Ideal Shop size

[Drew Sanderson]

What do you think is the ideal reasonable size shop for a hobbyist containing standard american type power tools including a Cabinet TS and an Island workbench.

I know this is wide open but before I start to make more specific considerations I would like to hear what people think. Thank you. Should be interesting.

[Jim O'Dell]

I think I would be very comfortable with 30 X 40, but I'd still want a separate finishing room of maybe 14 X 16 or 15 X 20. but something tells me if I got that shop, pretty soon, I'd want something bigger. I've got a 20 X 24 shop now, with a 12 X 14 room that will eventually be my finishing/assembly room. (anyone notice I don't add /dog isolation to that anymore? :D) Jim.

[Anthony Smaldone]

Well...I started out with a 20x20 garage shop. I seemed large at the start, but quickly shrunk down with the purchase of machines. I have a TS/shaper combo, Radial arm, Band saw, jointer/planer combo, lathe, drillpress, along with a bunch of hand and power tools. Everything fit, but lumber storage, and project storage was a problem. I moved and Im in the process of converting my basement into a shop. It should be aprox. twice the size. (hope it's enough)

Anthony

[David Christopher]

mine is 24X30 it seams to be big enough for me. I put everything on mobile bases because I also work on my motorcycle


Dave

[Sonny Edmonds]

I think 20-24' X 30-32 would be nice.
I've been in a shop that was 30 X 48. You had to carry a lunch and a canteen in that wide open spaces.
Now as far as efficient, I like my current shop in a 20' X 20' attached garage. I don't have to walk too far when I forget something "over there". :o
Plus my home office is the inside door to the shop. So I don't have to trapse through the house too much. I can pee in the drain outside the back door. ;) (Hey, I asked if I could put a urinal in, but she said no. So tough poo, a mans gonna do what a mans gonna do.)

It's not about the ideal, it's about happy. :)

[Jim Becker]

I started with 21' x 17' and currently have 21' x 30' minus a stairwell and my cyclone/compressor closet. I'm planning on moving my lumber storage upstairs and I may even build a dedicated room upstairs for my lathe to free up more space. It really comes down to assembly and finishing at this point...I'd like a little more elbow room.

My "ideal" would be larger, of course... :)

[ROY DICK]

Drew,
What ever equipment you would like, be it fixed or mobile, make a foot print of equipment on a scaled drawing and go from there.
Good luck,

Roy

[Joe Chritz]

I have 24x30 (outside dimension) and it is OK but starting to get filled up. I also have a roughly 9x14 finish room.

Figure what you think you need and add about 4-8 feet in each direction. It is much easier (and cheaper) to build a bit bigger than to add on.

I am thinking about tearing out the divider wall (the building is 24x40) and making the whole thing shop and adding on a finish room on one end.

Joe

[Gary Redden]

I currently have a 17' x 18' shop but that is about to change. I bought my parents home, Mom wanted a smaller place after Dad passed way earlier this year. There home is on 2 1/2 acres with a 24' x 40' detached garage, this will be my new shop. I am building a closet attached to the back of the garage for my cyclone to live as I did not want to to take up room inside my shop any more. The air compressor will also be in another building not attached to the garage. There is also 1 other building that is 22' x 22' that will become my finishing room.

It does seem a little strange doing all this after Dad passed but it is all things that we talked about doing some day. I know he is looking down with a big smile and glad that the place is staying in the family.

Did not mean to hijack the thread...

Gary

[Andrew Joiner]

I had 1000 square feet when I was first got into the woodworking business from 1970 to 1977. In 1977 bought a 3000 square foot shop. Both were big enough for a 1 man shop.

I retired and thought I was done with woodworking. I got hooked again and built a little 10'x 12' shop just for fun. I wanted to keep it real simple and cheap. I had a contractor saw in the center and opened the doors for long rips. It worked fine for the few things I made.

One huge plus for that 10'x12' size, everything was at arms length reach! I'd often think wow in my old shop I'd have to walk 50' and back just grab this tool!

Then I did a couple jobs for friends and needed a bigger shop, mostly for assembly and lumber storage. So I built our dream house and a shop.
This time I got to design and build an "ideal size" shop from scratch.

Notice how I put "ideal" in quotes?

It turns out ideal was still a compromise. Not as much a compromise as fitting my shop into a fixed size space, but I was limited by lot size. So I went UP to get space.

My new shop is 20'x30' with a 28' ceiling. My plan was to use the shop to build the furniture and built-ins for my house and add a second floor if I needed the space. The 20'x30' space is enough for the work I do now, but I want a lower ceiling.
It's hard to heat and light a shop with 28' ceilings!
I also miss being able to use " go-bars" for clamps. Go-bars are thin springy wood strips propped against the ceiling .

Take your time and do a scale layout. Move scale size machines around and think about clearance. I needed an 18' space on 1 wall for my panel saw.

[Jim Kountz]

Im in a 24x32 2 levels although right now the second floor isnt being utilized as well as it could. Like Jim B Im also thinking of putting my lathe up there or building on a 12x24 addition for a lathe/finishing room(s). A friend of mine has a 36x36 and its ideal I think, he has alot of room.

