Help with shop layout for a small workshop

[Guy Dotan]

Hi all,

I am in the process of building my first (small - 25'x12') workshop. I currently own:

• Oneida V-3000 dust collector
• Sawstop PCS 36" tablesaw
• Dewalt 735 planer
• ~ 3'x6' workbench
• Different power tools - most can be stored in a separate/attached garage
• Chop saw - I might store it in the garage

I plan to add in the near future:

• Router table
• Drill press
• 8" jointer
• 14" bandsaw

I attached a drawing of my workshop to scale, every 2 boxes=1'. I initially put the workbench as an outfeed table but it is taking a lot of space and does not leave much for things that need length, like a jointer. I am planning to put anything I can on casters and pull them to the wide area on the right hand side when/if needed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I included letters, so you can use them to indicate where to put the different equipment.

Thanks in advance!
Guy.
workshop.jpg

[Guy Dotan]

Any advice, big or small would be greatly appreciated!

[Robert Engel]

I can't help you too much but a few general considerations:

Good decision on the workbench. I know guys do it, but trust me, you definitely do NOT want an outfeed table doubling as a workbench.

You can make a folding outfeed table which can be quite handy when you need it.

I think with everything on mobile bases, you give yourself a lot of flexibility.

I would just think about workflow, like, "lumber storage/planer/jointer/tablesaw are best in one area of shop, while "workbench/assembly table/clamps, etc" are in another.

I would want my workbench on the wall with the windows for light.

The TS will be the biggest challenge, 36" only leaves you 4 1/2 feet on each side.

I think you just need to feel your way through it just keeping in mind workflow like I said. Then once your up and running you can shift a few things around.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I've attached a sketch of my small shop, which works very well.

Visio-Workshop.pdf

By using combination machines I have a sliding saw/shaper and a 12" jointer/ planer in very little space.

Permanently installed dust collection also saves space as I don't have to move a collector or drag hoses around.

It's also nice to have a workbench that you can access from all sides.

regards, Rod.

[David Linnabary]

Once I determined where I wanted my table saw then I arranged my jointer & planer so the feed directions were all lined up going the same way and in reasonably close proximity. I wanted to minimize the situations where I was turning long stock end for end. It was an awkwardness of flow that my OCD brain just couldn't allow. I agree with Robert Engle about considering how stock comes into the shop and where it is stored along with the orientation of the big 3 machines, TS, jointer, planer.

One of the things that happened as I oriented my feed directions toward the same end of the machine room is that the room suddenly felt bigger.
A couple of my machines were sharing clear out feed space. Also I suddenly realized I had better easier options to reposition some machines if I needed to accommodate larger stock.

You'll discover things you want to change as you use your shop, it's just inevitable. Your preference for hand tools to machines will also decide how space is allocated.

A couple of my personal preferences are table saw in the middle of the room and work bench in the middle of the room. Quite a lot of my ideas about shop layout came from a FWW book that was a collection of articles called "The Small Workshop" it was published in 1985 so it's a bit dated. I would suggest reading a few articles, you may get some good ideas. You've already made a scale drawing of your shop, now go the next step and cut out scale size paper shapes for your tools and move them around to your heart's content.

Have fun and best of luck,

David

[Hoang N Nguyen]

duct.jpg

Here's half my shop to give you an idea. I have my planer, jointer and table saw all lined up with same feed direction. The area and location of the tools give me just enough room to feed 8' stock/sheet goods through the machines as well as a bit of room front and back to feed and catch. It also minimized the amount of duct work I needed to hook up all the machines as well. Duct work can also be seen int he picture. Hope it helps you a bit. This set up allows me to go from jointer, planer and table saw with little walking back and forth. All blast gates for close by (table saw and jointer next to each other) so it makes going from one machine to the other and back less painful.

Also, I have my work/assembly table as my outfeed table for the table saw and have no issues with it. I have a good 4' of room from the table to the wall and that's enough room for me to stand and work. I have to be careful when moving around long pieces of wood but that comes with having a small shop. My table is also big enough for me to rest a full 4x8 sheet of ply on there so I can use my tracksaw on it and it works perfectly. I also have an MFT/3 table at the other end of the shop for cross cutting sheet cuts and what not.

As you can see in the picture, I also fit a car in there as well. If I didn't have to park the car in the garage, I could have moved all this to the middle of the shop allowing for more tools to go along the walls around the shop. Wife wouldn't agree to it so this is all I have to work with.

[Guy Dotan]

The TS will be the biggest challenge, 36" only leaves you 4 1/2 feet on each side.

I think I will keep the tablesaw agains the wall and put a router extension to the left. It is on a mobile base, so I can move it if needed. So fat in the short time I used it, it worked well (being against the wall.)

[Charles Lent]

Guy,

My workshop is 14 X 26' so it's very similar in size to your shop. It's in a separate barn shaped outbuilding about 100' from my home. It has running water and a 100 amp sub panel connected back to the house main panel. I downsized from a 2 car garage to this little building and I didn't want to give up much, so I don't have much walking space left in my shop. It's truely a "one man shop" because of this.

