Small Shop Help

[rh111]

Recently moved and went from a 14'x30' area to work. Now have about a 9'x20' area to work. Any tips or advice that a person might be able to give for working in small spaces would be greatly appreciated.

[Workman]

My number 1 rule is that everything must be mobile. Stock storage and prep areas are best offsite in this sized space. Don't forget to look up to see what can go up there - DC for example. See how many spaces can be doubled up - workbench as outfeed table, etc. Finally, attitude! You have to think that it can be done or you never try.

[eddy merckx]

You might look at which tools can be stored underneath or above others. For instance, I have a mitersaw bench with the jointer, shop vac and planer stored underneath. You have to roll stuff out for use, but it sure creates more shop space.

Eddy

[DonHo]

I have a 12' X 14' shop which is smaller sq ft wise than what you have, however the narrow 9' width present problems that I don't have. As has been mentioned making your tools mobile and making work bench do double duty are important. But just making the tool mobile isn't the answer, make the tool mobile by placing it on a mobile cabinet that has as much storage as possible. Do a search on this forum for mobile cabinets and benches for some ideas. Also I might suggest making the cabinets mobile by putting them on 4 locking swivel casters. By having all 4 casters swivel it makes moving the cabinets in a small space a lot easier. Also I suggest the casters that lock both the rolling and the swivel. Also I'd suggest that you get heavy duty casters because cheap light duty casters will cause you headaches later.

Good luck and post some pictures when you get set up,
DonHo

[LarryG]

The shop space I moved out of last spring measured 10' x 19' inside -- fairly close to what you have -- and given my experience with it, I will cast a provisional dissenting vote against putting everything on wheels. The reason it's provisional is because how well mobile bases will work in a shop this size will largely depend on how many tools you cram into it. Other factors are the locations of doors, windows, and elements that either cannot move (i.e., built-in, or too big/heavy) or must go in a certain place because they will fit no where else.

As the pictures below show, my former shop was so chock-full that there was virtually no room to roll things around even if some or all of this stuff had been on wheels. As it was, the only thing on a mobile base was the band saw, and the only reason it ever moved was so I could move lumber in and out of an small adjacent room that I used for materials storage. Except for that, in this cramped layout any investment in casters and mobile bases would have been a waste of money:





(The pictures show casters on the BT, but it turned out that I was able to use the jointer okay with the saw in its normal place, so in practice I never moved it ... and in any case it couldn't have moved more than about 18" anyway.)

Another problem with mobile bases is that if you can possibly avoid it, you don't to get into a situation where you have to move Tool A in order to have a parking place for Tool B, which you need to move out of the way so you can use Tool C. This wastes a lot of time; and unless your floor is dead flat, it may lead to problems with your workstations being level and stable.

All in all, my advice on wheels is: use them judiciously, if you must, but only where there is no other way.

Otherwise, the best advice I can give you is to Get Organized, And Stay Organized. Put tools away when you're not using them. Clean up your mess, ideally at the end of each and every day. Yes, it takes time, but your investment will be repaid many times over in not having to constantly move crap out of the way every time you want to use a tool, or search every corner of the shop to find something you need. Disorganization and clutter are death to a small shop.

[dkerfoot]

Hate to gloat, but I've pretty much got everyone beat with my 10'x11' shop. Sorry to instill small shop envy....

Wheels are good. LarryG makes some great points, but if everything is mobile, you can have room to move around. In my case, the 21829 (Craftsman Fold-up BT3) is a thing of beauty. The other thing with wheels is that you can angle the cabinet so that long pieces are not bumping into your other tools. I do a lot of minor shifting to get a workable angle, at 9' wide and long, you probably will too. You didn't mention if you are working in a garage - if so, having the option of rolling a few stations outside can be very helpful too.

Another key is to have as many of your tools and cabinets match heights as possible. That way, you can use them all for supports - AND just as critical, they don't get in the way of each other as much.

I am still not complete, but I am building all of my rolling cabinets (including tool when applicable) to be 1/2 shorter than my TS. That way they all work as outfeed tables. My workbench is about 1 1/2" shorter because I built it before buying the saw, but it is still simple to stack a board or two on top to bring it to height. It is the only thing in my shop not on wheels.

"The Complete Small Shop" has some great ideas. I am pretty sure they are giving it away with a subscription to Shop Notes.

