How big is your shop?

[Thomas Prondzinski]

Just wondering how big of shop does everybody have? I have a 26x32 garage with a single stall walled up to park the Hog and LOMLs car. She has given the go ahead to add on.If the city fathers will allow I will add on 12 more feet for a total of 1144 sq. ft.(26x44) which I will put up a wall so I would end up with a 22x26 shop.I'm thinking that would be just fine.comments please

Thanks Tom

[Dennis Peacock]

I have a fairly small shop.....It's only 1,800 Square Feet....Natural Gas Heat and two window Air Conditioners, indoor plumbing with a real working toilet, utility sink and I even have electricity and a telephone in the shop......Oh...and did I mention that I also have a floor drain in two of the three bays? ;)

I sure do need some more space in my shop.!!! :)

[Dean Baumgartner]

Tom,
Other than the standard answers of never enough space and tools/clutter will expand to fill all available space, I've got a 30x30 shop less the stairs to the loft space with a good setup for the table saw and benches and about a 12x24 empty area used for assembly. Seems to be working well so far.

On the other hand a few of the members from across the pond have absolutly tiny spaces and still turn out some really fine work.

The best advice I can give is make it as large as you can and enjoy every bit of time you can spend in it.


Dean

[Wolf Kiessling]

Just wondering how big of shop does everybody have? I have a 26x32 garage with a single stall walled up to park the Hog and LOMLs car. She has given the go ahead to add on.If the city fathers will allow I will add on 12 more feet for a total of 1144 sq. ft.(26x44) which I will put up a wall so I would end up with a 22x26 shop.I'm thinking that would be just fine.comments please

Thanks Tom

If Dennis' shop is fairly small, mine is tiny. 24 x 24 with an 8 x 10 space partitioned off as a finishing space. It has an HVAC system with one vent in the finishing shop and two in the main space. It is plenty big for what I do, I even part the lawn tractor in it, but then again, I don't build furniture. It is a detached building from the house, Joyce's stained glass studio is in the house.

[Dave Arbuckle]

If Wolf's is tiny, mine is even smaller. 20x20, give or take a couple inches. Water heater closet takes up a little, family storage a little also. All the rest of it is entirely consumed by my overwhelming mess. ;)

Dave

[Pat Salter]

Last October I finished (mostly) my 24X40 shop. seperate building that took about 6 mo. to build (I did 90% of the labor, that's why it took so long). The inside isn't finished yet. going to sheetrock the walls. and also plan to build a single wall about 10 ft. from the back to make that storage. I want to sheetrock that off so any dust I create won't cover all the stored stuff. No water at this point. going to add a small sink with just cold water so I can wash my hands/brushes etc. No insulation or heat. Hey, this is So. Ca. don't need it!

the bigger the better for sure. Your city fathers will tell you how much you can expand. There is a limit here in San Diego county but with 2/3rds of an acre I could have buildt double the size and been ok. but you should have a nice one when you are done.

Good luck with the inspectors. Mine were pretty easy on me.

um, Dennis? shut up...just kidding, sounds awesome!

Tom, keep us posted on the progress!

[Mike Evertsen]

mine is 24 x 24 with 7' 8" ceiling I had hope when it was built 24 x 30 with 10' ceilings and wish many times I screamed what I wanted until I was heard,,,,

[Bart Leetch]

So far I've got small 13'5" x 24'5" with a 7'10" ceiling. With all the normal power tools for flat work as well as round work.

[Joe Bourbois]

I'm in a 3 car garage, but one bay is essentially household storage. I use the other 2 bays as my shop, with usable space of about 18' x 23'. Everything is on wheels so I can push it all to the side so my wife can bring her car in. No heat, except for 2 rollaround kerosene radiators, but heat isn't that critical here in San Antonio. I wish I had AC though, as the summer in the shop can be unbearable at times.

[Frank Pellow]

My current shop is in the basement and it is a (very overcrowded) 210 square feet.

I am just starting to build a new shop in my backyard and I thought that it was going to be big enough until I saw many of the entries posted above.

The plans, for which I have a building permit, are for a 24' by 18' building with a bite out of one corner. Once I subtract the bite as well as the width of the walls, I will be left with 345 square feet. The building will have a cathedral ceiling with lots of skylights. I will have the use of the old basement shop for storage and for finishing.

