New Basement Workshop

[Frank Swierz]

We've decided to build a new home and will be breaking ground early next year. Anyway, we're just starting to wrap up the home design with the architect and I've carved our a good portion of the basement for a workshop. As background, I currently have a very small basement workshop at about 140 sq ft. I actually have to use my table saw as my assembly table! It's too small for sure, but I love having a warm dedicated space for making sawdust in the wintertime. The new shop will be a huge improvement for me being four times the size, 9 foot ceilings, and a separate door to the outside for ease of lumber delivery.

Here's a rough idea of a layout below (I have some but not all of the tools pictured):

shop3.png

I'm so excited I can hardly sleep at night!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you guys might have! I posted this at my local woodworking club site as well.

-Frank

[Steve Eure]

Am I missing something? Your width figures are 1" off. 23 feet on the bottom and 23' 1" on the top.

[William Fretwell]

I would move the table saw up, move the mitre saw to the bottom. Keep the dust collector in the corner & run dust pipe up the long wall.
Put brackets on the left wall for wood storage to open up the space. Turn the sheet storage 90 degrees and keep it on the stub wall.
Move the planer along the long wall after the table saw take off and put the router table there as well.
Consider getting rid of the small workbench and moving the large bench in front of the bracket wall storage. The assembly table moves left.
This should give better flow of stock through the table saw without take off being compromised & more logical dust collection.

[John K Jordan]

...The new shop will be a huge improvement for me being four times the size, 9 foot ceilings, and a separate door to the outside for ease of lumber delivery.
...I'm so excited I can hardly sleep at night!

It IS exciting to plan a new shop.

Question: are some of these tools on mobile bases? The infeed/outfeed spaces on the drawing don't seem enough except for short things, and the bandsaw might get in the way of longer boards at the miter saw.

Like you, I did the tool placement planning before I finalized the design of the building. I wrote a bit about this the other day when someone asked about a layout program:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...10#post2637310

From experience, I recommend putting the dust collector in an enclosure of some sort to reduce the noise, especially if it is a cyclone.

And, hey, a major oversight - I don't see the lathe!!

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

After viewing your plan "in general", I'll suggest you ask yourself how you could improve workflow by making some changes. How can you gang certain tools together to allow you to move between them efficiently? One example would be your jointer and planer. These are complimentary tools and are used together (along with the table saw) for material preparation. If they are on wheels, the way you have them now can work assuming you'll move them out into the shop to use and put them back along the wall for storage. But if you put them side-by-side with the planer closer to the wall, you now have a workstation that flows in one direction for jointing flat and the other direction for planing to thickness...and they can share a single drop from the DC. You also have some awkward space to the right side of the table saw as it sits now. Try to think through an arrangement that keeps your milling and project component production to one area of the shop and your bench work and assembly to another area of the shop if you can. That gives you greater flexibility. And absolutely leave the tools more infrequently used tucked away in a "tool coral" like you show your DP and router table at the top of the diagram. And if there's a way to accommodate lumber/material storage outside of the shop, it will give you more space to work on projects, too.

[Frank Swierz]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I might just cutout some paper models to scale. Seems like it would be much easier to quickly try out different arrangements. Yes, every "big" tool I have right now is on wheels -- partly because my current setup is so very small that it's a necessity for me.

I don't know why I didn't think about storing lumber outside the shop. Just on the other side of the wall if unfinished basement, so I can store it there and save valuable wall space in the shop. Brilliant! Thanks.

-Frank

[Larry Frank]

I would make the door to the basement a double door. I have one and it makes it so much easier to move wood and equipment in and out. You need to think about how to get your equipment in the shop. The Bilco door may be difficult. Planning this step will make life easier.

I have everything in my shop on wheels.

Just a couple of other thoughts...

..you can never have enough outlets and circuits.
...seal the workshop from the rest of the house.
...what is above your shop in the house and will noise bother it.

[Brian Holcombe]

I would put the storage above and below the RAS.

FWIW the other side will quickly become the other workshop

[Von Bickley]

My assembly table also serves as my out-feed table and that works great for my shop. Also may plans for the electrician to install conduit under the slab to have outlets around your different tools and assemble table.

[John K Jordan]

I don't know why I didn't think about storing lumber outside the shop. Just on the other side of the wall if unfinished basement, so I can store it there and save valuable wall space in the shop.

Why not finish the unfinished side and expand the shop? The incremental cost may not be significant compared to the total construction cost, especially if you do all the finish work yourself. Or at least install a permanent dust collector to get it out of the main shop. A big cyclone is loud.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

I would make the door to the basement a double door.

I totally agree with this statement. Although my shop is at ground level, I can tell you that I'm continually thankful for having double doors to bring in material and take out projects. Came in handy when new tools arrived, too. LOL

[Jim Becker]

Why not finish the unfinished side and expand the shop? The incremental cost may not be significant compared to the total construction cost, especially if you do all the finish work yourself. Or at least install a permanent dust collector to get it out of the main shop. A big cyclone is loud.

JKJ

Oh, we have another winner here! If there's no other specific plan for that additional basement area, leverage it!