Ideas for small workshop in 3 car garage?

[Matt Bollinger]

Hello all,

After moving into a new home about six months ago, I'm finally ready to arrange a workshop area in the third stall of my garage. We keep both of our cars in the garage, but my plan is to be able back the cars out and wheel the tools out in the open when necessary. I've attached an image (made from Microsoft Visio) of what the space might look like. A lawn tractor, garden tools, wheel barrow, bikes, etc. will live in the "blue" area. The plan is to be able to move that junk out of the way when needed, but I'd mostly like to keep that area free of shop stuff.

I have mobile bases for the 14" band saw and 6" jointer. The workbench, drill press, and lathe will probably need permanent spaces reserved for them. The router table isn't on wheels, but it's fairly lightweight and can be moved fairly easily. I don't have a mobile base for the table saw yet, but I plan to eventually get one.

I'm thinking that the table saw is probably in the best spot for now. I've made outlines the size of an 8x4 sheet of plywood, but I doubt I'll ever need to rip one of those in half before I have a mobile base for the saw.

I'll eventually get a dust collector, but probably one that I wheel around to each tool.

My ultimate goal is to be able move the red car and bikes out of the way and spread out for larger projects, but sill have enough space to tinker around with small projects when the cars are still in the garage.

Anyway, I'd be interested in any ideas or opinions on how some of you might use this space. Maybe I should swap the workbench and lathe positions? Any suggestions for storing stuff (smaller tools and accessories) on the walls?

Thanks!

[Mike Linne]

Router table planer, drill press and bandsaw all require infeed and outfeed clearance (space to the sides). Lathe doesn't require side clearance. Consider swapping router table with shop vac or shelves, consider swapping lathe with drill press and band saw. This should minimize required equipment movements for normally sized workpieces. Consider putting the planer on a "flip top" stand and locate adjacent to the band saw. Then you could just pull the stand away from the wall enough to clear the bandsaw and have infeed and out feed clearance and gain some counter top space.

Jointer could be located up against a table saw wing so as not to interfere with access to the machines against the wall. If you put the table saw on a mobile base the jointer should clear.

[Matt Bollinger]

Mike, thanks for the ideas. Getting the router table out of the corner is definetly a good idea. I sort of tried rearranging the tool with your suggestions in mind. I inherited the lathe (old Rockwell 46-111) from my grandpa a few years ago and have never used it once. (His turning tools are all dull and I haven't got around to sharpening them.) Maybe it would be fine just being shoved into the corner for now...

When I first saw the empty garage, I sort of thought the rear wall would make a great place for a workbench since it is offset back about two feet. I'm wondering if it would be better to move the bench to the outside wall as in the second attachment to this post...

Decisions... Decisions...

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, I would love to have and entire bay of a 3rd stall in a 3 car garage. I have a single car garage that a minivan is parked in most of the time. My shop is in the 8 ft are in front of it and about a normal one car garage size wide. My table saw will go along a side wall along with the drill press. Cabinets will go accross the back wall and the router table, scroll saw will be on the other wall and hopefully some day a jointer as well. I will always have to roll out my table saw which is will be on a Jet Mobile Base. Drill press I can move as well if I would have to as it is on an HTC base, but would rarely need to do that. Your plan looks great! I envy you!
Corey

[Doug Shepard]

You've got a pretty decent sized space to play with. I think the router table is in a better position on the 2nd layout. Don't know how heavy your drill press is, but you might want to end up getting a mobile base for it too. Most of the time it will work fine up against a wall, but there are times you may need to drill on longer stock and you might want the ability to pull it out for more work clearance. One other idea for your blue area to free up TS infeed area - at least during winter months when you're probably not using the bikes - you might consider hanging them from hooks on the ceiling - possibly right over the lawn tractor?

[Tim Morton]

I think you are trying to do too much in t hat garage. its not really much fun moving tools iaround on a dirty garage floor. I'm guessing you have some snow out there? Mud? All this stuff comes into the garage with your cars and stays behind for you to have to sweep before moving the tools. I would not enjoy that at all.I have a 26'x38' 2 car garage with a full room above it and I barely can keep it clean enough for one car to get inside. I can't imagine trying to wheel a table saw and bandsaw around. You have 19 feet for 2 cars, whihc unless you have a pair of mini coopers is barely enough room to nest the cars. Now you want to put a shop in inside the 3rd bay and split that in half to share with your lawn tractor and bikes? I'm not trying to rain on your parade...but i think you might need to rethink this idea. Do you have any basement rooom to use for the table saw? How about space to put up a garden shed to get the bikes and tractor out of the garage?

