I am in the very fortunate position to rebuild my workshop completely, and take over most of a 50 sq.m. garage in the process.
I have tried to position all my machinery with Sketchup.
If anyone has views on this or suggestions for further improvement I would be very grateful. This plan will be the basis for planning of dustcollection and electrical wiring, so it is important to get right.
I give here some background and explanation for choices made, and the abbreviations used.
I do not have space for all tools to have permanent positions. So in this drawing the thickness planer, assembly table and clamp rack have to be wheeled out when used. The assembly table is going to be a multifunction table such as storage, downdraft table, outfeed/infeed table, power tool station, a place to put parts beeing worked, etc.
Heights of machines on stands (all exept planer/thicknesser and bandsaw) can be adjusted and function as outfeed tables for each other.
TSaw- benchtop table saw
RT – router table
SCMC – sliding compound miter saw
P/T – planer/thicknesser, JET combination machine
TP – benchtop thickness planer on a rolling cart, this might be sold, I have the JET P/T combo.
DP- drill press
Sh.st. – sharpening station
BS – band saw
The large grey area is for the car.
Workbench – I plan to have handtools in drawers beneath the bench. Note I have not used all space in this corner which is intended. I think I am going to need that space and a somewhat roomy entrance area is also nice.
All input welcomed,
Replies
I had a couple thoughts on your layout:
Which way does the table saw feed? Is there ample room for infeed, outfeed, and side clearance? Good idea having the assembly bench central to the machines to put parts on as you machine them.
Rather than having adjustable height stands for the tools, I would make them all a common height. You don't really want to be changing tool heights all the time. I'd suggest the table saw to be the benchmark and making as much as possible at the same level.
I assume that you have two garage doors. Do you have any windows? I find lighting at the lathe more important than at other tools. You don't address lighting in your drawing. If you have overhead garage doors, lighting may be a trick when they are open.
Where do you store your materials? I would store them as close to the miter saw as possible. Where your thickness planer and dust collector might be a good place for a lumber rack.
Is the car in the garage when you are working, or does this area just need to be clear at the end of the day?
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
and now www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Geir,
Many on here have suggested running two power lines to either the same outlet or side by sides, this helps eliminate any amp issues.
Also, assuming your floor is concrete, you really need something to stand on in the workbench and lathe area, I'd put those two closer together.
The SCMS, jointer/planer all require long runs, I'd probably put them where your workbench is and align the DP, bandsaw, router table on the other side of the isle. They can all be easily pulled out for use and pushed back.
I like more flexibility in my assembly table. Nested rectangle boxes allows for different heights, hollow core door and smaller torsion boxes provide different size surfaces...all easily stored when not in use.
But you've already incorporated the most important aspect of this whole thing....your thinking about it..
In general, as a starting point for a shop design, the layout is built around having good clearance around the table saw, especially for long infeed and outfeed runs and to the left for crosscutting and to the right for handling sheet goods.
My first thought would be to place the table saw in the middle of the floor in front of where you now have the band saw, with the jointer and planer nearby and oriented to feed stock in the same direction, that is along the longest dimension of the shop. If you use the band saw for resawing it should also be in the same area so there is ample clearance for infeed and outfeed. This also puts all of your major dust and chip producers together which simplifies the dust collection set up.
The assembly table and the bench should be near each other.
After you have settled on a possible plan set up the tools temporarily and go to work making something, you are sure to find that the tools will need to be moved around to get everything working smoothly, then make your permanent dust and poor hook ups. I have never seen a shop layout made on paper work out perfectly in real life the first time around.
John White
Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998-2007
Edited 7/1/2009 8:29 am ET by JohnWW
Thank you, all of you. Here is already many good ideas and several I will try.
I think I need to clarify some things:
I would like to have a nice big TS, but I don't. And since I use very little sheet goods I am happy with my benchtop DeW. But I do have a nice big BS, so that's where much ripping is done.
The idea was that the TS, RT and chopsaw could be in/outfeed tables for each other. In the current drawing the TS and RT are fed right to left. The assembly table is a good candidate as outfeed for the TS.
I am not going for adjustable heights, but choose one height for all or most.
The grey car area is going to have walls between it and the shop, so there is no woodworking in the car area and vice versa. There is going to be a entrance door where I have written "Door", and I am also planning a door from the car area to the shop. That's where wood and supplies are coming in and furniture out.
I haven't marked the windows, but will have one or two on the left wall. Lighting will also be taken care of and there is no conflict with a garage door. And no chance of a concrete floor. I have spruce planks on my shop floor today, and will go for that in the the new one also. Hard enough, but soft on feet and falling tools, cheaper and nicer than pine.
I hope to post pictures of the finished shop some time late in the autumn, as building is not starting until september.
Don't hesitate if you have further ideas,
I think that you'll be disappointed with the location of your TS.
One of the most important jobs of the TS is making smaller pieces of wood from large pieces. This requires that large pieces of material have to be carried to the saw, and that the saw has enough space around it for infeed, outfeed, and rip width.
Unless I missed something in your drawing, you're going to be carrying every workpiece you need to saw to the back of your shop (manuvering around whatever is in the way), and working with a relatively small amount of space for infeed and outfeed. Add an 8' board to your drawing, and see if you could rip it down.
In my garage shop, the TS is in the center of the garage door and my workbench doubles as an outfeed table. Using roller stands, I often drag full sheets of plywood directly from the back of the pickup onto the saw table to begin sizing my pieces.
You seem to assume that all the wood you bring into the shop will be small manageable pieces.. not 18 foot long monsters or even 10 foot long. Why not put everything on wheels?
My shop is 50 feet long by 30 feet wide and I've found that by having everything on moble bases I can roll things to wherever I have sufficent space Hook up to the nearest dust collector and outlet and saw mill shape etc. to my hearts content.. When I finish with a processripping planneing jointing etc.. I simply roll everything together and pull out the next piece of equipment. Because the moble bases have brakes on the wheels I don't worry about things moving once I set up. The real advantage of that approach is I now have plenty of space to store wood so I can buy wood extremely cheap.
Having a virtaul unlimited supply of cheap wood means that where you might pay $50.00 dollars at retail for a piece of Black walnut I can buy the same piece for $1.20.
Yep, it can be that great of a differance
That's the differance between buying retail and buying direct from a sawmill. What's more is by buying direct from a sawmill you have the oppertunity to to get some of those really unique pieces before they're seperated out and priced insanely.
I'll grant that I took things to an extreme level I mean I have well over 10,000 bd.ft. in my shop and it's unlikely you'll go so insane. But have a couple of thousand bd.ft. that you have less than 50 cents invested in per bd.ft. isn't going to break your bank and you can trade what you don't need for other woods. (I traded a bunch of Black walnut for a similar amount of bloodwood) and I sold a really spectacular piece of fiddleback maple for $200. that I had only 80 cents in. Yes he knew and still he felt that $200 was a great price for him!
Park the car outside, eliminate the dining room . This will give you a nice size shop that you can brag about. I am sure you have a kitchen, so a dining room is redundant.
If you have a wife, disregard this post.
mike
Mike,Do you store wood under your bed too?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Yes , under the bed is perfect for kiln dried wood. I make sure I leave just enough room for the cat.
mike
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