How big is your shop??

[David Helm]

Mine is 825 square feet with a 120 square foot office that I run my business out of and do carving when I have time. It is a freestanding building about 35 feet from the main house. Keeps the house clean and quiet that way. I actually like the size of my shop and don't think I need anything larger. The 8 X 8 sliding barn door dramatically expands my space in good weather, and allows for getting anything large in and out with ease.

[John A. Schaefer]

My shop is in the corner of a walk-out basement, roughly 16 x 18 foot total. I lose a 6 x 6 area in one corner for a closet where the compressor and dust collector are located, along with storage for infrequently used tools.

Main area of the shop has a table saw, jointer/planer combo with a 59" bed, miter saw, router table and OSS. (The RT/OSS share a flip-top base.) There's also a 3 x 6 foot assembly table. Everything is mobile and is moved based on the task I'm working on.

[Zach England]

A number of these shops are bigger than my house.

[Dave Houseal]

Hey Eric, I know you're trying to brainstorm and figure out where to start from the CMS discussion, but I'm curious what your current location has to offer and if you're thinking about constructing a shop at your house, or just trying to decide what you're looking for while buying?

It's true most of us here will agree that you cannot have too much room. I have a 24x24 2 car garage with a second floor attic area which is 24x10. I'm still trying to get settled in but am confident I'll fit just fine. If I could....I'd love to have a little bit more room. I'd love if my shop was say 24 x 36....I think I would be extremely comfortable then...don't though I could be saying I wish I had 12 more feet....hahaha.

My best advice would be if you have a small garage or area in your basement that you can make a "first shop", you will be able to get started, figure out what your preferences are before you build something. Its definitely something you wanna get right the first time, and I don't think you will figure it out til you get that first shop setup and start doing some projects.

[Gene Waara]

Better question is what tools do YOU have and what do you do with them? There have been numerous threads on this topic and I think most will agree that whatever size they have it is too small. I have a 23' X 14' corner in my basement and my space taking tools are a G690 TS, Ridgid 15" DP, 6" joiner/planer, disk/belt sander, Delta 50-850 DC, Dewalt 716 CMS and Ridgid 14" BS. When I set the shop up while finishing the lower level 10 years ago it looked huge and I did not have nearly the equipment I now have. I have put almost everything on a mobile base so I can move tools as needed but after building workbenches and a work table and adding tools over the years I could not fit the G691 I really wanted into the room. Unfortunately, with the way I finished the rest of the LL there are no real remodeling options. There are numerous sites that will allow you to layout your shop. After doing that, post again and you will get numerous suggestions regarding layout and the room needed.

[Kevin Gregoire]

i have an 11'x22' shop with a cabinet saw, band saw, drill press, combo sander on stand, planer on stand, have yet to build my router table, also have a bench that runs the length of the shop down one wall. my other long wall has a rack for wood storage.
its very crowded in my shop and i will try to move the wood storage to a different shed and that will free up a lot of room.

[Greg Book]

Mine is a basement shop. About 10' x 16'. It has a workbench, 14" bandsaw, floor jointer, drill press, tool cabinet, 10" contractor saw, CNC machine, dust collector, and a full size mattress and box spring being stored in the corner. All machines are on wheels.

I think the main point of setting up a shop is how you use the space. You can still build some amazing things in a tiny shop, but you need to plan ahead. Figure out how much time you spend moving a piece of equipment into position to use it or how you can rearrange things for easier access and more space. For example, a router table on the table saw saves space. I also find that when my dust collector deflates, it can be stored under the wing of the table saw.

[Darius Ferlas]

This thread is to blame for the shrinkage of my shop (one car garage). I thought it was 23 by 13, but I measured and it turns out it's only 21 by 12'6", shared with the garbage bin and two recyclables bins.

I have a Ridgid 3650, King parallelogram, 6" jointer, 14" bandsaw, lunchbox planer that I hide when not in use,a 2HP DC and a 3' by 5' table aka workbench. My layout is pretty bad and comes from the time when I didn't know any better. I hope to change the layout to make the work flow a little better and to get rid of the generally cluttery feeling to the place.

I can store up to 300bf of lumber in the garage. That's in addition to about 400 bf I can squeeze in to a little solar kiln in the backyard.

[Jeff Monson]

12' x 32' for me, tablesaw, shaper, drum sander, bandsaw, router table....the list goes on. I'd really like a finishing room of some type down the road.

[Jerome Hanby]

We just moved and my new shop is apx 24 foot cube garage. Tallest ceiling I've ever seen. The previous occupants literally have a regulation basket ball goal on one wall. Trying to figure out how to take advantage of all that vertical space...

[Don Jarvie]

20x20 with 13 ft catherdral ceilings. I have all of the basic tools. Fully insulated with electric heat.

If I could expand it would be 20x36. The extra 16 feet would allow better storage for wood and dedicated areas for DC and compressor.

[Bryan Morgan]

Hiow big is my workshop? Not big enough. No matter how big you make it, it will never be big enough

I rearrange my garage every couple months or so. My wife always asks me "looking for more room? That won't make the garage grow any bigger!"

[Kirk Poore]

Mine's 22 x 26 (exterior, probably closer to 21 x 25.5 interior) with 16 machines and two work benches. The machines run from a 7" grinder to a 30" band saw, with only two of them less than 40 years old.

Kirk

[Mike Cruz]

I'm in a 24 x 30 separate shop. If money were no object, I would have a 3,000 sq/ft shop with $30,000 machines!

Really, though, I would extend it to 30 x 40 if I had to do it over.

Machines? Uni with 52" fence, 20" Grizzly Planer, 8" Delta DJ-20 Jointer, Grizzly 3 hp 2 bag Dust Collector, homemade 12" disc/ 6" drum sander, Delta (old 1947) lathe, Ridgid 14" Band Saw (lots of extras including a 1.5 hp motor, riser block and homemade base, 18" Grizzly Band Saw, Delta 17.5" Drill Press, Dewalt 12" Miter Saw, Delta table top mortiser, homemade downdraft table. EVERYTHING on mobile bases so that they can be moved if necessary, even though they are in permanent places.

[David Hostetler]

My shop is a shared space 18x20 2car attached garage. Large tools are 1236 lathe, Ryobi BT3100 table saw with 72" rails, HF 2HP DC and 55 gallon Thien separator, 14" band saw, floor model drill press, and portable AC unit. Everything else is bench top based and is mounted on mount boards, and stacked up the wall on racks.

My effecitve space used is about 8x20, but I bet if I didn't have the wide table kit on my BT, I would be able to work in a 10x12 shed.

Now if money were no object, that would mean I could afford a place with land, and in turn I could afford a 20x48' barn dedicated to nothing but woodworking, and separate lumber storage... Then again, I'd also have a couple of different tools there too..