Laying out my first shop

We're moving houses soon, and I'll be going from a small garage shared with bikes, laundry, and kids to my very own corner of the basement in our new home. Because of the aforementioned constraints, I've made do almost exclusively with small tools – a track saw, but no table saw. I have a lunchbox planer but no drill press, band saw, or jointer. I've learned to use and enjoy hand tools and use them where I can. The one exception to this is I own an x-carve CNC, which my wife insisted we buy, thinking it would reduce the chance I cut off my fingers. Whether it's because of the CNC or not, I'm happy to report that I still have all my fingers...

You can see the dimensions of the new space below. Because it's a basement, my inclination is to stick with benchtop tools. I'm not sure I could get 250lb+ tools down there safely. And then use that to my advantage as I can put the planer/jointer/miter saw away below the worktop when they're not in use. Or maybe I turn the long worktop into a miter saw station, and I use the outfeed table as the surface for the bench top jointer/planer.

I was thinking of building a compact table saw into a 4x8 outfeed/assembly table, putting my dust extractor and air filter under the table, and either adding a router table plate to the outfeed table, or hanging a folding one off the side. Hand tool workbench at the top next to the CNC, with a dedicated pegboard for hand tool gear, maybe a plane till. But maybe that's extraneous and I should just put a vise on the assembly table. And I've never owned a bandsaw, but feel like I can probably do without one to start.

The closet on the right is house mechanical stuff. Furnace, water heater, etc. Can't be moved, doors can't be blocked.

What are your first impressions? Please limit feedback to layout and types of tools – let's leave particular brands for a separate conversation. Thanks!

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Congrats on the new home and the dedicated shop opportunity!

Since that's a relatively compact space, keep things mobile so you can better utilize the space "in the moment" and if at all possible don't have your bench up against a wall. Access to the bench from all sides is a pretty desirable thing, IMHO. Mobility will also better support workflow.

Congratulations on getting your own workspace. As Jim said, keep your tools mobile to allow good use of a relatively small area. Search the web and consider space-saving designs such as flip-top cabinets. I have my miter saw on a small, mobile stand with flip up extensions. That allows it to be pushed into a small area, but offers support when cutting longer stock. In my shop it's main job is rough cutting things to length prior to milling, so I slide it out to an open area, cut up a batch and then stuff it back into the corner.

On a different note, does the existing mechanical room have any extra space? If so, could you place an Air Compressor and/or Dust Extractor in there? It would help to make room in your shop and possibly make your space quieter.

Good advice to keep things mobile. My experience is that one's shop.keeps changing with time and different projects.

Small areas and mobile tools are a good combination. A flip-top cart as Lisa mentions was one of my best investments in my previous small shop. I kept a planer on one side and the CMS on the other. I never found the benefit in a CMS and replaced it with a belt/spindle sander BUT, I had a tablesaw. A CMS could probably be beneficial in a no-tablesaw-shop. As to the bandsaw, I find it one of my most valuable tools and would give up the tablesaw before I gave up the bandsaw. This value system will vary with what you make. In a small shop I would want:

• A decent bandsaw, 10" minimum
• Tracksaw
• Planer, you can face joint with a sled
• Router table / hand router

This compliment of tools along with a few cordless items would get me through many projects. Most drilling operations can be done with a guide of some sort; shop made or "Big Gator" style. Circle cutting can be done with a router and jig. As a secondary set of tools I would like:

• Jointer, but I never found a small jointer to be worth the space it took up.
• CMS, but I never found one to be worth the space it took up.
• A combo sander, Disc/spindle, Belt/spindle, very useful but a rasp and sanding blocks will do in a pinch.

My decision process on any machine I brought into the shop would have to include the stand it would go on, where it would stand for use, and where it would stand when idle. It sounds like you are already doing this dance but do it some more. The more effort you put in at the drawing board the less disappointment you will have in the real world.

Only you can decide which tools are most important to you based on what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. Make your space your own and above all . . . have fun.

I say the opposite- make as few things mobile as possible. If you have to move and set up a machine every time to use it that can be crippling to momentum and motivation.

IMO place the table saw first, possibly at an angle and taking advantage of doorways, to maximize length of stock that can be ripped, and also to handle 4x8 sheets if possible.

Then place jointer with adequate room for long-ish stock.

The smaller the shop, the more a bandsaw will be used. It doesn't need quite as much room, & should not be mobile.

Everything else after that. I have a chopsaw mounted 10" above workbench height, with a couple of outboard supports. This allows for pretty much unlimited length of stock via doorways on either side, and doesn't require a clean surface.

My two car garage shop has 2 tablesaws, 2 bandsaws, jointer/planer combo, 2 drill presses, 2 stationary sanding machines, chopsaw, and small mortiser. One of the sanders has wheels, and is mover slightly, and the mortiser is on a cart that can be moved but rarely is. The tablesaw can rip 16', and 4x8 sheets, and jointer/planer can do 12' stock (edit actually 10'). All of the machines are ready to turn on and use.

All of my tools are mobile. That said, I do not move them very often and only for a special use or project. My shop is not very big and I need the versatility to move them.

A shop the size of a two car garage is bigger than my shop. The size of a shop will help determine the necessity of mobile tools.

Placing the jointer and drill press in a corner makes no sense at all. You need room for infeed and outfeed on jointer, table saw, bandsaw, planer, etc. Optimize the location of your primary machines, first, and only then consider where a dust collector might fit in. Put everything but the table saw, radial arm saw and drill press on mobile bases.

Here's a photo of my own 750-sq ft shop (taken immediately after move-in) to give you some ideas.

https://i.postimg.cc/VNbnK2md/IMG-1269.jpg

Aaron,

You did not say what type of work you were doing; if its large pieces Andy might have some points. Otherwise, I would suggest not over-planning this kind of move/shift and not overbuilding any kind of structure. In other words, get into the space, start using it and working with it before making any big commitments. Perhaps use temporary work surfaces and storage rather than building a miter station or cabinets until you see how the space is used and what shop changes you want to make. You can very easily end up building shop "stuff" and tearing it apart again as you try to optimize the space.

Derek

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Originally Posted by Larry Frank

All of my tools are mobile. That said, I do not move them very often and only for a special use or project. My shop is not very big and I need the versatility to move them.

A shop the size of a two car garage is bigger than my shop. The size of a shop will help determine the necessity of mobile tools.

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Everyone has their own preferences. I'm in my seventh shop- one was a one car garage. The only really mobile thing besides stock carts was when I had a lunchbox planer and would put it on a bench for use.