Shop layout advice?

[Dan Forman]

Before I submit my floor plan to Oneida for dust duct design, I thought I would let y'all have your say about my layout. It's what makes the most sense to me, given the various posts, pipes, and other obstructions in my basement. I am open to suggestions, if anyone sees either a problem or a better way of doing things.

I've got at least 10 feet of clearance on either side of the J/P and bandsaw, and could rip up to 8 feet on the table saw if I build the workbench slightly shorter than the TS.

Don't know whether to eventually add either a sliding miter saw, or the Festool MFT for crosscuts and miters. I would like to make an assembly table which could be adapted to also serve for cutting up sheetgoods with my guided circular saw system. This would all go in the assembly area on the chart.

The one thing I forgot to add is a router table, which will also function as an outfeed table for the table saw, so you get the general idea of where it will stand. It will need a DC gate. It and the workbench exist only in my imagination, but will be among the first projects completed after I get the dust collector up and running.

Dan

[Matt Meiser]

One thing I would look at is getting the dust ports as close together as possible to save on ducting costs. Also, if there is a way to arrange the tools to avoid having to duck under the beam with ducting out in the center, that will probably make the install much easier.

Where's the entry door? What goes in the lower right corner? Are you going to have a router table?

[Mike Cutler]

Dan. The only thing I would add, is in the future to build the workbench, exactly the same height as the table saw. Bridge the distance with a portable outfeed table/ router table and increase your flat available work space at the same time.
It doesn't help with the ducting, just an observation.

[Dan Forman]

Matt---It's that beam and duct that is making things difficult. Don't see any way of getting all of the dust ports on one side of the beam. As it is, I'm hoping there will be a way to run the main intake drop to the area of the post within the triangle of the three machines, and run flexible hose to each from there, shouldn't take more than 5 feet of hose for any machine, though the bandsaw would need a pretty tight turn.

The DC is a Gorilla.

The router table will go opposite the table saw, and be of a height to function as outfeed for that, so its drop would be about the same as the others.

Dan

[John Miliunas]

Dan, in looking at the layout, it generally looks OK, but I wonder; Could you plant cyclone just to the left of the main beam? Then, take your j/p and skew it going in the 90° to the left direction of where it is now? That being, shooting the outfeed end of it between the TS and the BS? Point is, that way, you could pretty much limit all of your DC ducts to one side of that main beam and even gain the advantage of having a straighter and short shot to the cyclone. Just MHO, of course...:) :cool:

[jack duren]

does the jointer have to be in the middle versus along a wall?...jack

[Steve Rowe]

Dan - Your machinery layout looks like it will work well, at one time I had a similar arrangement. It looks like you have a basement shop so let me ask the obvious: Do you have sufficient ceiling height for the dust collector you have selected? I have a Blue Tornado cyclone and I use all but about 3 inches of my 10' floor to ceiling height. I would also consider the following:

Route your piping to minimize the number of fittings - they are expensive and create head losses
Route your piping so that you have sufficient headroom including room to handle materials. May consider routing next to support beam or ductwork.
Consider stubouts for future expansion (I have done this twice in the last 4 years)
Consider adding a floor sweep.
Avoid having dust collector bin next to cold air return, furnace, hot water heater as when you empty the bin, it will be dusty.
Hope this helps.
Steve

[Sam Blasco]

I'd flip the bandsaw 180, move the DC just off the beam (so you don't have to make an unecessary bend, drop at the post with three consecutive wyes, a 5 for the JP, and two 4s for the TS and BS. Use a 7-6 wye at the top and cap off for future possibilities. At the bottom have a 4 split with 2 blast gates (one for the router, one for TS). The JP will need the most CFM so drop as close to that as possible. Angle position looks good if you ever need to run longer boards, and it has mobile kit if you need to get it out of way for whatever reason. Turning it 90 to its present angle can cause problems loading stock on the jointer because of that first beam, and again the beam will be an obstruction when following a board on the planer. Just think about the way you like to work, but it looks like you are off to a good start.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Sam...he probably can't really flip the bandsaw, else the post will be in the way of cutting things. What sticks out to me is the tablesaw...I think I might look at rotating it 180 and putting it against the wall. That would open up the middle, and might make it easier to 'work around' the posts.

I recently moved my tablesaw from one wall to another to 'open up the middle', and it made a world of difference.

KC

[Sam Blasco]

Sam...he probably can't really flip the bandsaw, else the post will be in the way of cutting things.

KC

good point, plus it would be better to have the DC hose curl behind the machine than stick straight out from the side.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks to all for replying.

Matt---This arrangement was the closest I could come to getting the dust ports near one another. the entry door is the stairs, which come in between the beam and the heating duct an the bottom of the page. The lower right corner has what passes for a workbench which was here when I bought the house. The lower left corner is the entry to the laundry room, which also holds the furnace, so that needs to stay clear.

Mike---I thought about that, maybe moving the workbench away from the wall to make it accessible from both sides. I saw a design for a sliding table to bridge the saw/workbench, which would provide immediate support for material exiting the table saw before reaching the bench. The idea was that you could slide this portion out of the way to gain access to the bench. That is still a possibility.

John---My basement is "height challenged", will have to stick the motor of the Gorilla in between the ceiling joists with only two inches to spare. There is a heating duct (not on the layout) tucked away between the joists to the left of the beam, so that location wouldn't work. The upper left corner was a possibility for the DC, but that would get in the way of any long rips on the TS. Rotating the JP would substantially reduce the length of boards I could work with from the infeed side.

Jack---I had originally thought of having the J/P against the left wall, but with the fence retracted, it's 38" wide, which makes it pretty tight to the TS, and a much longer run to the DC.

Steve---With the Gorilla I have about 2" to spare, with the motor tucked between the ceiling joists. This is the minimum recommended by Oneida, given that the cooling fan in the motor needs to be able to draw in air.

Well, I think I will go with this setup. I have given the matter much thought, moved things around a bit, but it seems like an any other configuration, some post, pipe, or other built in obstacle is in the way. Now let's see what Oneida can come up with to deal with the beam and heating ducts.

Thanks again for all of your input. Will definitely leave room for expansion of the system, and post results when it is put together.

Dan