New Wood Shop for New Woodworker

[Matt Hardy]

I am fairly new to woodworking although I have been a watcher and admirer for many years but never had the space to get real serious. This summer my lovely wife has given me the green light to finish a 1,200 square foot basement space that will be used partly as a gym/dance studio, a recreation room and a wood shop. Over half the space will be for a dedicated wood shop approximately 15x 35 feet with another area roughly 6x15 that I may end up using as a finishing area or storage. This space is a walk out basement that will have great access with a 5x7 roll up type garage door. The flooring currently is a cement slab and I am mulling around new ideas for flooring. The walls are not way tall, around 8 feet tall and lower in some places with duct work. The space is fully heated and air conditioned and has lots of natural light. The house is a bit odd as this space is technically called a sub-basement. We have a full basement above this and this is additional extra space. It does not have any water or sewer available to it to add a bathroom or washroom.

This is what the house looks like from outside with the space we are talking about being at the very bottom.

Outdoor House.jpg

This is what the space looked like before we started:


Before.jpgBefore 2.jpg


This is what the overall plan of the space looks like:



Here are some more detailed plans specifically for the woodshop. Sorry just my mock up, nothing official and some things may be slightly not to scale. Sorry there are no real dimensions but the main shop area is about 15X30 ish.




As far as tools go this is what I have currently collected and will have to work with until I get completed.

• Rigid Table Saw TS3650
• Powematic 8" Jointer Model 60
• Grizzly 14" Ultimate Bandsaw G0555 with Riser Block
• Delta Radial Arm Saw Model 33-990
• DeWALT 13" Planer DW735
• Jet JDP-17MF Drill Press
• Jet DC-1100A Dust Collector with Vortex modification
• DeWALT SCMS DW708

So if anyone has any suggestions at all about the layout or where things would go I would gladly take your input. Also, which of these machines would you run 220 two or should I just run 220 to ever side of the shop? Obviously I would run it for the jointer but what about the TS and DC?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Mike Ontko]

Matt, it seems you've got a real project on your hands

A couple of things to consider--you'd probably want to be able to run 220V to any of your larger, more demanding tools including the jointer, tablesaw, and dust collector. One or more of those may require rewiring beforehand, but that would depend on your own needs and preferences. For example, I have an 8" jointer (Grizzly) and the same Jet dust collector as you that both run on 220V. The DC has its own 20A circuit so that it won't affect the draw of the jointer or any other 220V item that I might hook up later, including a 1-1/2 hp bandsaw and my 2 hp tablesaw, which I plan to convert to 220V for lower current draw and (supposedly) more efficient running. Also, since your shop is going to be within the shared air space of the house, you may want to consider getting a separate air filtration unit to hang from the ceiling. Even with the best of ducting and attachments for catching the bulk of sawdust, there are still going to be dust particles introduced into the air that could find their way into other parts of the house if left to their own devices. There've been several posts on this board highlighting the added benefits of having an added air filtering system that you can research to see if it would be something you would want to include (I think they only run around $200, so it's not a huge expense compared to the benefit it provides). I don't currently have one myself, but then my in-the-garage shop space has three doors--two auto-sized and one people-sized, that I can open in a pinch for a cleansing cross breeze

[John K Jordan]

New shop, good fun!

I prefer to use 220v for the larger tools, given the choice. If you ever replace a tool with one with a larger motor you may not have a choice. It would be a lot easier to run now. It is best to lock down the layout before wiring, but still over-wire for flexibility. I installed 110v outlets about every 4' around the 24x40 woodwork portion of my shop, some duplex and some quad, even though a few are now behind some mobile storage shelf units - the use of the space may be different in the future. Most outlets are above wookbench surface height - it doesn't make sense to put shop outlets near the floor as in a house. I put several outlets in the ceiling for pull-down power reels, air cleaner, etc. You will probably be requires to put 110v circuits on GFCIs.

I also ran shop air to outlets in all rooms and outside. Consider putting the dust collector and air compressor in the separate room and insulate the walls and ceiling - your ears will thank you.

I paneled my shop with 1/2" plywood held with screws. This allows me to remove the panels if necessary. Even though I planned and built as carefully as I could, a couple of times I did remove a panel when I changed my mind - once to add a line for emergency lighting, once to add an additional air line outlet. Plywood walls and ceilings also allow fastening shelves and things anywhere.

