Shop Size

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A question about shop size. How big is too big, for a stand alone woodworking ONLY shop. The reason I ask is I looked up the size of The New Yankee Workshop. Now for over 20 years Norm built everything you or I could think of. Shop size, 936 sq ft. Most tools are on mobile bases, so that helps. I just don't understand some of these, " I just finished my new 60x100 foot shop".

Yes I would love to have a bigger shop. I wasn't even thinking 30x30.
 
I've got a two car garage, but I would love to have about double the space. Of my four walls, one is an overhead door and two are covered with built-in cabinets, so I have all of my major tools out in the middle of the shop. I don't have room for an assembly bench, or enough floor space to hold any furniture or cabinet project in progress.

Given a choice, I'd have at least twice the floor space, and overhead/loft storage and office space would be a bonus. I'd also like the DC and compressor to live in a separate room or outbuilding.
 
I have just over 400 sf, but I share it with a furnace, washer & dryer, water heater, and the back half of a fireplace. I think 8-900 sf would feel great! Like Vaughn, I wish I had room for an assembly table as I like to build larger projects. My situation is very similar to his as I have one wall that is all door and 1 1/2 walls that are cabinets. However, I also have a wall that holds all the aforementioned utilities. In fact, when the tour de wood visited me the first words I heard regarding my shop came from Bill - "It looks bigger in the pictures." :rofl::wave:

Larry's shop area is about 36 x 36 - that's not counting the office, spray room, and lumber storage. I think I could get lost in there, but I'd enjoy it!:D
 
I'm about 20 x 30 with a washer/dryer, water heater and chest freezer sucking up valuable shop space. Hot water is over rated and I'm not sure that I really need to wash clothes . . . hmmm I could take my laundry over to LOML's house and do it there!
 
I'm about 20 x 30 with a washer/dryer, water heater and chest freezer sucking up valuable shop space. Hot water is over rated and I'm not sure that I really need to wash clothes . . . hmmm I could take my laundry over to LOML's house and do it there!

Hmmm yourself. I can just see your LOML seeking 6 ft tall, blonde,male with six pack muscles, brains, etc. and YOU taking your laundry to the landromat.

Enjoy,

Dad
 
Get real Steve - there's no such thing as too big. :D

Every woodworker there is - no matter HOW big his shop - wants/needs more space.

Remember rule #1: Stuff expands to fill all available space.

:rofl:

-Kevin in Indy
 
Hmmm yourself. I can just see your LOML seeking 6 ft tall, blonde,male with six pack muscles, brains, etc. and YOU taking your laundry to the landromat.

Enjoy,

Dad

Oh man, I can feel the love from all the way over here. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Great shot, Jim. Your eyes may be getting a bit old but your aim is still pretty sharp. :D
 
Just waiting till Alex and Stu chime in about shop size. I feel privilaged to have the 20x20 shop size that I currently have, I have come from smaller size and like i am sure everyone can agree with the more space that you have the more tools you will desire, aquire/ build to fill those empty spaces. Wood storage, tool storage, elbow room. I don't think that there is such a thing as too big a shop.
 
I have just over 400 sf, but I share it with a furnace, washer & dryer, water heater, and the back half of a fireplace. I think 8-900 sf would feel great! Like Vaughn, I wish I had room for an assembly table as I like to build larger projects. My situation is very similar to his as I have one wall that is all door and 1 1/2 walls that are cabinets. However, I also have a wall that holds all the aforementioned utilities. In fact, when the tour de wood visited me the first words I heard regarding my shop came from Bill - "It looks bigger in the pictures." :rofl::wave:

Larry's shop area is about 36 x 36 - that's not counting the office, spray room, and lumber storage. I think I could get lost in there, but I'd enjoy it!:D

sorry rennie it just looks big,,:) the main building is 36x48 that gets all of it and the office and other rooms are in that space as well.
 
New shop is planned for 20x30. Old CA shop was 24x36. Current shop is a 16' trailer backed up to the carport!

I am constrained by trees and property line set-backs - and money! But the new shop won't have a CNC eating 120+ SQFT either. But it will have a bathroom! I have discovered that the more candles on the birthday cake, the closer the bathroom needs to be. :thumb: And if you didn't get that, you are young enough to be my grandchild.

Amazing what things we trade for another. :rofl::rofl:

Construction hopefully to commence around August. Not a Marty-build, but I will take pics. :type:
 
I'm suppose to have about 8'X20' of shop space in a 2 car garage, but have stuff over in the rest of the garage as well. I have a very understanding wife. :D

I really don't think I would want to much more space. I tend to pile clutter up and more space means more clutter. :doh:What I would like is more room to store turning wood. I've past up more turning wood in the last couple of weeks than I ever have before...I just don't have anymore room for it.
 
