer, hand tools, routers, pneumatic nailers and more. Suctions below and above his table saw suck up sawdust, storing about six garbage bags' worth every month.
The self-taught woodworker now makes cabinets and wine cellar storage, which he sells through his company, Fine Grain Woodworking.
He says a table saw is a must in any home woodshop and that it can accomplish almost anything. For smaller spaces, he recommends portable machines that you can move around and store easily.
The 700-square-foot shop has a wood planer, a jointer, hand tools, routers, pneumatic nailers and more. Suctions below and above his table saw suck up sawdust, storing about six garbage bags' worth every month.
Paul Barnish goes to his woodshop off his New Jersey home to clear his head, watch football and build furniture for himself and the grandkids.
Luc Sergerie creates custom furniture in this woodshop on the first floor of the 1930s building in which he lives in Montreal.
Your turn: Show us your woodshop, large or small, and tell us what you make there!
More:
14 Power Tools for the Home Shop
Neat Little Project: Make a Basic Wood Stand
Next: Browse more workshops and studios
Your turn: Show us your woodshop, large or small, and tell us what you make there!
More:
14 Power Tools for the Home Shop
Neat Little Project: Make a Basic Wood Stand
Next: Browse more workshops and studios