Basement shop layout

[Andy Fox]

I've posted a GIF of my shop layout. I will be building mostly functional furniture, cabinets, dining tables, and toys. What would you do differently with this layout if it were your shop?

Additional thoughts:

• Most lumber/plywood storage will remain in attached garage, but I'll have a two-shelf rack in the basement for acclimating upcoming project wood indoors.
• The miter saw might remain in the garage since I'll be cutting pieces to rough length before bringing them down the stairs. The other alternative is to just do the rough cutting with a circular saw, which is what I'll do with plywood anyway.
• If the miter saw remains in the garage, I'll probably want to get a good 40 tooth combination blade for my table saw. I currently have two specialized blades (80T and 24T) which I already get tired of switching back and forth.
• Lighting and electrical will need more work, but I'm not finalizing any of that until I've worked using the new layout on a few projects. Lighting and electrical are shown as-is with no shop-specific changes.
• Dust collection is currently shop-vac. I'm looking into getting a Woodsucker, which will be even more critical now that I'm inside the house.

I've already got my planer, jointer, drill press, shopvac, and air cleaner down there from the garage by myself without any damage to man or machine. Disassembly is the key! (I read this on someone else's post here--thanks!)

[Bill Webber]

Hi Andy,

Andy,

I'm not crazy about having the furnace so completely exposed to the shop sawdust, dust collector or not. I would frame around the furnace/utility area and put the dust collector in there, too. Properly sized vents for make-up air would keep postive air pressure back into the shop keeping the furnace clean. If there were room enough, I would run the partition all the way across the end of the shop with a door into the shop side at the bottom of the stairs. This way the same positive pressure would keep any dust in the air out of the house, too.

Here's a sketch of what I'm talking about. Your layout doesn't suggest whether there is room to do this. Obvious you put the dust collector inlet and piping wherever you need it.

HTH,

Bill W.
Woodworkers visit me at:
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/wWebber/</pre>

[Guy Boulianne]

Hi Andy.

I would just swith the jointer and planer. By adding a shelf at the infeed of the jointer and another one at the outfeed, that will be at the infeed of your planer, you will have a great flow from rough to planed stock.

I attach my own layout, I am currently in the remodeliog process too. My planer will be above my jointer, not the best to work with bigger/heavier pieces but a good footprint compromise. I will also have a 6' long outfeed table/shelf for the planer that will be my infeed stock pile for the jointer and a lower shelf at the outfeed side of the jointer that will be the infeed stockpile for the planer.

Guy

[Aaron Beaver]

Hi Andy,

Andy,

I'm not crazy about having the furnace so completely exposed to the shop sawdust, dust collector or not.

HTH,

Bill W.
Woodworkers visit me at:

http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/wWebber/
</PRE>

Never had a problem with mine. My furnace is exposed and I have yet to see anything. What problems could arise from sawdust? Not saying there can't/wont be problems just don't know what they are. Might need to cover mine up eventually.

[Andy Fox]

Bill:
Thanks, great idea on the dust collector location and positive air pressure to cut down on escaping dust! It would be a little close to the gas water heater, so that could be a problem if there's ever a "flame rollout" burner malfunction. A short wall with some metal sheilding and type x sheetrock should take care of that though. One challenge might be the noise from having the DC so close to the upstairs door.

Guy:
Great idea for integrating the jointer and planer flow. My current workflow for this is chaotic, so this will help a lot!

Aaron:
The air return/blower compartment of my furnace is well-sealed with real duct tape (butyl-backed foil tape). But, some dust could still get in there and the water heater's burner compartment. I'd probably just have to vac them out more frequently, but might forget resulting in a build-up and fire hazard. Any dust getting into the furnace would be efficiently distributed throughout the house. You must have a good DC setup if you haven't had any problems?

[Bill Webber]

My concerns about sawdust in the furnace (and water heater) is not about the saw dust in the heated air plenum chamber; that is sealed. It's about sawdust being drawn into the combustion chamber and up through the flue.

A couple years ago I signed up for one of those free furnace inspections. When the guy saw the shop he gave me one of thus "unh oh" expressions and then commented on how clean the furnace was stating that most furnaces around woodworking shops were seriously crapped up with sawdust.

The furnace guy never did say exactly what problems the sawdust might cause but I'm thinking coated burners and flue with the potential for fire hazards, inefficient combustion, coated blowers, stuff like that. My oil fired furnace has a blower on the combustion air input; sawdust might be a problem there. The other place has a newer gas furnace where the combustion air is drawn from the outside through pvc pipe; not likely the same kind of problem. YMMV, FWIW, etc...

Bill W.
Woodworkers visit me at:
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/wWebber/

[Scott Coffelt]

You must protect that furnace, that is a fire waiting to happen.

I might suggest an outfeed table. In my basement shop I have a 42x60 outfeed table that has drawers underneath. It gives me plenty of support for sheet goods and stuff. A nice large working surface. The one thing I find in a small shop is storage space is a must and think vertical. I have my planner mounted on a simple but effective bracket system to that right side of the TS table and it is suspended about 12" above the TS. Works great.

With a W/D in the same sapce, dust control is a must. Nothing like dropping a clean wet shirt on the floor into a layer of dust. Put everything on mobile bases so you can move them in and out when in use.

My shop is 13x27 and it is packed full of tools, but I can efficiently (OK effectively) use ever tool. The first thing I do is get rid of the metal stands that come with my tools and repalce with a mobile cabinet. I now can increase storage and also the angle type stands take up more room.

Finally, don't be set on a layout. I changed mine several times. I wired extra 220v so it gives me flexibility. Everytime I had a new tool, I make small adjustments to make things more efficient. Sadly, I think I have just about ran out of room and still aloow me to work safely and effectively..... but still plan to upgrade to a 8" jointer.

[Sparky Paessler]

Andy

I might try to move the Freezer, Washer and dryer over by the stairs and wall off that section including the furnace. This would keep the wife much happier.


Merry Christmas!

[Jim Becker]

HI would frame around the furnace/utility area and put the dust collector in there, too.

I would not recommend co-location of the dust extraction equipment with the gas furnace. Framing around the furnace would, however, provide additional wall space for cabinets, etc. The degree that dust might infiltrate the furnace will depend on the design of the system...my home system, for example draws fresh air from the outside through a 2" PVC pipe and the exhaust is through another 2" PVC pipe. No dust would get into the flue in this case if I had a shop involved, but it could infiltrate the air handling systems.

Scott's advice to be flexible is really good...mobility is essential to allow for both short-term changes when a project demands it as well as long-term evolution of your shop as your tools and needs change.