small shop setup

[golder]

hey there folks,


well a month after moving, we've finally got things sorted our around the house. i reckon its about time i get my shop set up. i've got a one car garage/shed out back that i'll be using for a shop, once i get everything non wood-related out of there. as its pretty darn small, i've been scratching my head wondering how to make the best use of my space.

does any body have any ingenious thoughts on arranging tools or workspace?
ideas for cheap storage, work/counter space, lighting?

with the exception of my table saw and a small bench top router table, all my tools are portable.

well thats what i've been trying to wrap my head around. any ideas, suggestions, etc would be most appreciative.

hope everyone has a good week,
golder

[McRabbet]

Golder,

Here is a pretty useful tool for helping with shop layout -- it is from Grizzly Tools and is an interactive tool that lets you place items where you want -- although geared to Grizzly products, it still is useful.

[SteveHall]

My two favorite small shop articles are these:

Bill Endress' roll-away workshop (full article available at Google Book excerpt)

Matthew Teague's Smart Shop in a One-Car Garage

[PChristy]

I have a small shop as well and it is very crowed - thanks for the websites - I added them to my favs

[froglips]

I found making a little map on some graph paper and cutouts of tools helped me.

It lets you move around bits of paper instead of hundreds of pounds of iron. I call it my "woodshop action figure play set"!

One key actions figure is a cutout to scale of a 4x8 sheet of plywood. It really opened my eyes seeing just what happened when I tried to work on a sheet in my 12x12 shop.

If you have an open stud wall, I found putting lots of little cleats and shelves between the studs gave me tons of storage lost to me otherwise.

Depending on your taste for power, a Shopsmith is one way to save lots of space and gain mobility. I use the space under the shopsmith for storing other tools.

If you are avaliable, you may wish to join one of our Shop Crawls. I was lucky to attend the one in Charolette. Seeing what others have come up with, and being able to banter back and forth really got the creative juices flowing.

Jim

[Mike Wilkins]

I don't know the rules for posting such things on this site, but there is a web site called WoodCentral that has lots of shop shots on it. Just click on the messages link, go to Odds and Ends and click on shop shots. There are lots of examples of wood shops, both large and small, for you to get some examples of layout and setup.
Mobility: that is the key to having a successful small shop. You have to have room to work, so when you are done with that machine, just roll it into a corner and park it.
Good luck and watch those fingers.

[JimmyC]

Originally Posted by Mike Wilkins

Mobility: that is the key to having a successful small shop. You have to have room to work, so when you are done with that machine, just roll it into a corner and park it.
Good luck and watch those fingers.

Mobility is definitely the key even in Large shops.

Jimmy

[Douglas Robinson]

Golder:

I have a small shop (22 x 12). There are some shots of it in my gallery. You are welcome to come by if you are in the Raleigh area. I have a tablesaw, bandsaw, min-lathe, cyclone, combination planer/joiner, belt/disc sander, drill press, Sliding Compund Miter Saw, side bench and large work bench in that space. Not to mention wood storage and smaller tools, clamps, part storage, etc...

What is the height of your shop. If the ceiling is high (mine is 11 feet.) you can make you of the upper parts of the walls for storage.

Doug

[Sandy Rose]

Golder,
I subscribe to the ShopNotes magazine which came with a supplement called "The Complete Small Shop". It has a ton of jigs, tool stations, etc. specifically designed for tight spaces. I don't know if they still have the extra book, but you can go to their site - http://www.shopnotes.com/ - and look at a bunch of plans. If you can't find what you're looking for on the site, let me know and I'll see if I can find it in the book and scan it to you.

[TKKids]

Thanks for info.

[Bas]

Doug definitely is the stack master. It's amazing how he can fit a full complement of tools in his one-bay garage.

As said before, mobility is everything. Look for wasted space, such as under a drill press. Or try to combine storage for two tools in one with a fliptop cabinet.


Go vertical. I picked up these hangers at Lowe's to store lumber:


Not a real space saver, but adding a router table to the table saw uses very little extra room but gives you lots of work surface:

[PeteQuad]

Bas' idea of storage under the drill press is a good one. However, if you do away with the drawers, you save several inches of height lost by the wood. I have made this idea even more space efficient by piling lots of stuff on top of each other.



I use this technique elsewhere in the shop also.

[JimD]

My shop is an extra single car garage in our basement that is about 400 square feet. It is irregular in shape or you might be able to get two cars in. It felt large until I moved tools into it. Some of the things I did that might work for you are:

A long workbench along one wall with a radial arm saw and a compound miter saw on top. I have drawers below and wall cabinets above for storage. I have a fence over 8 feet long for flip stops.

My workbench/assembly table is 1/4 inch shorter than my table saw and is behind it so it is also my outfeed support. My router table is 1/4 inch shorter than my table saw and on the infeed side so it can be infeed support (with the fence removed).

I have wood storage over the garage door tracks. It is kind of hard to reach (I'm 6' 2") but it gets the wood out of the way.

Jim