Empty Shop Ideas

[VillageNut]

I have purchased a 12 x 20 building that will be delivered Wednesday. Once it is up, I plan to run electricity, outlets, lights, etc. Insulations comes next. After that, I'm open and trying to decide. Thought I would get your ideas. I have a bt3100, a PC 10" miter, and a PC 690 router(no table). SO, what do you think? Workbench first, router table first, Miter station first??? I also have other tools like cordless drills, tool sets, jig saw, etc. SO, maybe storage shelves and cabinets first? What's your thoughts?
Overall plan is a workbench along one wall and make the TS mobile at a height that will store under the workbench.

Where would you start and how would you proceed.....

[DonHo]

As it happens I am currently going thru this myself. I just bought a 12'X14' building, I've got it painted, wired, the insulation is in and I've finished the inside with 7/16" osb and peg board. I still have to paint the inside. After the painting is finished I'm planning to move my BT3 and CMS in to use in building shop cabinets and a workbench. Once I have that finished I'll move most of my other tools into the new shop. I'll leave the jointer and planer in the old shed as well as lumber storage. Good luck, you're gonna have lots of fun in putting together your new shop.
DonHo

[JimD]

It will be nice to have some dedicated space but you will not have enough, IMHO, to have permanent setups. I have about 400 square feet and it is just barely enough space for me to not have to move things a lot - still have to rearrange sometimes. Better Homes "Workshop" edition has an interesting arrangement for the CMS. They hung it with side tables on what I have seen called "french cleats". The idea is you mount hardwood cleats that are 3/4 thick, 3 inches wide and have a 45 degree cut on the top on the wall - the 45 goes back towards the wall. The item to be hung on the cleat gets a similar wood block on the back where it will interlock with the cleat on the wall. Anyway, the idea in this magazine is to make the two side tables, hang them on the cleat and then put the CMS between them on it's own table. They supported the CMS from the outboard extensions but I think in your case you may want to also hang it from the cleat so you can put it away when it is in the way.

I would make a work table that is slightly (mine is 1/4) shorter than the BT3100 so you can use it for outboard support. In a space this small I would put the router in an extension table. I used my PC 690 that way before I built a dedicated router table with a lift. It worked well.

I would also think about storage up high so you can still work with tools on the shelves near the ceiling (the tools you are not using at the moment). I think you will need the floor space pretty clear except for the BT3100, especially if you put on extension rails.

Jim

[Wood_workur]

Get a big chunk of stone countertop and use it as an assembly table. Your projects will thank you.

[maxparot]

Think about a crawl space under the building. Keeping it up off the ground helps protect the building from rot and bugs. It also will make the running of plumbing and electric easier and lets not forget dust collection.

[mschrank]

Workshop Planner

You might want to check this out to help you plan your arrangement:

http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner.aspx

[kano32]

I used grizzly's workshop planner to plan my dream shop. I also used it to plan out building a shop attached to a garage a need to build. I definitely have more ideas of what to buy and fill a shop than I have money!

[DUD]

Of all the shops that I have visited Larry Rogers has a very organized shop. He used a lot of pegboard and the inside is all white, which makes the shop much easier to work in. Bill

[LinuxRandal]

What a friend did

A friend of mine built a steel shop/storage building. His first project, expand it. He added an 11' by the length of it for storage (fills up fast, father in law passed away just after finishing it, and he got a lot more stuff).

How do you use your tools and shop? Let that kinda guide you. Do you help others with decks, crown moldings etc, pick up a portable stand for your cms. If not, look at the different ones here (I was going to build one based on some of these designs, but with the tool on a plywood base, so I could use the same stand with my sometime used bench grinder, also, consider wheels, if you work with longer boards)
Benchs, if I had a shop like yours, and I also wanted my BT to store under a bench, I would start with tall benchs/shelving units against one wall. Build an assembly table/outfeed table/lower sit down bench, on casters, that I could L off of those. Wood storage racks (or depending on building height, a loft) and pegboard. Leaving one side wall and the back wall open for tools, and as the BT is mobile, the center of the shop, open so it can be configured as needed by projects. Seeing how my Brothers BIL used his shed was a real eye opener for me, they fill up fast, and big projects can be a PITA otherwise (fixed placement, and big tractors).

[Boomer_01]

The Grizzly online tool is great! Thanks for the link. Now if I just had a larger shop I would be able to actually walk around without bumping.....scooching.....climbing over......stacking.......laying....moving.....movi ng again....and then moving again.......my tools...


Boomer

[ironhat]

You asked for the oredr of projects, right? I have to say that you need a workbench right off the bat. While I like the idea of a stone top I find myself using scraps of wood and and screws to make jigs and hold-downs on my top. The masonite is expendable. The CMS can go on a very small make-shift table like an old livingroom end table ( I used a 16" wide cabinet base from a kitchen remodel and now the planer lives on it, moes well with casters)- just long enought to be able to use it while building your cabs. Next, you add your router table to the BT and you're in business making shelves and cabs for the rest of the equipment!! The light colored walls are a great idea to cheaply brighten your work area. I did spruce up mine with Sunoco blue 4' up, along with a wainscoting of two stripes - yellow and orange. I made everything above that glossy white. The ceiling I finished off in foil-faced foam insulboard over the insulation batts because it's easy for one gut to work with and it's reflective. I hope that's of some use to you, FWIW.
Later,
Chiz

[just4funsies]

If you do much finishing, you might think about curtaining off and ventilating a corner to be a dust-free finishing space. The ventilation will keep fumes from filling your shop and making the space hard or dangerous to work in while you have something drying.

Oh, and don't forget to budget a little under-bench space and a power outlet so that you can put in a mini-fridge...

[eezlock]

empty shop ideas.......

I would definately give serious thought to a rock solid, level,heavy duty
well planned work bench with lots of storage and work surface. If it is built and positioned in the right place, try and make it as level as possible with the top of the tablesaw,so work could flow from saw to worktable with little
effort and minimal lifting on the back and legs! If possible, a separate
assembly table, close to workbench and project finishing area. If the work
flows from one area to another with little effort, the whole project will
go easier, safer, and be much easier on you!

Then, on to dust collection ( hopefully centrally located with drop hoses
for each present/ future machine(s), then machine placement and storage.
While in planning stages....think long term on lumber storage racks overhead
and within easy reach and the best location for the big stuff like full sheets
of plywood, particleboard, melamine, pegboard,etc. these things are heavy
bulky and hard to handle by yourself!
My .02 worth on this subject...hope it helps........eezlock

[hermit]

Just my 2 cents on the Grizzly thing ...... be open to change. I planned my new space with it, and now the layout is nowhere near what I originally thought. Once you get working in the shop, you'll get a better feel for the layout you want. Just make sure you put outlets and lighting everywhere!

Oh yeah, first thing is a workbench. You need something to work on so you can build/ work on every other aspect of the shop.

Todd

[onedash]

My rule of thumb on what tool to buy next is to wait until I need something and try to convince my wife to let me buy it. Unless you see a really good deal then you buy it and figure out a project to use it on.
BUt more times than not I finish my project without the tool I wanted and point out how much easier or faster or better it would have been with it and I get it after that project is completed. I have a couple that I have bought like that and have not used them yet.