Help me build my workshop!!

EvanW

EvanW

Well-Known Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hi All,

Just moved into a new place. It just so happens to come with a 18' x 24' workshop!:rolleyes The place is a clean slate. New insulation and completely finished inside. Most of my adult life has been spent building models on the kitchen table and woodworking in a small corner of the garage. I need to pull out all the stops on this one, as I want it to be as close to highly functional space as can be. Can anyone post pics of their own workspace? Maybe some ideas of what you would have done differently. Things that are needed above others. I have most of the tools already purchased and the shop will probably serve double duty for woodworking. I just need a few ideas to get my head around. With all the possibilities that could be done, I find myself unable to come up with a clear plan. So please!! Send me pics of your workspace.

Thanks all for any help,

Regards,

Evan
 
pics?

Electrical? 110V? 220V?

Lighting? Sky light? Florescent?

Air power, dust control! good padded mats for your back, spray booth.

more later.
 
60 amp panel. 2 220 outlets, numerous 110's No pics yet (gotta open a photo account somewhere) No dust collection yet will get that next week. Currently woodstove heat am switching to electric to obtain constant temp. Lighting is overhead bulbs. want to add wall cabinets with undermount lights.
 
You would need a compressor, airbrush, NO OPEN FLAME when painting, ventilation, Belt sander, work benches approximatly 36" high or higher, vaious holders for parts to be painted, lots of light.
 
I'll swap you it for a corner of my kitchen, :cry:cry:cry:cry:cry

Every christmas rolled into one, good luck with the fit out.
 
clonesix said:
pics?
Air power, dust control! good padded mats for your back, spray booth.
Click to expand...

I ran hard copper pipe for air lines in my shop & at the parents in their wood shop. Use at least L rated copper pipe, M is too thin and K is overkill (and costs way too much). 1 inch main run(s) with the line drops coming out the top of the run-over-then down in 1/2 pipe to a regulator/filter & universal coupler (they make a coupler now that will accept the standard 1/4 fittings and industrial high flow fittings). I also have trunk drops w/ ball valves on the bottom for draining any condensed water out of the pipes and use a flexible hose from the compressor to the hard lines.

If your going to do a lot of airbrushing, build a small booth similar in design to a laminar airflow hood (booth hospitals use to make sterile IV bags etc) that you can adjust the front opening size as need to get good airflow or work in/out, and get the automotive booth filter/paint arrestor material in rolls from an auto supply shop and build quick change frames in the back of it and hook it up to your fan/vent system to the outside.

As the old florescent lights go out in my shop I've been replacing them with the newer natural light florescent bulbs. It's been great for working on my old 74 Barracuda but the bulbs are like double the cost of the regular bulbs.

Hit the scrap yard and see what you can find in 1/2 inch to 1 inch steel or aluminum plate for an assembly table. Just take a good straight edge with you to make sure it isn't warped or is very close to flat. If your lucky you may find some old jig table top that's already got a hole grid drilled and tapped, or some old 2x3 mill table top with t-slots in it. I was beat by 10 minutes at the scrap yard to getting a 4x4 predrilled jig table top 2 months ago that came from a belly up machine shop that left it and a few other things in the building and the bank scrapped it.
 
Sounds like you have plenty of space already, but if you want to maximize it, one of the coolest things I've seen is a full size wardrobe style cabinet with two hinged doors. It had adjustable style shelves from top to bottom. It had about 8 shelves that had power tools already bolted to the slide out shelving.........each shelf fit perfectly on a portable rolling work station which simply had to be clamped in place. This allows the user to only have the power tool out that he needs at any given time. For example, the types of tools he had were: scroll saw, router table, belt/disk sander, grinder, mini lathe etc etc...........which he could simply switch out within a couple minutes. His dust collection system also had a flexi extension which attached to each of those tools. Quite a fantastic space saving system that kept his workshop neat and tidy. My plan is to do exactly that in my work area in my garage.

Dave :)
 
Construction has begun. Slowly. I have a photobucket account now and will post pics soon.

