Hit me with your Best Shot -- 2-car Shop Layout

[Danny Thompson]

The new 2-car workshop is on order, with living quarters and 1 car garage attached (we close May 29). The shop will be fully dedicated to woodworking, which is a first for me.

I've been playing around with a layout and would really appreciate your critiques. What am I overlooking? Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

I've included 2 versions, one without a traditional workbench (don't have one) and one with. Is the one with the workbench too jammed? Without the workbench, most handwork would be done on the outfeed table and seated work area.

A few comments.

-- Currently, it is wired with two 110 outlets, one about midway along the the left wall and another in the ceiling for the overhead door. Luckily, the breaker panel is in the shop, on the left near the overhead door. So, I should be able to add 220 as needed (none of my current tools require it).

-- The jointer, miter bench, chair, and lumber rack are figments of my imagination. The rest will be retrieved from strorage shortly. I have a large rolling lumber rack, but I have found it somewhat cumbersome, so I thought I should replace it with a wall-mounted rack over the miter station (ref. Matthew Teague's article in FWW Tools and Shops 2007).

-- The overall dimension is 19.5' x 19.5'

Thanks.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Congrats on the soon-to-be-dedicated shop!

My only comment is around the location of the jointer and planer - they're fairly similair in function and space requirements, so you might consider locating and lining them up along with each other.

[Michael McCoy]

Yours is about the same size as mine and I am constantly moving equipment whenever I make anything larger than an end table. My lathe takes up more room than I like but it isn't going anywhere. One minor suggestion is to locate your drill press right beside your bandsaw and use them together for infeed/outfeed.

[glenn bradley]

Congrats and the following comments are worth every penny you'll pay for them ;-)

While you are laying out your tools, don't get hung up on the tool itself; think about how it is used. What will the material flow be? What clearances fore and aft are needed to run material through the tool? How can I combine material movement paths so that multiple machines can use the same 'open' space for infeed and outfeed?

Your second layout is a 'no' for me as it puts absolute limits on the infeed and outfeed of your TS. The first layout is like mine TS wise but I am closer to the rollup door. I can infeed anything 4' and under with the door closed. Longer board? Open door.

I used to keep the DP in the corner as most work can be done within that space. Longer board? Pivot DP on mobile base. The reason I say "used to" is that my layout changed . . . they always change . . . I also like my jointer feed path to match the TS. Not because they need to match but the path is already there. My planer is mobile and rolls over to use the same path (and borrow the DC hose of a nearby machine . . . QC connectors are nice sometimes).

Have fun. Oh, and of course DC duct path can sometimes dictate things. You wouldn't think so but a duct path that beats the heck out of your airflow might make you want to alter a machines position even though from an overhead diagram view it looks odd.

[Lee DeRaud]

Jointer and planer locations look like there's not nearly enough clearance on infeed/outfeed (jointer in second picture, planer in both), even if you're planning on leaving the overhead door open when you use these tools.

[Michael Lutz]

I would put the jointer and planer on the left side wall. Move the bandsaw, drill press and sander to the upper wall where your storage is. Incorporate your storage in the miter bench and along that wall. Orient the infeed side of the TS to the overhead door. Just my thoughts from reorganizing my shop for the third time in less than a year ( I have a smaller space than you to work in.

Mike

[Dave MacArthur]

I would move all of your dust producers over to the top and R walls, along with your DC, and move your "non dust producers" such as your bench, toolchest, hardware storage etc. over against the wall that enters the house.

This allows you several things. First, you can reduce your DC runs and complication by grouping dusters together. Second you probably reduce the dust entering the house. Third, you'd reduce the noise to the house.

If you have a bench, I would definitely put it over against or near the house wall.

As some others have said, I like to line up the jointer path with the tablesaw path. Lastly, if you haven't built it yet, IMO a miter-saw just doesn't justify the huge wall space commitment it usually gets... do you really use it enough to give it your #1 best wall in the shop? Does it neeed all that space? I use mine, but have it on rolling cart and due to the dust it produces and difficulty of catching it, I roll it out into the driveway usually. If I'm doing crown or base with it, they end up longer than the shop can comfortably hold without knocking stuff over anyways; for precision stuff I end up using my tablesaw.

Just some thoughts, good luck!

[Danny Thompson]

I hear you about the clearance. I think I will have to put the planer on a rolling cart and move it into the clear when needed.

Looking at option 1, the jointer has about 7.5' of infeed and outfeed. Is that enough? The only way I can think to get more is to move it into one of the "through traffic" lanes. Guess it will also need to be mobile.

[Danny Thompson]

Funny, I hadn't considerered the Right one the premier wall, primarily because it doesn't have power yet, but I see your point. One thing that is deceptive about the pic is that the bulk of the house is toward the top, not the left. Still, these are some great suggestions. I'll take another stab.

