Carving Shop

[Mike Willeson]

The wife wants to move and the arrangement we are considering will have limited shop space as part of the main residence so I am toying with the idea of building a shed dedicated to woodcarving. There are some size constraints so 8 x 12 is probably the max. It will be insulated and would be wired for electricity and heat. Will also plan for some nice windows for light. Those are the basics.

I mainly do smaller in the round carving and have started experimenting with some relief carving.

Any ideas or suggestions of things to consider in a small, dedicated carving shop?

Thank you.
Mike

[Ted Reischl]

Are you planning on having a small band saw to rough out your work?

If you are having it built you might think about putting a couple of small skylights in it.

If it were me? I would be designing a small carving bench, about three ft square with the ability to pour lots of sand in the base (and make sure the floor has a few extra joists where it is going to sit). Speaking of which, for very little money you can double up the plywood floor which will stiffen the heck out of it. Use glue and lots of screws.

Frankly, I like a small shop. Downsized a few years ago and now mine is 14 X 28. But I do a lot of other stuff besides carving so I need that much room. I spent months designing where everything would go and then had it built. If I were only carving. . . .

Yup, small shop like yours, 20 inch box fan to filter the air when sanding, heavy duty carving bench. Band saw to rough out work, small bench mounted drill press (always have to drill holes in something), a/c and heat. Then I would make a set of sliding door cabinets to hold all my tools in the least amount of space. Base cabinets along the wall where possible with lots of drawers.

You might think about NOT putting those big honking double doors on that small building (unless it is going to be used for storing a riding mower). That would give you more wall space AND floor space. A door takes up space by the sheer fact that it is a walkway.

A bunch of years ago FWW had an article about a guy who did what you did, but he actually packed a table saw into his small shed.

The key is going to be keeping it picked up, a small space like that becomes miserable if you are a slob. I put everything away in my shop at least once a day, either in the morning before I start or after I am done for the day. My shop may seem big by comparison, but with all the equipment and bench in there, leaving everything laying all over the place gets annoying and is dangerous.

Good luck, maybe you can use Sketchup or something similar and show us some of your ideas!

[george wilson]

Back in the 70's and early 80's I did some of my best work in a shop probably not that large.

[Marvin Hasenak]

My shop in New Mexico is 8x12, I have a Rikon mini lathe, a floor drill press, a 12" bandsaw, a compound miter saw, 1" and 6" belt sanders, a 46-111 full size wood Delta lathe. Plus a grinder, hand tools carving included, and a huge wood supply. 2 foot wide work bench that is 10 foot long. My woodcarving base is a log that is 14" in diameter and about 24" high with a removable vise on top that sits by the door. I can work and watch the world go by with the door open, or move it out side and work on the deck.

The best shop I ever had was a 8x8 tool room, I did all of the work out on the concrete pad that was in front of it. The bad part, I had to move tools to do anything and if the weather was bad, I was out of luck.

[Matt Lau]

How small?
Do you need any special work-holding methods?

I've been looking into something similar.
I'm planning on a system based on the lee valley carver's vise mounted on a hide-a-horse for easy outside mobility.

[Mike Willeson]

Appreciate the comments. We'll see what happens...downsizing can be tough.