Small wood shop layout ideas needed....

[383 240z]

After I finish the barn up, I think I'm going to need a wood working shop. That way I can get the wood working tools out of my shop, the basement and other places I have them stuffed.

Plus I wont be getting grease on my wood projects, and I wont be getting sawdust in my machine and automotive projects. Since I'm not a huge woodworker, I'm going kinda small on this. I'm thinking 12x16 or so. Here a re a list of the large tools I have or plan on buying.

Table saw, compound miter, planer, band saw, drill press, jointer, router table, assembly table, wood workers bench.

I'll need lumber storage, supply cabinets and small tool storage. I MAY invest in a dust system at some point. The largest project I will be doing are kitchen cabinet sized. Nothing huge, but not hand helds either.

So if you guys are willing, show me your layouts, what you like, what you wish you would have done different

 

[altersaddle]

I have a 12x24 shop, currently mostly full of a Triumph TR4. Right now it is dual-purpose metal and wood shop. In my limited space, I have a small table saw, tiny drill press, wood lathe, and chop saw. A band saw (12") is in the wings.

I would love to have a router table, jointer, and planer, but I don't have the room. Even with the car out and on the road, I don't know if I could swing it easily. As it stands right now I spend a lot of time setting up and putting away so that I can work within the shop.

I also have a 20gal compressor, 27" toolbox stack, small metal lathe, and MIG welder in the shop. The compressor serves dual duty (air nailers and bodywork tools). I set up a glassfibre weld curtain to separate the two halves.

almost all of my equipment is on wheels so it can be rearranged. I also use sawhorses, a folding welding table, and a B&D workmate to make more space.

I'd like to move my wood bench out of the house and into the shop, that plan currently requires that I rebuild the lathe bench to work more like a sewing machine table or typewriter desk - either as a flat top bench or (lifting the top) a lathe. That's a bit of a pipe dream though.

Instead of a jointer, I use the table saw and hand planes. It's tricky for me to work on long stock. For sheet stock, I'll do that outside with the skilsaw and a straight edge. I've also used the japanese pull saw on sheet goods that could be cleaned up afterward on the table saw.

My dust system is a shop-vac and a crappy Princess Auto "1HP" turbine. I have considered a central unit but I think I need the flexibility of a portable. I'd like to build up a Thein baffle separator, but that will wait until I am generating enough dust.

 

[Ainsley]

My shop is 11x25' and I do mostly small projects. Most of my woodworking stuff is portable so I'll set it up when I need it, not ideal but it's the limitation of my small shop.
This is about the best overview photo I have:

The other side:

Wood storage and my largest open space

I'd suggest orienting your tooling to take advantage of workflow and space for in and out feed of larger stock.
Maybe start with your table saw in the middle with the planer lower than the top surface of the saw and beside the saw.
Mitre saw on a longer wall with and perminant bench with stops and proper support <- I really wish I had done this.

 

[Pack Rat]

12 X 16 is too small for the equipment you listed to be used. Consider 20 X 20 at a minimum.
With the exception of a cabinet saw and router table I have all the machinery you have listed.
They are all on roller stands and barely fit in a 12 X 16 area for storage only.

 

[atthebeach]

Besides woodworking, I do a lot of other things in my wood shop which is 20' x 30'. I have built in benches and storage cabinets along two walls and have all the same equipment you are proposing. My equipment is either bench mounted or on wheels to maximize floor space utilization. I have a roll-up garage door near my table saw to facilitate the feeding of 4 x 8 sheets into my table saw. I have a 10' long hose on my dust collector with quick disconnect fittings that is centrally located so it can easily be switched from table saw, to jointer, to planer. Since my equipment is on wheels, it can be pushed toward the walls to allow parking of my truck when I'm working on small stuff. I am also able to unload material inside my shop from the back of my truck. I have roll-up garage doors at both ends of my shop so a nice breeze flows through the shop on most days. What ever size you decide to build, you will soon decide it is too small. After building my 20' x 30' shop, I added a 20' x 14' addition on for storage of my farm and garden equipment. Now I am starting to feel a bit crowded again.

 

[383 240z]

Had something like these in mind

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I bought my house specifically because it had an old 30 x 40 steel building on the property. It was completely unfinished and I was able to construct a wood/machine shop from scratch and to my layout ideas. The best advise I can give you is plan, plan, plan! Though I didn't own a dust collector at the time, I routed ducting and ports in the walls and ceiling before I sheathed the walls. It really made life easier down the road. I also pre-plumed air lines in the walls. Also, if you get yourself a decent table saw you can replace one of the side wings and mount a router. The shop pictured below is in a 40 x 20 section of the building, and that includes a full bathroom and a paint storage closet.

 

[383 240z]

Any sheet goods would be cut down outside, and finished up in the shop. Planks would be 6' long at most.

 

[383 240z]

I all ready have a 32x40 automotive shop, 12x24 machine shop and a 24x32 barn that is under construction. I'm pretty sure I can fit my needs into a single car garage sized building.

Tim, dude, thats a table saw!!

 

[ratdoggy]

Just remember you need enough room to push whatever you are going to cut completely through a table saw. Assuming you put the table saw in the middle that 6' plank is going to need at least 14' to be able to rip..
My favorite thing is getting halfway through a cut and then moving the table saw so I can finish it

 

[NUTTSGT]

Atleast you have thought of putting damn near everything on casters. When you're short on space, being able to easily move things around does make a difference.

