Shop Tour - Small Basement shop with old and heavy tools.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I know plenty of folks don’t have or use Instagram, but I posted a couple of long-ish videos of my small shop on my Instagram page. Lots of industrial grade machinery in a small (sub 500 sq ft) space. I don’t think you need an account to watch. They are the top left most boxes in the grid - It is split into 2 videos bc of length, though part 2 will be the most recent post.

https://www.instagram.com/stillwater_woodworks/?hl=en

Edit: I uploaded the videos to YouTube as well after realizing how quick and simple it is.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/AVSBsKK1jOI

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/JEcuXNJu_1E

I work full time from this space as a furniture maker / custom woodworker and somehow make it work...I dream about a shop with 4x more space and windows and a wide open floor plan, but for now and at least the near future, this is my spot. I started my business in 2018, but started playing around with putting tools in here on 2013-2014, IIRC.

Thanks for looking and let me know if you see any ways that I can improve the space (short of moving out :D )

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Unfortunately for me Instagram asks me to set up an account before I can see anything.

[Kevin Jenness]

Unfortunately for me Instagram asks me to set up an account before I can see anything.

Same here. I'd like to see the videos but without feeding Faceberg.

I can see from the initial shot that you have one essential piece of equipment, a moaning chair.

My first shop was in a rented house's basement, 720 sq ft with a staircase, a water heater and a big old Sam Daniels furnace and chimney in the center. The 36"bandsaw was centered between two joists for sufficient headroom.

The second was 16' x 20' in what is now my living room - long planks needed an open door or window. The kids rode their tricycles in from the kitchen and back on the concrete floor. Now the gear is across the yard in my third shop. 24' x 30' with storage overhead, then a 12' x 30' uninsulated woodshed, then a 15' x 24' bench room. Still not big enough to be spacious, but all of the versions worked. Small shops make you get organized and clever about material flow.

[Christopher Charles]

Hi Phillip,

Great tour-reminds me that much can be done with a smaller space. Though you'd have more space if you send some of your machines this way :)

Best,
Chris

[David Publicover]

Thanks! Beautiful work! There were some inspirational ideas in there.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Same here. I'd like to see the videos but without feeding Faceberg.

I can see from the initial shot that you have one essential piece of equipment, a moaning chair.

My first shop was in a rented house's basement, 720 sq ft with a staircase, a water heater and a big old Sam Daniels furnace and chimney in the center. The 36"bandsaw was centered between two joists for sufficient headroom.

The second was 16' x 20' in what is now my living room - long planks needed an open door or window. The kids rode their tricycles in from the kitchen and back on the concrete floor. Now the gear is across the yard in my third shop. 24' x 30' with storage overhead, then a 12' x 30' uninsulated woodshed, then a 15' x 24' bench room. Still not big enough to be spacious, but all of the versions worked. Small shops make you get organized and clever about material flow.

That sounds familiar! I have some of those same obstacle and struggles now.

I uploaded the videos to YouTube and added the links in my original post. Hopefully that’s easier to watch. I thought Instagram was available to see to anyone, but they may have changed it. I’m not in love with the platform but it does help keep awareness about projects and the business.

[Thomas Wilson]

Given your floor plan and list of tools, few people would be able to design a workable shop. Congratulations to you on your high level of spatial reasoning. Of course, very cool tools. You have clearly been a successful hunter or big iron.

[Kevin Jenness]

Thanks for reposting on youtube - really well laid out tiny shop and surprisingly workable in terms of actual assembly space. A great collection of old iron too. I assume completed work has to move out the door pretty fast. Probably the biggest benefits in my expanded shop space are a (small) corner with exhaust fan for spraying and enough free space to stack and stage finished work on carts and dollies. What do you do for finishing? At one point I hoisted work up into the attic, then I found a freelance finisher 20 miles away - a lot of schlepping but the off-gassing occurred at his shop.

What's in the aluminum "lunchbox" across from the jointer?

[Johnnie Russell]

That is a lot of stuff in a small space, nicely done.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thanks for reposting them to YouTube. I was able to watch them there and was very impressed with your layout and tools. I'm thinking about how to fit things in a small space in the shop I need to build this year, but my tools are smaller so it won't be as hard as what you had to do.