Thanks for the ideas so far!!!!

Evan
 
Flammables cabinet, appropriate fire safety/protection equipment in multiples (plan for a guest or two), signage reminding you and family/friends what not to do and where not to do it.

Natural lighting fixtures, gray out as much of the area that you'll be painting in as possible to get the best reads of color.

Plumbing needs? Reference racks, storage, archive, morgue? Space to hang/review plans, spread out varying and probably conflicting ref and larger books, etc. TV/DVD/stereo/computer? Kit storage, maybe a place to set aside projects that get away from you w/o completely shutting them down, you can think 'em over while maybe working up something else for a bit.

As for using the space, think realistically. There's dream and there's...: what's the nature of the projects? What will you tend to have cluttered around you but within arm's reach, do you sit/stand? You've probably got some work habits that are gonna be hard to break. How do you work, what do you work on, what scale, etc... again, be real, not ideal. You can expand when you get a sense of how you're going to use the area.
 
Whatever you do, put everything on wheels -- benches, tables, cabinets large tools, etc.! Makes for easy remodeling or making room for certain projects and yes even cleaning. It was the best thing I ever did.


Doug
 
In my shop I am making rolling cabinets for every benchtop and stationary tool. Instead of a central dust collection system I am putting a vac inside each cabinet. Some tools will share cabinets. Everything will be mobile.
Also look at what you will be frequently doing with each tool and make jigs for them. That's what I am doing and then I am storing them inside the corresponding cabinets!
The Home Depot has these cool little vacs the attach to the top of a 5 gallon bucket for $20. They would be good for smaller tools.
 
When I finally got into a large workshop space, hands down, the best single thing I did was to build a large feed out table on the side and back of my tablesaw that came up flush to the saw table and attached to it. I do a lot of woodworking too and larger projects, so that made it possible for me to easily deal with large sheet goods by myself. I can feed 4x8 sheet through the table saw without having a dangerous catastrophe when the pieces are cut. And when I'm not doing big cuts, the huge table is enormously helpful.

My second suggestion is to figure out how much counter/table space you think you need and then just double it.

MM
 
I've got 1/2 of my double garage for my workshop (mostly woodworking). I've found that my favourite part of the shop is my 16' long mitre bench along the side wall. For my purposes it's just a 3' deep MDF table on a structure of 2x4's but it allows me to work on many different items at one time because there's so much space. I put peg board and shelving on the wall behind it so I can store all my hand tools.
 
Remember good air circulation for the paint/glue fumes. Keep a fan running to keep the air moving. I've got an air conditioner in the wall that works great for my studio.
 
Ditto all of that. I also made the bench clear underneath to fit my big belt sander and other tools on carts underneath when they're not in use.

What does it say about me that I get very excited talking about setting up a shop? Gets me hot and bothered.

MM



Orange_Blend said:
I've got 1/2 of my double garage for my workshop (mostly woodworking). I've found that my favourite part of the shop is my 16' long mitre bench along the side wall. For my purposes it's just a 3' deep MDF table on a structure of 2x4's but it allows me to work on many different items at one time because there's so much space. I put peg board and shelving on the wall behind it so I can store all my hand tools.
Click to expand...
 
1. Spend the time and money to build dust collectors out of a couple of Shop Vacs. Sawdust (and pvc etc) can get out of control so easily.

2. To get a lot of good ideas (and plans) look at the magazine section at Lowe's / Home Depot and a grocery store or bookstore with a big magazine section.

Better Homes magazine sells a mag called Best-Ever Workshops, in collaboration with the editors of Wood magazine. BEW has a lot of plans each issue for benches, cabinets, layouts, lighting, etc. and also features photos of various readers' workshops (large and small). Sample article names: Tour 9 Great Workshops, 29 Storage Projects, etc.

Another one, and I think this is at HD or Lowe's, is Fine WoodWorking's Annual Tools & Shops issue. Similar plans and tips, etc.

Lots of pictures in both, you can always pick up good ideas.
 
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