New Shop Layout - any thoughts?

[Ethan Melad]

Hi,

This is my first post here - I'm nearly done (after how many months? years?) building my 24x30 shop and have laid out the shop as you can see in the picture below. This has gone through countless iterations and I think this is the one. The jointer-to-planer flow is probably the only somewhat awkward area, but it allows for everything else to be set up pretty well. Any thoughts? I'm in the process of wiring, so changes might be possible. There will also most likely be a 2nd level 'balcony' office space 8' high off the floor, 8' deep and running most of the width of the building on the right end of the building - but that's not happening right now.

thanks for looking

ethan

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[Robert Payne]

I'd be concerned with the proximity of the wood stove to your lumber rack -- not from a fire hazard standpoint, but rather excessive heating of boards close to the stove. You might consider reversing the positions of the rack and jointer with the table saw. Just my .02 fwiw.

[Ethan Melad]

Good point Robert, thanks. Only problem is the South side with the table saw is almost all window and door, which doesn't leave much wall space for lumber & plywood...

[Larry Browning]

I originally had my workbench against a wall and many times found the wall getting in my way. After I moved it out away from the wall I found the workbench much more useful. How about swapping the shaper, band saw, and sander with the workbench?

[Gordon Eyre]

Looks like you have given a lot of thought to the layout of your shop. My only comment would be with the placement of your workbench. I have found with mine that I like to work on both sides of the bench and so I moved it away from the wall to allow space on both sides. Nice looking shop by the way.

[Brian Tymchak]

Hi Ethan, welcome to the Creek!

I know everyone works differently but drawing on my experience of having a basement shop with my power tools mostly at one end of the room and my bench in the center (due to the configuration of the space) I can suggest considering orienting the power tools around the work bench/assembly area that is centered in the room. This makes for shorter, more direct commutes from bench to tool and back, gives you a nearby landing area for parts while working on machines with no extra table space (bs, jointer, planer, dp, etc). You might even incorporate the tablesaw with off-feed into that central work area, backing it up to the bench.

Also, I can see with time that you might want to expand the rough lumber storage. ... Funny how that stuff accumulates over the years.. Oh, you will also likely need some manner of storage for smaller pieces of lumber/plywood that won't store well in the vertical racks.

Oh, one last thing - clamp storage. Maybe its just a rolling rack but it has to go somewhere. Or if they're going on the wall, you need the wall space.

[Michael W. Clark]

Hi Ethan,
I really like the cluster of four machines in the middle. I have seen some other shops laid out with that and it is very efficient for taking advantage of infeed/outfeed and also puts them close together for electrical and DC. However, depending on the type of work you do, I would move the vertical belt sander out of the group and replace it with the router table or drill press. The router table infeed looks limited, but maybe that is not a problem for you depending on your work habits.

I'm assuming that is an air compressor in the lower left. If you can, I would swap that location with the DC. This would put the air compressor closer to the finish area for spraying and get the DC closer to the door for dust removal.

I'm interested in some additional details on the movable wall and finishing area!

Mike

[Ethan Melad]

Thanks all,

I might consider moving the bench out from the wall, as I think I have room to do so- but I've always worked at a bench on a wall and then used an additional assembly table when necessary, so I don't feel that's too much of an issue for me.

Brian: Lumber storage is something of an issue, but I'm hoping that with the vertical rack I'll be able to get enough in. since it's under the peak of the roof, i can get a 15' board in on end, and should be able to lean at least 2 rows deep of 8" wide stock between each of the supports coming off the wall (see this guy's rack for an idea of what i'm thinking: http://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/3851-vertical-lumber-storage-rack/) The electrical panel is going just to the left of the walk-door, so depending on its exact location i may be able to push the plywood area down a little to allow for more lumber.

Good call about the clamp storage - i think i'll build a rolling rack and keep it somewhere around the grinder area.

Michael, You're right about the router infeed - i originally had planned on building the router table into the table saw extension - maybe i'll go back to that idea. I could easily swap the sander and drill press, that might make sense.

Air compressor is actually going to go somewhere near where the drill press is located on the drawing, I forgot to draw that in; the circle by the door was just a trash can. Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough room to move the DC to that location, but i'll check on the actual size of the DC. I'd also hesitate to do that because if I upgraded or changed DC systems, I would almost surely not have enough room in the location by the door.

For the finishing area I'm planning on building a 8' tall by 7' wide 2x3 stud wall, hinging to the back wall of the shop and mounting a caster on the front corner. i'll probably put some sort of sweep under the wall and along the hinged edge, as well as a canvas 1/4 circle top to better contain the booth, and for the time being i'll have a fan in the window with some filters (i spray waterborne almost all the time, so explosions are not really a risk). at some point in the future i'll get a better/bigger fan setup through the wall.

thanks again!

[Jim Neeley]

Hi Ethan,

If it were me I'd play with the idea of backing the jointer up to the fence-end of the table saw and consider layout with those two as a single piece. Then I'd play with those setting in the vicinity of where the jointer is now. There's rarely a conflict in that arrangement and you can run asingle DC connection between them and branch off to serve both. This would place both the jointer aligned for jointing as wood enters the shop. I'd further work to get the work bench in front of the windows, hopefully a couple of feet out for rear access. I believe that the jointer-saw grouping will free up enough space to still fit everything in with room to work.

You can't beat natural light for woodworking, and it's a very uplifting view as well!

Just my $0.02.. YMMV.

