HELP. Wife Has Agreed to Allow Me to Build A NEW Woodshop!!!

[Marty Mincey]

This is my first post here at Sawmill Creek, and I am asking for help already. Long story short, my wife has agreed to allow me to build a new woodworking shop. I'm in the process of taking measurements to see how large a shop I can build. (Looks like I will probably be at about 40' X 60') I would like any imput that anyone here could give me on things that they have, or would have liked to have had in their shop. This is all pretty new to me as I have been working out of my garage now for over a year. I will be talking to contractors next week to try to get this ball rolling before my wife changes her mind. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank you,

Marty

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Marty .....Welcome to the Creek.

I built a new shop and am still finishing it.

I installed a separate meter and 200 amp service. While you are in the planning stage try to figure out what tools and where you are going to place them. In the planning stage is the time to determine your electrical needs. It's easier to go BIG while you are building it.

I placed all of my outlets at a height of 50" above the finished floor. I can lean a 4x8 sheet of plywood against the wall and still have access to every outlet. It puts them above the counter tops of future cabinets too.

Good luck! You'll get a lot of good advice here. This is a favorite subject!

Congrats on the shop and the WIFE too!

[Jack Dickey]

Lucky you , One thing I can say is , if it's going to be a woodwerking shop only , be careful how you lay your machines out , you want room to work around them , but you can spread them too far apart , and work yourself silly if you have to move between tools alot ..

[Dick Rowe]

Wow .. 40'x60' sounds like a football stadium compared to what I have .. I'm jealous:)

If I were lucky enough to get to build a new shop from scratch I would want to partition a piece of it off as a finishing room with all the required safety and ventilation required to do spraying or any other type of finishing.

Being completely sealed from the dust making part of the shop will allow you to finish projects while building others at the same time. I have to completely clean up my shop and stop woodworking for however many days it takes to get my latest project finished.

Another thing on my wish list would be in-floor, hydronic (I think that's what it is called) zoned heating, especially in the finishing room. This should all but eliminate air-born dust caused by forced air heating.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[Marty Mincey]

I have several ideas that I am batting around. And all of your advise so far has been great!!!! I just got off the phone with the contractor and it looks like we will be breaking ground early next year. We have decided on a budget for the project (yeah right.......good luck with that one) and a location for the shop along with some ideas the wife has for some additions for her. (In a seperate room of the workshop......no she is not taking over.....yet) Good thing is, it has expanded the size of my shop already to 40' X 100'. So, maybe a little more room for me?!?!?!?!???? Keep the ideas coming!!!!

[John Miliunas]

Marty, welcome to the Creek and a BIG congrats on your upcoming project! :) Tips/advice? Well, this list could get real long in a hurry! :eek: Obviously, much depends on how deep your pockets are. I'm assuming it will be on a slab so, the radiant floor heat mentioned is GREAT! However, depending on your geographic location, if you need to heat AND cool, I would not discount going with a complete HVAC system to take care of both seasons! Operating windows (you should have plenty of wall space even with a lot of windows!) to take care of the in-between temps/weather. Running water/sewer is the one thing I think I miss most in my shop! Wish I had it. For a shop that big, I would most definitely go with the largest available breaker panel, with at least, 200 amp service. The more you can separate circuits, the better off you will be. Try to separate out a room for your cyclone and compressor, in order to isolate the noise generated by either. And, speaking of "rooms", wall off an area for a finishing room, as well. Even if you can't afford to install an exhaust system right away, it would be a good idea to plan ahead for it. Also, I don't know what type of building it will be but, I would stay away from those huge overhead doors (the type like they have for machine sheds and such), as they are thieves when it comes to keeping your HVAC under control! Finally, plan your equipment placement carefully and do it often. What do I mean by "do it often"? Draw up a floor plan of where you think equipment should live. Look at it daily and "walk" through the area over and over. Think of your work flow and walk it through again. Make changes and "walk" it through again and again. After several iterations of this, you'll start to get a good feel of where things should actually go. In a space that large, you have the advantage of being able to place things in permanent locations and not need mobile bases. You really only want to do that once! :) Oh yeah...One more thing: You guys wouldn't be interested in adopting a 50 yr-old IT guy and aspiring woodworker, would you??? :D :cool:

[Jim Becker]

Welcome aboard!! And such a nice "splash" on your first jump into the 'Creek!!!