My Delta Unisaw with 54" Unifence sits against the front (West) wall between two doors, a passage door to the North and an 8' wide double door for material and equipment moves. The end of the saw's side table is almost against the West wall and between the two doors. This puts the Unisaw itself nearly in the center of my shop with the work flow North to South. I have a 6" jointer just left and along side of the Unisaw, then a narrow aisle with my miter saw on a workbench on the left side of this aisle, and up against the rear (East) wall of the shop. The Unisaw has a roughly 3' square outfeed table attached, and it has two legs to the floor that fold when the table is hinged down out of the way. Part of the outfeed table (about 8") does not hinge and remains as a short outfeed table when the main part of the table is folded. I have to fold the table when bringing materials in through the double door.

My main workbench is behind me as I stand to use the Unisaw and there is about a 3 1/2' walkway between it and the Unisaw and both ends of this main workbench, but the North side of this bench is where I usually stand to work on it. This area is the largest open area of my shop, but my 24 X 36" router table sits in the middle of it. This main bench also serves as the in feed support for the Unisaw, if I need to cut something long. The North wall has my 2 scroll saws, 2 drill presses and two short benches along it. My clamps are hung high on the East wall near the North wall, but above any work being cut in the miter saw. Under the clamps, and below the work level of the miter saw, is my lathe. Further South along the East wall are small parts bins behind the miter saw and further South is my Wire reel caddy (I design and build exhibits for science museums).

High cabinets on the North wall hold paints and stains, drill press accessories, manuals. High cabinets along the West wall hold saw and router accessories, sanding supplies, Safety equipment, and hygiene supplies. Under these West wall high cabinets and North of the Unisaw side table I have a small bathroom sized sink, a small fridge for water and diet soda, and a Craftsman tool chest on wheels. The tool chest holds my table saw blades, zero clearance inserts, feather boards, and hardware for use with the Unisaw attachments. All of these are just below the working height of the Unisaw table, so large work can pass above them.

Going back to the East wall, but South of the miter saw I have a narrow bench with my belt sanders, which sit behind where work from the miter saw passes, so it will clear them. The South wall is dedicated mostly to wood storage, but my 16" band saw sits on it's own wheeled stand in front of the wood.

I hang all of my smaller jigs on hooks attached to the ceiling beams. With 8' walls, this makes them easy for me to reach, but my taller friends do have problems with them. I try to hang most of the longer ones everywhere except over the walking areas, but I have so many that some of the shorter ones are still over the walking areas.

My dust collector is in the shop attic against the North wall with the exhaust running out through the wall. It has a cyclonic filter, but anything not separated gets exhausted, so it never gets back into my shop. Most of the rest of the attic is for wood storage. The attic is accessible through a pull-down stairway just inside the passage door, and through a wide door in the South end of the shop attic. The attic area is about 5 1/2' high at the peak, but the gambrel barn style of the roof gives me quite a bit of comfortable work area if I keep everything against the East and West walls.

I have a 2 ton window style heat pump mounted high and through the North wall of my shop, that helps keep temperatures comfortable when I'm working in the shop, and above freezing when I'm not there. It also does a great job with humidity control. My shop is about 100' from a lake and only about 6' above it, so some king of humidity control is an all year problem. With extra filters added, the heat pump is also my shop air cleaner.

My smaller tools, like hand power tools, are stored under the workbenches and under the Unisaw side table. My DeWalt planer is on a Delta miter saw/planer stand that folds into a hand truck shape, so it stores on end in the South West corner of my shop. I always do planing outside, so this stand lets me roll the planer outside and set it up quickly and easily, I have the flex hose, can cover accessory for it, so I collect the chips in a 50 gallon plastic barrel. When finished, the planer stand folds down and rolls back into the shop to again be stored on end in the SW corner and, depending on the kind of wood chips, they either go into my gardens or into the trash.

I also break up sheet stock outside my shop on a cutting table, using a modified circular saw and straight edge clamps. The saw modification is a zero clearance insert type base for it and a specially made guide to make it track on the straight edges. I bring the cut pieces of stock inside to trim to exact dimensions on the Unisaw, but it's usually just a shaving. My break down process doesn't leave much extra. The cutting table is just a 1 X 4 pine frame about the size of a banquet table (smaller than a sheet stock), with folding banquet table legs and 2 X 4 cross pieces positioned flat across the short dimension of the frame and flush with the top edge of the frame. I installed a center one for strength and then two more at each end to allow mounting of the table legs to them. The only metal in this table are the legs and the screws used to attach them. The joints in the top frame were glued together with biscuits for strength. This was done to keep the saw blade from ever hitting metal. The table is far superior to using saw horses, because off cuts don't fall as you complete the cuts, and there are never any corners broken as you reach the end of the cut. I always set the saw to cut about a 1/4" below the sheet stock, so the table gets scored up quite a bit, but I've been using it for years and it's no where near ready for replacement. It will likely be still usable longer than I will live before it needs replacing. When not being used, the table folds with the legs flush up inside the bottom of the 1 X 4 frame, and I just store it inside my shop against my sheet stock until I need it again. The straight edges just store on hangers from the shop ceiling above the sheet stock.

