Dedicated Room in Shop

[JOHN1]

Did not know where to post this.

I have a 24x30 metal shop, 6" slab. here in Louisiana.

Humidity for my machine tools is a constant battle.

I intend to build "inside" of the existing 20x30 ,a machine shop per say 12x20 for my mill /lathe etc. Will insulate and drywall. Intend to use a dehumidifier or ac/heater or small central unit. Therefore I can do my machine work inside controlled environment and do the auto/lift stuff in the rest of the shop.

Has anyone built such a room. Have searched and seems everyone wants to insulate/cool/heat a large shop.

God Bless
John

 

[Richard D]

You may as well cool the whole shop. Once you've worked in an A/C equipped shop on a southern July day, you'll never go back. I got an in-wall unit from Sears, less than a grand, A/C but no heat. My garage isn't much smaller than yours(albeit wood framed, shingled roof). I insulated the walls but not the ceiling(yet). It is 20* cooler than outside even on the hottest days; this winter I will insulate the ceiling and expect it to make a big improvement. I never have even noticed an increase in my electric bill.

 

[rsanter]

I have seen several setups where people have 'clean rooms' for doing engines or specific work in a controlled environment so that doing sanding, grinding and misc stuff in the main area will not contaminate the machine tools or specific delicate work.
Do it......
One guy I knew had one bay setup with tools and such so he could pull his car in and work in a controlled area while the remainder of the shop was storage and parking

Bob

 

[dladcock]

Do you have a vapor barrier under your shop floor? Makes a huge difference.

dla

 

[larry_g]

I have. See build below. The clean area was designed in as part of the mez. So my machine shop area is 11.5 x 35.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Falcon67]

I have a 12x24 inside my 24x40. The rest of the shop has AC and heat but I did this because I work mostly in here and don't have to condition the whole place unless I want to.

 

[kbs2244]

A common idea.
Cheaper and easier on all steps.
Dehumidifier is a must.
A small, always on, back and forth fan, high in one corner, for constant air circulation will also work wonders.
If the AC will keep the room cooler than the outside all the time, you will want the vapor barrier on the outside of the wall.
(On the warm side.)

 

[Outlawmws]

I'd go for it.

I did that for a small workroom in my 20 X 24 garage, mostly so I would have more useable "wall space" and I use the space above it for off the floor storage. I only made it 92" tall on the outside; enough space for the solid core sliding door, a header for the door, and the joists and top plywood. Maximized the top storage, space, and who actually needs 8' ceilings in a space 11' X just over 6'? It's basically an inside shed.

It houses my lathe, surface plate, a small workbench another shallow bench top only a foot deep (Converted upper Kit cabinet), a largish cabinet, and a small 2" wide Kennedy roller. Cramped for two people to work unless they are on opposite ends, but perfect for one.

 

[MTNFRAMER]

They have structural-insulated-panels or s-i-p's with a metal skin that would be an option

 

[Laundrew]

This is my studio inside of my garage and is approximately 8'X16' and is home to my Monarch 10EE and Van Norman #12 milling machine. I used 2'X6' for construction and the roof of the studio is a great area for storage. The dehumidifier had no issues keeping the machines rust free this summer We are planning on moving in a few years so this will have to do in the interim.

Be well...

 

[Sureshot]

I have a 12x12 room that I keep warmer in the winter and use AC in the summer. I also put an exterior sealed door on it. I made my roof out of 2x4 rectangular tubing and 3/4" plywood and store motorcycles, atv's and sleds up there in the off season.

 

[BWS]

We "had" a clean rm....but nuthin got done in there.And thats not some lame joke,it was a fancy room for measuring little tiny measurements(metrology lab).It didn't get used enough to warrent the space so I said F**k it....just general machineshop space now.

Reason for post however...and this may be a bit hard to relay or describe.You can create space with temporary walls.Nuthin says you have to build a "4-9/16" wall system.Think a big public library.....floor to ceiling bookcases.But in our case these will be stock/part/equip shelves.Which way they face is dependant on final use.

But,be careful you're not creating a "cave"....so I'd carefully set the storage units(scratch built,of course) so that you could use the windows you stole out of the crackhouse down the street....or maybe bought from one of those repurpose joints?In either case....you can space the units to accomodate whatever size windows you get.

Do this in the corner of shop.....oh yeah.Go find an old glass shop and see if they got any OLD store front glass doors.I've seen PILES of old temer'd glass doors that go for scrap prices.Now stick all this together....because its a right angle you're pickin up major support.You should be able to get all this together for about beer money.....if not,you're not shopping in the right places.Good luck.

 

[Falcon67]

I would add that a key thing to my "clean" room is the 48" wide pocket door. Last week the top half of the shift handle fell off the riding mower. It's a 33" Snapper 12 HP, nice machine. The point is that once I mangled it out of gear, I was able to push the mower around to the shop, in the big door, in front of the race cars and into the work room where I could fidget with the thing on a nice floor, right by the tool box, plenty of light - and with the AC running.

 

[bullfrog123]

I have an office, 1/2 bath, and "tool room" all within my shop. Above all that is storage and my powdercoat room. The tool room is awesome!!! Keep my bolt bins, grinders, drills, electrical, air compressor, etc etc. I say go for it if you have the space. It is nice to have a clean room to store things and keep the general work dirt out of things.
And yes....all these rooms are insulated.

 

[trbomax]

I have 2 14x32 rooms with a bath connecting them that are done that way.They have thier own 95% lp furnace,dehumidifyer,and ac.Humidity is kept at 30% yr round. The pics have been all over this board but I can take a couple more.