I once had a wood working  space that was great. Plenty of room for tools, machines and lumber. I couldn't afford too many things, so I bought older used machines, went to sales, auctions, etc. Then I retired and spent most of my time with my wife and my wood working shop. Well, that was before things happened. You know what I mean,  you have to move, or things happen that you have no control of. I found myself in a position of trying to reestablish a wood shop. A MUCH SMALLER SHOP.  So I had to sacrifice, space and be inventive with the space I have. 

So I have a question for all of you, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MAKE YOUR SHOP MORE ORGANIZED, MORE COMPACT.

 

 I hope to use your information to help me with the limited space I have.

 

Thanks.

 Ron

I have a 3 car attached garage approximately 30'x20' in size. My wife has need of parking her car in the garage, but will park on the driveway when I am working on projects. To accomdate the car space, every major tool in on a mobile base or a mobile table. That includes my 52" Jet Contractor Table Saw, router table, Sliding Compound Miter Saw, drum sander, drill press, lathe table, and work bench. My Ridgid 13" planer and mortiser mounted to a rolling table with my scroll saw and belt/disk sander underneath that are easily interchangable with the mortiser. I also have my clamps on a rolling clamp rack (Norm Abram's design from the New Yankee Workshop). When my shop is not in use all of the tools can be stored on the single car side of the garage with the exception of the lathe table and drum sander which is on the 2 car side against the wall and the planer/mortiser table in on the front wall. I have plenty of room for the car and to move around.

I guess I need a lesson in space organization. I have a 24 x 32 shop and it is full to the brim. I don't have to move anything for any purpose other than to get to something else. I created stations to work at and for the most part it works okay, but I think I could really grow into a larger shop easily.

 

Having to cut back and reduce is like going on a diet and I don't do too good at that either.

 

Larry is a pretty good layout guy. He seems to have everything in his shop laid out with room to work around it.

 

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Ron, I was limited on building space so when I build my shop I built a 16 X 28, two story barn.   Everything in the shop is castered and mobile so that it can be moved to allot space for other equipment usage.  In the center of the shop is a 4 X 6 assembly table that has a compressor underneath on one side and storage for my spindle sander and wood lathe on the other.  In my shop, the lathe is the least used piece and I can move it from the shelf to the top of the assembly table  and have it ready to run in about 5 minutes.  A small time sacrifice for the space. 

I don't think it matters how big your shop is, it can always be bigger. 

 

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Ron Dudelston
Above and Beyond WoodWorks

One of my biggest improvements to my shop was my vow to quit collecting things, wood, tools, etc. I have been doing pretty good at that promise and try to use all available space for things I use, not things I may need some day.

I have a small shop basically 9 x 19 or so. So I have been using m,y game room as an assembly point. I have started moving some of my equipment other there. Like my scroll saw for now.  I'm in the process of planning and building another bench in the game room also. You learn how to work in smaller spaces but that also dictates the size of the projects you can take on. And the com,missions I have been getting are larger and larger so I must do something. I honestly think no matter who large your shop is, you can alway think that more space would benefit somehow.

 

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Ron, this is a bit off topic but not really.  When I built my shop I did something that confused my wife.  I put outlets in the ceiling.  It is really handy to plug a secondary light or a sander into the ceiling and have the cord out of the way.  If you have a tight shop and outlets are hard to reach putting them in the ceiling can help.

 

 

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Ron Dudelston
Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Hi Ron,

My shop is being constructed in a converted 24' camping trailer. The inside dimensions are 7.5' x  roughly 20.5'. I'm still working out the details of fitting everything into this space. One thing that I have done to help in doing so is as I picked my equipment I picked machines that share common attachments. 1 to avoid the expense of multiple purchases of said attachments, 2 to save storage space for same attachments. I also chose tools that have the capability of multiple use, such as having the disc sander attachment for my lathe I will not have a stand alone disc sander taking up space. I'm also working out the layout for a common bench for as many pieces of equipment as possible to be ran off of a lineshaft that will run under the bench. I will be putting doors on both sides of the trailer so that I can use the table saw, and jointer by opening the doors both sides to provide working room. I will be running my 14" drillpress off of the headstock end of my lathe via the lineshaft using the over the top pulley setup from an 11" drillpress that Delta had for when mounting the 11" drillpress to the table saw.  I do have a couple of machines that will have to remain as stand alones,  such as my shaper, and radial arm saw but these are both small units that I can move as needed.

So I hope this gives you some encouragment as to what can be done in small spaces, it takes a little ingenuity but it can be done.

Regards,

Larry

Or, consider a Shopsmith

Thanks everyone. I didn't say that I was working out of half of my 2 car garage. So far I have my planer on a stand that is high enough for my vacuum to sit under. I have a contractor's saw that has a router table. It folds up and has wheels on it so I can roll it out of the way. I was going to tell you about the rest, but I might as well wait till I clean it up and just send some pictures.

  Some simple things that I have done that helps;

1. No more large projects.

2. Unless it is free, Do not store much wood, even then store only quality wood.

3. Buy smaller, good quality tools. 

4. Don't over buy because it is on sale or you may need it some day.

5. Look for used tools/machines on Craig's list.

6. Don't be a pack rat. Something free at a garage sale..............still has to be stored.

Ron.........I hope and pray that I never have to down size my shop space. I built a 24x32 shop with 10' side walls and have been very happy. I do have a monster in benches surrounding my 52" besmiere equipt unisaw.I could cut 1" off the 8' side of a sheet of plywood and not loose control of the long portion. Likewise on the back side of the saw, where my down draft sanding station is located. All of my stationary tools are on wheels and store up against (or close to) the wall.

Our shop is a two car garage.  A three car garage would be heaven.  A real shop - I can't imagine.  I would be overjoyed.  

 

SQ

 

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

Thanks for the nice comment, John2..

 

My great Canvas CAD program and I are willing to help you re-layout your shop, if you have an open mind, a pencil, paper, measuring tape and some time and patience..

How about it, Sue..

 

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Lare..

Larry, I sure wish I could could take advantage of your skills with the CAD program. Thanks for the offer, but at this point in my life, my wood shop is starting to take a back seat to other events in my life.  I think that it is great that you offer this service to those of us on this web site. 

 

 

 

 

 

That would be great.   We are actually trying to figure out how to better use the space we have.  What do you need from me to get started?  Measurements?  List of equipment?  Photos?  Let me know.  Thanks for the offer.  

 

SQ


Larry Jenkins said:

Thanks for the nice comment, John2..

 

My great Canvas CAD program and I are willing to help you re-layout your shop, if you have an open mind, a pencil, paper, measuring tape and some time and patience..

How about it, Sue..

 

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Lare..

Sue, and others..  Here's what I need to do a layout.  

 

The overall usable length and width of your Shop area wihin an inch or two.

Location of any windows, their sizes and any doors and their sizes within the usable shop area.

Width and depth of all major shop tools, stationary or portable.

 

This can be in the form of a sketch on paper, mailed to me, or accurate description of all the above via email.

 

Photos are nice, but not necessary.

 

After I make the layout, I can post an image of it here for your comments.

Here's what one would look like.  This is my shop after I did the layout.

 

 

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Lare..

Larry, nice looking shop!

 

Ok.  I will try to get these to you today.  We have lots of equipment.  I will add pictures - when I clean the place up a bit. I'm the messy one.  My husband is tidy.  When I use clamps, sandpaper, equipment, etc it seems to be everywhere.  I can destroy the order of the shop in minutes.  I consider it an art form - but hubby finds it annoying.  (grin)  Ok, I'm working on these issues to keep peace in the shop.  

SQ

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.