Hand Tool Shop - How Big?

[Jake Hillestad]

Thanks for the response so far - it has been enlightning. The photos have been real helpful as well.

Little more information on my part.

The current shop space is a 12' x 12' basement room and includes a pressure tank in the corner for the well. I can't do anything to change to 12' width but I could quite easily take out the current wall at the end and extend the shop about 8' but then I'd inherit the furnace. This would leave me a 20' x 12' area which I think would be more to my liking. This will be strictly a hand tool work space, with one exception being in the future I'd like to have a PM 3520B down there. Would also be nice to have enough floor space somewhere to have 50 bdft or so of lumber stickered to acclimate before working.

Obviously I've got to mull it over a little more before going forward (and wait for someone to go on vacation for a few days.....).

Keep posting, I'd love to see more perspectives.

[Phil Mueller]

Well, I am confined to 11'x11' of the room occupied by furnace, water heater, sump pump. There is a short wall not in the picture where some clamps live and some wood storage. Through the door in the picture is a small storage room where a few not so frequently used tools live. The workbench/cabinets on the left was inherited from the previous owner as was the peg board wall. The workbench on the right is 6'x2'.
Obviously very little space to store wood. Any large stock has to be broken down outside before it comes in.

There are a few bench size power tools tucked away in nooks and crannys behind the bench, but they get limited use these days.

As has been already said, it's fine for most of my hobby stuff. Assembly space can get a little tight. And with a space this small, I find I need to sort of clean up and reorganize in stages of the project. Just not enough room to keep everything out...so a lot of clear the bench for planing, then put that stuff away, set up for chopping mortises, then put that away, cut tenons, then put those tools away, etc....

IMG_0534.jpg

[Brian Holcombe]

I'd take the extra space if you can get it, I've never wanted for a wider bench but I've often wanted for a longer bench. Given the space I would replace my current bench with something around 9'-10'.

[Scott Archi]

My "shop" is about 4'x4' with an area I can vertically store wood approx 2x2' . Might take the cake for tiniest shop but I own no power tools and anything too massive gets taken to my parents house where I can work on my dad's garage. My bench is 4'x2' so I've got basically 4x2' to walk around and work in.

Having this small of a workspace has allowed me to work on smaller projects. Tool totes, boxes, end tables etc. I use it because it was the only room in the apartment that I could work wood in. I only own what I need and not much more.

I have dreams of owning a nice big shop but those days will come once I get a piece of land.

[Christopher Charles]

I'll ditto what Brian said. I used to work in a ~12X20 garage and now have a double. And while it is an embarassment of riches, it can feel small when working on furniture sized projects (that and I have a bunch of wood stored in the same space...). Though it is doable, 12x12 would likely start to feel small fast.

Best,
Chris

[Prashun Patel]

Mine is in my basement. I would rather have good access all around my bench than have it be bigger. Being able to work from multiple sides makes work holding more flexible.

I also find it critical to have good, open, convenient wall storage. Being able to put your planes and chisels and gauges back onto the wall instead reduces bench clutter for me.

I sharpen outside the sharp near a sink.

An assembly and clamping table is helpful and ergonomic but you can really do much of that on a temporary set up or floor when you need it.

[steven c newman]

Have worked in an enclosed front porch at a house trailer..
Have worked in a 2-1/2 car garage..
Have worked on the open back porch at a rented house, with the 2 x 4 railing as a bench top.

Have worked in the 1/4 of a large pole barn, the part which had a concrete floor.
Currently work in the Dungeon Shop in the basement I share with a Laundry Area. Have of the basement is just storage for "stuff". Oh, and, the Furnace and waterheater. Small power tools, and a few hand tools. Bench's top is about 5' long, and the 12" or so in width. If the desire is there to work with wood, one makes do with the space they have. Don't let the lack of a huge shop prevent you from making something out of wood.

[Phil Mueller]

Well put Steven.

If the desire is there to work with wood, one makes do with the space they have. Don't let the lack of a huge shop prevent you from making something out of wood.

