When we bought the house in Glyndon a couple years ago, the shed was just a shed. Lawnmower, some bins of Christmas decorations, a shelf of half-used paint cans. Standard stuff. I had bigger plans for it, but it sat on the back burner for a while — life with five kids has a way of rearranging your priorities.
Then Duane started showing interest in woodworking.
It started small. He saw a video of someone building a cutting board and asked if we had any wood. We did not have any wood. But we had a Menards fifteen minutes away in Moorhead, and that was the beginning of the end of my simple shed.
Running Power
The first thing the shed needed was real electricity. I'd been running extension cords across the yard like some kind of safety hazard, so I ran a 60-amp underground feed from the exterior panel to the shed — about 25 feet. Dug the trench, ran PVC conduit, pulled 6/3 wire, and mounted a sub-panel with dedicated circuits for lights, outlets, and power tools.
Total cost was about $450 from Menards plus a trencher rental. Best money I've spent on this house. My one regret? I should have gone bigger. Once you start adding tools and thinking about a heater for winter, 60 amps feels smaller than it did on paper.
Duane's Corner
We set up a workbench for Duane along the back wall. Nothing fancy — a sheet of plywood on some sturdy legs with a vise bolted to the corner. He's got his own set of hand tools now: a block plane, some chisels, a coping saw, a square. He keeps them organized better than I keep mine, which is both impressive and a little embarrassing.
His first real project was a small shelf for his room. It wasn't perfect — the joints were a little loose, one side was slightly longer than the other — but he built it himself and it's hanging on his wall. The look on his face when he finished it was worth every trip to Menards.
Now he's working on a jewelry box for Sophia. He hasn't told her yet. I'm not sure which part I enjoy more — watching him learn the craft or watching him plan a surprise for his sister.
My Side of the Shed
I've got the other side set up for general tinkering. Table saw, drill press, a pegboard wall that's slowly filling up with tools. This is where I go when the house is at maximum volume and I need thirty minutes of doing something with my hands. Sometimes it's a project. Sometimes I just reorganize the pegboard. It doesn't matter. The shed is the reset button.
What I Didn't Expect
I set out to build a workshop. What I actually built was a place where my sixteen-year-old son voluntarily hangs out with me. No screens, no headphones, just the two of us working on something. He asks questions. I show him how to do things. Sometimes we don't talk at all and that's fine too.
I spent $450 on electrical and probably another $300 on the workbench and tools. For a space where I get to watch my kid discover he can build things with his hands? That's the best deal I've ever gotten.