What's the ideal flat working space in a shop

[Roger Feeley]

I'm in the process of tearing down my basement shop and building a new one. My stuff will be in storage for about a year during construction.

My current shop had quite a bit of flat space and, frankly, it mostly got junked up. I'm thinking that I should impose some self discipline and reduce the flat space available and replace it with more cabinets and drawers.

I know that I will keep my existing workbench (about 24" x 6'). I will have my table saw with wide wings and an outfeed table. I'm thinking one more flat surface table for hand finishing (about 30" x 6') and that's it.

Opinions?

I will have quite a bit of square feet. The current design is a basement about 1300 square feet. Subtract from that the HVAC air handler, a wall mounted tankless HW header, a sump and a spiral staircase that will be framed in. It will have it's own exterior entrance: a 3' door leading to a stairwell. I wanted a straight shot but had to settle for a stair parallel with the house. The rest of the basement will be mine...all mine.

As I was taking down all the flat stuff, I realized that they take up a lot of space without yielding much benefit. I have 2 30"x6' heavy tables with shelving above and a 34"x5' desk.

[Don Jarvie]

I only have 20x20 so space is at a premium. Any bench has storage underneath whether it be draws or shelves.

I have my TS in the middle of the shop and built an assembly table around it. The assembly table is around 48 x96. I have storage underneath and my router built into the TS extension table. The assembly table is also my outfeed table so it serves more than one purpose.

[Lee Schierer]

I think the key to having flat space to work on that doesn't become cluttered is to have storage built for everything. If all tools have a home they are more likely to end up there and not form communities on various horizontal surfaces like they do in my shop.:eek:

[Robert Engel]

Sounds like you've got plenty of horizontal surfaces.....

I think a dead flat assembly table is a must.
Big fan of torsion box technique.

[Mike Heidrick]

I'd pay more attention to what the clutter is than how much area it took up.

[Jim Dwight]

My space is very limited in my 14x24 shop garage. I just got the last of the walls up last weekend and still have to paint some of the walls before I can call that stage done. I have a 8 foot bench with drawers under it supporting the RAS and CMS. That will get a 4 foot extension on one end and a 6 for or more foot long Paulk style top with holes for clamping and a track for flip stops. I also will have a 3 foot by 7 foot rolling bench with storage under it and it will also have a double layer Paulk style top. The rolling bench will be my cutting surface using the track saw and also my assembly and general use workbench. I have a small table saw and it and the other few stationary tools will be my only other horizontal surfaces.

I like the double layer idea of the Paulk worksurfaces so I can locate tools on the lower level and keep the top less cluttered. Any horizontal surface in my shop tends to be cluttered quickly. Getting it organized will help but as long as I scatter tools around there will be an issue.

[glenn bradley]

I'm thinking that I should impose some self discipline and reduce the flat space available and replace it with more cabinets and drawers.

I have pursued this general idea. I built shop made bases (or added drawers to original bases) for any machines or tools that came on open stands or large bases without storage. This increased my drawer space considerably without increasing my footprint.

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I reduced the size of my workbench when I built the latest one and am very happy that I did.

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I also built a combination tablesaw-outfeed, clamping, assembly-table, drawer unit that serves as my main flat surface off the bench.

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I think the key to having flat space to work on that doesn't become cluttered is to have storage built for everything. If all tools have a home they are more likely to end up there and not form communities on various horizontal surfaces like they do in my shop.:eek:

I have also pursued this approach. I can go from a qualified disaster area to (almost) completely picked up in a matter of minutes. Everything that is in the shop (almost) has a place. Things that do not have a place in the shop are not allowed to live there. They are banished to the rafter storage, the shed or the curb. The reason for the (almost) part is that I am in pursuit, not yet a conquering hero :rolleyes:.

[Chris Parks]

I agree with the concept of reducing the flat area down to what is needed and did the same for exactly the same reason. I then thought about why clutter tended to happen and I came to the conclusion it was because putting it all away was difficult as other stuff was in the way. Make it easy to access and use the storage and it does not become a chore to keep things tidy and gradually putting things away becomes a habit.

[Ole Anderson]

With that much room, I would make a really flat workspace for accurate assembly using the torsion box technique. 3'x6' should do it, and put storage under it.

https://vimeo.com/5082731

[Bryan Cramer]

I build custom furniture and having a large amount of flat surface are is a must because of the way I work. I use my table saw out feed table sparingly as an overflow work surface. Note the word OVERFLOW! It works to use your out feed table as a work surface, but most of the time things just get in the way. It is 4' by 7' and covered with a sheet of 3/4" MDF and 3/4" melamine on top. I plan to upgrade my hand tool bench soon. In the works is a 2' by 8' Roubo style bench. I will soon have a new 4' by 4' general assembly table. This has no storage beneath it; just a shelf to stack parts and jigs project be project. I do a lot of bent laminations so I need a lot of work surface to work on the forms. I'm also thinking about a smaller lower cart for final assembly.

[Roger Feeley]

thanks to all that replied. You basically affirmed my thought that I've overdone the flat surfaces. Basically, I tended to fill whatever flat surface I had. I need more discipline.

[Bill McNiel]

FWIW-I don't have a lot of extra space in my shop and, like Bryan, I need all the surface area I can get so I built this combination (Festool storage, MFT base and low assembly table) mobile cart. The casters are the type that can be adjusted about 3/4" for height.

With the MFT in place, it is coplanar with my table saw/router table, work bench and side wall storage unit. This allows each surface to act as an additional support/runoff for long/large pieces without interfering with each other's functionality as individual workplaces.

With the MFT raised to the ceiling, there is a pulley system for easy lifting, it works quite well as a 24"+- assembly table complete with T-track grid for hold downs, etc. Great for dominoing drawers too.
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