Another newbie looking for layout advice

[Brian Vega]

Hi,
We are adding a double car garage on to the house and the boss has agreed that I get the use one of the bay. So I am looking for some advice on layout so that I can have extra outlets (110 and 220) put in on my side. Right now I have run of a single car garage but it also holds other crap and I don't get out as much as I would like to.

I used Grizzly workshop planner tool to make the diagram I am attaching. Looking at the diagram, the overhead door is on the front and the right side is open to the other side of the garage. There will be no windows or doors on the left and back of the garage.

I put my workbench in the back left corner and have a lumber rack to put over it. On the left side, I have drawn in two counter tops held up by 4 cabinet bases. In between the two sides I will put my circular saw. I will use the counter tops to hold long pieces that I am cutting and more workbench space. In between the cabinet bases I have a router table on a rolling cabinet. The router table flips down so it fits below the counters. Below the other counter top I will store my air compressor.

Here is what I have: 14 in bandsaw, 10 inch contractor saw, 6 inch jointer, dust collector, floor drill press, table top planer, air compressor, router table. All items are on moveable bases.

I am not set on the way I put things in the diagram. I was just trying to show you the equipment I have.

My biggest question is where to put the table saw. I don't plan on tackling huge cabinet projects. I trying to keep myself on small projects so that space does not frustrate me and I can finish projects in a relatively small time period

Thanks for your time and help

Brian

[Chris Damm]

Put in lots of outlets so you can move things around. As you work on projects you will find that a different layout will work better. No one can tell you the best layout as it's a self discovery project. My layout changed many times over the years and the one I have now has worked well for a few years but there are a few changes I would make.

[Sam Murdoch]

I have determined over the years that the best location for a table saw is against a right wall - not in the middle of the floor. You only need to be away from the wall enough to clear the fence. You can then build an entire work /cut off table around your saw (if you are so inclined) with storage shelves or lumber racks above and never really have it be in the way. Wall hung lumber racks can be set up to overhang the TS to the right while still having complete access to the lumber from the center of the racks in front of the saw.

In your case for example I would consider moving the TS to the location of your router table (or is that a chop saw?) what you show on the left side between the benches. The benches and machinery can be moved back down the wall. If done with some consideration to the table/bench tops height alignments the extension wing of your table saw can become part of the support system for your router table/chop saw etc. You still want to leave a bit of space behind the TS between it and whatever else so that you can stand there and work if need. For example - I have in the past mounted a router into the TS extension table so that I can use the TS fence with the router for cutting sliding dovetails and other such operations. If you don't use the extension table to the right other than for supporting your work and the fence you will see that the space behind is a wasted zone. Up against the wall it can become part of your benches and work top support system.

May not be for everyone, but in 4 different shops over a 30+ year period this arrangement has proved to be most useful. Otherwise, as Chris suggested - lots of outlets will give you the most versatility and you will likely find that your space needs will be as varied as your projects.

[Tom Scott]

Do you have a divider wall? My shop in a bay in the garage also and I have mine set up so that it is in the shop area, but infeed is from the car side and outfeed is towards the shop area. Of course this requires taking the car out to cut anything of size, but I'm probably doing that anyway and it frees up more space in the shop. My jointer, planer and dust collector are on wheels by the roll up door, again to give more space for walking around, and come out only as needed.

[Michael W. Clark]

My shop is in the basement and similar in size to yours. I second Sam's advice on table saw location. The other layout changes I have made recently involve locating the jointer to the left of the tablesaw as you are facing the infeed side (thanks Prashun for the advice when I was searcing mobile base options). This freed up some wall space and you can use the TS to hold parts while you are jointing. My miter saw is located on the left where you planer is (I think). My planer is on a flip top stand that stores under the miter bench. Based on what I do, I prefer permanent infeed/outfeed for the miter saw rather than the planer. I rarely set up infeed outfeed for the planer, even on long boards.

I also located the DP along the wall to the right of the TS. I did have it in the corner, but always seemed to find the situation where walls or surrounding cabinets were interfering. Cabinets...I built two 36"w x 72" tall storage cabinets for our garage at the last house and put them in my workshop this time. If I had it to do over, they would be two base cabinets and two wall cabinets. In the small shop, the continuous height cabinet seems to always interfere with infeed/outfeed. They will eventually go back to the garage or get cut down.