(I'm going to move this to the GW forum where this topic is normally discussed for better visibility)

[Dave Hale]

Here's the shop I want.......

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=43286

May not be big enough for you, but I plan on making an offer for Rick's plans when I'm ready. :)

[Marty Mincey]

Lots of great ideas so far!!!! I greatly appreciate all of them. Looks like we have settled on a budget for the build. My wife and I got out this morning and started staking out where it is going to be built. Looks like the 40' X 100' idea is not going to work due to some apple trees in the way. So we are going to be sized down a bit. The final measurements will be 50' X 80', with a deck built on to the back side that will be 16' X 40'. These are the decisions that have been made so far. Feel free to jump in and give any advise if anyone feels I'm doing something wrong here.
The entire shop will be cement floors. "My section" of the workshop will be 50' X 40' with a separate area for finishing at 50' X 20'. There will be separate power with 200 amp service coming into the shop. Looking at heating and cooling options now. Also looking at a vacuum system, lighting, window placement, doors, and building a full bath in one corner. I really can't go too wild with this project because I have a budget now. But I think we may be able to negotiate that as we go along since we are "sharing" the space now?????

[Rob Bodenschatz]

The final measurements will be 50' X 80', with a deck built on to the back side that will be 16' X 40'.


I really can't go too wild with this project because I have a budget now.
:rolleyes:

[David G Baker]

Marty,
Need to know where you are located for insulation, heating advice, etc.
David

[Marty Mincey]

I guess a location would help. We are located in North Georgia. Temps here in the summer can be above 100 with 100% humidity. In the winter, it hardly ever gets below 20 degrees or so, so cooling will be more of a concern than heating.

[Steve Jenkins]

regarding the electrical. I put up a 40x70 shop (metal with trusses so no posts anywhere). For the electrical I ran a 4x4" electrical raceway down the center attached to the trusses. This allows me to come off at any point and run to the side walls or to drops for machines. It makes it a lot easier to add runs from the panel as you don't have to run more conduit the length of the wall. The raceway is like a giant junction box, just wirenut the connections in the raceway. I used a 7/8 holesaw to cut holes for the 1/2" connectors and used plastic flex for my runs.

[Ben Grunow]

Wow Marty (I guess you have to be named Marty around here to have a huge, brand new shop) what a dream come true. The first thing you need to do is get your wife a present for allowing this to happen. Then set out to build the shop of your dreams. One thing I never see mentioned here is the value of air hoses and electrical cords that come from overhead (on spring loaded reels for auto re-coil). They allow you to use a tool without the weight and inconvenience of the cord. Make sure to include nautral light as well.

Good luck. I will follow along. Ben

[Bill Arnold]

Hi, Marty. Welcome to the Creek!

All I can say about your shop is WOW! I thought I was getting a lot of room by enlarging mine to about 840 square feet on the lower level. I'd get lost if I had what you're building! :eek:

[Marty Mincey]

It's going to be a huge improvement over what I have now. I'm presently working out of our garage. I am probably getting a little too excited about this project already. While we are on the subject of being excited here, I have decided to upgrade some of my equipment in the process. Any suggestons on preferences of power tools (i.e. table saws, plainers, drum sanders, ect.) would be greatly appreciated as well. Most of the work I do is in hardwoods like, mahogany, purple heart, bloodwood, hard maple and ebony. (I know.....glutton for punishment on my wood preferences.) Any advise on tools of any kind would be helpful.

[Jeff Cybulski]

Marty - Welcome to the Creek!! I like Steve's idea of a raceway for the power. With the size your building this would prove uselful to run outlets wherever you need them. Good Luck and post some pictures as things progress.

Jeff

[John Bush]

Congrats Marty,
You will find lots of good info and help from the members here. Good luck.

General ?? to other SMCers:
By the way , what ever happened to the thread on the othe Marty building his shop, also in Ga.??

