Turning Shop

[Daniel Heine]

Good Evening,

I have a small shop set up in a corner of our garage that includes drill press, band saw, lathe and sharpener. It is way too cold this time of year to use it, and my wife is lways complaining about the mess. So, I am thinking of building a smaller size shed/shop in the back yard this spring. I'm thinking something about 10' X 12' should be sufficient. I do not do any traditional woodworking, just turning and carving. I'm also planning to upgrade to either the Nova 1644 or the Jet 1642 lathe when the shop is complete. I'm not a carpenter, so I need some advice on how to go about this. Do you think the size will be big enough? Should the floor be raised wood or concrete? Do you run the electric from the house, or from the pole? Do you know any web sites with good plans/guides for a novice like myself? I also plan to add heat and maybe air once it's done. Any suggestion on what kind of heater to use? What kinf of A/C unit to use? Finally, before I present this project to the Fuhrer for approval, do have any idea what a project like this might cost? I plan to do it all myself, and my brother-in-law has voluteered to take care of the wiring.

Thanks for all of your help.
Daniel Heine

[Terry Quiram]

Daniel

Whatever size you make in a year it will be too small. Go as large as your budget and zoning will allow. In my area I wasn't able to come from the pole to another meter unless it was for a business. You may have to upgrade your home and split off 100 amps for the shop. Concrete floor with radiant heating is the heat source you should consider. Radiant is a loop system and you can heat a bulding the size you want with a water heater. I heated a 32X40 with a 50 gal heater for 4 years before upgrading. For insulation use Icyenene sprayed in the walls and under the roof and you can heat the building with candles. :D
Definately air condition the building. Something I regret not doing is putting in solar tube lighting. I am not too far south of you if you would like to come down and see my setup.

Regards,
Terry

[Paul Stroik]

Daniel...check out what Bill did with his 12x20. If you could swing that size. IMO 10x12 would really be cramped.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=78504

[John W. Willis]

Daniel I used a 10x14 lawn/tool/storage building. It was pre-fab, aluminum exterior over 2x4 framing with a tongue and groove floor. I insulated the walls with sheet foam. I ran my electricity under ground from the house using one dedicated 15amp circuit. I too do not do any "sheet" or carpentry work, mainly just turning. I keep it a comfortable 55 degrees using an oil filled heater.

This worked for me because of limited budget, skills and physical maneuverability.
If I were starting from scratch and had a better budget I would do things differently BUT I worked with what I had and it's good.

[Russ Peters]

I too have been getting evil looks from my better half. As far as size- go the biggest you can. Power from the house is a lot easier and cheaper then bringing it from the pole. As far as heat and air I agree that radiant floor is the way to go but another option that I have been looking at is one of the hotel heat and air units. Just insulate the heck out of it. with having a table saw you might want to think of 20' as a minimum width just because you don't do sheet goods now doesn't mean that once you have your new shop you wife won't say "Honey I think that an entertainment center would be nice" Good luck

[Frank Kobilsek]

Daniel

My wife is encouraging a detached shop project. Mess and she really understands the need for me to get out of corner of the garage where I take up about 8 X 11 space. I have a 20X 25 shop sketched out. Now she says why so big. My answer: 'Your next husband might have a boat.'

Frank

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree to go as big as you can afford. I started with a 20 X 24 and 3 yrs. later added on another 20 X 24 for a total of 24 X 40. I have 6" of insulation in the walls and 24 in the ceiling. I can heat it with a space heater if I want although I have a furnace. I have a 5,000 btu A/C and it keeps it at 73 or 74 deg.

[Raymond Overman]

Daniel,

The area where my lathe is located is basically a 10 x 10 pre-fab like you would buy at one of the Big Box stores. It's small but workable and is actually pretty easy to manage. I did build a 10 x 14 shed off the side last year for storing wood but all in all, I could have made do with just my original building.

Since you've already said you are not a carpenter, I would look at the idea of a pre-fab. I have seen 12 x 16 and 12 x 20 buildings in the $3600 - $4100 range at the blue box.

As for power, I ran 220 from my existing panel and put a small panel in my shop.

I ran a lathe (was delta now Jet 1642), a 14" Grizzly bandsaw, a small table saw, a bench drill press, and sharpening station from my little space for a long time.

In the case of space though, bigger is better. You'll want more no matter what you decide on today.

[Les Kuesel]

My shop now is 18X30 I'm also tired of the mess so I'm going to divide my shop into three rooms. One room will be 9x12 a turning, sharpening and sanding room only (I find this to be where the mess really is) I'm going to add a dust control system in the room. The second will be 9x12 a finishing room only. The third 18x18 will have the rest of my equipment table saw, band saw and hand tools. I find that the table saw and band saw don't leave as much of a mess as turning and sanding and I only use them for cutting blanks. I'm hoping only to spend about $1500

[Bill Wyko]

If you looked at the post about my shop you can see I'm already bulging at the seams. I'd go as big as you can afford to. It's easier than rebuilding.:)

[Richard Madison]

Recently built fourth shop in 25 years, so have much advice but will try to keep it short. Note theme of previous posts-- then design and orient your building with the probability of adding on to it in future. Make it easy to extend one end of the building another 20 feet, for example.

Run 50 amp (or more), 220 volt service from the house to the shop. Part of this is for a dedicated circuit for smallest thermostatically controlled A/C/Heater unit you can find, built into elevated opening in center of longest wall.

Use (nominal) 6" wall insulation, 12" ceiling insulation, and install MANY outlets for ceiling lights. The lights alone will keep it warm for much of the year, but increase load on the A/C in the summer.

And a bunch more details. Best of luck with your new shop!

[Brian Poor]

I agree with all of the previous.
Go as big as you can
plan how your materials and equipment will get into your new shop
bury your electrical service leading to your new building
develop a realistic floor plan for your equipment; it may cause you to re-think the size
insulate, insulate, and then insulate a little extra.
plan for some natural daylight too if possible.

[Tom Johnson Ohio]

Grizzly Tools has a free workshop design program on the site that's kind of neat. You pick the size and use templates to add doors, windows, tools benches etc.

http://grizzly.com/workshopplanner.aspx

Tom Johnson
North Canton, OH