Jim

[Don Jarvie]

Since you are doing the electrical put 110 and 220 plugs all along each wall even if you dont plan on having any machines in 1 area. The odds of you moving things around once you settle in is high so your not limited to where you can put things. Also add a few 30 amp outlets as well since your TS and other big tools may need the extra power.

Also consider putting the cluster of tools in the middle on wheels so they can be moved out of the way. I have my TS with a 4x8 assembly table in the middle of my shop. It serves as an outfeed table as well has storage underneath it. Plus I added outlets to it so I can use power tools and don't need to run cords.

Looks like the start of a nice shop.

[Ethan Melad]

thanks everyone.

i'll look at grouping the jointer and TS (but i think i tried that and couldn't get it to work well...) - Jim, how exactly did you mean? jointer length parallel to TS fence? i think the problem i found with that was that i did not get enough infeed/outfeed length for both machines when i grouped them. i'm hoping to get about 12' in/out.

Don, i'm planning on running dedicated 220 outlets for the TS, DC, planer, and bandsaw, 3-phase to the jointer and shaper. so that will leave a spare outlet on 2 sides of the building. i have planned 110v outlets all along all 4 walls on two circuits- maybe i'll run an additional circuit to each of the remaining walls so i have the option of extra 220.

good advise on the 30a outlets - i had not even thought of that.

ethan

[Michael W. Clark]

thanks everyone.

Don, i'm planning on running dedicated 220 outlets for the TS, DC, planer, and bandsaw, 3-phase to the jointer and shaper. so that will leave a spare outlet on 2 sides of the building. i have planned 110v outlets all along all 4 walls on two circuits- maybe i'll run an additional circuit to each of the remaining walls so i have the option of extra 220.

good advise on the 30a outlets - i had not even thought of that.

ethan

If you are only running one machine at a time they can share a circuit, just can't run the TS and Planer at the same time (at full load anyway). I would definitely agree with a dedicated circuit for the DC, air compressor, and any HVAC. These items run intermittently on their own or are ran with another tool. Good advice on the 30A circuits for 220V. This should allow you to run most 5HP machines. I ran 20A 220V and wish sometimes I had run 30A service. My next thop will be in EMT.

[Ben Hatcher]

thanks everyone.

- Jim, how exactly did you mean? jointer length parallel to TS fence? i think the problem i found with that was that i did not get enough infeed/outfeed length for both machines when i grouped them. i'm hoping to get about 12' in/out.

ethan

This is how my table saw and jointer are set up, Jointer parallel to the TS Fence so the feed direction si the same for both. I had to shorten my jointer base to get its fence is below my table saw surface, but that isn't a big issue for me. It also makes for a handly material staging area since it puts the jointer bed lower than the saw. Granted, I didn't have to deal with an aircraft carrier sized jointer, but it might work for you.

[Larry Browning]

Why is having the jointer run parallel to the TS fence so helpful? My jointer is at a right angle, behind, and offset by a few feet to the right to the TS. I really like that arrangement. As the board comes off the saw, I can pick the board up, swing it around right to the jointer, run the edge on the jointer, and into the finished stack, or back to the TS, which ever is appropriate. But for me, a hobbyist, it is just not that critical where the jointer is. Of course I would not want it on the opposite side of the shop, but as long as the planer, jointer, and TS are relatively close together, I would let the space available dictate the exact placement of these tools. It might become more critical in a production shop where every saved step and movement can translate into dollar signs.

[Ethan Melad]

Yeah, I'm a little unclear as to the benefit as well. For me, I think it's more important to be able to easily go from jointer -> planer ->jointer ->TS. I haven't measured yet, but I don't think it would work for me anyway, as I do have a pretty large "aircraft carrier" jointer (16" American) that I'm pretty sure has a fence taller than the table saw.

[Jim Foster]

Wood Storage takes up a lot of space in my shop. Can never seem to throw scraps away either. Having a bench away from the wall, and a window in front of the bench is a nice thing to consider. Looks like a well planned set-up! Lot's of fun to be had once it's going.

[Kirk Poore]

I have a 3 machine cluster in the center of my shop--TS, shaper, and planer. The shaper acts as the outfeed for the TS, and the planer feeds parallel to the TS. DC and power run to the cluster in a trench in the floor. For me, the setup has been very helpful. All my other machines are along the walls. My DP is in a corner, and I've found it fits well there. Moving it down next to your grinder may free up wall space. In fact, each corner of my shop has a machine in it--DP, grinder, scroll saw, and tenoner. If you use a machine on the "narrow" end, you may be able to put it in a corner.

Kirk

[Ben Hatcher]

Yeah, I'm a little unclear as to the benefit as well. For me, I think it's more important to be able to easily go from jointer -> planer ->jointer ->TS. I haven't measured yet, but I don't think it would work for me anyway, as I do have a pretty large "aircraft carrier" jointer (16" American) that I'm pretty sure has a fence taller than the table saw.

The advantage is that you only need one area with 8-12' of infeed and outfeed clearance instead of 2. The second advantage for me in my small shop is that I can roll my jointer under the wing of my table saw when I'm not using it freeing up some floor space.

[Mark Barnett]

I have to agree with Robert. Not only is what he mentioned a big problem, but getting heat to the other side of your shop is going to be as well. You could use fans of course, but a more central location would be better.

[Andy Fox]

Nice shop space there!

In my old shop, I was often annoyed with having the workbench against the wall. In my new shop, all layouts I'm considering have at least 3' of space on all sides of the bench to work. You might be fine though with that large outfeed/assembly table in the middle of the shop to work on.