Rules of Thumb for Workshop Size

[Steve Milito]

Make it twice as big as you think you need, that way it will only be half the size you'll want after you move in.

[Thomas Wilson]

Yes. I know. But, plans have to meet with reality. Wives have to approve. I am looking for what size your shop is and how many stationary power tools you have. Just as an exercise in statistics.

TW

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I am fully aware of all the things you mention. I still just want to see the data for your shop. It will all average out. Give the idea a chance. Share just the number of power tools in your 1700 sq ft. Trust in the Law of Large Numbers to get to a useful number for the correlation.

So far only I and Phil have put down real numbers. I have gotten a few more data points from shop floor plans posted online. If we can get size and number of power tools for 40 or 50 real shops, we will actually learn something from this. Trust me. Statistics really works.

TW

[Ray Newman]

Shop size – forwhat it’s worth.

Woodworkers routinelyask bout shop size and it often comes up on boards such as this.

In response, I always ask: (a) what are the county/local building codes aboutbuilding onto an existing building; and (b) are there any local or communitycodes/codicils/homeowners’ association rules restricting building size andbuilding add-ons?

Some woodworker’s spend time and effort planning their shop only to find outthat they cannot build it or must scale it back.

Best to first get an idea of what you can do, then proceed from there.

[Jason Roehl]

An old friend of mine came up with a name for this: Goldfish Syndrome. Goldfish grow to the size their containers can sustain. To be fair, it was with regards to the amount of stuff one accumulates based on one's size of abode, but I'm sure it's true of woodworking shops as well. I think my friend was right, too--about 6.5 years ago, I moved into a house roughly double the size of the previous. The amount of stuff I own probably also doubled in fairly short order.

[Tom Clark FL]

I am looking for data not a formula. What is the square footage and number of stationary tools that are set up in your shop? Let's just develop a statistical sample. The Law of Large Numbers will take care of the rest. (Bernoulli would be so pleased.)

I have 11 stationary major machine tools. Last shop was 40x60, and current shop is 36x36. It's a bit more crowed but still serviceable - for my needs.

However, as my last post suggested, even more important than the machinery count is working area and shop cabinets. If the shop contained nothing but the 11 tools you will get a false answer. I have 24 shop built cabinets in the shop that are every bit as important as the machines. Just having machines without places to work, shop carts to hold projects, along with space to assemble the machined parts is just as important. (To me anyway.) <grin>

[Thomas Wilson]

I'm ok with that. I already have the codes and neighborhood covenants. I also have a topographic site plan with the trees marked. Thanks.

[Greg Peterson]

Production should dictate both tooling and size requirements. My cousin's shop is easily twice the size of my shop, but since he is producing large furniture, his requirement is based on need. I could never justify that amount of space. But as he has a commercial interest in his operations, the space is more easily justified. Now whether his space pays for itself is a matter I am not aware of. Regardless, he would not be able to operate at his present scale without the space.

My shop space is roughly 270 sq ft. At times this seems terribly small and cramped. At other times I am thankful I am not having to walk dozens of paces back and forth. I see the relative confines of my work space as an opportunity to be efficient with both the layout of the shop and operational processes of the projects I do.

[Thomas Wilson]

I saw all those cabinets. I am envious both of the cabinets and the tools that they must hold.

I understand about the assembly space for the projects. I have to move big power tools to make room for an assembly table (torsion box on sawhorses) when I glue up big items. Most of my work these days is cabinets that are only built into subunits in the shop and assembled elsewhere.

I will put you down for Z=36^2/11=117 sq. ft. per tool. Phil has 171 sq ft per tool. I have currently have 66.

Thanks TW

[Shawn Pixley]

I looked at your shop. It is really gorgeous. I move my tools around too. That is not the question. I am looking for data not a formula. What is the square footage and number of stationary tools that are set up in your shop? Let's just develop a statistical sample. The Law of Large Numbers will take care of the rest. (Bernoulli would be so pleased.)

Direct to your question. Shop / garage 20x24 (480 sf). Tools (M=mobile):

table saw (M)
14" band saw (M)
16" drill press
router table (M)
sliding compound miter saw (M)
16x32 drum sander on tool cabinet (M)
planer and mortiser on tool cabinet (M)
dust collector and separator (M)
Wood working bench (M)
jewelry soldering and lapidary station (blacksmithing tools below)
general workbench with metal vise, sharpening station, and spindle sander
wood rack against wall
various hand and power tools
general garage storage
chest freezer
and ... Two cars

if I hade the dedicated 480 sf for my shop I would be in hog heaven. As it is, I am pretty happy with what I have. Though I would like to lose the router table. So I am already at less SF per tool / object than you are starting from.

As to the Bernoulli / statistical distribution, you are not going to get enough data to accurately interpret it with any reasonable degree of certainty. Even if you had enough data, which metric would be correct - mean, median, skew effects? As others said, my feeling is to start laying it out yourself. The way I work is different than the way you work. - YMMV

[Thomas Wilson]

Production should dictate both tooling and size requirements. My cousin's shop is easily twice the size of my shop, but since he is producing large furniture, his requirement is based on need. I could never justify that amount of space. But as he has a commercial interest in his operations, the space is more easily justified. Now whether his space pays for itself is a matter I am not aware of. Regardless, he would not be able to operate at his present scale without the space.

My shop space is roughly 270 sq ft. At times this seems terribly small and cramped. At other times I am thankful I am not having to walk dozens of paces back and forth. I see the relative confines of my work space as an opportunity to be efficient with both the layout of the shop and operational processes of the projects I do.

Just to play along with my statistical experiment, how many stationary power tools are in your 270 sq. ft. How about your cousin's shop.

It is important to explain how your shop works along with giving the ratio. I am listening to that too. We can better explain which end of the range might make sense for person planning a shop based on usage.

TW

[george newbury]

Really depends on the tool.

1 tool, 600 sq ft

/edit - I really need to try and put the rail extension on.

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks for the data Shawn. I am glad you indicated the mobile tools. One of the ways most of home woodworkers save on space per tool is by moving things around to use the same space for different operations. My shop would be totally unworkable if I could not move things around.

With your list, I am going to count six stationary power tools: table saw, band saw, drill press, router table, drum sander, planer/mortiser leaving off benches, bench tools and storage. I might subtract out the floor space for the chest freezer and non-woodworking storage but that is a fine point. I am looking for your functional space when you set up for wood working. I am assuming you pull the cars out for that. So, I am going to take the full 480 for square footage.


Z=480//6=80 sq. ft.

We now have 66, 80, 117, and 171 as data points. When I get a few more, I will plot no. of tools vs sq. ft. and post it so we can see the spread. Should be interesting. I will color code for type of woodwork if I know it.

This is fun!

TW

[Thomas Wilson]

Ha ha! Point taken. I am already stretching the correlation limits by counting a table saw the same as a drill press, but I stand by the hypothesis. There will be outliers.

You are showing me the shop where trees become planks. Tell me about the shop where the planks become bookcases.

TW

[george newbury]

So your not going to count the first indoor woodworking tool my trees meet?