13'5" x 24'5"with a 7'10 ceiling 327.5 sq.ft. sheesh whats not to love at least I have a shop & all in an apartment complex where I live & work.

Yes I could use about 12' x 13'5" more room for assembly with a shed for lumber & misc. storage & a outside wall lean to for the DC & air compressor.

With what I've learned about storage & how to fit into a small shop I can do quite well in a not so big shop. I have seen a few big hobby shops where they get lots of exercise in travel time from machine to machine or bench. Now a 24' x 30' would do most everything I need.

I have a friend that has an insulated 48' Sea-Land container I think something like that with a wall across the middle & a door into the front end for storage & a place for canned goods a freezer & the back end would house the yard tractor lawn furniture etc & they are considered temporary here so you don't need a permit. Maybe add a truss roof with metal & t-111 siding to dress it up. Its quick & I'd be recycling a useful item.
 
I have a shop that is 14' x 23' aprox, and the corners are used up mostly by big chunks of concrete that are the tops of the pillars that go deep into the earth for the building's stability, earthquakes don't you know :rolleyes:

You question really is a "Depends" one, it really depends on what you are doing, if you are mainly building small boxes or turning pens, then the need for a large shop is not there, but if you are building large built in cabinets, then a large assembly area and a closed in finishing area are a must.

Yes I could use a bigger shop, but I'm really lucky to have carved out the space I have, and I know if we ever move, and I get a shop that is bigger, I'll make some changes, for one, I would like a separate room for machines, and one for hand tools and a good workbench. I'd also need an area to play with steel, welding as well as a metal lathe and milling machine :D

Hey, if you are going to dream, dream big! :thumb:

If it was on a nice piece of land, I'd want a toilet and maybe even a shower, a kitchenette and a comfy chair in front of my iMac with FTTH connection :D :thumb:
 
This thread is going along just about as expected... ;)

"Just a little bit more" is how John D. Rockefeller famously answered the question, "How much money is enough?"​

And it seems to me that most woodworkers answer the question of shop size the same way. "Just a little bit more" shop is all they need.

I remember watching, with great interest, as Marty built his shop. It was a shop that most of us would have considered large. Yet one of the first things he did after building it, was expand it by building that Dust Collection shed on the side. :rofl:

I'm a hobbiest, and I'm doing okay in a Stu-sized :rolleyes: shop. But yeah, I'd like it to be a bit bigger. Mine is about 10'6" by 24ish. For those of us in the "single car garage" size I think that width is probably more important than more length. I think a width of say 13' would make it a lot easier to work around my tablesaw. As it is, I frequently need to move it.
 
I have 2 sections of the basement. One about 11 x 18 and the other 10 x 12. The sq. footage works ok but I'm limited in height by ducts and pipes. I need at least another foot in height. Stuff I make has to either come up the cellar stairs and around a 90 degree turn or out through the bulkhead which has no stairs.
When I hit the lottery tonight I'm going to have a 1000 sq. ft. barn built and fill it with new (no CL anymore) tools. AC, heat, and like Carol, a bathroom.:D
 
This thread is going along just about as expected... ;)

"Just a little bit more" is how John D. Rockefeller famously answered the question, "How much money is enough?"​

And it seems to me that most woodworkers answer the question of shop size the same way. "Just a little bit more" shop is all they need.

I remember watching, with great interest, as Marty built his shop. It was a shop that most of us would have considered large. Yet one of the first things he did after building it, was expand it by building that Dust Collection shed on the side. :rofl:

I'm a hobbiest, and I'm doing okay in a Stu-sized :rolleyes: shop. But yeah, I'd like it to be a bit bigger. Mine is about 10'6" by 24ish. For those of us in the "single car garage" size I think that width is probably more important than more length. I think a width of say 13' would make it a lot easier to work around my tablesaw. As it is, I frequently need to move it.

Nope I only have 4'91/2" from my table-saw left end to my storage cabinet that hold all fasteners glue & electric hand tools. Of course my Unisaw with router table on the left side is 8' from end to end.
1953DeltaUnisaw034.jpg
I do get some storage on the right extension though. You can see the Unisaw, Jointer & bench fit together made that way on purpose, you can just see the white cabinet with tools in it on the right. I kick the rear wheel down on the jointer & pull the in-feed end out & have enough room to joint 8' if need be. Please excuse the bench dog used only for light weight work
 

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The people working out of one or two car garages, having egress right there, on the same level as you are working is such a nice thing........



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TRUST me on that one :rolleyes: :D
 
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