Attached to the outside North wall of my shop is a 6 X 6' shed that holds my air compressor and refrigerated compressed air dryer. On both side walls I also hang my yard and garden tools. I also store my sand blasting equipment (also an outside job) in this shed for easy use with my air compressor, which is an 18 cfm 7.5 hp 80 gal vertical tank Ingersoll Rand.

I wish I had more space, but this works for now. We're hoping to move in a few years, so I'll maybe have a bigger shop next time.

Charley

[Guy Dotan]

Charley, thank you so much for the detailed description. I will take some time to visualize and digest all the info.
I really appreciate everybody's input.

I am now thinking of putting router table on the outfeed side of the tablesaw, in the center of my workshop. Also move the table saw more to the east. So, based on the letters in my drawing:

Workbench - F
Tablesaw - U
Router table - S
Planer - I but on wheels, moveable to J
Drill press tucked in the corner - M
Future jointer - B

[Jim Dwight]

My shop is 14x24. I am happy to have it, I was without for over a year. But it is small. My last shop was only a little bigger, however, and I made 7 sets of bedroom furniture and a lot of other things in it. In both these shops, I have had (and have) a long bench with over 8 feet clearance at each end for cross cutting. I put my RAS and CMS in the middle of these benches. I haven't got the movable stops set up in the current shop but will have them before too long. In my current shop, I have pieces of electrical conduit in holes in doubled 2x4s in the walls supporting the hardwood lumber. So I can lift a board off the rack straight down and cross cut it. I rarely do this, however, since I normally need to get several boards down and decide what I want to cut. But it is a decent use of the upper space.

I had a large table saw with 60 inch rip capacity in my last shop but it was hard to use for full sheets because the shop was so small. My workbench was my outfeed support and my router table was my infeed support but still it was challenging. I find my DeWalt track saw to be much better. I first made a pine lattice of 1x4s on edge that I still use over either sawhorses or the trailer the sheets come home in. But my new workbench is along the lines of Ron Paulk's designs with holes for clamping and dogs and a lower level to the top for temporary tool storage. I also built a cross cut jig from Ron's designs that clamps to the workbench. My current table saw has about 24 inch rip capacity and gets used a lot but not for sheet goods or large pieces of hardwood.

My other comment is that I do not use a DC. I did but it was a little 1hp Delta I recently sold off. It took up a fair bit of space and wasn't much more effective than my shop vacuum which I've put a quasi-HEPA filter and dust deputy on and arranged it all on a little cart based upon a design from Woodsmith you can find on the internet. I might put a more powerful DC into the shop at some point but right now the shop vac works pretty well. I use my lunchbox planner outside and have to use the vacuum to clean up some too. What I learned from my prior DC experience is that a DC without good air filtration is worse than no DC. With bags with big holes (anything finer than 1 micron) it just blows the fine dust that will hurt you up in the air for you to breathe. I think they really need a cartridge near HEPA effectiveness or outside discharge. The shop vacuum works well on the track saw and sanders which I do not think the DC would handle well. There isn't really space for both a shop vacuum and a DC. At least that's what I think now.

[John K Jordan]

Guy,

What, no lathe??!! :-)

I have a general suggestion. I can't help much with the layout since everyone has different requirements depending on what they plan on doing and building in the the space. My needs are sure to be different from yours! (I keep several big lathes, for example.)

I built shop a few years ago. It is bigger (24x62) but I had to fit a lot in it with flat work, lathes, carving, photography, welding, machining, animal health, office, electronics, farm maintenance, etc. Space was (and is) tight.

While I drew many sketches and wore out an eraser or two, this helped me the most: for the main shop area I made a scale drawing of the space on a big piece of paper, maybe 2'x3', and made cutouts of each major tool PLUS the infeed and outfeed space needed for the biggest stock I planned to use.

Since space was tight in places, I also made cutouts representing the walking and maneuvering space. To figure out how much space I wanted between things, I stacked some large cardboard boxes down to represent workbench and tablesaw, for example, and walked between them to measure both the desired AND the minimum walking space I was willing to put up with. I cut out paper circles to represent this walking space that I could move around between the scale cutouts of the equipment on my drawing.

I moved things around until they made sense and "walked" my circular spacers between, imagining carrying things. I did all this before I built the first wall. I immediately found out I hadn't left enough space between a few things although it looked good on my drawings!

After I got things the way I liked them, I put a bit of 2-sided tape on the back of all the cutouts, enough to hold them in place but removable for inevitable, luckily small, changes.

This also helped a lot with the planning for the wiring, lighting, dust collector ducts, air line outlets and even the door and window placement as the building took shape. (I built all of it myself so there was plenty of flexibility.) BTW, my SCMS ended up in the maintenance bay/garage area too!

I spent many years in 3D modeling, animation, and technical visualization and could easily have done this on the computer but in my opinion, the big sheet of paper with cutouts was quicker and more interactive.

Just an idea!

JKJ

[Steven Wayne]

Charley,

Do you have any photos you can post of your shop?