feedback requested - planned shop arrangement

[Bob Vavricka]

Once it starts to warm-up, I plan to start construction of my new shop. It will be attached to my current two-car garage. I will be able to use some of the garage bay closest to the addition. I have attached a couple of pictures of my tentative arrangement. It's easy for me to get "tunnel vision" once I start with an idea, so I asking for input on tool arrangement.
I have some of the tools already and some will be future purchases. I'm trying to plan the arrangement particularly for plumbing and dust collection. The size of the addition will be limited to what I show on the drawings given my lot size and terrain. I show the dust collector in the garage with the exhaust through the wall back into the shop. Is this a good idea or is there a better way to keep the heat in the shop?
Your suggestions and ideas will be appreciated.

[Bob Borzelleri]

Bob...

If the filter for the DC is hanging into the shop, I would advise that you consider that most of the noise from a cyclone comes through the filter. I built a closet to enclose the entire DCw/filter with a return to the shop air duct that has a noise baffle. The noise has been reduced from about 85 db to the low 60s and I haven't yet finished all the insulation.

As for the layout, if you are not bolting anything down, my guess is that you will find your own preferences depending on how you order your work and movement patterns around the shop. You have a pretty good footprint to work with. Keeping your sheet goods cutter close to the entrance the sheets goods will make into the shop is always a good idea unless you like to carry and ding heavy and clumsy plywood off of stationary shop tools. :)

I ran one 7" pipe across the back wall of the shop and another sort of on a diagonal toward the front door. The back wall has three 6" drops and the front currently has one drop at the end of the run. I will add an intermediate drop when I get around to getting more fittings. That arrangement will work for me pretty well since all tools are on wheels anyway.

...Bob

[Greg Portland]

It would seem to me that the bandsaw will get in the way when you are using your planer. If that was a jointer-planer you would be able to work from the other side. For now you have to walk around the jointer or squeeze the workpiece and yourself back between the planer/bandsaw gap.

[David Helm]

In the perspective drawing it looks like the table saw is offset from the doors. If you are cutting long material, it is nice to have doors open for saw access.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Detail - I usually go TS > Jonter > planer > CMS to trim > assembly bench.

flip-flop jointer and planer?

[Ray Newman]

Can you move the sink and toilet down to the corner or place them along the back wall? I think this will give you some more room and open floor space.

While a toilet is nice, how far will the shop be from the closets one in the house? The property tax assessor really likes bathrooms installed.

I would mount the BS and the drum sander to mobile bases so they can be moved. If possible, also do the same for the lathe -- store it against the wall and free up more floor space.

As one poster mentioned, allow access for long boards or sheet goods to exit the saw via the double doors in needed.

I 'dunno' how cold the winters are in OK, but if you leave the DC filter in the shop, the warmer air stays in the shop. You could “box-it-in“, leaving vents for the air to escape. If it is completely moved to other side of the wall, I think you will be heating your garage.

Insulate the "bee-gee-zus" out of the addition, inc. the slab/floor. Heating and cooling aren’t getting cheaper.

Mount all electrical outlets 48-52” above the floor so they will not be covered up by sheet goods. Good lighting is a must. It is always cheaper and easier to install good lighting, electrical, and insulation during construction than trying to do it after the walls are up and finished. White walls and ceiling will reflect light.

Where is the electrical service panel? I ‘dunno’ if you weld or ‘evva’ thought of one, but think ’bout a dedicated outlet for a welder.

If hanging cabinets on the wall, use a French cleat so they can easily be moved to another wall or shifted.

[Glen Butler]

You will have a nice large shop no doubt. Adequate and safe dust collection is very important. Exposure to the amount of dust home woodworkers encounter is hazardous. If I was going to the lengths you are I would design the DC so that none of it's exhaust enters living or working space. Totally enclose the DC in a closet that vents to the outside. My future plans for a shop include an external utility area that would be nicely concealed and gaited (it would even be incorporated into the roof structure), that would house my DC and the exhaust fan and venturi for the spray booth.

[Kevin Groenke]

I'm jealous.

Ditto the mobile bases.

Ditto flipping the Jointer and Planer. Maybe even nest the jointer next to the rt end of the tablesaw so you can easily work stock between the two machines. Make or buy yourself a couple of carts for stacking/moving stock/parts around.

Have you got sheet storage?

Can you put a double door at the garage connection? (maybe overhead or sliding?).

Looks good. A shop certainly evolves over time, but you can get close by giving a lot of consideration and running it by others before the work is done. Save yourself a lot of time and $ if you get it as close as possible in the first place. Especially if you're buying spiral pipe for DC.

-kg

[Bob Vavricka]

Bob...

If the filter for the DC is hanging into the shop, I would advise that you consider that most of the noise from a cyclone comes through the filter. I built a closet to enclose the entire DCw/filter with a return to the shop air duct that has a noise baffle. The noise has been reduced from about 85 db to the low 60s and I haven't yet finished all the insulation.

...Bob
Bob, I wasn't thinking about the noise factor; I was just thinking about keeping the heat or cool in the shop. I think you are right, I probably should enclose the DC and keep the filter in the enclosure. How are you making your noise baffle? Bob V.

[Bob Borzelleri]

Bob, I wasn't thinking about the noise factor; I was just thinking about keeping the heat or cool in the shop. I think you are right, I probably should enclose the DC and keep the filter in the enclosure. How are you making your noise baffle? Bob V.

Bob...

I'll take a few photos of my closet setup and email them to you.

