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Thread: 12x30 Workshop About To Become A Reality

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Florida's Space Coast
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    389

    12x30 Workshop About To Become A Reality

    I started buying wood working tools about 3 years ago and planned on converting a 12 x 20 ft space in our 1 car garage into a workshop.
    Well, as we all know plans can change. My son and his 2 kids (our grandchildren) needed a place to stay after his divorce and the garage became an over stuffed storage unit. The only tools that I can get to are my drill press and 12" chop saw.
    So I finally got everything to workout so that could order a Lark 12x30 Lumberjack Shed with 8ft walls.
    I will have a 9ft wide roll-up door on one of the 12ft walls and a 36in door on the side.
    I plan to run a 100amp service to the sub-panel(75 ft distance).
    I willpre-wire with 12-2 w/ground on 20amp breakers.
    Eachpiece of equipment will get a dedicated circuit.
    Sincereading another thread, I realize that the 10-2 w/ground would be better for the my Tablesaw, DC and the Planer.
    This will all be run in the walls and ceiling prior to
    covering the walls with 7/16" OSB so that I can nail & screws whatever to the walls.
    I live onthe Space Coast of Florida and the shed only has aluminum siding and a steelroof and open 24" on center walls and rafters.
    I havebeen looking at Reflectix insulation in the walls and in the rafters.
    I have afriend that owns an A/C company and he will be installing a 2 ton central airunit for me.
    Again, because of what I have read in a previous thread, I will be moving my DC & Air Compressor outside in a room of their own.
    I have inserted the layout that I am considering. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

    Getting ready to live the dream

    16x30WorkshopSAK.jpg

    Steve


  2. #2
    My first impression is the passageways seem awfully tight assuming everything is drawn to scale. For example you only have one foot between wood storage and the table saw and a probably less than two feet between the corner of the saw and the toolbox. It can work but, considering you will frequently have your hands full, it gets tiresome.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Florida's Space Coast
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    389
    Not to scale.
    Everything is approximate.
    I need to measure the tools and get a better idea of how it fits.
    With the shed only being 12ft wide, I am sure I will have a few tight spots.
    Everything is on wheels, so that should help some.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298
    Designing a shop layout is exciting! I planned and revised my shop layout for at least a year before I built the building. My favorite way to tune the layout is by sliding paper cutouts around on a scale drawing of the space. My scale cutouts included in-feed and out-feed areas for the lengths I planned to work with. For walking space, I used stacked boxes and things to make a full size isle to make sure it was sufficient.

    One thing that caught my eye was the bandsaw placement. I like the bandsaw against a wall but with access on all three sides. If it is on wheels, it could be pulled out from the location currently on your plan. The bandsaw is probably the tool I use the most after the lathe.

    I have a 22-44 drum sander that I don't have proper room for but I have it on wheels and pull it out into a walkway for use. One issue with mobile machines like that is how to hook up the dust collection. My drops are from the ceiling so I had to provide enough flex hose to reach to the working position - I didn't want to connect and disconnect hoses each time.

    If this is a one-person shop you may not need that many separate electrical circuits since you will likely only use one tool at a time. Fewer circuits would be quicker to install and be less congested at the panel. I put 110v outlets every 4 ft or so in my shop plus some in the ceiling for reels and air cleaner.

    I have lights in different areas on different switches. One thing I'm glad I did was position a number of LED lights spaced through my shop (I have several rooms) so I could see enough to walk anywhere without turning on the big work lights. Switches at the primary external doors switch all these "passage" lights at once.

    I installed seven light fixtures in my main shop, each with four 4' T5 fluorescent bulbs at 5000 lumens/bulb, arranged in 4 zones. The ballasts are wired so when I throw a switch just two bulbs light in each fixture. I installed separate switches to turn on the other two bulbs when I want the extra light. This saves electricity since most of the time I don't need the extra light. I forgot to check - did you allow for an outside light or two? I like at least one motion-activated light.

    Is a 2-ton air conditioner too big for that size shop in your area for your planned insulation? My shop is 24x62 with 6" insulated walls and a 1.5 ton heat pump keeps things comfortable year round here in TN. If the unit is bigger than needed it will cool faster but I understand it might cycle more often and be less efficient.

    Have fun and good luck with your shop!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bloomington, IL
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    6,009
    A thought I had was with the garage door up it will cover the light over your saw. Do you work at night with the door up?
    Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Florida's Space Coast
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    John -
    Yes, I would love to move boxes around, but the shed won't be here for about 4 weeks
    The band saw is on wheels and the plan is enough flex hose to move it out and use it.
    The plan is for a duplex outlet every 4 ft and dedicated outlets for each piece of equipment.
    For lighting, I am looking to use the Sam's Club or Costco Dual Lamp 4 ft LED lights.
    I have a flood light outside over the roll-up door and a motion light outside of the side door.
    My friend that owns the A/C company felt that anything less than 2 ton would struggle to quickly cool down the shop. It will n ot be on all the time, just when I am working in the shop. I will have thermostatically controlled vent fan to keep the shed from getting too hot.