[Corey Hallagan]

Actually, I think this plan is very workable. As I said, I have a much much smaller space, a one car garage with the entire side of the vehicle up against the wall is wood storage. The other side is shelves for typical garage type items. about 1 1/2 foot on each side walkway with the vehicle in the garage. My tools (Tablesaw and drill press and router table) are all on wheels. When I work, I usually have my cut list and move the table saw to the center of the garage after moving vehicle out. For projects like my clocks, I don't even have to move my table saw. I cut all and cut my stock and do any cuts on the table saw and clean it up and move it back. Then I usually roll out my router table and do what I have to do. Most sanding and assembly work is done on the rolling workbench in the center of the room. I usually keep my shop very clean, even in the winter, sure it gets wet on occasion, but it is usually only a day or two and them sweep it out. No big deal. I never move my drill press or scroll saw. Don't plan on having a band saw but I will eventually add a jointer and won't have a problem working that in. Rolling bases if you get the right base are no problem at all. With this set up, unless he is cutting sheet stock, the table saw probably is ok where it is, most of the shop looks like very little will require moving, planer and jointer mostly. His work area shouldn't be to affected by the elements. The front of my garage, even after a snow storm and snow has melted off the car, never gets wet up in the bench and storage area. Most of the people i know that are woodworkers, few have as much room as Matt does.

Corey

[Matt Bollinger]

Corey and Doug, thanks for the encouragement and ideas...

Tim, I appreciate your thoughts and don't worry, you aren't raining on my parade. (I was looking for ideas on how to best use the space by the way. ;) If you can think of any, I'm still open.) I understand that from your experiences and woodworking needs that this space wouldn't suit you. However, I've tried to think about your comments and see if they apply to my situation...

I had all of these tools in a similar sized space in my last house and it was manageable.

Yes there is snow and mud in St. Louis, MO, but they haven't been a problem in my garage. I live in the suburbs and drive on paved streets. The dirt/rocks/whatever tracked in by the cars is neglible and shouldn't be much of a nuisance for moble tools.

As far as driving mini coopers, the garage isn't oversized but it's not like I'm parking in a sardine can. The cars (mini van and car) in the image above are drawn to scale. There the room around them is sufficient.

About not being able to imagine wheeling a table saw or band saw around... I don't think its too uncommon of a task. Seems like lots of people do it. I have the band saw (14" JET - closed base) on a shop fox mobile base and its really quite easy to roll. Obviously, it would be better if I had a huge open space for all of these tools, but I don't. Rolling things around is a price that I'm more than willing to pay.

I do appricate the suggestions on how to maximize the space. I'm new to this forum and I thought it couldn't hurt to seek advice from people who have used similar spaces. Two heads are better than one!

Thanks again for the input everyone...

[Tom Scott]

Matt,
I am in a similar situation working out of the 3rd bay of our garage.
The one major difference in how I've set mine up is that I oriented the TS in the other direction, and as far to the right as possible. That puts the infeed where your red car is. That's OK for me since I usually pull my car out anyway when I'm working. This will give more space on the outfeed side, and more clearance between the tools on the opposite wall.

Tom

[Chris DeHut]

http://www.woodworkingathome.com/ShopTour/woodworking_shop_tour.htm

This is the place where we film the magazine. The machinery is all within the "3rd bay area" with the exception of the outfeed table on the table saw which breaks that boundry. I should also point out that there is even more machinery and stuff in the shop today than when those photos were taken. I really need to get some time to post a new shop tour.

Hope this helps

Chris

[Charlie Plesums]

You will probably find work patterns that make you rearrange your shop, so I would give yourself time to find those patterns for the kind of work you do before making permanent commitments such as painting the floor or installing special outlets.

