Newbie Building new shop

[Bob Yarbrough]

In the process of buiding a shop area in the garage (I do have a HUGE garage). My area is 24 x 16. Had an old 30"x96" bench I cleaned up, built a 30"x72" work table, and a 74"x48" outfeed table for the Delta contractors saw I purchased in January. I also received a 10" Dewalt sliding compound miter saw, Bosch jig saw and a Bosch palm sander fo Xmas from the LOML :D . Purchased a new PC combo router and a Rockler Table last month. Now for the question!

As budget allows I hope (intend) to aquire planer, jointer, bandsaw, & dust collector (and any and many other have-to-have toys). Of the major tools, what would you'all recommend?

I am in the process of making Quilt Hangers for friends and family, and intend to dive into Blanket Chests. Several family members looking for and wanting chests. I have taken a few classes locally, and want to start out with simple construction joints on my first few chests and work my way up to using dovetails. I made a small chest in class using a router jig to make the dovetails and really enjoyed it.

Any and all comment/suggestions appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

Your major tool aquisition list seems fine.

The shop space you have is about what I had originally in my shop before an expansion a few years ago. My one recommendation is to be sure and have EVERYTHING mobile so you can keep less-frequently used tools in a "tool coral" off in the corner somewhere and also readily adapt to the special needs of projects. Watch your surface height...keep all the same for easier material management during cuts, etc.

[Karl Laustrup]

Gotta agree with Jim on keeping stuff mobile that can be mobile. Your choices for future equipment sound fine.:)

My order of aquisition would be a quality DC, BS, and then it becomes a toss up between jointer and planer as to which to aquire first IMHO, unless you can swing both at the same time. I have come to understand the importance of dust collection and not breathing that saw dust, which is why I listed that first.

Oh, yeah, if I haven't said WELCOME yet, I'm doing it now.:) :D ;)

[John Bailey]

Bob,

Welcome to the "Creek." You're going to find this site very informative and helpful.

John

[Frank Pellow]

I agree with Jim and Karl about the mobility. My shop is bigger but I am making everything big mobile. My order of aquisition would be dust collector, then bandsaw, then planer, then jointer.

[David Miller]

I seconds Karl's advice for making dust collection a priority. Besides a quality dust collector with good filtration, I'd recommend an air cleaner too.

Also make sure you budget for the little things like router bits and accessories.

Good luck!
Dave

[Mark Duksta]

Bob,

The next time I set up shop I'll do it in this order:

1. Decide where the tools and benchs and DC are going to go.
2. Plan your storage, (wood and tools).
3. Plan your outlets.
4. Plan the DC ductwork.
5. Plan the lighting.

This time I'm going to have to move a light to get the DC ductork in place. If I had a high ceiling I could hang the light below the ductwork. All my tools are mobile. I also have two portable AC units. It gets hot down here (Texas).

Mark D.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bob.....Welcome to the 'Creek! Lots of neat people here trading information and ideas!

[Richard Wolf]

Hi Bob,

Just one point about working in a small shop, organization and cleanliness are very important. Even for people that are not neat freaks, things can get out off hand very quickly and than working in the shop is no fun. Like most other people said, dust collection and a good vaccuum and storage for everything is important.

Richard

[joseph j shields]

Hey Bob,


(I do have a HUGE garage). My area is 24 x 16. Hate to break the bad news but....12 months from now you will be complaining that you don't have enough room :):):)

Trust me.... I thought the same thing when we moved into our new house 6 years ago.... I started with a 20 x 24 shop and thought WOW!

A year later all the space just disappears....

Enjoy putting your shop together.... One tip I used.... draw out your floor space to scale on some graph paper & cut out scaled pieces for each of your equipment.

Play around with it until you think you have it right. The put it away for a week or 2 and look at it again. If it still makes sense then you probably have a good design.

One other tip.... you can never have too much lighting.... I have plenty of light in my shop.... my mistake was I used 4' flor bulbs. If I had to do it over, I would have used 8' bulbs. Make sure you get decent fixtures... some of the cheap ones just don't throw out much lite.

-jj

[Bryan Nuss]

Bob,

I have a 20' x 24' garage/shop which I occasionally have to share with our Camry (when a blizzard is forecast!). Since I have my thickness planer, jointer, router table (Norm's) and my Shopsmith on wheels, it only takes about no more than 10 minutes to make room for the car.

I would recommend some lumber storage shelves on one wall. I would hold off for now on the purchase of a jointer. It takes up a fair bit of space. I don't use mine too often, just to plane the 1st and 2nd sides of rough lumber. You can use the router table to joint the edges of boards for glue-up for chests. I get a better result using this method.

I agree that a dust collection system should be a first priority.

[Rob Russell]

It's a ways down your list, but consider a combination jointer/planer. You'll get a wider jointer and 1 less machine to store.

Light is a big deal. Paint the walls of the garage a semigloss or eggshell white. It's a hard finish that takes more abuse than flat white and the white will lighten up the shop.

[Mike Holbrook]

Welcome Bob,

You might want to consider an Ez Smart sawing sytem. It will saw sheet materials and give you a straight edge on just about any board (nice if you want to wait on the Jointer like I am). It all folds up small and you can use it with break down saw horses too.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Bob,
I'm in the same stages as you are, well...maybe a little more along in the process. My NEW garage - no let's call this thing a carriage house, as the term garage doesn't do justice to what we've spent on this monster - has a footprint of 25 x 42, has a second story, and the back part is for my shop. I laid it out so the second story portion over my shop has storage lofts on the side, and is opn in the middle section all the way to the ridge of the roof. I figure it's good to have the room in case I want/need to swing a large stick around, and it also helps me get more natural light from the 3 windows in the gable end of the structure.

So, my suggestion would be to use the space above your head as effectively as you can.

Maurice

PS: Chris and Tyler - pics on the way