I could have designed a bigger building and still have been within the zoning rules but, as it is, the workshop will be crowding in on our vegetable garden (about 1000 square feet) and gardening is another major hobby of mine.

Once the snow melts and I can start staking things out, I will see if I can modify my plans (once again) to get the useable space up to 400 square feet. I hate to have to do all the redrawing and the recalculations, but it seems from what I read above that, some day, I will probably thank myself that I did.

[Andy London]

48 X 20 with the final renovation completed (outside) last fall, started 12 years ago by building a 24 X 20 shop and built on twice since.

Here is my current layout...only say current as I seem to change things around once a year....

http://www.picframer.ca/shop_in_2003.htm

Andy

[Jack Diemer]

363 square ft basement shop here. u

[Stefan Antwarg]

Just because I want to one up (or one down) everybody (:)), I used to have a 10x10 shop. I had that for 4 years. Now I have a 16x36 shop with the potential to make it 36x36. It is just the unfinished basement of my house. I purposely do not use half of it so I don't spoil myself. Eventually, the basement will be converted to a family room and I know that whatever I have will not be too big.

Stefan

[Glenn Clabo]

3/4 of an old Cape Cod basement...and I share it with the furnace and washer/dryer. I've been trying to put it together for 5 years but remodeling the house keeps getting in the way. There is never enough room...or time!

[Aaron Montgomery]

In the basement - 16x26 + an 7x10 room + misc storage.

http://home.insightbb.com/~apmonte/WoodworkingShop.html

[John Miliunas]

An "L" shape with a 16x30 leg and a 24x24 leg. An attached "finishing area" (Currently more of a junk room :mad: ) approx. 300 sq/ft. No running water/drain, sufficient electrical sub-panel (currently w/3 220VAC circuits + the 110's), insulated, heated, no AC (yet). MUCH bigger than my old shop BUT, still not big enough! :D :cool:

[Ted Shrader]

All -

This is one of those rare times when you hear guys arguing about whose is smaller! Hmmmmmm. . . . .

Mine is a two car garage and contains the brick chimney and the downstairs indoor airhandler. Thank goodness for mobile bases. All the tools have to move out of the way to leave one bay for automobile service work.

Ted

[Tyler Howell]

This is one of those rare times when you hear guys arguing about whose is smaller! Hmmmmmm. . . . .

Ted, LMAO

Mine is not big enough!
The world is my shop.
Toyota Tundra Quad Cab. Full compliment of hand tools for sight visits.
Basement shop 1600 sq. ft of fragmented space.
LR, DR, Kit Finishing area.:o
Spare BR. storage.
Garage 528 sq ft. MX and flat stock prep.
MBR. work bench.:cool:

[Chris Rolke]

2 car garage here

i wish it loked that clean now
http://rolke.dyndns.org/ftp/garage/

this is before my lathes came in here ( i have 2 now craftsman round tube and jet 1236 ) and before the HF dust collector

i will gen more pics after i clean it up (i am in the process of finishing the basement in the house so there is a little of everything in there right now

[Tyler Howell]

[QUOTE=Chris Rolke]2 car garage here

i wish it loked that clean now
http://rolke.dyndns.org/ftp/garage/

this is before my lathes came in here ( i have 2 now craftsman round tube and jet 1236 ) and before the HF dust collector

i will gen more pics after i clean it up (i am in the process of finishing the basement in the house so there is a little of everything in there right now


Chris,
In the interest of shop safety I must ask that you get the one lone shoe out of the middle of the floor. In pairs it is OK, but one shoe could be very dangerous.:D:p
The rest is looking good.;)
http://rolke.dyndns.org/ftp/garage/DSC05719.JPG

[Dick Parr]

Mine is a 24’ x 24’ with 9’ 10” ceiling dedicated shop. I have a direct vent natural gas wall heater and a window air conditioner. I have it plumed for a toilet and have a utility sink. There is a single over head door with a 36” entrance door. They filled in the utility trench before I could run a phone line out there but I just take the cordless phone when I go. I have a 6’ x 21’ slab on the back side that I use to stack lumber.

I wanted to go bigger from the beginning but I have an easement (16” gas line) running thought my yard that takes up 30’. As it is, I am within 14” of the easement and if I had taken it towards the back I would have cut off the back yard that the wife said not NO but $)@#(#)(. And yes it is not big enough. :rolleyes:

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I've got a 20X24 detached garage that I share with Katherine. There's an apartment attached so I have running water and plenty of power. I keep eyeing the apartment for an expansion, but that's where the kids stay (we've got five spread across the country in Boston, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio) when they come to visit and Katherine says its off limits!

