Shop progress

[lexrex]

A post to document my progress and solicit advice on my designs.

The first one will be my initial design, rough draft so to speak.

Comments welcomed.



I think workflow is ok. I like the idea of having an outfeed cabinet that supports my miter saw a few feet away for crosscuts, etc. I also have the jointer and planer nearby. I need to keep the left hand wall clear of large power tools because the upper part of that wall is a lower part of the TV room (split level). If I have lumber longer than 10' I can store it in another part of the unfinished basement, not shown. I also need a spot for sheet good but I don't keep much of that on hand.

[Beamer]

I absolutely LOVE the mitersaw/tablesaw outfeed arrangement. Genius!!!

The bandsaw tucked in the corner thing never jived with me but for quick cuts i suppose it's okay. I would almost swap the drill press and the bandsaw, myself. Might save you from having to pull the bandsaw out quite so often - though with the dust collector there, maybe not ... head scratchin' needed

Nice work! Lots of room, there, too. 513 square feet - not bad at all

[Joe Lyddon]

The only thing that I noticed, right off, that I would not like, is the location of the Bandsaw.

If it were on rollers so it could be moved out to where you could cut longer pieces, that would work; otherwise, for me, I would be cramped in not being able to cut what I wanted to cut.

I have mine located near the front of a garage door, so I can have a long piece sticking out the garage and cutting it with plenty of room for the cut piece to go (inside the garage).

An Assembly table placed between the jointer/bench and planer/table saw would be nice for general work space; TS outfeed support, Jointer & planer staging, and work in process area for cut parts.

All equipment NOT used frequently could be on wheels where they could be rolled(stacked up in a corner) and rolled out when desired. This would give you more Prime space for frequently used tools.

Just my brain rattling...

Wish I had that much room to play with! ;D ;D

EDIT:
I think I'd SWAP the Spindle Sander with the Bandsaw...

[Joe Lyddon]

Ooops... I thought you had a 12" miter saw!

Side vice on workbench... wrong side?

[Ruffnek]

That's a good layout and like Jason, I like the miter saw positioning with the TS outfeed as an extension. Good idea.

Also like Jason, I do not like the bandsaw positioning. I use my bandsaw a lot and I'm always having to set up a temporary outfeed table for handling long stock. Those 43" back legs on the rocking chair I'm building are an example. Plus, I routinely saw ~4' logs into lumber on my bandsaw and I like having plenty of infeed/outfeed room. You could perhaps change places with the DP and pull the BS out far enough for the table to clear the DC.

I wouldn't get too concerned over work flow, either, in a one-man shop. Mine is 600 SF (outside dimension) and it's but a few steps in any direction to everything in there. That's one of those forum things that sounds really important but in our small shops, it's really a non-issue, IMHO.

That's about all I can find to be picky about. Overall it's a great layout, although I expect it will change after you have worked in it a bit. That's when you will find out how well it works.

[Leo Voisine]

Chris,

I love the layout. lot of nice features to it.

But,

No the band saw cannot go into a corner like that. You need infeed and outfeed room - 8 feet in either direction - or more if possible.

I have mine on wheels flat against a wall in a real small space between my planer (on wheels) and my ladders. When I need it I pull it straight out away from the wall. Same with the planer. Same with my drum sander.

OK - first some logic

Think of the build of a project

1) Rough Sawn Lumber
A) rough cut to length and width
a) Saws of some sort
B) Joint flat - then maybe edge joint
a) Jointer
C) Thickness plane
a) Planer
Sooo the first operations are rough cutting and dimensioning.
Those pieces of equipment should be somewhat close together, and this is where the lumber comes "in"

Note: The jointer in the middle of the floor is a waste of precious center space. Just about more than any tool - the jointer should have it's back against something, like a wall. It could be back to back the the router table. BUT, you NEED to have 12 feet infeed and 12 feet outfeed. likely on both tools.

The miter saw needs more than 4' infeed / outfeed.

Is it possible to move your lumber out of the shop - to a shed - or overhead? That wall space is precious - and the lumber does not need to be so "at hand".

