Shop Layout Feedback Wanted

[WoodWrangler]

This Friday I've got to rearrange to make room for the new stuff, and move out the stuff that's been sold. So I figure a whole shop rearrangment might be in order ... and I'd like your feedback.

I don't have the luxury of a large shop, so space is limited (2 1/4 car garage). As always there are some restrictions, like where power outlets are, no centralized dust collection, etc ... more than I can explain ... but still, I'd like to know if you see anything that stands out as a "bad idea" here. Also, which layout would you choose ... if any?

Layout A


Layout B


Layout C




And by the way ... if anyone wants to help rearrange, come on over Friday!

[Jon]

I dont have any advice for you but I do want to see what others offer.

[Bas]

I like layout A, with the jointer close to the table saw. I'd probably swap the router table with the bandsaw, having the extra space is really nice when feeding long pieces of trim. Of course, it depends on what kind of projects you usually do.

I don't like the drill press next to the workbench. I have the same setup, and the shavings from the Forstner bits end up all over the workbench. Then again, I see you have a multi-router, so maybe this isn't so much of a problem. You could swap it with the compressor, but it may be awkward having the drill press so far in the corner.

I don't see anything that could be a bad idea, although you're probably going to accumulate a lot of shavings and dust in the corner where the lathe is. Maybe consider swapping the lathe and chopsaw (if that fits), so you can use a leaf blower to blow the shavings out through the garage door.

If anything doesn't fit after the move, feel free to drop it off at my place. I think you could make a lot of room and have a more flexible layout without the drum sander

[Travis Porter]

My .02 worth. Mileage will vary.

From the layouts, it looks like you will have to move the jointer or planer almost every time you will do something four or five feet. Can you move them to the middle adjacent to the tablesaw?

In layout one you have the bandsaw in the middle. Personally, don't see that it does a lot for you. I will say, you will probably begin to do a lot of rough cutting and dimensioning of stock on the monster you have coming so make sure you put it where it is convenient and you don't have to move much to cut wood. I didn't think I would use mine much, but once I have gotten started with it I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I like layout one, but would put the jointer and planer adjacent to the tablesaw, move the bandsaw to the wall, and probably put the router table beside the bandsaw. Don't know if you make much long moldings or such, but might save you from having to wheel it all around when you do.

One thing I don't see is a bench or assembly station. Is that missing or not used?

[scsmith42]

Jeremy, it looks like you've put a lot of thought into those different options. One thing that I didn't notice was having any equipment situated in the garage doorway. If you ever need to joint, plane or resaw any long boards, if you situate those pieces of equipment in the doorway you can open up the door to provide additional feeding room.

Scott

[cpowell]

Jeremy,

After looking at your layouts I think I can help improve your shop layout.

The biggest things I notice that need to be addressed are:

1. You need a larger shop.
2. Your stack of wood is too large.
3. You have too many toys tools.

While I can't help with "1.", I can swing by this afternoon and help you with "2. and 3." Just load in my truck. You can come by anytime and look at or even use the tools. No guarantee on the wood.

On a serious note:

You are really trying to put 20 lbs of tools in a 10 lb bag. This can work if all the big players are mobile. My shop is 20 x 24 detached, very similar to the size you're in. I'll offer how I would place the big stuff based on the first layout you presented and let you put the less-used machines "wherever".

The center of the shop is the tablesaw and general work area (assy table). Peripheral equipment is located based on workflow.

I like the tablesaw position in the first layout. Rather than a small outfeed, I'd go with an assy table outfeed. My assy table is a full sheet of 3/4 melamine sitting atop a layer of 2x4s which are laying across STOUT sawhorses. My stack of AD lumber is stickered UNDER the table. I am not advocating this approach but it's the best solution I could find to deal with AD lumber. My tablesaw is mobile so that it can be moved when I need to work on the tablesaw side of the assy table. My assy table is darn flat. A 4 ft x 8 ft flat surface is nice to have.