[Don Bullock]

My new shop/garage building is 24' x 40' with most of it dedicated to shop space. I already know, before I move in, that it will be too small. It was the biggest building that would fit on the lot and actually bigger than I could afford. It seems that no matter how big our shops are we always want more room. As someone said in a similar thread, perhaps Walmart might be big enough.;):D The most important thing is to enjoy what space we have. Last week there was a thread started buy a guy whose only bathroom in his apartment doubles as his shop. He was having a blast at his hobby.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

When I built my 24 by 24 shop I thought would have plenty of space. WRONG! It seems like the rule of thumb is estimate what you need. Then double that and add 20%.;) Good luck.

[Dewey Torres]

The real answer may be "who cares"!

I moved up to a 20 x 20 from a one car garage and I think that no matter the size the wood worker will do 2 things most every time:

1) Wish they had more room
2) Deal with what they have

my.02

[John Sanford]

Gee, sound's like "what's the ideal size for a model railroad layout room?" :p

Well, a lot of it depends on what scale you're modelling in, er, what sort of woodworking you want to be doing. There was a fella profiled in either Woodwork or Fine Woodworking a few years back who's entire shop fit in a large toolbox. Not toolchest, toolbox. He was a carver, or perhaps "micro-carver" would be a better description. Not only did his shop fit in the box, but so did his "gallery" of finished work, his lumber storage, and then, to top it off, the box became his "workspace", i.e., he would sit on it!

On the other end of the spectrum, you've got guys building boats or hosting classes or carving totem poles, they need big shops...

In short, the ideal shop is where dreams are brought to fruition. The size of the shop depends on the nature of the vision. What do you want to build? How do you want to build it? And what are your work processes going to be like, i.e., will you have multiple projects in progress at once, or will you work on only one project at a time?

If I ever become a gazillionaire, I'll build a whole passel of different size shops, just so I can sort out the "ideal size." Or at least ideal for me... :D

[John Bailey]

My shop is 20x20 and it is just right for me. That space is dedicated to woodworking. I store my wood outside and have enough storage inside for the project I'm working on. My plans include a future room for finishing and another to hold the cyclone. This still leaves me with my 20x20 workspace.

I know the common wisdom is to build as large as you can. When I built my stand alone shop, I decided the more room, the more clutter and a lot of pack-rattiness. My shop is ideal for me, and I build some pretty large things like the 15' sailboat presently occupying the shop.

John

[Rob Cunningham]

It really depends on the type of work you will be doing.
My shop is a 23'x50' building on my property. This includes an 11' x 14' finishing room and an area for lumber storage. I need to build some storage cabinets to get things organized better but it's plenty of room for a one man shop. With the exception on my drum sander, all of my machines are stationary. I tried to put a lot of thought into the layout so I would have enough working space around each machine without having to move it. I feel very lucky to have this size shop. I started out in 1/2 of the basement in our old house. It was 11' x 17'. I sometimes had to take over the garage to do assembly and finishing.

[Wilbur Pan]

Ideal shop size?

About 4 feet longer than the shop you already have.

Corollary statement: You will need one more 220V circuit than the number that you have installed.

;)

[Deck Reagan]

Wow...where's all the guys with the small shops! I currently work out of the back of my two car garage. I back out the cars to expand the space.

I plan to build a "small" shop in my back yard, hopefully in 2009. I am very used to my small work space and my shop is planned to be very small. The problem with working from the garage is the PITA of moving the cars and clean up. I spend more time cleaning up and moving stuff around and out of the way than I do woodworking. I live in Nebraska with ice and snow. It seems in the fall, winter, and spring I am constantly moping up melted snow, mud, and ice in the garage! In the summer its 100+ in there.

My plan is to build a nice small shop that is climate controlled and doesn't cost a fortune to maintain. I think I'll send a lot more time out there if I know I can just go out and work and when I'm done flip the light off and head into the house with out all the clean up, etc.

Anyway....my future "residential" backyard hobby show is planned to be about 12'x20'.

deck

[Danny Thompson]

20' x 30' for the main shop + 10' x 20' for a finishing room.

[Wilbur Pan]

Wow...where's all the guys with the small shops!

[snip]

Anyway....my future "residential" backyard hobby show is planned to be about 12'x20'.


