Shop Build - Winding River Workshop

Rennie Heuer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,607
Location
Constantine, MI
Time to start the “Shop Build” thread! I want to be in by winter so I’ll have to get a move on. I’m new to Michigan, but I heard winters come early and hard here.

The shop build will begin on two fronts: The conversion of the garage and the addition of a storage shed to hold all the ‘non-shop’ stuff. In reality it will also be a temporary home to much of the smaller shop items that are currently in the garage to make it easier to get things like wiring, painting, and floor prep done.

The shed will be a 12 x 16 structure placed on piers about 30' from the garage. It will be sided to match the house with a steel roof. As it is under 200 sf it will not require a building permit, but it will require zoning approval. I’m working through the 10-page application now.:eek: Plans are straight forward wood frame construction. There will be a loft for storage of some folding lawn furniture, etc. Once the shop is complete and everything is moved in I want to put some storage space along one wall of the shed for lumber. I’m hoping this will free up some space in the shop.

View attachment FWW Shop layout.skp

I finally worked out a plan with the electrician that will essentially upgrade the current 30-amp service to the garage to 60 amps. Based on feedback here and input from the electrician that should satisfy my needs. It also chops his initial estimate to about half. The upgraded service will cost about $1,400. More than I had hoped but close enough.

I am at a bit of a loss on how to configure my space. I would like to place a small office in the front corner. This is actually a bit of a necessity as there is no place in the house where I can set up my computer with the extra monitor and printer – it’s just too small.

In the “that might be a good idea” column are a few things that are really not necessities and I could do without. Among them are a half bath, finishing room, and closet for the DC and compressor.

I know that shop planning is considered by many of you to be a fun activity, so here’s your chance to have some fun! I am open to ideas and space use possibilities that might challenge my own. I’m attaching a few pictures and a Sketchup drawing of the raw space for your enjoyment.
DSC_0004.jpgFWW Overvie.jpg

A couple of notes – the small roll up door will go away and be replaced by a window. I will reuse that door in the new shed. The man door already exists. The ceiling is 8’3”. I’m replacing the top panel in the large roll up door with one that has windows. That door faces south so it will bring light into the shop year round.

Tools that need to be accommodated: 10” Cabinet saw with a 52” fence, 18” band saw, 16/32 Performax on roll around stand, 10” miter saw (non-sliding), New Yankee style router table, DeWallt 735 planer that shares a flip top stand with my mortiser, floor standing drill press, 10” disk/6” belt combo sander on a roll around stand, antique work bench approximately 28” deep and 76” wide, dust collector (not purchased yet, looking for a good deal), small compressor (Hitachi dual tank), Jet ceiling mount ambient air filter, Delta DJ20 jointer.

I would really like to be in the shop soon, but time and budget will dictate.
 
Hi Rennie. My shop is 28x28 which doubles as a garage. My table saw is on casters so it can be moved as well as my planer. I was able to get some cabinets from a job I was doing and put them in a L shape in the back corner. They work great, uppers and lowers with a nice counter top. A few things I wish I had done different, a closet of some sort either inside or just outside for my compressor and dc. They really make a lot of noise in here. My overhead doors have windows but they are up near the top of the doors. I cannot see outside when the doors are closed and it feels like im really boxed in. People come to the house and I dont even know there here. The best thing I did was add heat, lucky enough to have natural gas so I put in a ceiling mounted heater. A/C would be great but I was told that until we have central air in the house no a/c in the shop! Lighting is a big thing, can always use more. I do have a upstairs for storage, pull down stairs which helps keep a lot of the floor space open. Good luck with your build, looking forward to watching your progress.
 
