Shop Layout Help

[Scott Hooker]

I am finally getting around to finishing my new shop. The area is in a commercial building with slab, 11 foot ceilings, approximately 25 x 38 feet.

I'm new to shop layout, prior to this I just rolled things around in my house basement. I've read Bill Pentz' site and am very concerned about breathing in dust. I'm probably purchasing a Clearview Cyclone. My plan includes metal ductwork installed by a local contractor. 8 inch pipe down the center with 6 inch pipe at wyes to the tools. Would you move the cyclone to the outside wall (by the storage room) so it can be vented outside from time to time? What is the suggestion for grounding metal ductwork?

I just placed machines where I thought they would work best, so am looking for recommendations on their proper placement also. I haven't installed the walls yet, so finishing room, storage and wall with wood storage can be changed as well.

Many, many thanks in advance for your guidance and suggestions!

I promise to post pics when I'm done!

[glenn bradley]

I tend to group machines as I use them; joint, plane, rip, cut-to-length would be an example. Table saw to router or drill press to workbench might be another.

I have also tried to station "most" tools used for a given function nearby. Drill bits, sanding drums, DP jigs and clamps are near the DP. Router bits, inserts, fence faces and jigs are near the RT.

I used to keep extra earplugs and goggles at every machine. I have Rx safety glasses now and prefer headphones so they kinda just tag along with me.

I don't take up space near machines or work areas with tools and supplies that are retrieved for a specific function. Pipe clamps live on a rack behind a tall swing-away toolbox that holds other occasional or special application tools for example.

There are as many variations as there are methods of work. My chisels and planes are in a drawer under the workbench whereas someone else may want them (or some of them) near the assembly area for fine tuning. Oh yeah, marking and matched measuring devices all over the place. If you find a 12" ruler you like, get three. You'll cross the room to retrieve it less often; just make sure they match.

[Rob Will]

Just to throw some different ideas around.......
I would build a DC closet where the finishing room is. Use a solid core door with an offset plenum on the back side for air return (no straight line for sound). You might do the same thing with the storage room and put the air compressor in there.

I would reverse the table saw and workbench so that the planer is on the right side of the table saw. Run a power post w/ dust collection from ceiling to floor in the middle of the room to serve the TS and planer. I like my miter saw close to the assembly table.

Try to avoid running so much DC pipe. Perhaps a corner location for the DC with the main running at a 45 degree angle to the room will help. I would try to place two tools on each 6" drop. There was a very slick 2-way blast gate design here at SMC about 2 weeks ago.

To some extent I would toy with the idea of grouping machines around central power posts (and some on mobile bases). Preserve more of the perimeter wall area for storage cabinets, shelving, pegboard etc.

Good luck!

Rob

[John Schreiber]

I don't have a lot of experience with rearranging shops, but I do have some ideas.

As mentioned above, the idea of putting the DC and a compressor in a more or less soundproof room makes a lot of sense. Venting to the outside can be wonderful for the efficiency of the DC and if the air temperature where you are and any neighbors would allow for that, I think it would be worth exploring.

I noticed that you have a vent going to the paint room. I'm not sure if that is a good idea. I wouldn't be comfortable bringing paint fumes back into the shop and if you are using flammables, then I'm sure it's a bad idea. Paint room ventilation is usually done with a wide but slow flow of air past the workpiece instead of the relatively fast and narrow intake of a dust collector.

For general shop arrangement, first, think in terms of work triangles/squares. Areas where you will be working with a limited number of machines/work areas going back from one to another to complete a task. Second, think in terms of how the wood is going to travel through the shop. You might have sheet goods stored near where it is easy to cut them down to size with a rail system, then final trim on the table saw, machine any dadoes etec then they will be ready to move to an assembly area. You might have lumber near a chop saw, then ready to go to a jointer/tablesaw, planer area.

I'd also work around natural lighting so you can spend most of your time near windows, but that's just me.

Have fun.

[Paul Girouard]

What door will the material come into the space ? And , I hope, you have at least one door that is larger than a 3-0x 6-8 "man" door:eek:

So I'd recommend re thinking the flow here.

I should start by asking what do you plan on making ? Kitchen cabinets , furniture , widgets etc.

So that will tell us what type of materials , mainly, will be coming in that door. Mostly sheet goods , and some lumber? Mostly lumber and fewer sheet goods?

So start there thinking whats next , generally the table saw , then the planer and or jointer.

Think about how you process the wood into the product , knowing it's never / seldom a perfect world , and which door the finished product goes out.

I remember a line , or a tag line , some one here has that says , "wood comes in but it never leaves" . Meaning his scrap , I'd think :confused: , or he have a very full shop full of stuff he's built :D

But my point is wood comes in and wood products should be leaving so that factors into your lay out . If your making fly fishing rod reel seats , or turned wood products you'd have a different type of material coming in and going out than a kitchen cabinet shop.

[keith ouellette]

If I understand the layout your DC is outside the building. I did the same thing with mine and put it into a insulated closet with the vent going back into the shop. I am in Florida and air conditioning is a must during the summer (or heat if you are in montana in the winter). Your shop has 10,450 cubic feet of air and even a 1500cfm collector would remove all of your conditioned/heated air in 7 minutes. Don't know if most people think of that.
I would also consider putting the lathe closer to the DC if you want the dust and chips to get pulled in.

[Scott Hooker]

Thanks Glenn, Rob, John, Keith and Paul.

I've spent some time looking over your recommendations and have come up with the following plan.

Generally, I plan on making furniture and some bowls on the lathe. I will install some large doors for ease of use. Most of the materials will be coming in through the exterior (4' 0 x 7' 0) door. Mostly lumber and fewer sheet goods.

Let me know what you think.... it's a total rework!

Thanks again for your help guys! Happy Holidays to all!

[John Schreiber]

Just some scribbles below. I think the layout you have looks really good. I do notice that the mass of the dust producing machinery is in the top right corner. It might make more sense to put the DC there and run the lines like I have in red below. Especially if you could change the places of the wood storage and the miter saw. That would leave one end of the shop for the noisy and dusty machines and the space near the window for hand work.
76493

[Scott Hooker]

Thanks, John.

To clarify, the wood storage area is actually on the outside wall of the work space. I wanted to do that to free up wall space for tool storage and addition of more tools in the future. The added advantage is to keep the work space uncluttered and easier to clean.

I positioned the BS and DP toward the rear of the room since I plan on using those machines the least. The placement of the DC in the outside wall was to set it up with a filter diverter to the outside of the building. The rear of the building is at least 400 feet from the nearest neighbor and backs up onto three acres of wetlands, so the noise shouldn't be an issue for neighbors. I could put the DC into diverted mode on days of moderate temperatures (not this time of year when average highs are in the middle 30's). I'm thinking of the spring and fall when highs are in the 60's and low 70's.

I'm very new to the DC. Is it harder to move fine dust in a DC system? Or will a large enough system pull anything into it as long as the ductwork is large enough to keep the vacuum high enough at the point of collection? I'm having the ductwork done by a local company who has plasma cutters to help with custom dust pickup for my tools, so perhaps they can help me maximize suction at the point of collection. Any suggestions are welcome, of course!

Thanks for your input!

Scott