New Shop - Layout Sanity Check

[Drew Zembruski]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of planning my new shop. I've gone back and forth a few times and think I have a general tool layout I'm happy with but wanted to get some feedback from others.

My new shop will be 21'5" x 21'5", with hopefully 9' ceilings (exact TBD... having an engineer come tell me what's possible without breaking the bank to bolster the existing, inadequate framing). It has an insulated plywood floor. All feedback welcome!

A bit more about the kind of work I do, which informs my tool selection / layout... I mostly make inset, faceframe cabinets. For the past 5 years I've exclusively been a cabinetmaker in a one man shop (80% cabinetry, 20% custom furniture). I'm getting back into the field more as a general carpenter. The plan after I move will be to work mostly in the field while having the ability to take on cabinetry and furniture projects as the arise through larger scope renovations. All that to say - I won't be in the shop 40 hours a week every week. I will be in for a few days here and there and need to efficiently be able to build cabinets (from sheets and rough stock to finished, finish-ready cabinets). Maybe a few times a year I'll need to build a table or something fully solid.

I'm planning on building my router table into the outfeed of the sliding table saw. I use it for most of my doors.

The pocket hole machine and line borer table will be the same height as the saw's carriage so it can be used as material support.

The walls will be used for clamp storage, a couple more shelves and cubbies for hand tools and smaller power tools.

I don't use a stationary joiner's style workbench; I use 2 8' strongbacks/box beams set up on stout horses for all my work; they take up about 8' x 3' or less, and when needed can be tucked in the corner and totally out of the way.

Thanks all.

New Shop Layout1.jpg

New Shop Layout2.jpg

New Shop Layout.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Your space is about the same size as my temporary shop so I really do have a feel for how tight it is. I think your general idea is a good starting point and you can adjust it once you have the stuff in the space. I seriously suggest you keep as much storage off the floor as possible so you have room to stretch for assembly and stack things up for a cabinetry job as well as accommodate finishing, unless you're sending things out for finishing. With a 21x21 space, mobility is pretty much required. That's hard to do with the slider, although having a pallet jack can help with that. Be sure that if you put your router table onto the slider that you have good access to actually use it from where you would normally stand to sent material through the routing operation including infeed and outfeed. I had that on my slider in a similar position that a shaper head would be on a slider/shaper combo and it worked fine.

[Drew Zembruski]

This is good advice, thanks Jim. For most things, I send out for finishing or finish in place... a lot of my work goes into old houses and hand painted finish is called for.

I think besides having the bench for the pocket hole and line borer, everything else will be stored on the wall and taken down to use in my work area on my beams. I'll keep a pallet jack around but hope to move the saw and jointer/planer as little as possible... we'll see. I have a mobile base for the J/P I won't be getting rid of yet.

[Jim Becker]

You'll probably refine your exact positioning of the machinery as you get a feel for your workflow. I'm not looking forward to figuring that out again when I get a building up here at the new property!

[derek labian]

Maybe I'm mis-understanding your drawing, but it looks like you have one normal size door? How are you going to get a Martin T71 in there?

[Drew Zembruski]

There's an 8' carriage door opening

[Christopher Charles]

Looks like it will be a sweet space. Suspect you'll end up moving things around once or twice. Would it make sense to move the plywood storage to right side of the table saw so you are not crossing the open (assembly?) area each time you pull a sheet? I'd also consider moving the saw to have the infeed oriented to the large door so sheets could go right of the truck (i have a pick up) and on to the saw.

Best of luck!

[Drew Zembruski]

Excellent advice; I looked at the floorplan so many times I somehow never revisited these ideas, which are excellent. Absolutely makes more sense to have the saw positioned inside the carriage doors to work out of the truck bed when necessary, and lets me keep storage right inside the door and gets it closer to the infeed side of the saw. I'm going to play around a bit, but this makes a ton of sense, thank you for your insight!

[Kevin Jenness]

1) Use cantilevered brackets for lumber support- sliding pieces endways will get old fast.