..Bob

[Bob Vavricka]

It would seem to me that the bandsaw will get in the way when you are using your planer. If that was a jointer-planer you would be able to work from the other side. For now you have to walk around the jointer or squeeze the workpiece and yourself back between the planer/bandsaw gap.
Greg, I think you are right, it only measures a little over 2' between them. I will have to tweak that spacing. I don't have either a jointer or planer right now (other than a lunch box planer). I will have to take a look at a combo machine.


In the perspective drawing it looks like the table saw is offset from the doors. If you are cutting long material, it is nice to have doors open for saw access.
David, I think that is just because of the angle of that drawing. In the plan view, I think I have it lined up with the door. Thanks.

Detail - I usually go TS > Jonter > planer > CMS to trim > assembly bench.
flip-flop jointer and planer?
Kent, I was thinking lumber rack, CMS to rough lengths, jointer, planer, table saw. But, I'm not sure how much rough lumber I will work with. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Chris Damm]

Why 45'6"? That seems like an odd length. If you build in multiples of 4' it is more economical. As for the location of your tools I would just use a hose from your dust collector until you have had a chance to use the shop. You will change the location of the tools once you get a feel for the space!

[Bob Borzelleri]

Bob...

The baffle is just a box I built out of 3/4" plywood. It has two open faces. One butts up against the opening over the door where there is a filter and the other open face points straight up. Inside are two (I think) slats that are opposite each other that cause airflow to change direction so that sound waves will be broken up as the air seeks to get out of the closet and into the shop. So far, it works pretty well. I'm still experimenting with maximum air flow, but I think I'm really playing around the margins as each drop seems to want to suck my arm up. Hopefully the photos will help with the baffle arrangement. The walls of the closet are insulated and have 1/4" pegboard with the rough side toward the sound source. It really quiets down the cyclone. The compressor was already pretty quiet and I see less noise reduction there. I think I need to get it off the raised wood floor. That's where the remaining noise comes into the shop at the moment; up from the shop floor.

The ductwork is 7" snaplock and long radius elbows along the back wall, The wye that heads off to the fron of the shop is necked down to 6". When I order another 6x6x6 wye, I'll add another drop in the middle of the run to the front. I would strongly suggest not skimping on elbows. Long radius turns are important as the short radius stuff can become the single most significant limiting factor in the system.

The shop is pretty cluttered what with finally finishing up the DC and compressed air systems. In addition, I got rid off several sheet metal shelf units that were holding things just for the sake of holding them. I've decided that everything I need in the shop will reside on the two chrome shelves that survived the pillage. In the meantime, surviving stuff is sitting on any flat surface I can find until things get assigned a place.

If the baffle doesn't make sense, let me know and I will clarify.

...Bob

[Bob Borzelleri]

A few pictures didn't transfer in the last message...

BTW, I painted the baffle box with a sound deadening material that is often used to quiet down car sheet metal for audio installs. I used it for the interior pan and trunk in my Honda S2000 which was otherwise a pretty noisy ride (unstock exhaust system).

[Andy McCormick]

Here is my 2 cents. Instead of putting 2 french doors in the new shop area put them in the joining wall between the new shop and the existing garage. This will give you more wall area and you can always open the garage door to get big items in and out. This will eliminate the cost of one door as well. Andy

[Joe A Faulkner]

If you are building the addition from scratch, you might want to consider sky lights; while you will lose some heat in the winter, the natural light can be a a nice extra. Of course if you do most of your shop work in the evenings you won't get much benefit. Something to consider.

[Mike Cruz]

Wow, where to start...

First of all, the BS should go against a wall. Space to the left of a BS is useless... you can't cut there. Just make sure there is enough room for you to stand comfortably, and that you have enough room for infeed and outfeed of stock. If you don't plan to resaw, that amount of room is relatively small. If you are going to resaw, then remember that your infeeed or outfeed can be in a walking area.

I would put the miter saw station against the back wall. You can always use the space above it along the wall for storage for long cutoffs and strips.

Consider putting your TS, Planer, and Jointer all in the middle and utilize the garage space as infeed or outfeed area for long boards.

Remember that on your plans, when you have the width of your addition as 22', that is not what the final dimension will be. The wall, with all the layers of siding, structure, and interior cover (drywall, or whatever) takes more space than you think, so that dimension can easily be 21' 3". My not sound like much, but believe me, it makes a difference.

You will NEED work bench space. A long one (8 to 10 feet) along a wall is nice to have, but also consider having a free standing one. If you are running out of room, the free standing one can also serve as an outfeed table for your TS. But remember that horizontal space gets cluttered very quickly.

When building perminent/semi perminent things like work benches, make sure they are LOWER than your equipment. For example, a 12' work bench that is lower than your TS is still usefull as outfeed space. If it is HIGHER than your TS outfeed (or infeed) height, then you just made your room 2 feet narrower. Also remember that not all TS's are the same height. I built my benches to be just under the height of my Ridgid TS. Then I got a Uni... it was 2 inches lower. :mad:

So, if you can make your benches adjustable (feet with adjustable screws or something) that would make your life easier.

A drill press, like the BS, can also easily go up against the wall.

EVERYTHING should be on GOOD mobile bases so when/if you need to make minor adjustments to their location (or major ones for that matter) it is easy and not a hassle. I am not one for having everything up against the wall and then having to move them to the middle of the room when I neeed to use them, but occasionally, you may/will need to move the BS a foot to the right to accomodate a special cut...and a mobile base is golden in those circumstances.

Even after a lot of thought and multiple arrangements on paper, I STILL changed around my shop a couple of times before it "worked'...and I'm still tweeking.

Good luck, and have fun with it!