2) Process Work (after dimensioning)
At this point you will rarely use the jointer and just about not use the planer

A) Table Saw / Miter Saw / Router table / Band saw / Workbench
a) These tools - need to be "at hand"
B) Having them grouped will be helpful

3) Finishing
A) Assembly / Sanding / Finishing compounds
a) This will be furthest away from the rough cutting
b) workbench can be shared for 2&3

At the finishing step - you should have all you poly, sandpaper, paint, brushes, thinners, cleaning stuff - at hand in cabinets, drawers or whatever.

This is where the project goes "out"

Yes there will be compromises, due to space limitations.

In a perfect world - I would have seperate rooms - the rough cutting room would have a dedicated chop saw and table saw. BUT, we don't live in a perfect world.

Sooo - sorry, just trying to help - not criticize - but you know me ;D

No matter HOW you set it up - you WILL be moving it around after.

[deepsplinter]

Leo said, "The jointer in the middle of the floor is a waste of precious center space. Just about more than any tool - the jointer should have it's back against something, like a wall. It could be back to back the the router table. BUT, you NEED to have 12 feet infeed and 12 feet outfeed. likely on both tools."

The miter saw needs more than 4' infeed / outfeed"

I agree! I don't know if you'll need 12ft, but I think you'll need more than you have there now.

[lexrex]

Thanks for the advice so far! Draft 2 will have the band saw moved first and then I'll see what makes sense. I do like the jointer on a wall.

The lumber can go elsewhere for now but if we eventually finish the rest of the basement for living area it will need to come into the shop.

I am not sure about jointer infeed/outfeed. I don't envision working on 12' boards for anything. If I occasionally need more than 6' - 8' I can move the jointer, it's on wheels.

The the tools have weird labels or don't match what I have that's because I'm using someone else's Visio template and stencil and I haven't figured out how to change the labels.

Draft 2 later today...

[imahic]

The miter saw is what caught my eye first. Not much room to left of your saw. I built a rolling cabinet to put my scms on. When it is done it can be rolled up against the wall and out of the way. I am in the process of making nearly all of my workbenches portable so they can be moved out of the way when not needed. I am looking for a bench top drill press also so I can do the same thing with it. My bandsaw is on one of those movable whatchamacallits....lol. It works pretty good and seems to be pretty solid when it is locked down.

Mike

Mike

[lexrex]

Part 2. I removed two cabinets which in reality were wall cabinets, no floor standing. That opened up quite a bit of space in the model for the lathe and the router table. I'll have plenty of overhead clearance for both tools. The cabinet over the lathe will be lathe tools and hand tools. I moved the miter saw and placed the spindle sander on top of the rolling tool cabinet.

The details are not perfect but this is someone else's stencil design so I'm not going to spend time screwing around with it.

Edit: The following are already on wheels:
router table
tool cabinet
jointer
planer
TS (though I want this to pretty much be stationary)

Comments?

[imahic]

Looks like your shop and mine are roughly the same size. I might try to use some of your ideas when I rearrange mine. I would still try to do something with the miter saw were it me. You aren't giving yourself a lot of room for longer stock. If you never cut longer stock then it is no big deal. That's why I put mine on casters so it gave me more flexibility. I like that idea for your table saw though. My problem is I have a post in the middle of mine. I might try to see if I can eliminate that. Glad you started this thread, these guys are putting in some good ideas. I'm gonna be watching this one for my own education as well.

Mike

[sawduster]

Might wanna move the stool to the other side of the bench and maybe clear a little more room on that side. Otherwise you might bang your elbow against the lathe when hand sawing at the bench. ;D Oh, and swing that jointer around 180 degrees.

As time goes on, you will likely want to tweak things a bit, so don't bolt anything to the floor yet.

[Stretch]

I have one question and several suggestions. The question is how much lumber do you intend to store in the shop? If it's not just a huge amount, I suggest that you put your lumber rack above your miter saw. For me, the first step I do on any project is to rough cut my lumber to length. So it's very easy to just pull the lumber off the rack and cut it at the miter saw. Build some bins under the miter saw counter for cutoffs. This is how I'm doing it in my shop.