As for getting the optimun tool layout, nothing works better than sliding paper cutouts of the tools around on a big scale drawing of the space. My cutouts included infeed and outfeed extensions for the largest stock I plan to handle. Based on this, I adjusted the placement of some doors that could be opened for occasional long stock. For isles and such, I like to mock up something full size and walk through to make sure of the space. If you have all the tools in the room now as might show by your photos, I'd consider moving them temporarily to the proposed locations to test the layout. This will help get the wiring and dust collection ducts right the first time.

Don't forget about wood storage unless you can drive down the street every time you need a board. Also, with limited ceiling height, consider how you will handle 4x8 sheets of plywood - break them down outside?

Think about lighting layout which should be done along with the tool layout. It is far better to install more light than you imagine you will need. I like to put in extra fixtures with separate switches to add more light for certain tasks. The newer T5 fluorescent fixtures are perfect for this since they not only put out a lot of light, the electronic ballasts can be wired so just 2 of the 4 bulbs come on, with the other 2 controlled by a separate switch. I put these separate switches higher on the wall. I also ran lower power LED "passage" lighting through the whole building so I could see to get around without turning on the big lights. (My shop is 24x62 with office, woodturning area, flat work, welding room, machining, and farm vehicle maintenance with some outside work space.)

Since yours is in the house and with heat and air, you may want to check with the inspector before you get too far. A friend here was required to install a second HVAC unit in his basement shop to avoid spreading dust and potential chemical fumes to the living area. This was for new construction.

There are some good books on shop design, some based on many years of woodworking experience. If you are just starting out it is easy to fail to consider some practical things that others have learned from experience. The first shop I built about 40 years ago suffered from that.

JKJ

[glenn bradley]

Very exciting time. I would face the tablesaw feed direction in the long 'direction'; it appears to be cross-wise. I have my tablesaw with my back about 5 feet from the door (90* to your shown position). this lets me cross cut almost anything (except BB ply, I should-a left 6 feet). I can open the doors to rip long stock. +1 on the electrical and lighting. I over-built and still added 30% more in each of those categories after the fact.

[Randy Red Bemont]

My setup is similar to you in a walkout basement environment. One thing I did was install a mini-split to heat and cool my workshop. Using the house HVAC system will spread your fine dust throughout the house and your wife will start to reconsider her letting you setup inside. Just something to consider. Good luck and enjoy the workshop build.

Red

[Julie Moriarty]

Go overboard on the electrical. Space 120V outlets closer than you think you'll need. Install 240V outlets in places where you might one day need them. It's cheaper and easier to do that now.

You might also figure for breaking up the switching on the lighting. Something like two switches, each controlling half the shop. You may want to add a dedicated light over the workbench and put that on it's own switch. In my shop, I installed switches near every tool connected to the dust collector with the switches operating the DC. I also added one switch on the ceiling, in the middle of the shop.

[Matt Hardy]

I have been working on getting the framing complete and I have now moved on to the electrical and running a sub-panel. I am hoping to have it complete by the end of summer. I will post pictures soon. I did find a nice score on a local classified ad site. I was able to pick up a ton of 6 inch PVC fittings for $7 each. All were brand new and for that price I just bought what I thought I would need at some future point. Here is a sample of what I got. 20160430_212837.jpg

[NICK BARBOZA]

Matt,
Your plan looks good.
My only concern would be housing your dust collector in the same closet with your furnace. Even with a good filter, I would want to be careful introducing a dusty piece of equipment into the area that distributes conditioned air throughout my entire house. Never mind the health concerns some may have, I'd also worry about the additional wear on the HVAC equipment.
Good luck!
NWB

[Matt Hardy]

Nick thanks for input. I have been thinking the same thing over the last few months and I have decided to move the dust collector across the hall to the other closet so it will be by itself. I am going to be installing a 60 gallon compressor in the space that the collector was going to be in.

[Matt Hardy]

The shop is coming a long a bit. All the flooring is in, the hard wiring is done, walls are going up and I sprayed the ceiling a dark gray color. I went with recessed canned lights to give me the maximum amount of ceiling height. I went with some daylight LED bulbs and I really like the lighting in the shop. It is way brighter than I expected as I know this was not an ideal solution.
ceiling.jpg shop.jpgfloor.jpg

[Bobby O'Neal]

That flooring looks really nice. There's something to be said for a workspace that looks and feels comfortable.