[Kent Cori]

My workshop's public identity is as a two car garage with a 6' deep alcove for some storage. The actual available space is about 23' x 25'. No basements here in Florida unless you like indoor pools under your home. I share the garage with the air handling unit, lawn equipment, storage shelves and a freezer. All my stationary tools are located around the perimeter and most are on mobile bases except the work bench, lathe and band saw. Believe it or not, I actually accomodate two cars every night with all tools stored in place.

Heat is not much of a problem in Florida. A few halogen lights and a sweatshirt take care of that problem pretty well. Cooling conists of a $9.99 20" box fan in the summer. When you live in Florida, you just expect to sweat in the summer and take a second shower if you spend much time outdoors. :rolleyes:

The advantage to this setup is dust control. I have a shop vac that hooks to the Griz cabinet saw, band saw and router table when in use. The planer and jointer I just move next to the overhead door or outside when I'm running them. The CMS has a dust collection bag that works okay. Then at the end of a session I just crank up the leaf blower at and blow any othe saw dust and wood shavings out the open door accross the driveway and into the trees. :)

[Greg Heppeard]

The more I do...the smaller it gets. 19x22=418 sq ft...hoping to add another 220 sq ft sometime this summer. most everything is on wheels and it's heated by a wood stove. I have no scrap wood at all.

[Rob Bourgeois]

Well I dont know if I win for the smallest shop, but I think I might have it. 121square feet.

Shop is 13 by 11 with 2 feet of the 11 being a floor to ceiling shelf system that the previous owner had installed. Usable floor space including the build in "workbench" is 121 square feet. I have a window unit for AC and a small electric heater which can raise the temp in the shop by 40 degrees in under and hour. The table saw slides under the shelf system and the new band saw will have an 11 foot wall to its self. The router table and other tools sit on the shelf.

Attached to the shop is a small 8 x 6 room which has the freezer in it and has alot of the house storage. My books and plans are in this rom also to keep them a bit cleaner. Its amazing the dust that can be stopped by hanging a sheet over a door way.

[Chris DeHut]

The shop where we film Woodworking at Home Magazine is 11' x 22'. This is the primary area where all of the work is done and where all the machines reside.

The outfeed of the table saw breaks that boundry, but other than that, everything else is in that space. While the "working area" of the shop is only 11' x 22', the cameras get an additional 11' x 22' of roaming room.

There is more space behind the camera, however, that is used as a staging area for projects that are in-process (filmed over a long term or prototypes such as our CNC router we are designing).

When we decided on the shop size, we had found that a one car garage was about average - so that's why we came up with an 11' x 22' space. From the looks of your answers here, perhaps we should expand our shop :-)

Chris

[Terry Hatfield]

30 x 40. 10'ceilings.

<IMG SRC="http://www.terryhatfield.com/shop_outside2.jpg">

<IMG SRC="http://www.terryhatfield.com/nnw1.jpg">

I know...I know....I'm supposed to be banned from showing shop pics. :D :D :D :D

Terry

[Scott Coffelt]

363 square ft basement shop here. u
I have a basement shop also that is 12.5x26.5.

Some day I hope to have a 24x40 or 28x36. That's if I cna find some land that I like. Otherwise I am still in the small end.

[Frank Pellow]

Terry, why are you not supposed to show shop pics?

I am in the planning stage for my new shop (and starting construction in about a month). I want to learn from others so the more shop pics and layouts I see the better.

In fact, I would think a seperate forum for shop design and pics might be in order.






30 x 40. 10'ceilings.

<IMG SRC="http://www.terryhatfield.com/shop_outside2.jpg">

<IMG SRC="http://www.terryhatfield.com/nnw1.jpg">

I know...I know....I'm supposed to be banned from showing shop pics. :D :D :D :D

Terry

[Tyler Howell]

Terry, why are you not supposed to show shop pics?

I am in the planning stage for my new shop (and starting construction in about a month). I want to learn from others so the more shop pics and layouts I see the better.

