Shop inside my Barn

[structures282]

Hi. I built a 40x60x16 barn with a loft a few years ago. I'm thinking I want to add a shop inside the barn. Mainly for a wood working set up. I wanted a room really to keep the wood working tools set up and also to keep the saw dust from going everywhere thru the barn. With the way my barn is constructed I can go 14' wide -OR- 20' wide on the inner shop. I'd like 14' width but I'm afraid it will be too narrow. And then with a 20' setup I'm loosing 1/3 of my 16' tall shop. So my question has to do with how much of that 16' ceiling height am I going to miss? Is 40x40x16' well enough? Or am I going to wish I had 40x46x16'. Has anybody out there built a room inside a shop and wish they hadn't made it so big? Here's some pics of my current setup and some 3d layouts of what I was thinking.

 

[Zeke]

A maximum of 14' is not near enough for a woodshop with a table saw or a miter saw bench. Think of how you handle a 4 x 8 sheet or a 16' stick. I've done it in 15' but I used doors for overhang. I have 16' now and have to open the door to have room to rip 8'. I have to flip around any 16 footers I want to rip.

So a big no to 14'.

Edit: OK, looking again I see you would have 36' in length. Yeah, that'll work but you need doors to load in material and take product out.

 

[Sumboodie]

40x40 is still a decent sized garage area. My whole building is 30x42, but I have a 14ft apartment in the back, so I'm down to 30x28. My old garage was 23x25 interior, so still bigger.

 

[CraigStu]

I was thinking the 14 would be just fine. Zeke may have a point to consider though. For me, I'd have anything that might be his concern on locking casters and wheels so I could move it to deal w/ a long piece. The other way you have 36 so plenty to rip a 16ft stick. I guess it depend on how much wood work you do and what type. I'd rather keep the rest of the shop at 46' and deal w/ a 16' stick IF I ever need to.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Have you considered a lean-to addition on one end for the wood shop?

 

[PoorUB]

I would be all over the 20x36, but it depends on what tools you have. Woodworking to some is a hand full of chisels, a few handsaws, hand planes and a nice bench. To others it is every large power tool ever made.