[Doug Gilluley]

Marty, fer chrissakes! Kiss the girl!!!

Doug

[Jim Becker]

Marty, 'suggest you start a separate thread to discuss the potential tool upgrades. More information is also needed about the projects you do, etc., as that can have bearing on equipment selection.

My one bottom line recommendation relative to your shop design is: natural light. And just above that is "proper facilities"...sounds like more than one of you is going to be spending a lot of time out there!

[Richard Maurer]

Hi Marty: I recently changed careers to a full time woodworker here in Central VA. I remodeled a 20' x 100' barn which had a 3' concrete slab, double walled sides, and a tin roof. Roof and walls were in OK shape. The 12 windows and 5 doors were busted and there were only 5 or 6 roof trusses. No less than several hundred "mud dobber" bees and 2 or 3 carpenter ants colonies were the current residents. My shop pics are too big for this forum. Send me your email and I'll send them to you separately. Here's what I did (after I got rid of the bees and ants):
1. Added separate 200 amp service with all new electrical wiring
2. Installed ceiling truss for each of the 48 rafters
3. Added insulation, drywall, paint, and 3 ton heat pump
4. Replaced all 12 windows (Lowes' double hung, double glazed, vinyl)
5. Replaced 3 of the 5 doors, walled up 1 door, and turned the other door into a window.

Here's what I'd do again:
1. I gave the electrician a detailed scale drawing of where I wanted each outlet by machine, power/amp rating, location. (He loved me for this because it made his life so easy.) I came up with my design after LOTS, and LOTS and LOTS and did I say LOTS of research on shop layouts. I've got dedicated circuits to every floor mounted tool, and lots of "convenience" circuits (waist high) elsewhere throughout the shop for plug in tools.
2. I framed in a separate office/design room and separate finishing room. Each was a 20'x10' space at one end of the building.
3. I installed a motorized damper in the ventillation supply duct to the finish room that I can shut to keep the HVAC system from dumping potentially dust laden air on my projects during drying.
4. I ran a water line to the side of the shop with a farm (anti-freeze) hydrant that I connect to a hose bib on the side of the shop for internal water. Since it doesn't stay below freezing in our area during the day (very often), this was a suitable approach. The 3' concrete slab prevented going into the shop from underground. (you probably don't have this problem since you're building from scratch)
5. My sink drains to a drywell on the outside of the shop that I put in when I was trenching other water lines. I use an "instant heat" tankless water heater by the sink so I don't have to pay the electric bill for keeping a full hot water tank. Check with your local codes on what you can/can't do.
6. I installed ceiling outlets in the vicinity of my work benches.
7. I have a dedicated (sound) insulated room for my cyclone dust collector. It's located in the middle of the shop so I don't have longer than about 40' to any one unit. I use a remote control to turn it on and off so I'm not running to/from the unit. 6" trunk lines with 4" drops close to each unit.
8. I installed an attic/gable vent fan to keep the heat out of the attic and keep you AC bill down in the summer. I bought a combination temperature/humidity gable fan so either high temps or high humidity can get pulled out of the attic.
9. I put a fridge and microwave in office. Fridge for softdrinks and snacks (no alcohol when running eqpt that can kill you) and the microwave provides a source of heat for warming up alcohol when disolving shellac flakes and other assorted things.

Here's what I'd do differently:
1. I made the mistake of not specifying low temp lights to my electrician. Consequently, they don't work well if I decide to keep the temp below 55-60 degrees. (he claims he warned me about this but I have no recolection of this. I should have known better anyway) Pay the extra bucks and get the low temp lights so you don't have to heat your shop (if you don't want to) in the dead of winter. Eventually, I'll replace them all.
2. I would have a larger finish room if I was redesigning the shop today. That's a function of what you plan on building. It's been a problem for me. 20x10 may be fine for you.

All in all, the shop turned out great (for me). Requires lots of planning - as you are finding out and you're doing the right thing by asking for lots of input.

Best of luck to you.
Regards, Rich

[Ben Abate]

Marty,

Things that I miss are: an area for storage, some have over looked the advantages of having a large storage area. some place you can store wood and also sort it when you buy it. It also gives you the advantage of buying in bulk.