In fact, I would think a seperate forum for shop design and pics might be in order.Just look at it Frank! Perfect in every way. An inspiration for us all. Actuall I'm beginning to think it doesn't really exist. I think it is all computer generated and Terry is a mad techno geek that has us all fooled. :p
Take the Disney Web ride of Terry's shop. you will be amazzzed;)

[John Weber]

You guys make me sick! Huge shops and still expanding. Mine is 21'-2" x 13'-8" and yes the inches matter. It would be comfortable, except I love big iron and tools so the shop is packed. Everything is mobile, and the bulk of the lumber storage is in the garage. I also have an attic above for box storage, and other junk. But I try to fit all this:

Powermatic 66 w/48" capacity fence
Delta 3 hp Shaper
Powermatic 15" Planer
Delta Heavy Duty Wood Lathe
Powermatic 14" Band Saw
Delta DJ-20 Jointer
Powermatic 1150a Drill Press
Delta 1.5 hp Dust Collector
Powermatic Edge Sander
Delta 24" Scroll Saw
CMS/Mortiser Station over the Air Compressor
Performax 16/32
2 Work Benches
Dual Grinder Cart
Shop Vac
Large Portable Power Tool Cabinet
and Shop Stool

When I was working on 2 dressers for our daughter it got a little tight. Most of the time, I have enough room to work, and in the summer I can open the garage door when ripping long stock (although I rarely do). I heat with electic baseboard, and cool with good cross ventilation and a ceiling fan. I have windows on all sides, and think that is one of the best features. One decade I would like to expand, but with a 1 and 4 year old that may be many decades. I've beem working on the shop since we moved in the 100+ year old house, almost 8 years ago.

John

[Mark Bachler]

28 x 40 seperate building built last summer, soon to have wood boiler heat, stocked to the hilt with mini max machines. I owe, I owe, it's to the shop I go.

[Tyler Howell]

I've got a 20X24 detached garage that I share with Katherine. There's an apartment attached so I have running water and plenty of power. I keep eyeing the apartment for an expansion, but that's where the kids stay (we've got five spread across the country in Boston, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio) when they come to visit and Katherine says its off limits!
Expand Dennis, Just through a matress on the bench when they show up.;)

[Alan Turner]

My basement is 3 rooms, sort of, separated by two inboard chimneys. One outboard room is home to the boiler, storage for LOML"s "stuff", waterheater, laundry, airhandler, etc. The other end is my primary shop, 13 x 19, with ceilings 7 ft. 3", but with various pipes, including steam pipes, reducing that in places. I use the middle room also, but primarily for storage of stuff. In my "main" room is a Unisaw, 20" bandsaw, DP, 2 benches, and much storage for clamps and hand tools. In the middle room is wood, a 37" drum sander, 20" planer, and bil, old iron, 12" jointer. Only the jointer is not on wheels. With a small yard, there is no possibity of an out building. I am negotiating for an outside entrance, and may even succeed, but it will be expensive. Right now all I have is a 28" at the top of the stairs, and it is not a straight shot from there. GEtting tools, esp. the jointer and planer, down those steps was a bit of a trick. On the other hand, I have a beer cooler, WC, back sink, and temp. control winter and summer. I have been known to use the dining room for finishing, but this generally gets a bit of a comment.
Alan
p.s. - Did I mention that the joist bays are nearly all full, primarily of jigs.

[Kent Cori]

Terry,

You win the award for the most efficient dust collection system ever. That must be a turbocharged, bored out cyclone. I don't see a spek of saw dust anywhere! :D :D

[Dean Baumgartner]

Terry,

You win the award for the most efficient dust collection system ever. That must be a turbocharged, bored out cyclone. I don't see a spek of saw dust anywhere! :D :D


I think Terry has one of two things going. Either he has shop elves that come in and clean up every night or these pics are just of a "show" shop and all the real work goes on in a different shop out back that looks like the rest of our shops. :)

On another note, does anybody else think that this is a topic near and dear to everyone's hearts? I can't remember seeing a thread grow this fast.

Dean

[Dominic Greco]

My shop is in my 16' wide x 26' long garage (which to my wife's dismay has NEVER seen a car parked inside it). The ceilings are 8', with a loft area for storage above. This is packed with stuff (ie: old tools and bulk wood).

One day I may expand out the back an additional 10', but that will have to wait.

See ya around

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Well, my new shop is going into the barn, which is 32x63. A little of this will be set aside for hay and feed storage, but not much.