My basement shop is 11' x 20', if that helps. ;)

[Rick Lucrezi]

I was fortunate enough to have a father who thought enough of me to leave me his business and property when he passed away. (he had a auto shop) I grew up working in it and always thought how much better I could do if it were mine. It was 30x40. I ended up selling the whole lot and bought property in the next town over for cash and had enough to build a dream shop. (property had a little mobile on it.) So I started with a 40 x 60 foot print and 2 story. I shortend it up at the last minute to 40x40. I fiqured I would add the other 20 on later at a single story for a paint booth/finish room. Had all my wood working tools, mechanic tools, welding tools, a jeep project and room to work on cars. It was perfect. Well I forgot to mention that when I bought the place I promised my wife I would build the house within the year. 5 years later with all the extra money gone I realized I would have to borrow money to build the house (not a good idea) get a divorce (worse idea) or convert the shop into a house. Now I have this very nice and very big 2 story house and a 26x26 shop to work in. I have most of my tools in storage building. It works but I was sure spoiled. I recently did 14 2'x4' cabinets for a bedroom I built for some folks over there garage. I had no room to move. I have 3 man doors and a garage door and could only get in and out through one door. So now I am looking at the future shop. Another 2 story, but this time 24x40 with the loft, and 16x40 add ons with a shed roof. Typical barn style. I want to be able to have all my tools in one building again, able to get a car or truck in to work on it, able to seperate the wood working from the metal working (fire hazzard) and have a dedicated spray booth for anything up to a truck. Hey, we all have to have a dream right?:D

[Rod Sheridan]

Wow...where's all the guys with the small shops! I currently work out of the back of my two car garage. I back out the cars to expand the space.

deck

My shop is in the basement of a townhouse, it's 16' X 14'.

Regards, Rod.

[Eric DeSilva]

This question reminds me of a survey they had once where they asked people what the ideal salary was... Seems everybody thought the ideal was 20% more than they currently made...

20% bigger than my current shop would be about 25 x 30. ;)

[Karl Brogger]

For a hobbiest, and just for wood working, chances are less than 1k sq/ft would be plenty. My shop is about 1500 sq/ft, and for me its a raging pain in the rear. I have to have most everything on a mobile base. Pulling stuff, hooking it up to dust collection, and putting it away for the next step sucks. I've out grown my shop by about a factor of three, my tentative plan, (which constantly changes), is to put up a 52x96 building, and will give me close to 5k sq/ft.

The only piece in my shop that hasn't been rearranged to make room for other stuff, is my planer, and the tablesaw. I look at pics from a few years ago and I had tons of room, now its like working in a phone booth.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/116/l_8642a7fa8864d8e35a65e852f241cd92.jpg
Since this picture was taken probably close to 2 years ago I've added 3 shapers, an edge sander, ditched the drum sander for a 37" widebelt, a 5x12 face frame table, a linebore, and another tablesaw. Its packed!

[Dewey Torres]

Karl,
(3) shapers???

Are you production or hobbyist?

[Karl Brogger]

Karl,
(3) shapers???

Are you production or hobbyist?


Tragically I do this for a living. Sorta, pretty slow right now.:mad:

[John Keeton]

Exactly 15' wider, and 15' longer than whatever you finally build!!

[Andrew Joiner]

This thread may be of interest: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=72907

Turns out 30'x40' wins the poll. That's 1200 square feet. Exactly what I'll have when I put in my second floor. Finally I'll have the "ideal size" shop!

[M. A. Espinoza]

For a hobbiest, and just for wood working, chances are less than 1k sq/ft would be plenty. My shop is about 1500 sq/ft, and for me its a raging pain in the rear. I have to have most everything on a mobile base. Pulling stuff, hooking it up to dust collection, and putting it away for the next step sucks.

I agree with Karl and others pointing out the hassle of having a "Swiss-Army Shop". I've worked in small, too-small, and adequate home shops and in varying degrees of decent pro shops.

I recommend starting with an empty sheet of graph paper or Sketchup on the computer.

If its only a hobby shop with furniture in mind then I would recommend starting with storage needs of consumables, small tools, and materials. Then account for the footprint of your machinery and the infeed/outfeed requirements. And be sure to plan on an assembly area so you can still use the tools after a project starts to come together. Lastly don't forget you need room to move yourself and parts, allow for at least 36" for passageways around stationary tools. If you can allow for a separate finishing room, do it. Dust collector and compressor outside the exterior walls if possible. Even with all that still put as much as possible on mobile stands.

If you can avoid having to reconfigure your shop for each phase of a project you will be a much happier woodworker, and way more productive. I've experienced the "great little shop" that was great until you started to actually build something, avoid it if you can.

Good luck.

[Duane McGuire]

50% larger than you can afford.

[Gary Herrmann]

Gah, just gimme some head room. The joists in my basement are 3" taller than me.

[Chris Damm]

You will always want it bigger than it is. So the best size shop is the biggest you can afford and leave room for expansion! Mine is 25x25x9 and I wish it was 10' longer and 2 ' higher but mine is attached to a 26x36 garage so I do have some overflow room (if I can convince the wife to park her car outside).

[Bill Houghton]

My shop's 11 feet square, and I dream of a two-car garage - I've done about a dozen layouts in my head.

[Drew Sanderson]

Thanks for all the perspective. I had not given thought to a finishing area or the ability to add a lean-to on the side for lumber storage / drying. Great advise for sure. Also, the link to the poll was helpful. I have a long way till it becomes reality but I have to start somewhere. I am going to try and get a variance to try and put it closer than 25 ft to my property line. The outcome of that will impact the size I end up with.