One trick I used before I got a combo machine was over-under. In my case I had the portable planer on the shelf under the drum sander. Sure I had to kneel for planing, but the infeed/outfeed area was shared, the power connection was shared, the dust collector hose was shared, and most important, the space (including the table and mobility kit) was shared.

Where will you store your wood? I find it takes a couple feet thickness along an entire wall, in my case on the right side of the garage. Which means that the passengers must get out of the car in the right hand parking space before the car is pulled into the garage. Back when I could get cars into the garage, the car in the left hand parking space had to be backed in, since the tools were rolled against the wall on that side of the garage. With both cars in the two car garage, the only open space was the shared aisle in the center.

[Harvey Chute]

Matt,

Slightly off-topic, but I really like the details you added to the vehicle Visio objects.
Mind if I borrow those ideas and add them to the WoodShop Visio stencil? If not, could you email me the Visio file, or at least the portion that contains the vehicles...? Thanks, and nice work with the shop design.

- Harvey

[Ken Waag]

Matt,

Looks nice and workable. Lots of good advice on the thread. I'll toss a couple of things in for your consideration.

One good idea a saw on a thread here was building simple but sturdy bases with just enough room for a pallet jack to slide under. For the price of a single hand pulled pallet jack, all of your tools are mobile. Probably easier to navigate too.

Don't know how fond you are of your router table, but I love my router in the TS extension wing set up. Saves a good chunk of floor space.

Dust collection: Just my opinion but a) it would be the first thing I'd add for health reasons and the cars will be ever full of dust. b) the moving it from machine to machine gets real old real fast. You could end up not using half the time because of the bother. Consider a central system. You can still be mobile with your tools.

I'm going to send you a private message as I too am in St. Louis Subs and perhaps a mutual shop tour is in order.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Matt,
It looks like you have a workable layout. My first shop was a small chicken house. It is not that bad moving tools around. I did it for years & built alot of projects. You just can not get in a hurry. One thing a small shop will make you do is keep it organized & clean.

[Matt Bollinger]

Hi guys...

I forgot that I had posted this a while back.... I jumped on the band wagon and purchased the Craftsman 22124 saw yesterday. I ordered a 1.5 HP dust collector (Delta 50-760) and it arrived on Friday. I plan on ordering an air cleaner later this week (Delta 50-875.)

If you are interested, here is the shop as it is right now. (See attachment.)

For the most part, it's good to go. I'm not sure where the dust collector will normally be parked yet. (I don't plan on running duct work just yet, but I may get around to it eventually.) The planer will reside on a mobile cart (to be made) under the right wing of the table saw. Table saw, jointer, and band saw are currently on mobile bases. I'm not sure where I'll normally park the jointer yet. The area is actually more roomier than the layout picture makes it look...

Harvey, thanks for the compliments on the Visio layout. Your web site was a great resource, thanks! I didn't make the vehicles... I have Visio 2003 and there is a textbox for searching shapes. I typed in "car" and "van" and it returned these objects. I just resized them to my dimensions and added color. I'm sure that you are aware of this, but using layers in Visio is a great idea. I added the vehicles to their own layer and locked it. When I want to pretend that the cars are out in the driveway, I just hide that layer. It makes it easy to then sort of "roll" the tools around and see how I could use the open space. I'll email you the visio file and you can grab the vehicles from there...

Thanks again everyone.

[Jerry Olexa]

My setup is almost identical to yours: 3 car garage w 2 cars, lawn tractor, and the usual yard/garden material equipment, etc, etc.. I agree with Tim's comment: Rethink your approach. I have virtually everything on wheels BUT my major shop is in the basement (better in Winter also). I keep my table saw and planer up in the garage for easy access for sheet goods and open air in summer and also have a smnall workbench there in the "bumpout area". ALL the rest of WWing is done in the basement shop which I'm currently expanding. I also feel better/safer doing glueups and finishing in the basement where there is less traffic. IMHO. You're trying to cram a lot into a small space. Just my humble opinion...

[Tom Jones III]

Sorry I don't have time to make up a drawing but I'm real busy today... I've got the same 3 car garage situation and here is how I've handled it,

The jointer and planer are on the left wall with a set of shelves. The DC is in the corner of the left wall and back wall. PVC runs waist high down the left wall to service the planer and jointer.