I'll probably make a few heated interior rooms for specific tasks and the big machines will live in the big open expanse of the interior. I plan to build a large table surface that extends the table saw top, like i've seen in several shops.

Fortunately the main barn level is tall enough that I have room to build a loft for additional rooms and storage.

I think I'm going to set a side a small area on the ground level for welding, grinding, and general metal cutting work, as I'd be afraid of generating sparks upstairs. The metal lathe, milling machines, brake, shear, and metal shaper will all go upstairs somewhere, perhaps in their own room.

Planning this all is gonna be tricky. For now, I'll just kinda put machines here and there and use it a while until I come up with a grand scheme.

Not very helpful info in this post, but writing helps me orgainze in my head a bit.

[Chris Padilla]

My shop is in my 16' wide x 26' long garage (which to my wife's dismay has NEVER seen a car parked inside it). The ceilings are 8', with a loft area for storage above. This is packed with stuff (ie: old tools and bulk wood).

One day I may expand out the back an additional 10', but that will have to wait.

See ya around

Lynn, I hate you! :p

Dominic, I think mine is darn near just like yours...even the ceiling config. However, I cannot expand "out the back" as that will take away the beautiful 1/2 bath I remodelled a year ago and half of my TV room...whose EC I am working hard on right now! :)

My only direction to grow a shop would be down...as in a basement...which I don't have but would dearly love...but odds are good it won't happen. :( Growing up will only add to the living quarters on the second floor...most likely will happen! :D

[Bill Karow]

My shop is taking over my 24x24 garage. LOML still thinks her van gets space in it, but she may not remember the last time it was parked inside! In my defense, I start her van to get it warm and de-ice its windows to mitigate the inconvenience...

So in order to appease, I keep the workshop hutch and other equipment more or less to one side, all on mobile bases.

Current stuff crammed in there:
1. X5 LT Unisaw, 50" Biesemeyer with folding outfeed table and storage cabinet tucked under the extension. I wrestled with this, and considered the 30" extension, but given my use of sheet goods I figured the extra length was worth the space. I'm glad I got the bigger model.
2. X5 6" jointer
3. Delta 22-580 planer - building a cart for this
4. Hitachi C10FS 10" slider - currently sits on my wheeled shop cart, building a cabinet for this (wheeled with extensions, or fixed...still not sure)
5. Delta 1.5 hp dust collector with aftermarket separator and American Fabric Filter 1 micron oversized bag
6. P-C 7518 destined for my upcoming router table, three 690 models (plunge, regular with dust collection attachment, and one more I'd love to find a good deal on a D-handle base for). Lots of other sanders, a Festool jigsaw, etc.
7. Old Craftsman RAS, though if Keith still has his Delta for sale I might consider an upgrade...
8. Rolling clamp cart for the Bessey clamps and a few misc pipe clamps. It's two sided and just too big, takes too much floor space. They'll go back on the wall soon and I'll reuse the wheels on one of my planned carts.

I've got an 8 foot long workshop hutch along one wall nearing completion, and as mentioned several other cabinets/carts in planning phase. Right now, lots of power tools are in their P-C cases or in big plastic tubs waiting on the drawer space in the new hutch! As soon as the hutch is done and I've got some semblance of a floor plan, I'll post photos.

I'm thinking of orienting my table saw like Chris DeHut does in the Woodworking at Home shop. Right now it's in the middle of the space (I face the back wall of the garage when using it, since the overhead door is never opened when it's in use and both other doors are visible from the saw thus avoiding ambush), but I'm probably going to move it 90 degrees so I'd face directly at the door into the house when using it. That would buy me more floor space and better sheet goods movement, and "honest honey, as soon as this project's over I'll fold down the outfeed table and move your van in")

Future projects - I've got a contractor lined up to add heat out there sometime this next month ("honest, honey, the reason it's so crowded out there is that it's too cold to glue and I've got all these projects partway done"), and this summer I'd like to add an 8 foot deep shed the full length of the grage back wall. It'd be used partially for lawn stuff, and also for dust collector and my future compressor.

So 24x24 with an explanation is my answer. Dang, I talk a lot http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Bart Leetch]

My current shop is in the basement and it is a (very overcrowded) 210 square feet.

I am just starting to build a new shop in my backyard and I thought that it was going to be big enough until I saw many of the entries posted above.