  7. #7
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    Mar 2011
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    Florida's Space Coast
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    It's a roll-up door, so the light are ok.
    Thanks for checking

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird View Post
    My friend that owns the A/C company felt that anything less than 2 ton would struggle to quickly cool down the shop. It will n ot be on all the time, just when I am working in the shop. I will have thermostatically controlled vent fan to keep the shed from getting too hot.
    I would ask your friend how well this will deal with humidity, esp since you are in Florida.

    My understanding is that when you have too much AC, you end up with more humidity because it's always cycling off, whereas a slightly underpowered unit has a lot more time to dry the air. If that's true (I'm not 10% sure) thenI suppose you could compensate with a larger dehumidifer (with an outside heat exchanger) but then you are wasting quite a bit of electricity.

    I think.

    I'd be very interested to know what your friend thinks on this.

    Regardless, if I had to choose between either "cool" or "dry," for the space where all my tools and machines live, I'd pick "dry" without blinking.
    Last edited by Allan Speers; 06-01-2015 at 8:39 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Florida's Space Coast
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    I will ask him
    He too is a wood worker, so I trust his judgement.
    Steve Kinnaird
    Florida's Space Coast
    Have built things from wood for years, will finally have a shop setup by Sept. 2015 !! OK, maybe by February LOL ……

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Florida's Space Coast
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    389
    OK, I measured each piece of equipment and have realized that I was way off on what I could put where
    Instead of using blocks to equal 1' x 1', I redid everything with blocks equaling 1" x 1"
    Here are the results......
    I still need to add electric and DC Ducts.
    16x30WorkshopSAK2.jpg
    Steve Kinnaird
    Florida's Space Coast
    Have built things from wood for years, will finally have a shop setup by Sept. 2015 !! OK, maybe by February LOL ……

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird View Post
    John -
    Yes, I would love to move boxes around, but the shed won't be here for about 4 weeks
    I meant put some boxes or something in your kitchen or in the yard to mock up just the walking space between two tools and try to imagine if it will be enough or if you will feel squeezed. I did that when planning my shop and it helped me decide the size and placement of the workbench near my table saw and the space I needed for my wood storage area.


    Another thing I did once I had the walls up but before moving everything in was mark the positions and size of things on the floor and walls with blue and green masking tape. This helped me visualize the space and fine tune some placements before I started moving in heavy things.

    As for AC, I decided to insulate well and keep my HVAC on all the time. In the summer it helps to control the humidity - summers here are usually horribly humid. I have a lot of wood stored in the shop and I want to keep it as constant as possible. (The humidity is terrible for machine and woodworking tools too.) I sometimes adjust the temperature just a few degrees for comfort when I am working but not much. I remember now that was one thing the HVAC guy asked me when deciding between the 1.5 and 2 ton units - he said the smaller one would run more but be more efficient (heat pumps evidently work best when running almost continuously) and also keep the humidity more constant. He said the larger unit would cool things down faster if I turned it on just when I was in the shop, but would prob cost more to operate if used a lot and humidity would swing a lot more. You might ask your guy and see what he thinks. But any way you go, the heat and air (or maybe just AC in your climate) will be wonderful! So many people work without it. (I justified mine by being elderly and feeble and of a delicate constitution. Ha!)


    JKJ

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    6,529
    One simple suggestion - when install your lumber rack, leave some clearance at the height of the table saw, so if you have long stock to cut you gain some room by not hitting the lumber rack.

    Shop layout is fun! Though time consuming.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Florida's Space Coast
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    Trying to get all my ducks in a row before the shed gets here.
    The floor of the shed is 3/4" Pressure Treated Plywood.
    What would be the best finish to put on this floor or should I leave it alone?
    Steve Kinnaird
    Florida's Space Coast
    Have built things from wood for years, will finally have a shop setup by Sept. 2015 !! OK, maybe by February LOL ……

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Leesville, SC
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    2,378
    It would be impossible for me to use a grinder, a drill press, a router, and other tools at the same time. In a one man shop, I don' think it would be necessary to have all these tools on separate circuits.

    That's just my opinion from a retired electrician.
    Army Veteran 1968 - 1970
    I Support the Second Amendment of the US Constitution

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Florida's Space Coast
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    Thanks Von, I am trying to make it as fool proof as possible. I have plenty of 12-2 with ground wire and figured it better now than later.

    As a retired electrician, can i use 1-3 Aluminum and a 5awg copper ground together?
    I want to run a 100amp service to the shed.
    Steve Kinnaird
    Florida's Space Coast
    Have built things from wood for years, will finally have a shop setup by Sept. 2015 !! OK, maybe by February LOL ……

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