A couple feet over, running parallel to the left wall naming from the back wall towards the garage door: BS, workbench, PM 66 TS with long fences. The workbench and TS are overlapping a little with the TS on the car side. The swivel wheels of the TS are nearest the back wall. When I've got something large to cut on the TS (like plywood) I leave the fixed wheels where they are and swing the TS out. PVC for DC runs along the back wall until it gets to the BS, then runs down the side of the workbench between the bench and TS.

My lumber rack is on the back wall in front of the cars. The bottom lumber rack has been turned into a table and a compound miter saw sits on this table. Biscuit joiner and other small hand power tools are on the floor under this table. I would like to someday build permanent storage here. This table would be a good place to build a router table, or incorporate it into the TS.

[Matt Bollinger]

You're trying to cram a lot into a small space. Just my humble opinion...<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

No doubt there! That's why I was asking in the first space. I had a hunch that there are others who have worked in similar sized spaces and might be willing to share some tips from their experiences. (This space is actually larger than what I had at my last house, so I'm actually excited about this "small" space.) The basement is not an option, so I cannot rethink my approach. Thanks anyway...

I've attached a couple of photos I took last night. Keep in mind that the shop is in "rough draft" phase. I'll eventually make a nice bench, cabinets, shelves, etc...

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I currently work out of a 2 car garage. If I had to, I could make a car fit in there. I would just clear out the center and park it. My LOML is gracious enough to park outside so I get the same space.

You will do well to keep everything on wheels. Best bet would probably to try and always keep one stall clear. Then you only have to clear out one other stall to park the other vehicle.

[Matt Bollinger]

Everything in the photo above is actually in one stall.

Both cars will normally be parked in the other two stalls. When I'm working on larger projects (for an occasional week or two at a time) I'll keep the car from the middle stall out in the driveway and migrate into its space...

[Christian Aufreiter]

Hi Matt,

although my shop is a lot smaller I share the concerns others mentioned. Maybe your space is too small for the number of tools you own
I’d definitely put the drill press on wheels otherwise it will be impossible to drill large pieces.
Just an idea, is it possible to mount the dust collector/vac to the wall/ceiling? If you install some hoses and pipes you could get along with that setup. Or you buy a vac which could be placed under the table saws outfeed table. Where are you planning to actually work with hand tools, do assembly jobs etc.?

How about building a shed for the bikes and the lawn tractor?
I don’t know what bikes you have and how often you ride them but I’ve seen space-saving storage ideas where bikes are hung at walls.

Regards,

Christian

[Mike Cutler]

Matt. We have similar sized shops. Mine is 9'x20'. There are a couple of strategies. Put everything you can on wheels, invest in good quality mobile bases with locking casters. Try to make as many horizontal surfaces as possible the exact same height. A jointer can make an excellent outfeed table for a tablesaw(damhikt). I don't know how tall you are,but I'm 6'3" and all my shelves, and storage are up high, out of the horizontal plane of material handling. Integrate the router table into the extension wing of the table saw. Make a flip top bench for the planer that doubles as a flat work surface when rotated.
The key for me was to think of the shop in "layers". Where does the material need to move, and in what plane during handling?
I have a seperate limitation, in that my shop has walls on both sides, ergo I have to position the tablesaw such that the left hand side is closer to the wall. This means that I have to use the miter in the slot to the right of the blade, instead of the left.
My shop has the following equipment in a 9'x20' area. A Jet Contractor tablesaw, with outfeed table, 6" Jet Jointer, 15" Jet Planer,18" Rikon bandsaw, Performax 16-32 sander, and a mobile miter station with a 12" mitersaw. Oh yeah, there is also an delta 14-651 mortiser and a full rolling toolbox with a grinding machine on top. And of course, a portable Jet DC 1100 dust collector. It gets a little crowded in there at times, but it's my space. It's hard to find room for the Kero heater in the winter though
I'm thinking of making a flip top table for the Mortiser and my drill press, that will also act as an additional work bench, when they are not in use.
The key though is mobility, and keeping the working surfaces at the same height.
At least you can move the cars out of the way if necessary. To qoute Motny Python "You we're lucky"
Have fun, and don't expect to get it right the first time ;) It will evolve over time. Have fun and try not to ding the cars with wood :eek: