Shop design relection 10+ years later.

[marty shultz]

I enjoy reading about people's shops and learning about what worked for them and what didn't work as well as they thought.

Here's a of my shop.

There are a few things I’ve done that I really like and I would do over again. And a few things I would do differently. I guess this is the forum to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. Most of the ideas listed below were developed while I was working in a 2 car garage. I was fortunate enough to build a larger garage and incorporate many of the ideas. Setting up a shop is more of a continuous journey rather than a discrete event. I’ll never be done. There is always something else I need (want) and something I need to sell.


The good -

I like to position the saws, planer, jointer, shaper so the outfeed is in front of the garage door and it doesn't use as much indoor space. I realize this only works when the weather is nice and you have a large garage door.


Make a covered patio and supply electricity to it. It’s nice to work outside in the shade and it’s healthier too. Clean-up is easy with a leaf blower.


Put skylights in the shop to let in natural light. Supplement with a lot of T8/T5 florescent lights.


Make dedicated cabinets to hold items. e.g. plane cabinet, sanding cabinet, drill cabinet. ...


Learn how to make customized dust collection fittings. it will save you a bunch of money.


Mount your dust collector and compressor outside (if possible). They take up floor space and are noisy.


Put dust collection floor sweeps in the corners and blow the dust from one end of the shop to the other.


Plumb in a lot of electrical outlets (inside and outside) and install airlines to get to the major areas.


If you have both a radial arm saw and the miter saw build them on the same platform to reduce space.


Put equipment on good castors to move it easily.



The bad (what I regret):


I wish I would have put the dust collection piping and some electrical outlets in the floor. It would look nicer and be safer to work around. Unfortunately, I had planned to do this but the county wouldn't approve the plan.


Don’t install too many windows because they take up valuable wall space.


I would consider having a wood floor because it would be more comfortable than standing on concrete. I don’t have any experience with wood floors and I’m not sure they would withstand the weight of some of my tools.


I wish I would have purchased a 3 phase rotary converter and purchased 3 phase equipment. I believe three phase machines is less expensive and better than single phase.


I made an office that I really don’t use. I would rather have the shop floor space.


The ugly:

Don’t use the rubber flooring that I used. It shows all tracks and never looks good. I would use epoxy with sand next time.


I hope this helps.

[Charles Joy]

Very nice Marty, great shop and gorgeous yard. Thanks for sharing.

Chuck

[Kirk Poore]

After 5 years in my shop, I also have a list of the good and bad. Fortunately, the good is much more plentiful.

Good:
High ceiling: Minimum 9’, sloping up to 11’ at edge of clerestory. I’ve never hit the ceiling, lights, or fans with a board.

DC pipe trench in the slab: I have a 8” x 8” trench in my slab that holds a 6” PVC dust collection pipe. So I have no overhead pipe in the shop except along the walls. The trench has a lip around it which lets me cover it with ¾” ply, so I can open it up and clean it as needed. I did have leak problems at first but fixed them.

Lots and lots of electrical: I have about a dozen clusters of 120v, 240v, and 240v 3ph outlets. Except for one or two cases in the 3ph outlets, I’ve never been short of outlets.

Epoxy paint on the slab: Looks pretty good, has been reasonably durable, non-slip even with no speckles or sand. Sweeps up well because there are no speckles or sand.

Ceiling fans: Two big fans move hot air down in the winter, and keep the air moving well enough in the summer that I almost never have to turn on the A/C, even in St Louis humidity.

High mount dust collector: Since I couldn’t put it outside, I mounted my Oneida DC in my clerestory, with the top 15’ off the ground. This saved a good deal of floor space—my 30” bandsaw sits directly under it. It’s a bit of a mixed bag because the filter is much harder to clean. I have to vac the inside instead of blowing it down from the outside.

French cleat: I’ve got a French cleat along three walls, and hang stuff like tool racks off of it. It is painted to match the trim in the room and looks good as well as working good.

Bad:
Lights: I needed more, and more reliable. I started with eight 4’ T5 paired sets. Two of the ballasts have died. I replaced one, added one more, and replaced the second dead one with a high output fixture.

Outlets in the center of the room: Like Marty, I should have run some electrical in the dust collection trench. I have two cords which run across the floor and are a pain for my shop cart and sweeping up.

Cabinets: I have machines along all the walls, and thus no cabinets. I need to put some in high up, and find a place to hang a ladder in order to give me more storage.

More insulation: I should have put a big, thick layer under the slab. The floor gets pretty cold in the winter.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it, and I can still fix most of the weaknesses.

Kirk

[Jesse Busenitz]

Good stuff guys! Kirk does it work to roll carts over the DC trench? Is it tight enough to keep the bulk of sawdust etc. out? I'm thinking about converting a existing building and would like to put the DC in the floor but I'm not sure how long term this place is going to be so I'd like to be able to take all my duct work with me if I move.

[Kirk Poore]

I don't roll my cart over that part of the floor, the cart is too big for that area. It would work, but the plywood is a little below the level of the floor. I don't get much debris in there, just some sawdust through the holes I have in the plywood that I have a couple of extension cords come out of.

Kirk

[Rick Potter]

Beautiful shop, and location, Marty.

Rick Potter

[Jim German]

I wish I would have put the dust collection piping and some electrical outlets in the floor. It would look nicer and be safer to work around. Unfortunately, I had planned to do this but the county wouldn't approve the plan.

How come the county wouldn't approve it?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Thank you for sharing. This is a beautiful shop. I am trying to purchase the vacant home next to me- a 200 year old stone structure. The good news is the structure is in great shape. Also it has a 3 foot crawl space to run ductwork and electricals. It also has a cistern that could be drained and used for storage or used for water.

I plan to wire plenty of plugs and lights. I intend to plan it for where each thing will go and have plugs in the floor and dust collection at each machine. Floors will be hardwood- likely ipe.

I also lei would gain a roof on which to put solar panels. This house is only 8 feet from my house, so I can run lines from one to the other. It is a true blessing. I live in the historical district where you cannot just build a shop, and this happens to be a perfect 22x32 open floor plan right next door.

Thanks again for sharing- it helps to reassure my thoughts on floor plugs and ductwork.

[Stew Hagerty]

You have a beautiful location, and a shop that I could only dream of having.

Fully in the spirit of Sawmill Creek, and Woodworking in general... I hate you, and You Suck!

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful shop Marty and your outdoor sanding patio is to die for!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Wow Marty, i'd never leave that space and tools! Well done!

[Paul McGaha]

Nice shop Marty, Thanks for sharing it with us.

PHM

[marty shultz]

How come the county wouldn't approve it?

I was very busy at the time and didn't ask any questions. I wish I would have asked.

[marty shultz]

Thanks, everyone, for all the kind words.

[Brad Swanson]

Wow, what a nice space and setting!