Hi Rennie. My shop is 28x28 which doubles as a garage. My table saw is on casters so it can be moved as well as my planer. I was able to get some cabinets from a job I was doing and put them in a L shape in the back corner. They work great, uppers and lowers with a nice counter top. A few things I wish I had done different, a closet of some sort either inside or just outside for my compressor and dc. They really make a lot of noise in here. My overhead doors have windows but they are up near the top of the doors. I cannot see outside when the doors are closed and it feels like im really boxed in. People come to the house and I dont even know there here. The best thing I did was add heat, lucky enough to have natural gas so I put in a ceiling mounted heater. A/C would be great but I was told that until we have central air in the house no a/c in the shop! Lighting is a big thing, can always use more. I do have a upstairs for storage, pull down stairs which helps keep a lot of the floor space open. Good luck with your build, looking forward to watching your progress.
Thanks Sayer!

I'll need to check, but I think the windows in my door will be low enough to see people coming in. Lighting is a big thing for me too. I purchased 18 two lamp 48" fluorescent fixtures used before I moved here. Those, with a task light or two, should do the job.

Heat will be provided by a Modine ceiling mount gas furnace. Its one from their Hot Dawg line which are smaller versions of those used in warehouses, etc. I have yet to decide on cooling - last shop had a small window type mounted in the wall and it did quite well. Been watching for a split unit to come available, but no luck yet. The good news is I wont be in the shop soon enough this year to need it.

I just finished putting a drop down ladder in and decked the attic with 3/4" T&G OSB. I have about 280 sf of storage. The closet for the DC might be a must. Mine was in the shop last time and it was noisy!
 
:lurk: :lurk: :lurk: :lurk:

I'd be tempted to make the computer setup more of a partially enclosed desk than a full office.

Thinking something like the "faux armoire" variety - something like this (people really pay that much for these sorts of things? :huh:)
http://www.wayfair.com/Illusions-Armoire-Desk-77007.827.x-YB1356.html
but there are other designs as well.

That would keep it fairly clean but also save a bunch of space.

Of course what you _really_ need now is another project like a hole in the head :D
 
Sneaky indeed! It would not add to the footprint. But that is the offending side of the building being only 2' off the property line rather than the required 10'. Perhaps another side? In the attic? Interesting. I can see that working for a cyclone but I'm afraid a cyclone is not in the budget. Looking at a single stage unit.
 
I thought you had a cyclone, sorry! Oh wait, did you sell yours before the move? No matter.

Rennie, my shop is like 11x24 so to my mind you have tons of space. And a closet for the cyclone is nice, but you can always box it in at some point in the future. You're going to be wearing hearing protection anyway when you use your TS, or whatever, so ...

As for the office, you mean that you'd like to box in the spot under the window by the person-door? That would kind of be like an airlock/entry area then also. I bet you could do that with very minimal cost -- maybe try to work it such that the electrical is all just in the exterior wall, so that if you find that something isn't quite right, then removing or reconfiguring those partition walls is as painless as possible.
 
I thought you had a cyclone, sorry! Oh wait, did you sell yours before the move? No matter.

Rennie, my shop is like 11x24 so to my mind you have tons of space. And a closet for the cyclone is nice, but you can always box it in at some point in the future. You're going to be wearing hearing protection anyway when you use your TS, or whatever, so ...

As for the office, you mean that you'd like to box in the spot under the window by the person-door? That would kind of be like an airlock/entry area then also. I bet you could do that with very minimal cost -- maybe try to work it such that the electrical is all just in the exterior wall, so that if you find that something isn't quite right, then removing or reconfiguring those partition walls is as painless as possible.

I did have a cyclone, and I did sell it before moving. It was an Oneida internal filter unit that only pulled about 550 cfm and was a bear to clean. Unless I come across a great used deal on another cyclone I would look seriously at the Grizzley single stage one bag unit pulling 1700 cfm.

My initial thought was to put the office in the front corner to utilize the window, but I think moving to the back corner might be better. Not having to walk through the office to get to the shop might be good. Should help keep down the dust. I can always add a second window.
 
I was killing some time and taking a stab at layout, just grabbed some similar items from the 3d warehouse. I haven't got all of them in yet, but was also thinking long board storage along the wall opposite the man door, but wasn't sure if you'd be parking cars in the space and how long they are if so?

