There’s an old expression my dad used to use just about whenever we felt down or put upon growing up. Maybe our Little League team was down by two runs going into the ninth inning. Or, maybe it was a test we had to take that made up half of our grades. Whatever.

Anyway, it went, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

I’m sure you are aware that the meaning behind this bit of pithy advice is that it doesn’t matter how big you are, it’s what’s inside that makes all the difference.

So, two weeks ago, when I introduced you guys to the Smart Vise, I asked you guys to show me the shots of your micro shops. The shops shoved into all too often overlooked corners of basements, garages and spare bedrooms. The shops that you need to step outside of to change your mind. Those shops that leave you scratching your head wondering, “Just how the heck did that project come out of that shop?”

Well, I had a few entries, and all of them were tiny. Small. Diminutive. Without any further ado, here’s what we got.

This is the shop of my good friend Paul Carroll. He lives a few miles from my house, and, yes, the shop he occupies fits neatly into a 60 square foot area. Not only does his shop serve as storage for the portable table saw he has to wheel out into the garage or driveway when the weather cooperates, it also serves as his home’s laundry room. It’s very neatly laid out, and you can see that just about every ‘permanent’ power tool has its own dust collection hookup. Believe me, every possible nook and cranny serves as storage, and I’d have to say this is pretty darned impressive.

This tiny shop belongs to the appropriately named James Little, and as you can see, it’s one of those shops that just looks bursting at the seams with stuff. But, you can see a few different work benches, a whole lot of storage and organization out the ears. Pretty sweet looking shop.

This spacious abode is the hide out of Warren Valente. Shoehorned into his 10 x 15 foot shop, he manages to build some big pieces. Check out the harvest table and benches he has working in the shop in this shot. Of course, if he needs any extra space for outfeed on his table saw, he can just push the piece through the (hopefully open) window!

Next up is the small shop of Justin Rossetti. Man, talk about small. This guy has to move ALL of his stuff outdoors to get anything done at all. That’s right – there is no real indoor shop space. Basically, the only space he has to work is outdoors. The storage area is right off his kitchen, those, so his wife usually doesn’t mind because she gets to keep an eye on him and see what he’s up to.

Eric Cole from Pennsylvania has a very neat looking shop setup in his condo. While it measures a tiny 8 x 12, he has it packed with a lot of mobile bases on his tools, so he can get things exactly as he needs them for whatever operation he has planned. This he got from Wood Magazine, and his next project is a knock-down workbench by Chris Schwarz so he can get into more hand tool work.

The winner, however, has to be the cozy shop of George Micklus of Connecticut. When he’s not aboard one of our nation’s submarines (thank you for your service, George), he’s working out of a cozy 10 x 14 shed near his home. He actually downsized a bit from where he started (in his garage), because as his family grew, he was voluntold to move out to convert the space into a new master bedroom. His time on a submarine has inspired his shop layout, which includes a sweet looking workbench, an Anarchist’s Tool Chest and a few other projects designed to maximize storage and working area.

Iggy would like to thank all of you who submitted your shop entries for this contest. It’s amazing to see just how much goes into planning a workshop in a very small space. One thing is for certain, however, from here on out. I will never complain about having to work in a two-car garage ever again. I promise!

I never owned a G.I. Joe action figure. Seriously. We had the Adventure People, but our friends who lived down the street, they had the G.I. Joe action figure.

Notice I said action figure. Not doll. That was out of the question. We’re talking ACTION FIGURE here, people!

Now that I got that out of the way, our friend who lived down the street had their G.I. Joe action figures, and those action figures were small at only 12 inches tall, but boy, did they ever have their mojo. They wore camouflage. They had weapons. They had fuzzy beards. And, most importantly, they had Kung Fu Grip.

What did that do? Heck if I knew, but the Kung Fu Grip was awesome for having Joe hoist himself up on a rope and climb to the top of a dresser to get a better position. You could fight an entire war in a bedroom and be done before dinner. Those were the days…

Now that I have my head out of the 1970s, I have turned my attention to other toys. In my shop. That I build with. I love my shop. It’s got plenty of size and space for a workbench, a table saw, a band saw, tool storage… a ton of stuff.

But, I do know some folks who work in much smaller spaces like a spare bedroom in an apartment or on the kitchen counter. What about them?  You know what they need? The equivalent of a G. I. Joe doll action figure that can be small enough to tuck away but strong enough to hold their work.

I think the folks over at the  Sjoberg’s Workbench company may have found the answer. This is the Smart Vise, and it makes quite a bit of sense for all shops, but especially small ones.

As with that other Swedish company that makes furniture for the house instead of the shop, some assembly is required. Mostly fasteners, the vise body, the screw mechanism and the dogs you will use later to help hold work.

To put this sucker together, you flip it upside down and attach the lower jaw to the upper body section with glue and some fasteners. It’s very simple, and in about five minutes, it was all buttoned up, ready for some serious steel.

This is where the Kung Fu Grip comes in to play. This heavy screw goes into the middle hole, where it engages the threads inside. Simply screw it all the way home, set the garter into the front block with a pair of screws and put on the handle. Easy peasey lemon squeezie.

Flipped up onto its feet, the vise can be secured to a table (or workbench) with a few squeeze clamps or a few screws. What can you do with it? How about cut a few dovetails? Tenons? Maybe a little mortising?  And, it can be done in a very small area.

Now, here comes the fun part. The folks at Bora Tools wanted me to give away one of their new Smart Vises to one of my readers. So, here’s how it’s gonna work.  I want you to shoot me an e-mail showing me just how small your shop working area is. I will take a look and have my Trained Shop Monkey select the smallest looking shop from the entries as our winner. Be sure to send them to Iggy@tomsworkbench.com.

You have until Saturday, June 13 to get them in, so don’t delay!