If you do move the lumber rack, I'd suggest moving the lathe to where you have the rack now. Then in the lathe's place build a counter against the wall for tool storage/extra workspace. This way, you can stand at your bench in the middle of the room and have all your hand tools directly behind you.

Another thing I am doing is pairing my jointer and planer. That way they share infeed and outfeed areas and can share a dust collection drop.

Then I'd move the bandsaw where the jointer is in draft #2 so it would also have decent infeed/outfeed space along the wall.

Then the drill press would tuck in nicely behind the door and you'd have a nice open area behind the table saw for assembly.

[Joe Lyddon]

You must use the Drill Press a lot... I would have it more out of the main room... like over next to the Red Tool chest.

What is outside through the South East Corner passage-way?
The Bandsaw could be placed back into the corner BUT with it's Back against the the South wall. Long infeed area goes into other room to the East. The BS table would be higher than the Jointer allowing wood to OUT & over the jointer; if outfeed supports would be required, just roll the jointer out & away while cutting.
You would have a problem if you wanted to BS cut a strip off a panel of plywood that was wider than the passage-way opening. That's why I suggested it being more to the center of the South wall.
That door must be locked on occasion to STOP someone from opening it while using the BS!

Also, with the BS away from the East wall, you will be able cut a full sheet of Ply a lot easier on the TS... may need extra TS outfeed support area when cutting large sheets or 8' lengths.
... like an assembly/work table.

[fredbelknap]

Chris it looks pretty good but my guess it will change as you go along. Mine sure has and I still might change it some more. One thing would be nice is to get the DC and the air compressor out side the shop.. They are noisy and take up space that could be used for something else. Neat drawings.

[Leo Voisine]

Draft 2 looks a lot better.

Put EVERYthing on wheels.

I often need to move machines to get those extra long cuts.

On the router table - making moldings requires a long in and out feed.

On the miter saw - if I get 14-16 foot long boards - I need at least 8 feet of in/out feed to cut them down.

Like I said before - I pull the BS and the Planer and the drum sander in and out as I need them.

Having enough room for every tool is really tough.

Looks good - and you WILL change it.

[maxwellsmart007]

I haven't read the other replies, but can you switch positions with the bandsaw and drill press?

[lexrex]

I can switch the bandsaw and DP and will probably experiment once I get a real bandsaw.

I don't plan to use the drill press a lot but it's not in the way against the planer. Eventually I may put another work table in if I can and I'll have to move the DP.

I am not going to need more space on the miter, I might even place it where I had it originally, I'm sure there are lots of reasons to have a huge amount of space on either side, it's just not what I do. I don't envision building anything wider than 8' and taller than 7'. That said, if something comes up, I will simply move it to a work table.

This is a basement shop, any long boards or sheet goods will be cut down in the garage and then moved downstairs. Full sheets I will not even attempt to get inside. I am limited by a doorway opening anyway for furniture and honestly, aside of some bedroom sets, I can't see making anything very large. So I will configure my space more compactly and adjust if I need to.

That said, most of the tools are mobile so if I need long in/outfeed I will just move them.

I have to give some thought to lumber storage, if I can put it over the counter I will, that's a good idea you have there Mark.

Joe, my goal is to keep that door closed and sealed and I do intend to have a door lock. I want to keep all dust confined to the shop. I might just have to put the BS on a mobile base for those times when I need the in/outfeed.

[Joe Lyddon]

Sounds good!

I didn't know about the garage shop for sheet goods. That will make things easier! ;D ;D

I'd still move the DP... wouldn't want to wrestle pieces around the DP while planing... That's just me... ;D

Good luck...

[lexrex]

Jan 17, 2010 14:25:01 GMT -6 sawduster said:

Might wanna move the stool to the other side of the bench and maybe clear a little more room on that side. Otherwise you might bang your elbow against the lathe when hand sawing at the bench. ;D Oh, and swing that jointer around 180 degrees.

As time goes on, you will likely want to tweak things a bit, so don't bolt anything to the floor yet.

Good catches Jerry Personally I think the jointer is too easy to use so I like running it backwards for the challenge