10 ft ceilings, and 2 ft. overhangs will help in the summer with too much light coming in, and heating up your shop, but will give you light and heat in the winter because of the low sun. You can have all the machines in the world but storage is necessary. Air compressor room, finishing room, dust collector room. Then a machine room and a bench area. Keeps things organized.

I'm jealous

Ben

[lou sansone]

welcome to the creek

electrical advise

3 phase 208 Y @ 200 amps or larger

best wishes
lou

[Bob Huddleston]

That is awesome. My basement shop is wonderful, but in the basement, which leads to a few problems. I love the in-floor heat, high ceilings and adequate electrical service. My bro-in-law put in three phase for his new workshop and it is awesome. Enjoy!

Oh, kidding about the sister. Am (usually) happily wed here :rolleyes:

[Randall Frey]

Way to go with the new shop. One important thing for me to throw into the mix is natural light. I have a small window in my shop that provides sunlite for a few hours each day. It really helps with the finishing process to examine a project for an incomplete sanding job and or color matching. Of course you could take your work outside for the same effect but why do that, the wife will catch you, think that you are done working and drag you off to a craft fair.

[Marty Mincey]

First of all I would like to say THANK YOU to all who have posted on this thread with your advice and guidance. This is going to be a huge undertaking for me (us), and I do greatly appreciate all of your words of encouragement. It seems like this project will begin fairly quickly. I sat down with the contractor today and we will be breaking ground December 4th. Not sure how long this will take so I will try to be patient. (Yeah right!!) But this is something that I do not want to rush to get finished. Do these projects ever get "finished"??? Probably not. I built my house 4 years ago and it's still not "finished", so I guess I answered my own question. I'll post pictures when we get started for those who are interested. Once again.....thanks!!!!!!!

Marty & Cheryl

[Dan Drager]

Granted your 40' x 60' space is HUGE, but don't build to many built-in shelves, cabinets and work tables to start off. The way you end up working might not be the way you "think" you'll be working in the planning stages. Built-ins are way hard to remove or relocate.

[Bill Arnold]

... Built-ins are way hard to remove or relocate.
Something to keep in mind when installing upper cabinets is to use French cleats. This will ease the process of moving them, if you decide to modify the space. Also, I prefer to build my lower cabinets as free standing units that can be attached to a wall, if desired.

[Jim Becker]

Something to keep in mind when installing upper cabinets is to use French cleats.

And not just for cabinets. There are so many things that can be leveraged with an organized cleat system. WOOD Magazine's Idea Shop #5 has a lot of interesting ideas in that regard...and they will work nicely with large shops, too. If I actually had wall space in any meaningful amount, I'd seriously consider putting in a cleat system.

[Rich Petty]

Marty, welcome to the Creek and a BIG congrats on your upcoming project! :) Tips/advice? Well, this list could get real long in a hurry! :eek: Obviously, much depends on how deep your pockets are. I'm assuming it will be on a slab so, the radiant floor heat mentioned is GREAT! However, depending on your geographic location, if you need to heat AND cool, I would not discount going with a complete HVAC system to take care of both seasons! Operating windows (you should have plenty of wall space even with a lot of windows!) to take care of the in-between temps/weather. Running water/sewer is the one thing I think I miss most in my shop! Wish I had it. For a shop that big, I would most definitely go with the largest available breaker panel, with at least, 200 amp service. The more you can separate circuits, the better off you will be. Try to separate out a room for your cyclone and compressor, in order to isolate the noise generated by either. And, speaking of "rooms", wall off an area for a finishing room, as well. Even if you can't afford to install an exhaust system right away, it would be a good idea to plan ahead for it. Also, I don't know what type of building it will be but, I would stay away from those huge overhead doors (the type like they have for machine sheds and such), as they are thieves when it comes to keeping your HVAC under control! Finally, plan your equipment placement carefully and do it often. What do I mean by "do it often"? Draw up a floor plan of where you think equipment should live. Look at it daily and "walk" through the area over and over. Think of your work flow and walk it through again. Make changes and "walk" it through again and again. After several iterations of this, you'll start to get a good feel of where things should actually go. In a space that large, you have the advantage of being able to place things in permanent locations and not need mobile bases. You really only want to do that once! :) Oh yeah...One more thing: You guys wouldn't be interested in adopting a 50 yr-old IT guy and aspiring woodworker, would you??? :D :cool:

