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jeff@porteshop.com

I developed a sense of urgency to come up with a solution to the problems of the construction work site. I knew that couldn't solve all of the problems, but I was bound and determined to solve the snow and rain issue. I knew that I couldn't control the weather, but I could control the way that I reacted to the changes in the weather. So I grabbed a piece of paper and began to doodle.I came up with some ideas and I started construction of my portable workshop.


As the project progressed it became very apparent to me that I was solving more than just the problems with the rain and snow. As I built the shop, my tools became organized. I built places to store my tools. The sides of my shop hinged open to form roofs over the work benches. There were two work benches, one on either side of a trailer. So, now I had work benches that I could work on, portability to the job site and it was undercover when the rain started. All of these things were great advantages to me.


These are some pictures that I took while I was dismantling this prototype of my portable work shop. I had used this model for 4 years on jobs around the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The  concept was good, but my choice of materials was not as good.


The Wrath Of Vermont's Weather

The whole body of the portable workshop trailer was constructed out of 1/2 inch  plywood. We   painted the outside with a good grade of paint. The paint would wear thin and we would put another coat over the plywood. Weeks of continuous rain would swell the layers of the wood and rust the hinges so badly that some times they would break when I would open the doors to the workshop.

As you can see from the photos, the plywood didn't hold up to the elements very well, but the prototype served it's purpose. Structurally it held up very well, considering that it was on the road nearly every day of the year...summer and winter.

First Design Problem To Solve

The photos on the right are of the gutter system that I devised to deal with the water that would drain from the roof sections and onto my work benches. The water would drip into this gutter and then run through a down spout and run onto the ground below. These gutters worked great. I would jut have to clean them out a couple of times during the fall season when the leaves and needles were falling of the trees.

The Testing Phase

After constructing my first portable workshop, it was time to test it in real life situations to see how it would perform. The design was simple. There were two work benches, one on either side of the trailer. The center of th trailer became a place for me to store materials that I wanted to keep on board, but out of my way until I needed them. On the left side of the trailer, I built in a place to keep my radial arm saw. The bench on either side of my saw supported the materials that I was cutting. The right side of the trailer was the side that I kept and used my table saw on. My table saw was mounted to the back of the trailer and the work bench doubled as the out feed table for the saw. This served as a great advantage.

Having an out feed table is a luxury to most carpenters on work sites. Set up time is one consideration when deciding what is used or not used. I chose to include an out feed table concept in my portable workshop not only for convenience, but also for safety. Many things that I incorporated into the design of the first prototype were used for reasons of convenience, however these things also made the act of carpentry much safer and more efficient.

I wish that I had taken more pictures. The photos that are on this site may be the only ones. If you have any photos, please send them to me so that I can post them on this site. I know there must be a few more photos out there.

Some Good...Some Not

 While using this portable shop, I saved countless hours of set up and take down time, the only  draw backs with this set up, were basically three:

•      My work benches doubled as out feed tables and tool boxes, so some of my tools were unaccessible or in the way when i needed to use my saws. 

•      Although my roofs kept the rain off me, they did not keep the wind driven rain and snow from finding it's way down the back of my neck!

•      The roof sections were very heavy and cumbersome. The workshop was 10 feet long and the roof was divided into 4 sections; 2 sections on each side.

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