The plans, for which I have a building permit, are for a 24' by 18' building with a bite out of one corner. Once I subtract the bite as well as the width of the walls, I will be left with 345 square feet. The building will have a cathedral ceiling with lots of skylights. I will have the use of the old basement shop for storage and for finishing.

I could have designed a bigger building and still have been within the zoning rules but, as it is, the workshop will be crowding in on our vegetable garden (about 1000 square feet) and gardening is another major hobby of mine.

Once the snow melts and I can start staking things out, I will see if I can modify my plans (once again) to get the useable space up to 400 square feet. I hate to have to do all the redrawing and the recalculations, but it seems from what I read above that, some day, I will probably thank myself that I did.


Frank

You might want to learn more about square foot gardening there is a book written by Mel Bartholomew called Square foot gardening.

Then you could shrink your garden . Then you could make your shop bigger, about 500 square ft. bigger. Now doesn't 845 sq. ft. sound a lot better????

With sq. ft. gardening & some vertical frames you can get the same amount of garden in 1/2 the space I have a small shop that is 330.75 square ft. I really don't think you want that small of a shop.

This type of gardening really really works. Once you have the garden set up it cuts the work in 1/2 too, so you could spend more time in the shop too.

Get the book you won't regret it. You might find a copy in your local library. We use the library copy for the first 2 years then purchased our own copy. We fed a family of 4 out of a 18' x 20' garden & had to give away vegetables. You'll find the book very informative with instructions about PH balance of the soil for the different vegetables & companion gardening using flowers & other type of plants to control pests etc.

[Bart Leetch]

[QUOTE=Terry Hatfield]30 x 40. 10'ceilings.

SHOW OFF :D :D :D :D MOVE OVER BIG DOG THE SKINNY DOG IS MOVIN IN.

[Dennis Peacock]

um, Dennis? shut up...just kidding, sounds awesome!

Tom, keep us posted on the progress!

Pat,

No problem there buddy.......The building was on the 3 acre property when we bought the house. I got the 2100 sq ft house and the 1800 sq ft shop along with the 3 acres for a "real steal" and you wouldn't belive the price I got it for. :D

[Terry Quiram]

Built 3 years ago. 32'X44', 12' ceiling, radiant heat, 3 ton ac, toilet, deep sink, office w/cable and a finishing room. This place is my refuge. It is therapy from my job. Some times I just go out and sit at the bench.

[Frank Pellow]

Bart, Your solution would be a great one, but there is a problem.

I have Mel Bartholomew Square foot Gardening book and have been following his advice quite religously for many years. So, what we have is a very efficient 1000 sqare foot garden and we have gotten quite dependent (more for taste and health than cost) on a garden of this size. This year, because of the anticipated construction mess and becuase of my lack of time we are going to have to cut the size in half. Next year we plan to return to full production.

[Fred Voorhees]

Well if this thread was posted just a few days from now, I could attach some new, updated pics of the shop. They went to the developers tonight and I should have them back by the end of the week. Watch for a shop tour this weekend. Back to the subject, my shop is roughly (I will have the exact measurements along with the pics) 36' X 16' and it is the second floor of a spacious two car garage and it has a cieling height of 10' 6''.

[Jim Becker]

Mine is approximately 21' x 30' minus a stairwell smack in the middle to the upstairs of the building. I wish it were bigger so I could have a dedicated finishing room, etc.

[John Miliunas]

I wish it were bigger so I could have a dedicated finishing room, etc.

Yeah, as in the rest of the MM fleet! :D Let's see, there's still the combo saw, like Chris has, and then there's...... :D Seriously, I think you're doing pretty darn good in that amount of space! It's crazy...I just about tripled my space from the old shop and still feel as though I could easily use another 3 or 4 hundred sq/ft! OK, now I'm getting greedy... Sorry! :rolleyes:

What really impresses me is some of the work you guys put out of these shops, in particular, the ones smaller than the Mall of America! I've got the space and most of the tools, now I just need to learn how to properly utilize all of it! That's gonna' be the real challenge! :cool:

[Tyler Howell]

Well if this thread was posted just a few days from now, I could attach some new, updated pics of the shop. They went to the developers tonight and I should have them back by the end of the week. Watch for a shop tour this weekend. Back to the subject, my shop is roughly (I will have the exact measurements along with the pics) 36' X 16' and it is the second floor of a spacious two car garage and it has a cieling height of 10' 6''.