[JR]

I'm in the fully mobile camp.

Like Doug, I will sometimes make a number of minor adjustments to my TS if the stock is extra long or wide. Also my BS, jointer, and planer are closely packed along one wall. I move them away fromthe wall for usage, then return them to their resting place.

I also have a mobile cabinet with CMS on one side and OSS on the other. I spin the cabinet as needed.

None of this is perfect, but in a small shop you have to make compromises.

I will second Larry's suggestion about maintaining order in the shop. It's counter-intuitive for me, but advice that's well taken.

JR

[Greg.B]

You guys don't know small....lol...I have at max 10 x 6. In that area is a bandsaw, table saw, router table, workbench, belt sander. The trick to it all is good positioning and planning of where things should be. Mobile is key as well. I make sure that I have storage for all items under the work bench. Under it I keep other power tools, compressor, dovetail jigs, other jigs, etc. You would be suprised at how much you can fit in a small space.

[dkerfoot]

You guys don't know small....lol...I have at max 10 x 6.

I bow before your superior tinyness...

One thing I forgot to mention is I make great use of the joists over my head. My shop is in the basement and I have an amazing array of stuff up in the ceiling. My favorite is my PC Dovetail jig. It "mounts" upside down on a couple of nails in the joist so that it wraps around the bottom just perfectly.

[crokett]

Otherwise, the best advice I can give you is to Get Organized, And Stay Organized. Put tools away when you're not using them. Clean up your mess, ideally at the end of each and every day. Yes, it takes time, but your investment will be repaid many times over in not having to constantly move crap out of the way every time you want to use a tool, or search every corner of the shop to find something you need. Disorganization and clutter are death to a small shop.

This is the best advice ever. The last time I cleaned my shop I was surprised at how much room I have. With 2 kids my shop time is limited so I generally don't put the tools away until weeknights when everyone else is asleep.

[Kiwi Dust Mite]

Like you I recently had to downsize a little from a shop like your old one to one that is 12 x 18'. Its a single cargarage that I have been developing over the last year.

The first thing I would say is to choose carefully what you do and dont need in the way of machinery and how you go about using them.

My main machines are
Tablesaw with extended wing and cabinet.
Thicknesser.
Jointer (my latest purchase)
Router table.
Drill press
9" sander
small assembly trolley ( also doubles as a stand for the mitresaw)

Blue = mobile unit

Dust collector
Small bandsaw (for doing shaped work when needed.)
Mitresaw (used occasionally)

Next workout what machines will be used most as these will need to be on rolling bases, as well as what will need to be static ie: drill press, thicknesser.

In my shop I have a bench right down the wall and stopping just before the dust collector at the door. This bench has at the mid point the thicknesser permantly mount in place and allows me to do pieces up to 10 foot long at one time, approx 3 metres. This bench, as are all of the benches, except my main workbench are the same height as the tablesaw. This allows for an extra 2 feet of support and is great for supporting large panels when I need to rip them down.

I can position the tablesaw wherever I need to and this allow for a lot of flexibility when using other machines as the working heights are all the same. I routinely use my jointer and tablesaw together, as the tablesaw becomes the outfeed support for my jointer.
The other side of the shop by the entry door is my workbench and auxillary bench which has the drillpress and grinder on it as well as my automotive/engineering tools. A small swivel engineering vise is also mounted here.

The benches give me a great deal of storage and leave the walls free for a bookcase, sandpaper dispensers, wall racks for small bits of sandpaper and various tools.

All in all I find this setup works well for the limited space I have.

[Kiwi Dust Mite]

And of course dont forget behind the door as well

[Kiwi Dust Mite]

And heres the new machines and all the other bits, like DC piping done.

BTW the photos above are taken entering the rear side door of the workshop and work around anticlockwise.

Even the offcut bin for the tablesaw has wheels.

[Red88chevy]

Great shop Kiwi! Very organized and very clean.

[Slik Geek]

...my shop time is limited so I generally don't put the tools away until weeknights when everyone else is asleep.

When I get a longing for working in the shop, but work and family has kept me away, I sneak down there in the wee hours of the night and quietly straighten up. All the while I'm longing to fire up the dust collector and table saw... I just tell myself how productive I'll be when I finally get down there during the daytime hours.