I would relocate the planer and jointer to the area where your lumber stack is located in the first layout. Situate you machines so that the planer needn't be moved. Keep the planer infeed open as much as practical. When planing, move the jointer toward the tablesaw slightly. The jointer can be moved/rotated if needed as a post-outfeed stock laydown when planing large/heavy planks or panels. NOT to support while planing but as a resting point (stock lies on planer outfeed and jointer table). This allows you to do 1-man planing without having to continually juggle large heavy pieces.

This arrangement will allow you to stack rough stock on the assy table or saw top for dimensioning. You will have space to move stock as it is planed or jointed in an organized manner. The small work triangle means you don't make many steps while dimensioning. I typically face joint, using the assy table and tablesaw top to stack. Then I plane, using the jointer infeed table and assy table to stack. Edge joint using assy table and tablesaw top (closest to jointer). Once edge jointed, rip and stack on RHS of fence on tablesaw/assy table.

I would place the router table where you have the bench and bench top tools, closest to the drum sander. The bandsaw will be between the RT and the drillpress. I would recommend you place the bandsaw on Zambus-style casters. Simply roll it forward toward the assy table/tablesaw and lock casters to rip/resaw long stock. You won't believe how well this works. I don't believe you realize how much you will use a bandsaw. It's going to become one of your go-to machines. I know you have a bandsaw now but you are about to get a different level of machine. You will be grinning a lot.

I have a Compound Miter Saw on a dedicated bench. I value the bench much more than the Compound Miter Saw. If I were finishing homes for a living this wouldn't be the case. But, I'm primarily building furniture, frames, toys, knick-knacks. Since I have a workable cutoff sled and a good miter gauge with fence for the tablesaw, I just don't use the Compound Miter Saw very much except to crosscut prior to dimensioning. That said, my Compound Miter Saw/bench is located where you have the scrollsaw and multi-router. My DC is next to the Compound Miter Saw bench.

I have one DC line that serves the tablesaw, planer, jointer. This line goes through a trashcan separator to remove heavies. I use a second line to serve the bandsaw, RT, belt/disc sander. Since these machine generate more "fines" they go directly into the bags. My lines are flex hose. They work just fine. I only have a 2HP DC. I am not going to get carried away with extravagant DC layout/cyclones/filters using a "2HP" unit.

In terms of elevation, my tablesaw top is just a smidge higher than the assy table. The tablesaw top is also higher than the jointer top. This means that the jointer top will not interfere with tablesaw operations on long stock.

I would take pics but my shop looks like a disaster zone right now. I have not done any work there for a week or more and have two projects "open".

I like the way you situated the Belt/disc sander. I would probably put the scroll saw in that same area and keep one of those doors locked up.

My workbench is located where you have the chop saw. It works there for me. If/when I use up the AD wood under my assy table I will relocate the bench where the assy table sits.

I'm not really sure where your KD lumber is stored. MY KD lumber is in a rack in the corner with your compressor/door. Sheet storage is overhead. It sucks to dig out sheets but I just don't spend too much time doing it. For all the inconvenience when I need to retrieve a sheet of ply it's worth it to me. Wall space is very valuable in a small shop.

DON'T position your 220V machines based on 220V ckt access. Run some EMT and place a receptacle where it makes sense based on work flow. Given your current level of WG disease, you will likely upgrade to a few more 220V machines, at least for DC and possibly planer. (There's one for sale...right, Alan?).

Chuck

[Badabing]

Hi Jeremy,
First, congrats on the great new tools you're making room for! Second, if you need any help (other than heavy lifting--I have a bad back), I'd be happy to come by and supervise

I like the plan A simply because it seems to put the most used tools in good positions. Without getting too specific, I just rearranged my garage shop and did something similar. After working in it regularly for the past year I realized there was a lot of room for improvement.

I like that you have the air compressor in the corner by the door. That really is the best spot for it since you don't stand over it to use it and the corner is not conducive to working at a tool. Also, the lathe on the other side makes sense too.

My advice is to just get everything to fit and see how you like it for a few months. Don't stress out over the arrangements too much, there is a good chance you will need to change it around sooner or later anyway!