FWW Shop layout.jpg


So where is the panel going to be located?

What type of table extension do you have on the table saw? If it's not housing any cabinetry, would you consider making it part of your router table setup rather than having a separate cabinet? Might save some foot print space.

What items would you consider making mobile?
 
My current view on shops is there is never enough space. So i now believe a dedicated layout is unpleasant to work in and too cramped. My new view is consider operations we dont do every day like planning and jointing and make sure those are mobile stations.
Definitely going to merge the planner and sander into a single flip stand and make it mobile.
The two items to me that get space are table saw and workbench. I like being able to get around the entire workbench with space to mo e around it. Mobile machines even mobile draws make for pulling in and pushing close together when not i use.
There is now no doubt in my mind that a lumber rack in the shop area even a mobile one like i have is just a bad idea.
Trouble is how many of us can have a storage shed and garden shed on their property. Last town i was in the code only allowed for a 10x10 shed. I just love having the wood outside in the shed and i think shortly the lumber cart is going to the happy hunting grounds and lumber on it to the shed too. Gotta thank Allen for starting that idea.
 
I was killing some time and taking a stab at layout, just grabbed some similar items from the 3d warehouse. I haven't got all of them in yet, but was also thinking long board storage along the wall opposite the man door, but wasn't sure if you'd be parking cars in the space and how long they are if so?

View attachment 96660


So where is the panel going to be located?

What type of table extension do you have on the table saw? If it's not housing any cabinetry, would you consider making it part of your router table setup rather than having a separate cabinet? Might save some foot print space.

What items would you consider making mobile?

The panel is located in the wall next to the man door at the front corner.
The table saw has only the side table. I have a small assembly table, and when needed, the router table that serve as an outfeed table. Never been a fan of the combination table saw router table. No cars coming into the shop - this is just a shop.

My current view on shops is there is never enough space. So i now believe a dedicated layout is unpleasant to work in and too cramped. My new view is consider operations we dont do every day like planning and jointing and make sure those are mobile stations.
Definitely going to merge the planner and sander into a single flip stand and make it mobile.
The two items to me that get space are table saw and workbench. I like being able to get around the entire workbench with space to mo e around it. Mobile machines even mobile draws make for pulling in and pushing close together when not i use.
There is now no doubt in my mind that a lumber rack in the shop area even a mobile one like i have is just a bad idea.
Trouble is how many of us can have a storage shed and garden shed on their property. Last town i was in the code only allowed for a 10x10 shed. I just love having the wood outside in the shed and i think shortly the lumber cart is going to the happy hunting grounds and lumber on it to the shed too. Gotta thank Allen for starting that idea.

Every tool is mobile, even the table saw. The workbench is not, but both the aforementioned router table and small assembly table are.

My bulk lumber storage will be in the new shed. I'll keep some inside, but probably just enough for whatever project I am working on and shorts. Because of space limitations in the last shop I stored all but the jointer and table saw against a wall and pulled them out to the floor as needed. Now with more space available I am thinking to do the same thing, not because of limits so much as to make the shop more open and easy to navigate.

One thing I think I would really like to have is a larger assembly table, perhaps 3' x 6' (4 x 8 would be great, but I don't think there is room). My current assembly table is about 26 x 32. I've been kicking around a few ideas and one thing makes a lot of sense, the assembly table should have a lot of drawers and cabinet storage. This helps keep tools where used and reduces the number of wall cabinets needed thereby making it easier to push large tools to the wall and out of the way.
 
Making one side of it a clamp rack is also a good idea.
Thanks Jim, i am absolutely going to steal that idea. I have another set of what i call Tom Clark draws and my mobile clamp rack has been in the way since i built it. Its been on my list to revamp but now i am going to add a wall and rack and make it such that it caters to the clamps on all sides and the wall. Thanks ,man thanks you just solved a big one for me.
 
Top