I'd also make sure to have 10" walls. Granted you plan on cutting all 4x8 sheets down outside, that may not be possible inthe middle of January. So if they have to be done inside, you want a ceiling taller than your sheet goods.

 

[Zeke]

Placing windows and door strategically in a small shop will let you handle 20 footers feeding them in from the outside. If you place your miter saw on a side wall 10' from the back wall, you can cut any length you need one way or the other. Same with the TS. Feed long stock through a back door and out the front if needed. Other than that, you just need about 9 or 10 feet on the feed side of the TS for sheet goods.

All work surfaces should be of the same height so you can line up out feed tables, etc. Put the band saw, router table, etc. on locking or rising casters.

 

[zkling]

Really depends on what class/size of machines you will have. IE will you have a full cabinet saw, full size belt driven planer or a portable job you can stick somewhere? How large of a jointer? A router table in the table saw extension wing is good if you don't need to do heavy shaping.

 

[ford33]

There are several books available that show small wood shop layouts. My local library has four in stock on this subject. Take a look and what others have done in small spaces. As others have said, plan, plan, plan. Draw a scaled diagram and make sure you have room to work. Sacrifices will be made to fit your size limitation. I doubt you will be able to fit all those tools in your shop and be able to work effectively.

A few suggestions:
Work flow is important. Consider how you get from sheet or stick pieces into a finished item. This includes storing raw materials, cutting, drilling, routing, sanding, assembly, finishing and storage of semi-finished items.

Put all tools and cabinets on casters. I like the double locking 3 or 4 inch diameter urethane models. They roll easily and lock the wheel and swivel. The larger 4" wheel size allows me to sweep under the cabinets with my broom.

I find horizontal table surfaces just collect stuff. Better to have many storage cabinets which makes putting items away neatly helping to organize the shop. I only need two medium size work tables. One for measuring and stacking work in progress and a second one for assembly and finishing. I could get away with only one table but it is nice to have two.

Make your mobile cabinets of appropriate height with consideration to use them with the tools on top together to support work in progress. For example, the drill press mobile cabinet is designed to allow the drill press table to support a board when using the miter saw mounted on its own mobile cabinet. The cabinets may not be the same height but with the tools mounted on them will allow you to support the work.

Easily accessible electrical power outlets or hanging cords from reels in the ceiling help when tools are operated in different locations. Same goes for an air hose reel mounted to the ceiling.

Design the space for clean air, safety equipment and noise control.

 

[SouperGrover]

I'm in the process of pulling together a small wood shop as well. As others have said: plan, plan, plan. You've drawn it out on graph paper so that's great. Taking it a step furhter you could use a program like SketchUp to build a quick 3D model, drop in your furniture and move them around to see how it will all flow. It's a free program and they have a model library full of tons of great stuff. Just searching for "table saw" brings up lots of objects you can add to your model.

You will not be able to have single use stations. Each station should be designed to work with multiple tools. Here is a great build I've been referring to quite a lot. It was from a woodworking magazine several years ago. I especially like his concept of a multi tool station for his miter saw. grinder and drill press. http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/smart-shop-one-car-garage

Quite a few people at Lumberjocks have been building flip tables like this one http://lumberjocks.com/projects/192842

Good luck on your build. I'll be following along with great interest as my shop will be small as well. Hope to steal some ideas from you

 

[383 240z]

zkling, the tool sizes are, std 10" table saw, 2 wheel 10" bandsaw, bench top DP, router table and planer. The jointer is a small stationary unit 5" blades 30" bed length. I MAY move one of the floor mount DP's in there. The miter saw is a 10" model with side tables

I would like to build the router into a wing of the TS very similar to Tim tool mans photo. I feel the standard bench/table height and all on casters will be the key to making this work.

I'm pretty stuck on the size of the shop, as that is the space I have for. I've put all the cleared land as pasture for the animals. I cleared a space in the wooded area above my main shop. Close enough to run power and compressed air, yet still be separate shops

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'm pretty stuck on the size of the shop, as that is the space I have for. I've put all the cleared land as pasture for the animals. I cleared a space in the wooded area above my main shop. Close enough to run power and compressed air, yet still be separate shops

That's probably good that you are stuck on size because I was going to suggest going from 12x16 to 16x20. That's just and extra 4 feet on each demension.

 

[zkling]

zkling, the tool sizes are, std 10" table saw, 2 wheel 10" bandsaw, bench top DP, router table and planer. The jointer is a small stationary unit 5" blades 30" bed length. I MAY move one of the floor mount DP's in there. The miter saw is a 10" model with side tables

I would like to build the router into a wing of the TS very similar to Tim tool mans photo. I feel the standard bench/table height and all on casters will be the key to making this work.

I'm pretty stuck on the size of the shop, as that is the space I have for. I've put all the cleared land as pasture for the animals. I cleared a space in the wooded area above my main shop. Close enough to run power and compressed air, yet still be separate shops

Ah, you'll be fine with those machines in that size of shop. Look up a few "single stall woodshop" many a plans. I've got all the essentials in ~1/3 of a single stall. Would like a jig saw and larger rip capacity but no room. Casters and stacking are your friend.