[Jake Hillestad]

Have worked in an enclosed front porch at a house trailer..
Have worked in a 2-1/2 car garage..
Have worked on the open back porch at a rented house, with the 2 x 4 railing as a bench top.

Have worked in the 1/4 of a large pole barn, the part which had a concrete floor.
Currently work in the Dungeon Shop in the basement I share with a Laundry Area. Have of the basement is just storage for "stuff". Oh, and, the Furnace and waterheater. Small power tools, and a few hand tools. Bench's top is about 5' long, and the 12" or so in width. If the desire is there to work with wood, one makes do with the space they have. Don't let the lack of a huge shop prevent you from making something out of wood.

There will be a shop and wood will be worked. Just looking to eliminate as much "shoulda done this..." as possible. Once its set up I'd prefer to use it - not spend time coming up with work arounds or redoing things I could have done "right" to start with.

[Prashun Patel]

Phil and Steven,

Jake never said he was discouraged from working because of limited space.

I'm sure you don't intend to infer that real men do it a certain way.

[Dave Anderson NH]

My shop is our full basement. SWMBO once asked if I'd like to build a shop building in the yard and I told her no. The convenience of padding down there in sweats and slippers on a cold NH winter night to throw on a quick coat of shellac along with not having to heat or cool a separate building or pay taxes on it out weighs the advantages of a separate building for me. Since I'm in a split entry gambrel I have south facing natural light through 2 good sized windows in both my bench room and my machine room. The bench room about 16' x 22" has my main 24" x 84" bench, a 24" x 48" sharpening bench, and a 32" x 74" assembly and finishing bench with clamp storage underneath. I lose a 4' x 4' area along the long outer wall for a platform with a wood stove on it for additional warmth. My main bench is accessible from all 4 sides, a feature I find absolutely critical to be able to work efficiently. The assembly bench is accessible from one end and both long sides. While more room is always welcome in any shop I'm pretty well satisfied with what I have.

[steven c newman]

Prashun......And you put words into my mouth. Never implied a durn thing, about anyone else's shops. merely stating what my route to a usable shop was....Sold the house trailer, bought a house with that garage...lost the house, went into renting houses for a place to live. Had to downsize to match the area I could use. Friend of mine had the pole barn, and let me use the space in it, and we both used all the tools in that unheated pole barn. He sold the place, I had moved to a place 20 miles away. Moved from that back porch shop to the new rented home,and went with hand tool work, as the room was NOT there for larger power tools. Shop is right under my first floor bedroom.

I went from a "NYWS" type of shop, building and selling furniture......down to the Dungeon Shop, and making items for friends. YMMV, but I am having fun.

As for that "Real men" comment? That would be YOUR idea, NOT mine.

[Prashun Patel]

My apologies. I should not have implied or inferred. Sorry Steven.

[Kurtis Johnson]

Don't laugh…

http://imageshack.com/a/img923/9822/7Y0Vky.png

I suppose it's a "hobby", though I don't like characterizing it like that. More at serious creative outlet. The shop is not fully realized yet. It's kind of on hold due to having a small child with special needs and a very busy job. It will be a cabinetry shop and for very light carpentry.

The planer is a Delta 22-101 light refurb project. The sharpening station will be built soon. It's got a very heavy granite surface plate so I'm making sure the engineering is good first. I'll use that to tune hand tools, etc. The bench will be next. Stock is well seasoned.

I'd love a dedicated shop. Probably won't happen, and that's okay. Some of the best design can happen when there are significant limitations.

[James Pallas]

Jake Take all you can get. 400 sq. ft. Would be a nice size for a shop. A nice bench area, sharpening space so you don't have to put stuff away, an assembly space, a smal joinery bench if you like, room enough for tools and lumber and an area to set saw horses for long rips. Room enough so you don't need to move things around to continue a build. I don't have that much now about half that. I either extend into the garage or spend time moving things to work. I had a 2500 sq. ft. shop for a long time but at my age I would be spending all my time cleaning it now. My 200 sq. ft. is not enough.
Jim