Welcome to The Hobbyist Work Shop.

The Hobbyist Work Shop is a companion to The Hobbyist Machine Shop , The Hobbyist Machine Shop Blog (THMS) and several more sites listed in the Companion Links in the left hand column.

My name is Dan Kautz. I am the author of this website and the other sites mentioned. I am the owner and user of a very enjoyable home workshop. I use it in the pursuit of building (or repairing) all types of tangible products. Publishing my use of my shop is the reason for this website. My desire is not self promotion but to encourage others to be similarly creative with their own personal workshops.

My interests (hobbies) are not the tools in the workshop itself but rather how and what I create using the tools and machines (including CNC computers) within my workshop. My hobby is the output of the workshop. I like to show the process I use for the projects I undertake. I sometimes I show mistakes but that is a possible part of any process.

There is a thin line between the hobby of tool collecting and tool use. None of my shop tools are collectables except I probably have too many lathes… Have I crossed the line? Ha! Collecting for collecting sake is not a current interest.

My first “tool” website is The Hobbyist Machine Shop. It highlights my machining activities using metal lathes and metal milling machines. However, metal machining is not the only workshop activity I enjoy.

This website features all my other shop activities. I am a competent furniture quality wood worker. That alone can be a very big area to cover. But you can see I am interested in various skills beyond that. The menu tabs above lead to my many other areas of interest. Those tabs will increase in number these pages expand in scope.

Please browse around. Drop me an email. There is a link in the Site tab. Tell me what you enjoy most in your workshop. I'll then know you are reading and hopefully enjoying these pages.