Building basement shop – tips or suggestions?
mccabekm
| Posted in General Discussion on
I’ve got about a 6×8′ space to work with in my basement, and I’m turning it into a small shop for woodworking/projects. I’ve got a workbench and pegboard so far, and I know there are a lot more ‘musts’ for a shop. Do you have anything you like in your shop, or wish you had put in? Tools I own: tablesaw, chopsaw, jigsaw, router (no router table (yet?)), and variety of smaller tools. I know this is a pretty vague question, so any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!
Replies
if the ceilings are low cover the fluorescent lights with the plastic protection covers in case you bang into a light
SA
I have basement shop. My biggest tip as hobbyist, is to layout your shop with ease of cleaning the biggest factor - more important than workflow. For example, being able to access dust ports on larger power tools easily, avoiding open shelves and spaces for dust to accumulate, and making everything movable. If you don't, the dust will get everyhwere in your house, and the shop will always look bad.
Thanks stantheman. I think I'm going to start the sheetrock 8" or so off the ground and put some tall removable base board over it. Should be enough room to clean. Thanks for the suggestion.
My immediate thought was GOOD dust collection. It is amazing where 'shop dust' can end up in your home. Especially with forced air heating.
6X8 is a very small area to work in. Can you use your power tools in your garage/other area and use your new shop only for hand tool work?
Hope it turns out well for you.
Keeping down the dust is important to me. In addition to the dust collection for machines, I have a central shop vac with 2" PVC running to several locations. Being able to quickly clean up as I work means I do not dirty up the rest of the house with my sawdust. This keeps the wife happy - need I say more??
maccabekm,
Ya gotta get more space! Forty Eight square feet really doesn't provide many options other than hand tools or maybe a small lathe. Between acclimatizing stock, shaping, joinery and finishing very little space would be available for you to do the work. I was able to carve out about 200sq.ft. by building racks in the garage, etc. Good Luck
That's a really small space.
That's a really small space. Any chance of evicting the other uses of the balance of the basement? Or, is sawdust in the laundry a sly way of getting the wife to agree to a shop building in the back yard? ;-)
Thanks all. I had to knock out a few rooms just to get the space I got! I did set it up so I can run out boards from the chop saw as far as I want, but there are some other factors I just can't get around.
Looks like dust control is a priority. Never thought about it finding its way into the laundry or ducts - so thanks.
I have been using a small basement shop for several years. I forget the dimensions of it, but it occupies the space near the washer & dryer and in between the furnace and oil tank. Very cramped, but I've learned how maneuver the space. I have a workbench there and a few power tools, specifically a bandsaw, tablesaw, and a router table. Here are a few things I've learned:
1. I agree about dust collection, though a dust collector takes up valuable space. I have a 16- gal. shop vac that I switch back and forth between the saws and a smaller shop vac for the router table.
2. To handle plywood or long pieces of lumber, I've built a folding table with a sacrificial top made of 2x4s, which I set up outdoors to cut lumber & sheet goods into manageable pieces with a circular saw. This eliminates the need for a chopsaw.
3. You really need to be primarily a hand-tool woodworker to make a small shop work, I think. I use the 14-in. bandsaw, a scrub plane, and a selection of bench planes to do all my dimensioning of rough lumber. With a little practice, you can do this very quickly and efficiently. In my experience, dimensioning rough lumber using only hand tools is nowhere near the difficult, exhausting task so many woodworkers believe it to be. I enjoy it.
This fall, I built a 10x12 foot uninsulated, unheated, unwired shed behind my house. (Anything larger would be way out of proportion to the house.) I built a small workbench along a part of one of the walls and set up my bench grinder & waterstones there to create a dedicated sharpening station. I also moved most of my lumber into the rafters, and set up a 15-inch floor-model drill press inside the shed. The idea was to set up one or two power tools that I don't use very often and run a 50-ft extension cord out to them when I need to use them. I'm also lining the walls with drawers, shelves, etc., to create storage for everything from screws, nails, & biscuits to off-cuts.
In other words, improvise as your needs evolve. With a little imagination, it's not that hard to make do with bits of space here and there.
Good luck,
Norman
The floor! (since no one has mentioned it)
3/4 x 4" ply sleepers, with 3/4 x12" foam in between, and cover the lot with 3/4 underlayment. (This, of course, assumes no water issues.) Makes a big difference to one's feet and legs, not to mention the odd dropped tool.
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