Seriously, if you need some help I'm off on Sunday...

[McRabbet]

Jeremy,

Chuck Powell has hit on a number of great points in his answer -- in particular, I'd like to echo his view that a key work triangle is found between the jointer, planer and tablesaw when you are processing rough lumber. You will rely very heavily on those three tools as you prepare wood for most projects.

One important factor is maintaining adequate infeed and outfeed room to process boards through each tool. As shown, you'll have trouble ripping an 8' long board on your table saw in any of the diagrams (you don't indicate the height of your stack of lumber, but it should be under an outfeed table if located where you have it). My tablesaw sits in the center of a 25' long room and I can just rip a 12' board on it. Even with the garage door open (assume it is the double line at the bottom of each diagram), you have limited space. Ditto his comment on chip separator on the duct line to these 3 tools.

Keep the mobile tools to the sides where they can be moved into free space when needed. I'd favor putting the router table and multi-router close together. I also agree with Chuck's comments on them, too. I'd put the DC and compressor in a corner close to an outside wall or you may get complaints from the peanut gallery (plus if you have room and no restrictions by your neighborhood, you can add an outside closet for them).

[JackLeg]

Jeremy: I'm really enjoying monitoring this thread. As you know, I'm trying to "re-organize" also, and I've gotten some good ideas from this forum. Thanks for initiating it.

[WoodWrangler]

WOW!

Thank for all of the great feedback thus far ... a lot to think about and definitely some things I am going to take into consideration. I'll work on a revision and post it too.

To answer a couple of the questions ...

• Every tool is on a mobile base, or has wheels.
• I've ordered, and received, Zambus-like casters (clones from Great Lakes Casters) for the bandsaw. Now I just hope they fit when I pick it up Saturday!
• The stack of AD lumber is lower than the tablesaw height. I'm trying to figure out another place to store it (until I get a shed). There is also a load of KD lumber on a wall mount system on the exterior wall above the air compressor area in drawing #1.
• The double line in the front IS the garage door.
• The budget has been slaughtered with the recent additions, but once things settle back in I do plan on building a dedicated "assembly table" (probably similar to the Wood Whisperer / David Marks ones) near the tablesaw -- but that will be a little later.
• There is no bench in Layout A, because I think I will sell the one I have. My plan is to build another one later in the year similar to what many of you have made.
• The longer bench along the wall with the smaller tools and toolbox will be the temporary bench. It doesn't exist yet either, but shouldn't be to complex as I plan to make it from standard home center materials.
• Sheet goods storage stinks ... currently it's on the short wall next to the fridge (indicated by a double black box behind the bench), but I think it will move overhead with time ...

So ... who should I expect to help get this started tomorrow (Friday)????

[Bas]

Man, if you were in Raleigh instead of Charlotte, I'd be there at 9am. You've got tools I've only seen in catalogs!

[ptt49er]

What time you starting tomorrow? I feel the need to repay a favor

[Nativespec]

Jeremy:

I like the 4th one with the table saw in the center.

You might consider mounting your router to your table saw (I have done this with the Bench Dog cast iron extension). With my router on the saw it is always ready to accept long stock since the table saw is the centerpiece of the shop. Before this, I always found myself clearing stuff off my router table prior to use since it was located along the side wall of the shop. Now my router table is a storage cabinet and workbench and this has freed up more space in my shop.

You can run new wires. I ran extensions with metal boxes in the female end to where I needed them. Just make sure your extension wire is no bigger than your fixed wiring.

Thanks,

David

[Tarhead]

Originally Posted by gotojeremy

So ... who should I expect to help get this started tomorrow (Friday)????

Sorry Jeremy, I have my neighbor coming in an hour to help me hang crown in the kitchen. Tomorrow?
Let's see...22.5+22.5+22+23?????? Got caulk?

[WoodWrangler]

Originally Posted by ptt49er

What time you starting tomorrow? I feel the need to repay a favor

Well, I'm awake now and just need to get moving. Should be out there by 10am.

Not sure how much I'll get done today alone, so if you can help that would be freaking awesome!