2) The placement of the line borer will limit the length of the workpieces- consider moving it to the right if you need to bore tall cabinet sides.

3) Charles' suggestion to rotate the layout 90* is good if you want to load the panel saw out of the truck bed, but that will be impractical a large part of the time in your location. Storing plywood on edge to the right of the saw will work if not so deep as to push the saw too far to the left. You might consider moving the drill press to the outfeed side of the saw.

The general layout is workable for straight cabinetwork that will be going out the door for install/finish on site. Do you have a location for a compressor? A need for a bandsaw? Where will your plywood offcuts go?

4) Get your hands on a Crazy Horse dolly https://westoakstudios.com/contact-westoak-studios/

5) Think about outsourcing your doors.

[Drew Zembruski]

Thanks for the great feedback Kevin, really good things to think about.

I'll definitely swap the lumber storage rack for brackets for lumber and just lean the plywood against the wall in that spot. Even with the doors closed / not working out of the truck, rotating the shop 90* should work well. I'd never watched the video of the crazy horse dolly in action but it looks like a real life saver in the small / one man shop. Looking into finding a kit or plans to add one ASAP. I sort my plywood offcuts into pieces long/wide enough to get stacked in front of the full sheets and then sort the rest by size and lean them to the right of my saw in the dead space along the wall. It's worked well as long as I keep it all organized and toss anything that's stuck around for too long. Open to suggestions. I've seen people have a separate rack system high on the walls for the smaller plywood panels and may explore that down the road as I'm underutilizing the wall space at the moment.

Good point on the line borer, I'll center that in the space which will give me 8'+ on both sides. The pocket hole machine will have clearance for 90% of the material it needs to handle and can easily lift out and get propped up somewhere else as needed for the rare super long piece it needs to handle.

Compressor will go in the lower left corner where I'm showing the drill press.. TBD where that will go. I don't use a bandsaw but will add one eventually. It'll be mobile and go in the corner when not used, which I generally don't like but as it's not a part of my typical workflow that's a sacrifice I'll have to make as it's a small shop.

What makes you recommend outsourcing doors? Space limitations or tooling limitations? I've ordered paint grade doors a few times but in the past have always made my own.

New Shop Layoutv2.jpg

[Kevin Jenness]

What makes you recommend outsourcing doors? Space limitations or tooling limitations? I've ordered paint grade doors a few times but in the past have always made my own.

New Shop Layoutv2.jpg

You're not set up to make them very efficiently. Incorporating a cabinet shop into a contracting business works if you can offer your customers something unique, better scheduling or a better value. If you are making doors with better material selection and arrangement or custom profiles that you can't sub out that would be a good reason to continue making them - that's why I do it. For painted cabinet doors you may find your time is better spent elsewhere. Just a suggestion.

[andy bessette]

Looks like table saw needs more room for feeding long material.

[Drew Zembruski]

That's a good way of thinking of it, I appreciate your advice.

I probably will outsource all paint grade doors to start on larger projects (e.g. more than 6 doors). I can buy paint grade cheaper than I can make it, especially square edge / simple profiles. It'll be a downgrade losing the shared Martin shapers in my current shop, but when necessary I'll probably still muddle through on the router table to match wonky profiles in old houses when necessary (most of my work is design/build for old houses)... Though I may just be lying to myself that's a good business decision because I like doing it and like feeling like I'm adding value.

I will continue making stain grade doors though, I like to be able to lay out grain on the frames and panels and solicit client feedback as necessary. Though again, maybe I'm kidding myself. We'll see how it goes and if my new market will bear the necessary pricing for staying in house on that.

[Jim Becker]

What makes you recommend outsourcing doors? Space limitations or tooling limitations? I've ordered paint grade doors a few times but in the past have always made my own.

I used outswing doors on my previous shop because they never interfered with anything on the inside when opened for any reason. In-swing doors have to have a place to go. Out-swing costs a little more because of the need for security hinges (can't be taken apart from outside) and often have to be special ordered, but it was worth every penny. I will do the same for my new shop when it goes up for any doors other than the "man door" which will not interfere with intended shop space if open.