Keep 'em coming.

[Jim Becker]

Consider not having tools such as your jointer, planer, BS and DP in a specific "place". Rather pick a corner, such as the one in the lower right side of the drawings and have a "tool corral". Park them there when not in use. That leaves you a lot more floor space for assembly and finishing. I know that a shop the size of a two car garage seems large at first, but once you have a big project...or several...going, you'll find all kinds of ways to use space. Using this method also simplifies your dust collection and electrical situation as you can do less drops. Remember, just because you have a wall doesn't mean you have to pile things all along it!

Oh, and make provisions so your assembly surface can be at multiple heights for better comfort. Many times, folks work with things too high or on the floor, and that's not always the best way.

[Ben Cadotte]

I say the layout on the left, but I would move the saw closer to the overhead door. Jointer and planer on a mobile cart / base. This will allow longer rips with the door open, but more inportant for me, I would like a larger outfeed / assembly table. Yours looks to be about 4' square. Since it would be the main assembly area I would like it a bit bigger. Not sure what your plans call for in size of projects though. I would probably swap the bandsaw and drill press positions.

I can't seem to find the writing where you say your going to knock out the middle wall to access the 3rd garage bay.

[Don Bullock]

Consider not having tools such as your jointer, planer, BS and DP in a specific "place". Rather pick a corner, such as the one in the lower right side of the drawings and have a "tool corral". Park them there when not in use. That leaves you a lot more floor space for assembly and finishing... Using this method also simplifies your dust collection and electrical situation as you can do less drops...

I don't know about Danny, but Jim's idea sounds great to me. Thanks Jim. You just solved a problem I was having with the layout of the shop I'm planning. It will also save me some money as I plan out my DC.

[glenn bradley]

I can't seem to find the writing where you say your going to knock out the middle wall to access the 3rd garage bay.

I'm, sure he'll post that one within a year . I can hear it now; "But Honey, cars LIKE to be outside."

[Mike SoRelle]

Consider not having tools such as your jointer, planer, BS and DP in a specific "place". Rather pick a corner, such as the one in the lower right side of the drawings and have a "tool corral". Park them there when not in use. That leaves you a lot more floor space for assembly and finishing. I know that a shop the size of a two car garage seems large at first, but once you have a big project...or several...going, you'll find all kinds of ways to use space. Using this method also simplifies your dust collection and electrical situation as you can do less drops. Remember, just because you have a wall doesn't mean you have to pile things all along it!

Oh, and make provisions so your assembly surface can be at multiple heights for better comfort. Many times, folks work with things too high or on the floor, and that's not always the best way.

I'm with Jim on this one, I too have a former 2 car garage as a shop and about the only thing that doesn't move is my bench and some storage shelves, every other tool and my assembly table is on wheels and I roll them around as needed (including my TS) I love the flexibility of being able to arrange the shop to the project instead of the other way around. And should I need space to do something other than make sawdust, I can push everything to the walls and still have a sizable amout of room.

My garage is also attached to the house, but I have no dust migration problem (other than stuff I'm wearing on me on my way to the laundry room) I just made sure the door was well weatherstripped and I have a Jet air cleaner running whenever I'm working out there.

Jim's also right about it seems large until you actually do something, the upside is weather permitting, it's sometimes a nice change to roll a few tools into the driveway to use them.

I should also mention that the only way I got the whole garage was by agreeing to clear the snow off/start and warm the wife's car in the winter time. Totally worth the trade off, though I'm considering a remote starter this year

Mike

[David Giles]

There are a couple of key work areas.

Ply and lumber breakdown area. Need a 5x10 space to rough cut those ply sheets, preferably right by the plywood storage area. Miter saw should be located at the rough lumber station for the initial rough crosscuts. I often rip rough boards with a circular saw to line up the grain pattern with the board edge.

Now you need a 3x3 roll around cart for all the pieces. Lay out a 3ft wide pathway throughout the shop and keep that area open. Maintaining open walkways is key and basically limits where equipment can be set.

Jointer and planer go near each other and preferably near the dust collector.

Put a workbench in front of or beside the tablesaw. There's lots of walking from cutting a piece to fit up, back to trim the end, to fitup, etc. Keep the walk short.

Fixed equipment locations are preferable to mobile equipment. It's nice to flip on the planer and run a board through as opposed to pulling out the planer cabinet, undoing and plugging in the power cord, finding and connecting the dust collection. Then undoing it all to roll the planer back against the wall. Fix the jointer, planer and tablesaw. Roll the work around. If you have to roll one tool around, make the dust collector mobile.

Keep corners open for storing stuff. A drill press with oversized table takes up 3ft of wall in each direction when placed in a corner. Move it to an out of the way spot.

Have fun!