Small Shop Dilemma

[Ken Whitney]

I have a fairly small shop (12x25). It is one-third of a three car garage, and while I've managed to offload some of the shop stuff into the two-thirds that are not supposed to be "shop", that will not last for long.

My problem is what to do about the table saw part of the shop. I have a Delta contractors saw that I like and that works fine, but it takes up a large amount of floor space. I can park it along one wall (the motor hanging out the back is a problem), but in order to use it I have to rotate the saw 90 degrees into the main part of the shop and it just gets in the way and is inconvenient.

I've considered:

1) An older unisaw or other vintage saw with minimal rails on a mobile base. Smaller footprint than the contractors saw.

2) Chopping of part of the unifence rails on my existing saw to save some space. I'd still have to rotate it to use, but the footprint would be smaller.

3) Buying an older radial arm saw and parking it along the wall. Most cross cuts could be done without having to move the saw.

4) Building a homemade MFT and using a Festool saw and rail for crosscuts and short rips (I have the saw and rail).

I do have a bandsaw, so longer rips could be done on that.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Ken

[Jim Rimmer]

I have the same shop (3rd stall of 3 car garage). I have my saw (Grizz G0661) sitting about 4 feet inside the overhead door. Behind it is a shop table from a high school shop (4.5 ft x 5 ft). Just about everything else is mobile or stashed along the wall. I have put storage every where I can. I have 2 lawnmowers, BBQ grill and recycle bin stored in front of the TS that have to go out when I use it.

Another problem I have to deal with is the builders decided to put a raised area along the wall on the side and all across the back of the the garage. It is about 3" high and 3 ft wide. I have utilized it well but it limits some things (especially tools on wheels) because of the 3" rise.

I also have a DP, CMS, 9" bnadsaw belt/disc sander, planer, jointer, router table and want to add a 14" bandsaw. I try to mobilize what I can and nest the rest.

I would suggest you put your saw in a prominent, usable spot and arrange the rest around it.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I'm in a similar situation, and moved my TS to within about 4' of the garage door. An outfeed table inhabits the space between the TS and the garage door, and in the unlikely case I need to rip something longer than that, I can just open the garage door :)

The rest of my tools are on wheels, but mostly live along the edges of the walls. They can be wheeled out into the middle if a particularly long board needs to go through.

[Robert Adamis]

I placed my TS flush against the garage door. My garage is a typical two car garage with a single 16ft door. Thankfully there is about three feet of extra space to the right (looking towards the street) of the garage door. I have my UniSaw with 52" rails in the front right corner of the garage utilizing that extra three feet. The saw itself fits almost butted up against the door but the extra 52" of table and fence tuck neatly into that three foot corner. I have just enough space to do most of my cuts without needing to open the garage door. If I need extra capacity for long items I just open my door and put up my outfeed table. When the garage door is closed the outfeed in the stored position is just a couple of inches from the door. On the rare occasion that I should need the extra capacity of the 52" rails I roll the whole saw towards the center of the garage door opening. This system has worked great but I expect I will have to change my strategy a little as I hope to eventually upgrade my unifence to an Incra TS-LS system.

I think one important consideration for small spaces is having your tools on good casters and the tools placed/stored in locations that allow the tool to be used for most day to day chores yet can be quickly and easily moved for jobs requiring more space. I can still easily fit a car in the garage but it only takes me a couple of minutes to back the car out and position my tools so I'm ready to go. Even with the car in the garage my TS, Bandsaw, and Drill Press are all usable making it possible to pop into the garage for a few minutes and work on projects without having to set things up.

This is a little off topic from your original question and you probably already know this but if you are going to buy casters don't cheap out on them. The couple of items I have (including the Uni) that have cheap casters tend to frustrate me whenever I have to move those items because the casters either won't turn in the right direction or in the case of heavy items like the Uni the weight has flattened out the non-steel caster so much it's hard to get the thing to roll. This in turn causes me to sometimes think twice sometimes about moving things to optimize my workspace because I don't feel like man handling the iron around. One future weekend project when there is money to spare will be to replace those casters that cause me grief from time to time.

[Myk Rian]

4' from the door here also.

[Ken Whitney]

Thanks all.

I currently have a sheet goods/lumber cart along the garage door. I hadn't considered putting the TS there, but that appears to be a favorite location and would allow for many cuts without having to move it. I think I'll swap the location of the saw and the cart and see how that works.

Robert, I agree on using quality casters. I have busted a few cheap ones.

Ken

[Mac McQuinn]

Ken,
I have the same predicament and have spent this week moving things around my garage in preparation of a vintage motor scooter restoration. I also have a 12X25 area to work in and have found I can roll my contractor saw up to the wall with my folding saw horses leaning against the wall. The motor slides right under the saw horses and my Jet joiner will go under the right side of the TS about 1/2 way. Since both tools are on mobile bases, In less than 3 minutes I can have everything ready to use. The saw is 4' from door opening and one 90 degree turn puts it at edge of garage opening for use.

I posted a reply to "smallest belt driven table saw?" (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=135857)
you might find of interest.....


Mac

[Brian Penning]

My shop is a 1 car garage so I guess the main difference is you don't have a wall on 1 side. Can't put up a divider or at least have some equipment along this imaginary line?

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_eDYZqM9-MJw/SzE0Mf_fheI/AAAAAAAAS1Y/EHSAR94JJlk/s640/IMG_3994.JPG

[Michael MacDonald]

I wish I had that sort of problem. Still trying to get permission to use a garage stall. In my basement, I have to suspend myself from the ceiling joists on a zipline just to get from tool to tool. Why CAN"T she park outside, I ask? After all, that is what driveways are for...
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae20/miwmacdo/drillpress2.jpg
http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae20/miwmacdo/tablesaw2.jpg

[Raymond Fries]

I use 1/2 of a two car garage for my shop. Along the front wall I built a 7' long workbench with a 42" clearance under it. I can store my router table and my portable table saw side-by-side.

This works great but if you want stationary tools then obviously there are better plans.