Fred We'll wait! You never fail to satisfy on the pix deparment.;)

[Tyler Howell]

I cannot expand "out the back" as that will take away the beautiful 1/2 bath I remodelled a year ago and half of my TV room...whose EC I am working hard on right now! :)

Chris,
Sounds like you gotta attitude problem!:mad: Get your mind right and wrapped around the priorities. Really, Bathroom and TV Room??:p:p:p

[Ian Barley]

Mine is now about 1085 sq feet. I make my living off it and it is simultaneously too small and too big. But then the 400 sq feet I was in before was just too small.

I have to get round to getting some pics but have been waiting until it's just so. Only problem is it won't ever be just so - therefore I will try and get my act in gear and post some shots in the next few days.

[Glenn Wood]

Last October I finished (mostly) my 24X40 shop. seperate building that took about 6 mo. to build (I did 90% of the labor, that's why it took so long). The inside isn't finished yet. going to sheetrock the walls. and also plan to build a single wall about 10 ft. from the back to make that storage. I want to sheetrock that off so any dust I create won't cover all the stored stuff. No water at this point. going to add a small sink with just cold water so I can wash my hands/brushes etc. No insulation or heat. Hey, this is So. Ca. don't need it!

the bigger the better for sure. Your city fathers will tell you how much you can expand. There is a limit here in San Diego county but with 2/3rds of an acre I could have buildt double the size and been ok. but you should have a nice one when you are done.

Good luck with the inspectors. Mine were pretty easy on me.

um, Dennis? shut up...just kidding, sounds awesome!

Tom, keep us posted on the progress!


Pat,

I found OSB to be a great substitute for sheetrock in a shop. I sprayed mine with a block filler then the traditional rejects from the local paint store all mixed together. Very durable and easier to hang stuff on.

Wood

[Chris Padilla]

OSB is quite a bit more expensive than drywall (2-3x). The only reason I know this is I was stuck in a long line at the orange box last Sunday (picked up some crown moulding) and rested my moulding on a large stack of, you guessed it, 7/16" thick OSB at about $18/4x8sheet. I was kind of shocked at the price to be honest. 1/2" sheet of drywall there is like $5-6.

What "block filler" are you referring to, Glenn.

BTW, Welcome to the Creek...wade in often! :D

[Bruce Page]

My sanctuary is a 24’X26’ heated garage shop that is home to all the typical woodworking machinery with everything on wheels. The only semi stationary tool on the woodworking side is the Unisaw. For my metal working needs, I have a vertical turret milling machine, 14” X 40” engine lathe & necessary tooling for both. I can’t move these machines without a forklift.


I think I would be happier in a 40X60 shop.:D

[Greg Heppeard]

I wanna go play at Terry's house...please, can I, huh? PLEEEEEEZE

[Ray Johnson]

Mine Shop is 24x50. The front portion is 24x20 and is used for boat storage, working on cars if needed and other general storage. I also have an 8x10 area at the back for garden stuff. The rest is my woodworking area.

[Travis Lanman]

Well the shop I am in now is 24'x16'. It is way too small. The ceilings are almost too high at 14' though because it is so hard to keep heated. It's a step up from my first shop which was 12'x12'. I'm only using half of the shop because apparantly we have to keep the pool table and an enourmous ping-pong table in there that consumes the other half. I hope by next winter that they will be gone so that the shop will be 24'x32', it would still be too small but better.
Travis

[Terry Hatfield]

Well if this thread was posted just a few days from now, I could attach some new, updated pics of the shop. They went to the developers tonight and I should have them back by the end of the week.

Fred...buddy...you gotta get a digital camera. All this waiting is killing me. :D I'm looking forward to your shop tour!!

t

[Terry Hatfield]

Tyler,

LOL....your a case. :D

t

[Terry Hatfield]

I wanna go play at Terry's house...please, can I, huh? PLEEEEEEZE

Greg,

Heck man, your only 2 hours away!!! You are welcome to come over any time!! Just let me know.
t

[Terry Hatfield]

Frank,

Just an inside joke. :D I'm sure I can still post shop pics every once in a while and not get in too much trouble.

t

[Terry Hatfield]

Terry,

You win the award for the most efficient dust collection system ever. That must be a turbocharged, bored out cyclone. I don't see a spek of saw dust anywhere! :D :D