[Jim Becker]

Great tour and nice "iron"!

[Phillip Mitchell]

Given your floor plan and list of tools, few people would be able to design a workable shop. Congratulations to you on your high level of spatial reasoning. Of course, very cool tools. You have clearly been a successful hunter or big iron.

Thanks Thomas. I would say it’s “workable” but far from ideal. Whatever spatial reasoning I have learned has been an evolution through trail and error in this particular space, but I can say that I will never take (more) space for granted and will always be finding ways to maximize space after having done this for years.

One thing I forgot to mention in the video, but may have been evident is the attention to heights of tools, benches, etc and the incredible value of adjustable height work surfaces (both the scissor lifts) and how flexible that keeps the space when working with long or heavy stuff. The table saw tops are at the same height. The bandsaw to the left is about 1/4” lower so really long stuff could pass over the table, but the same height as the counter where the miter saw sits for really in feed support of really long pieces. Etc etc



Thanks for reposting on youtube - really well laid out tiny shop and surprisingly workable in terms of actual assembly space. A great collection of old iron too. I assume completed work has to move out the door pretty fast. Probably the biggest benefits in my expanded shop space are a (small) corner with exhaust fan for spraying and enough free space to stack and stage finished work on carts and dollies. What do you do for finishing? At one point I hoisted work up into the attic, then I found a freelance finisher 20 miles away - a lot of schlepping but the off-gassing occurred at his shop.

What's in the aluminum "lunchbox" across from the jointer?

Thanks Kevin. I don’t really feel like it’s enough assembly space, but this arrangement and combo of machines and tables has the most yet relative to how it’s been in the past. Cabinetry (small scale) projects are really tough spatially in here and make me want to rip my hair out after assembly because they are so boxy and often times long and large (vanity-ish type stuff typically.) Furniture type work is less so like that but when things start to be long and wide is obviously when it starts to clog.

Finishing is a major weak point. Storing completed work is another one. I basically have to get finished work out ASAP so I can start another project. I can work on multiple projects at once if they are physically small, but often times don’t even try with large projects because of the lack of space to spread parts and pieces. For finishing, i suppose it depends on what it is and what the finishing schedule is but it’s a bottleneck with an oil type finish that needs dry time and then has to sit around for days to properly cure. I have not sprayed finish in this space. If I need to do that I take my mobile hvlp setup to a friend’s paint shop and use his space to spray, but that is neither convenient or always available so it doesn’t happen that much. A dedicated finishing space with some form of spray booth is high on my list of what to include in a new shop and would make me so much more efficient and less frustrated. Major complaint currently.

I think you’re asking about the range hood that is sitting on the plywood table. I am building a hood surround coming up and have the unit there for making sure it fits, etc.

Thanks again for watching and replying.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Johnnie, Zachary, and Jim,

Thanks for watching and for replying.

I don’t know if my arrangement of tools in this particular space and it’s challenges has much widespread appeal and value, but maybe there are some takeaways for others depending on what you may have to deal with and work around in your own shop space.

[Jim Becker]

I think that one of the things you do nicely is combine a little bit of mobility (with the thicknesser) and thoughtful outfeed coverage so you can do the work you need to do while still having that area at the rear with the adjustable height assembly table for the obvious. Folks can learn from that.

[Kris Cook]

I have about the same amount of square footage without the utilities and non-woodworking storage to deal with. Very impressive use of limited space.

[Leigh Betsch]

Gotta love big old iron.

[derek labian]

Cool shop and nice videos. Its always nice to see so many OWWM's.

[David Kua]

Has dust been an issue for the HVAC in the rest of the house?

[Phillip Mitchell]

Has dust been an issue for the HVAC in the rest of the house?

No, the HVAC system rarely gets used, actually. We have a very nice wood stove (and a small house) for primary heat and the AC only gets run intermittently in July/August. I just make sure the ducts stay sealed/don’t get punctured. The make up/return air in on the main floor of the house and the compressor/fan unit is obviously outside.

I have wanted to replace the system with a mini split with multiple head units inside but we really don’t use HVAC enough to justify the expense and there are some odd spatial layout challenges particular to this house that would make an ductless system maybe not the best choice.