I'm in the middle of a large extended remodel, so I'm extremely limited on space at the moment. My bedroom, office, living room, and shop are all in a single room, which measures about 14x30ft. My shop area is on one side of the room seperated by some polystyrene foam panel as a makeshift wall. It measures 8ftx9.5ft, so 76sq/ft.
I've managed to squeeze in a well stocked and functional home machine shop, and am able to perform all the duties necessary for my home business.
I wanted to show off the job I did cramming all this stuff into such a small space, and still managing to keep it usable. I also thought it would be fun to make a thread and see if anyone else had overcome the same challenge. 100sq/ft isn't a hard rule, just that anything significantly larger than that is stretching the boundaries of what I would define as tiny.
TBH though, I'm interested in seeing anything anyone has done to maximize productivity with limited space, so pics from any size shop are welcome.
Here's a view from the "entrance"
On the left is my sitting bench with my most used tools on pegboard, 9x22" lathe, and Miller Diversion TIG welder. The benches were made by me with same welder, from 2x2" .065" wall square tube, and I had them powdercoated at a local shop. I machined custom levelling leg inserts and feet from nylon sheet, threaded rod, and aluminum bar stock. Peeking out from behind the cat-box and trash can is my De-Walt multi saw (glorified chop saw).
On the right is my standing bench, with my clamp collection, metric and standard fastener assortment, and my benchtop mill. Shipping and various supplies are stored underneath, as well as my mobile kit stored in milwaukee soft bags. Mounted to the bench you can see my hot-rodded HF woodworking vise, which has been outfitted with custom milled Nylon soft-jaws. It suits my needs perfectly, I do lots of light electronics work and such, so don't really need a beast-vise.
Here you can see my craftsman 6x48" belt sander, which I got for half price at sears (on sale for $125 from $250). Also pictured is my hotrodded harbor freight bandsaw ($100 brand new in pieces in a box at a yard sale), which has been converted from a wood saw for light metal use. I beefed up the drive system, replaced the plastic blade hole insert with a custom machined aluminum one, and outfitted it with custom made ball bearing blade guides. You can see my shop fox radial drill press on the right edge.
Here's a pegboard shop, loaded with my favorite Knipex, Wera, and some Irwin/Vise Grip stuff. I wish it was all the top dollar stuff, but an Irwin electronics plier set costs $79, Knipex is $379. Above you can see my three favorite catalogs, and below my tunes.
I've managed to squeeze in a well stocked and functional home machine shop, and am able to perform all the duties necessary for my home business.
I wanted to show off the job I did cramming all this stuff into such a small space, and still managing to keep it usable. I also thought it would be fun to make a thread and see if anyone else had overcome the same challenge. 100sq/ft isn't a hard rule, just that anything significantly larger than that is stretching the boundaries of what I would define as tiny.
TBH though, I'm interested in seeing anything anyone has done to maximize productivity with limited space, so pics from any size shop are welcome.
Here's a view from the "entrance"
On the left is my sitting bench with my most used tools on pegboard, 9x22" lathe, and Miller Diversion TIG welder. The benches were made by me with same welder, from 2x2" .065" wall square tube, and I had them powdercoated at a local shop. I machined custom levelling leg inserts and feet from nylon sheet, threaded rod, and aluminum bar stock. Peeking out from behind the cat-box and trash can is my De-Walt multi saw (glorified chop saw).
On the right is my standing bench, with my clamp collection, metric and standard fastener assortment, and my benchtop mill. Shipping and various supplies are stored underneath, as well as my mobile kit stored in milwaukee soft bags. Mounted to the bench you can see my hot-rodded HF woodworking vise, which has been outfitted with custom milled Nylon soft-jaws. It suits my needs perfectly, I do lots of light electronics work and such, so don't really need a beast-vise.
Here you can see my craftsman 6x48" belt sander, which I got for half price at sears (on sale for $125 from $250). Also pictured is my hotrodded harbor freight bandsaw ($100 brand new in pieces in a box at a yard sale), which has been converted from a wood saw for light metal use. I beefed up the drive system, replaced the plastic blade hole insert with a custom machined aluminum one, and outfitted it with custom made ball bearing blade guides. You can see my shop fox radial drill press on the right edge.
Here's a pegboard shop, loaded with my favorite Knipex, Wera, and some Irwin/Vise Grip stuff. I wish it was all the top dollar stuff, but an Irwin electronics plier set costs $79, Knipex is $379. Above you can see my three favorite catalogs, and below my tunes.
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