Marty, to go along with the great advice that John left with you, here is a tool that may help you in the design of your new "Dog House". Goto http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner.aspx and design your shop using Grizzly's shop planner. It's a shockwave flash application and is super easy to use. I just built my shop last year, (not quite the indoor arena you have planned!), and it was a great help as they have all the objects already drawn for your equipment and you can just drag and drop them on the grid. (CAD for the simple minded!!!)
BTW, I'm a 50 yr old IT professional and am now considering becoming and orphan too. Keep me in mind!! LOL.
Rich.

[John Miliunas]

BTW, I'm a 50 yr old IT professional and am now considering becoming and orphan too. Keep me in mind!! LOL.
Rich.

Hey now, Rich...Take a number!!! First come, first served! :D :cool:

[tim rowledge]

> Built-ins are way hard to remove or relocate.

Indeed they are. Aside from the cleat idea for wall mounted stuff, consider the wire rack shelving stuff often sold at home despot (usually under the 'spaceworks' name). They do several sizes (and the manufacturers do a *collosal* range if you can find a supplier) and it works out surprisingly good value. I ended up buying several sets, adding the castor kits for easy mobility and not spending as much as brackets, screws, shelving stock and so on would have cost.

[Marty Mincey]

I really appreciate every bit of advice that has been given me here in this thread. Unfortunately, this project has been suspended indefinitely due to my wife’s unexpected lay-off, the fact that I have also been scheduled for lay-off December 15th. The corporate (IT) world has struck my family pretty hard and this project is no longer a priority.

Once again, thank you for your support and you guys keep making sawdust!!!!!

Marty

[Carol Reed]

Bummer, Marty. Sometimes life's curve balls turn out to be a home run pitch. Hang in there. Don't trash the dream just yet. This just gives you time to get the details worked out. Here's hoping you knock this one over the fence!

[Jim Becker]

Oh, my....that's not pleasant news, Marty. Best wishes to you as you both work through this situation.

[Rennie Heuer]

I really appreciate every bit of advice that has been given me here in this thread. Unfortunately, this project has been suspended indefinitely due to my wife’s unexpected lay-off, the fact that I have also been scheduled for lay-off December 15th. The corporate (IT) world has struck my family pretty hard and this project is no longer a priority.

Once again, thank you for your support and you guys keep making sawdust!!!!!

Marty

Marty,

I sincerely hope that these setbacks are temporary and that you and your wife weather through and come out even better off than before.

As for the rest of us who were looking forward to living vicariously through your posts...... oh well :(

[Marty Mincey]

Well guys.......this project is now back on!!!!!!!

We have both secured new positions within the same company and are going to start this project back up in the spring. Maybe this temporary set back was a good thing? Now, I can back up, take a long look at the way I want to do this, do some more pre-planning and hopefully with the advise of the good people here, I'll be better prepared.

Thanks again for all of your support!!!!!

Marty & Cheryl

[Jim Becker]

Oh, that's great news, Marty! Congratulations to you both! And happy holidays.

[Jesse Thornton]

Marty,
Have you used Google SketchUp at all? I find it invaluable for planning and designing everything from small toys for my son to my eventual dream house and shop. With the pro version, you can download pre-drawn 3D woodworking components and shop tools. The grizzly workshop planner is a great resource, but personally I find it much easier to visualize what I'm planing if I can work it out in three dimensions.
Of course even with the free version, it would be very easy to make simple 3D representations of all your major shop tools and shuffle them around your shop, as well as working out window placement, wall storage, electrical outlets, etc, etc.
It'll be a while yet before I build my dream shop, but my SketchUp shop plan is already well underway. However you go about it, I think you're going to be an envied man 'round here!