Of course, your projects and work practices may differ greatly from mine. I do some home projects too, so I end up using the shop for stuff that a lot of people would do in the yard with a circular saw and jig saw. I usuallly go the shop since it is set up, "usually" more accurate, and most always more fun than dragging out all the other stuff.

Mike

[Andy Fox]

Can you use the other half of the garage while working on projects? If so, you might want to focus on keeping your tools mobile and your layout flexible. Also, consider a few extra outlets on the other side of the garage for this possibility. I'd probably want the other car out of the garage while working anyway. It's too easy to swing a long board around and put a dent or scratch on the vehicle.

Or, are you thinking of possibly building a divider wall eventually?

[bobby milam]

I tried all of the layouts in magazines and forums. I'd like them for a while then would decide another way was better for me. Having things on wheels is a great way to go. I have rearranged my shop probably 8 times to get it fine tuned. I went from 1 car to taking the entire 3 car and still am fine tuning the locations. For a workbench, my main one is 4x8 and has 2 lower shelves. Works good for lumber storage that isn't taking up room somewhere else in the shop.

[Chris Padilla]

Outlets at normal 12" level work well but put some at ~52-54" level as well (think access to the outlet if a sheet of ply is blocking the lower one). Run all 120V at 20A (#12) and put in a few 240V/30A and you should be fine for a long time. You can always convert a 120V/20A to 240V/20A if you need. Get the largest panel you can with lots of room for breakers and you can put all the 240V stuff on a dedicated breakers. In some cases, it might make sense to run a sub-panel or two as well. Put all your lights on a dedicated breaker or split across two dedicated breakers. You probably don't need more than 2 circuits of 120V (1 might be plenty) and then put in a few 240V circuits. Air compressors are nice to have on a dedicated circuit. Dust collectors are nice to have on a dedicated circuit. Most of your 240V stuff tends to work better on a dedicated circuit.

[Brian Vega]

Tom,
No divider wall. I like your idea about infeeding from the car side of the garage.
Thanks
BV

[Brian Vega]

Copy that about lots of outlets. The architect already thought I was crazy asking for the number outlets I did. Little does he he know I am going to add more when the electrician is here. Thanks Chris

[Brian Vega]

Sam,
Trying to get a mental picture of how your set up would work. How does the TS work when you have something large to feed through? Do you have to pull it away from the wall? Can you post a pic of your set up?
Appreciate your help and knowledge--BV

[Sam Murdoch]

Sam,
Trying to get a mental picture of how your set up would work. How does the TS work when you have something large to feed through? Do you have to pull it away from the wall? Can you post a pic of your set up?
Appreciate your help and knowledge--BV

Here is a view of my humble set up. The important thing is that all the bench tops to the right and behind the TS are even or below the TS table height. In the case of having a table top machine in that zone such as a chop saw it would be necessary to have the extreme range of your TS fence be away from the wall by the depth of the chop saw (or as you suggest, be able to be pulled away occasionally). I don't use my saw for ripping plywood sheets anymore now that I have a track saw so this is not an issue for me. Most times the TS top becomes a useful extension/support for stuff being cut on the miter saw.

You can see here that the TS is not really against the wall but still it is not in the center of the room either. The Makita thickness planer to the saw left is easily removed to its resting place when I am not using it.

Mail Attachment.jpg

In the past I had a cabinet makers saw and fence system entirely surrounded by an outfeed table and an 52" extension table to the right of the saw. All this was placed hard to the wall. The benches behind and to the right were never an issue because rather than a chop saw there I had a shaper and that again became an extension of the bench supports - easy enough to remove a shaper fence or lower the cutter. This was an excellent set up 98% of the time. Very occasionally i would be using a shaper set up that did not lend itself to being broken down while I used the TS. In that case I could just roll the shaper to a better zone.

Hope this helps.

[Jim Neeley]

Brian,

I have 3 spaces out of a 4-car and debated putting up a wall but then decided to build a wood storage rack as my partition. My wife parks to the left of the picture as shown and the whole thing is on casters. The near side is for wood and the middle is for sheet stock. While I'm re-working my shop the far side is holding tools but once my storage is built it will be additional wood storage.

My thinking was that while I need lumber storage and good access would be great, I don't access it every day. Now I either access it when she's gone or back her car out of the garage in a pinch. It's worked well and significantly reduces the amount of conditioned air lost to the outside when pulling in on a winter day.

I don't know if something like this would be of value to you.

Worked for me; your mileage may vary! :-)

Jim in Alaska