Basement Shops.. You Got One?

[Ben Hatcher]

My basement shop is accessible only via stairs in the house. I'm also blessed with a 90 degree turn about 3 steps down. Joy. I get full sheets down by banging them into the walls, knocking holes into the drywall, jacking up the door and trim. This is made easier by lots of cussing, and hoping that when I finally turn the corner they don't get away from me and slide down the rest of the way.

As much as this sucks, it is way better than it used to be. I actually went so far as to swap the location of the bathroom and hallway on my first floor so that I had a strait shot from the garage into the basement stairwell. I built a home made panel saw in my shop intending to use it to break down sheet goods in the basement. As soon as it warms up, the panel saw is going into the garage...that is, unless I break down and buy that track saw I've been lusting after for the last year+.

[Ralph Okonieski]

Ben, I use a similar approach for transporting sheet goods into my basement ("...banging them into the walls, knocking holes into the drywall, jacking up the door and trim. This is made easier by lots of cussing.") LOL

For a specific cut list, I have the lumberyard cut the sheets in half either lengthwise or width-wise. If I'm getting for no specific purpose, I'll cut the 4x8 sheet with a track saw in the garage. I stopped trying to get an entire 4x8 sheet down the steps and into the shop, there just isn't enough room to do that.

[Paul Johnstone]

My only criteria in buying our most recent house was that I could get a full sheet of plywood down. The wife had pretty much free reign with everthing else . I moved the door that connects the garage to the interior. Now the basement door and garage door are lined up, and I have a straight shot to the basement. (No turns in stairway, that was a requirement).

Using something like a Gorilla Gripper, or the plastic jig that holds the bottom of the sheet good (http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/PK-2...=22-96462099-2)
really helps.

[Brian Hughner]

The only access I have to my basement shop is the interior stairs, which has two 90 degree turns in it. Which means all sheet goods get broken down in the garage. I use a circular saw and guide set up on horses to do the breakdown. The one trick I learned that has really helped with the breakdown is to use 1 inch thick rigid foam insulation panels as a platform on which I lay the plywood. This helps stabilize the plywood as its being cut. I use a cut list program to lay out the pieces and I can cut both rips and crosscuts without having to muscle the sheet around all the time. An no worries about how to support cut-offs and handle the saw at the same time, and no cut-offs falling and damaging corners or edges.

[Gene Waara]

Same as all. Break down in garage or have sheet goods ripped at source. I have a 90 degree turn at the bottom of the steps that creates a challenge. Created a bigger challenge moving a 7/8" X 4 X 8 solid slate pool table to the basement. Actually cut a hole in the wall at the bottom of the stairs and fed the slate through the wall. Still, as others have said, I love my basement shop for accessibility and free heat.

[Van Huskey]

I feel for those with a basement shop, had one years ago BUT it was a walking. Just thinking about getting machines and stock down the steps would give me nightmares! Kudos to those that love this hobby enough to cope!

[Chris True]

I rather like my basement shop, steps from the living room and perfectly temperature controlled, no rusty cast iron to worry about. I suppose an outbuilding with it's own HVAC system would be nice but economics say otherwise...

[Ben Hatcher]

I rather like my basement shop, steps from the living room and perfectly temperature controlled, no rusty cast iron to worry about. I suppose an outbuilding with it's own HVAC system would be nice but economics say otherwise...

Chris, I'm with you. As much as getting things up and down the steps, the dust, and the noise are inconvenient, the free climate control and easy access make it a perfect fit for me at this point. Now, in my dream world, I'd have an attached 3-car garage on a walk out lot with my shop on the bottom, vehicles in the middle, and my SO's studio up top. Oops. I just drooled a little on my keyboard.

[Ed Lomax]

Last year, I moved into a house that has a walk-in basement (partially finished) with a patio door. I am in the process of converting a section of the basement into a shop.

[Steve LaFara]

Baement shop here too. To get stuff in I have to carry through the kitchen, living room, down a flight of about 10 steps, make a 180* turn and down about 5 more steps. The house is a tri level. Or, go around the back of the house to the opposite end where there is a pair of french doors and then cut through a large family room and down the 5 steps. Either way is a pain in the pa-toot.

But I still love my shop as I have the ENTIRE basement to myself. Break down sheet goods in the garage on a sacrificial 3' x 6' table made from 2"x3" studs mounted to a pair of folding table legs. It's a pain but worth it.

[Burt Alcantara]

To get to my shop I have to go thru either the kitchen or garage, both of which are very narrow entries. Then it's down 7 steps with a left turn to more steps to a sharp right into the shop. I've installed a Grizzly 19" bandsaw and a Powermatic 3520B @ 600 lbs. What I do is make a mock up of the tool then practice getting around the turns. Once I see the problems I can determine if I need help or not. As the step have a heavy duty carpet, I slide the tools down.

As to sheet goods, I always have then cut to rough dimensions. An entire sheet will fit but weak me can't do it and there's not enough room for 2 people. I can't conceive of getting those tools out of the shop.

[Peter H Brown]

I also do my sheet cuts in the garage so I keep 4 folding saw horses there. I cut all sheet goods with a Festool plunge saw and track system which I might not have purchased had I a walk-in basement. I used to make all plywood cuts on my table saw but I now prefer the quality of the Festool cut over the table saw. When I cut with the Festool I can cut it to final dimensions. I don't have problem getting rough wood up to 16' down my cellar stairs so my chop station is in my basement.

Biggest limitation with my basement shop is that I can't buy larger equipment without moving help. When I first set up my shop, I bought machines that I could get into my basement by myself. As my woodworking skills have matured and I've wanted to graduate to larger equipment, I find that I can't get the pieces down the stairs without professional movers. Friends can only do so much where this kind of weight is concerned. Sometimes I wish I had an extra bay in my garage just for the heavy equipment (table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw, and dust collector).

Finally, it's possible to build a piece that's too big to get out of your basement. I recently had a 'boat in the basement' experience with a 62"x35"x21" cherry sideboard project that almost didn't make it up the stairs of my Bilco covered bulkhead. I forgot to consider the geometry of carrying this piece up the stairs. Yet another thing to think about when constructing some pieces. I don't think I could build a hutch or an armoire in my basement, for example.

[Peter Quinn]

I have a giant bilco and one those handle things for carrying sheet goods, some bright orange plastic gadget. Its a lift but its doable. I have a vision of creating a conveyor lift one day when age necessitates. I saw plans for one a while back using a small cable winch and a rolling cart plus some shop made rails, like a little rail road car. On the bright side you will never hear me complain " Its minus 42 degrees out and my garage shop is too cold to work in. Lowest it ever hits is 55 degrees with no heat on. Highest it ever hits is around 72 even when its hight nineties out side.. I now use my van and a come along as a winch to get very heavy things in and out safely.

[David Prince]

I have a separate shop building so it isn't a basement shop, but reading through this thread brought up a couple of questions.

Does to low ceiling cause any issues?

Do you end up with dust in other parts of the house? (even with a DC and air cleaner)

I have a basement and did a few things down there about 20 years ago, but couldn't imagine ever having a full blown basement shop. I would cry if I had to give up the shop I have now and move into a basement.

[Gary Herrmann]

Another basement shop with a 90 degree turn from top to bottom. I haven't bought any ply in quite awhile, but usually break it down in the garage as others have mentioned. Long boards either have to be cut to length or finessed through the narrow angle that presents itself without dinging anything up. I got a 12' long 14" wide 8/4 cherry board down there once and don't ever want to do that again.

That being said, the real trick has been getting 500-600 lb tools down there.