Hi all,

looking for advice on using the space in a very small hand tool only shop.

I'll be moving in a couple of weeks, and it looks like I'll get my first own shop in a storage room in the cellar. Since I've been working off my kitchen table (in a single room apt) so far this will be a huge improvement. Back side is that the room is only about 5 by 11 feet, with the door at the short end.

Building a bench will be first priority, and it will be placed along one of the long walls. About 8' long gives some clearance at the ends. Since the bench will be the only working surface I plan to maximize its length given the space.

My question is about the free space in front of the bench. I'm thinking of a 22'' wide bench, or even 20'', which I can back off from the wall if needed for traverse planing of wide panels. This leaves a bit more than 3' free floor space in front of the bench. Is this too little? Should I rethink putting an almost full size bench in this small room?

What are your experiences? how much space in front of the bench do you use/want for hand tool operations? Anything that comes to mind, that I might have missed in planning the shop? Since I've been working on a planing beam on my table for quite some time I might oversee something obvious about working on a real workbench.

To save space wood storage will be restricted in the shop. Probably only enough for upcoming projects, and the rest in the garage. Tools have to be put on the walls, either in the open or in very shallow, 1 tool deep, cabinets/shelves.

Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

Oskar