Kent,

The shop gets dusty..well....a little dusty....sometimes, but the pics never do. :D

t

[Steve Clardy]

10x40x64. Currently FULL!!. Planning a 16x64 addition this fall. Finishing room will be in 16x16 of this new space. Steve :D

[Fred Voorhees]

Fred...buddy...you gotta get a digital camera. All this waiting is killing me. :D I'm looking forward to your shop tour!!

t

Terry, the digital camera is, well, on the horizon. That's the best way I can put it. I have been waiting for the prices to come down and they certainly have. To be honest, the digital camera is probably the next substantial purchase that I am going to make. ;)

[Matthew Springer]

I got Rob beat, but only barely.

My "shop" is one half of a one car garage. ~11' x 10' with 8' ceilings. One 120V outlet for the entire shop which is on the "other" side of garage. One 100Watt bulb. I have to put the garage door up to rip on the table saw. The saws' on rollers, but in retrospect this is stupid; there's nowhere to roll it!

Heat? Ha! Dust collection? Ha! Adequate lighting? Ha!

The bigger problem is I rent, so correcting any of the gross deficiencis is out cause it's not my condo. The entire townhouse is only 1500sqft, for which me plus two roommates spend $2150 / month. To add to the chaos, I've got an electronics shop in my bedroom packed into one corner taking up ~30sqft. Gosh, I love Silicon Valley.

Fortunatley(?) I've got serious dragging knuckle syndrome, so my entire powered tool collection is a table saw and a router, pad sander and jigsaw complemented by some REALLY nice LN/TwoCherries stuff. I'm actually thiking of going quasi-orthodox neander, just cause I have to get rid of the TS if I want to get a bandsaw. Needless to say it takes a LONG time to build anything and the results are not very satisfactory, but i keep telling myself I'll have a bigger shop someday and not to get too upset.

I'm pretty sure I'll be buying a better bench sometime soon and swapping the table saw 50" rails for the smaller 36", I'll probably hunt up and old Inca jointer/planer at some point. Still not usre where I'll put it....

-Matthew

[JayStPeter]

I have a shop in progress. It is an 'L' shaped piece of my basement with a 32'x14' section and a 17'x10' 'L'. It has 9' joist height, so the build outs to cover pipes and ducting are over 8'. Although, along the 32' section I have a 42" wide build out over the main duct branch that is right at 8'.
Current status is framed, rough wiring done, sound proofing almost done. Should be ready for drywall if I get some time this weekend. The DC is in a 4x5' closet that also houses the sump pump and some other plumbing. The air compressor lives in the garage. It will be hard piped in eventually w/ 3/4" copper. Right now, I just have a 100' tube running through the wall :rolleyes: . Still trying to decide what to do with the floor (paint vs. industrial tile). Hoping to move machines in and start running some DC ducting by the middle of April.
Unfortunately, our moving van filled up and I wound up having to leave most of my shop cabinets at the old house. So, there will be a few years of work to replace shop cabinets built between other projects. Still can't decide on a shop layout. About the only decision I've made is where I'll put my TS and my bench. Should be a fun spring :D

Jay

[Robert Ducharme]

My shop is 50 feet x 100 feet with an additional 1000 sq ft floor space over inner rooms. Ceiling varies from 16 ft to 22.5 ft. Got LOTS of room to help people store their tools :D I will even keep them warm for you. :)

[Frank Pellow]

I think it would be really intersting if people could attach a shop layout and tool inventory to their profile. It would be even more valuable, if others could then search the tool inventory.

I will send a sdeperate note to the administrator of this web site (once I find out who that is), in order to make this suggestion. In fact, I think that I will also post this suggestion as a new thread (this evening becuase I need to log off right now).

If there is some reason you know of that this cannot be done, please let me know.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I have a 20x22 garage...er shop....:)

[Bill Spero]

My shop size varies with the task at hand. I have a two car garage and my tools are on wheels and line the walls. When I have a project going I tend to take up both bays, it’s too inconvenient to put everything away every night. And as long as the project is something my wife wants I have cart blanche to take as long as I like.

[Chris Padilla]

Bill,

I have the same issues. I freakin' HATE cleaning up after a long day's work (and after I have all my stuff just so) and pushing everything to the side to bring the bimmer in. So guess what? It stay outside quite a bit when I have a good project going.