My New Shop: The Floor Plan

[Mr__Bill]

Larry, as I look at the shop layout something about it seemed off, one of those nagging feelings that one really can't put a hand on. Are you perhaps left handed? If so then I can stop wondering what is bothering me.



Bill
My daughter insists that she is not a Blonde but a lefty!

[LarryG]

Bill: Yes, I'm left-handed, and yes some of the particulars of the layout are deliberate because of that personal shortcom-- er, that personal characteristic.

[Mr__Bill]

Bill: Yes, I'm left-handed, and yes some of the particulars of the layout are deliberate because of that personal shortcom-- er, that personal characteristic.

Oh good, now that that weighty issue is off of my mine I can go back to dealing with David's frogs.....


Bill,

[JR]

Ok, one last time before I give up my pet peave.

You could re-orient the office doors to the machine room, preserving your glass panels for perceived "large-ness". Ventilation could be brought from the assy area via fan port plus a return port to that area. Low-cost filters could be put on those ports for dust protection.

And that is my absolute last and final word on the topic. Probably.

Given the choice of a bench-top vs floor-standing DP I'd want floor standing. I have a very small bench-top unit which has sufficed for 99% of my needs. The last 1% has resulted in some crazy Rube Goldberg arrangements to get a hole in the end of some baluster or table leg or something. No bench-top unit would have solved the problem easily and every floor-standing unit would have done without breaking a sweat.

JR

[pelligrini]

Tom (or was it JR?) has already questioned the location of the fastener/hardware bins. It's highly likely that I'll move some or all of these to the piece of wall above the HVAC unit. Actually, I think the ideal location for these bins might be the wall just outside the assembly room doors, where the mechanic's rollaway and drill press are. That would make them equally handy to the Machine Room and the Assembly Room. I've not found a better place for those other two items, though. But I'm still looking at it.

It's probably not that practical, especially if you're going to put lites in the doors, but what about putting your bins on the doors, machine side? In my little shop I put all my quick grips an a plan/bulletin board on the doors. When the doors are open they're outside where I'm working.

Hmmm.. scratch that idea... you're putting doors on there to condition the air in that room. Then they'll usually be closed.

[SARGE..g-47]

It's obvious you (ya'll) spent some time laying this thing out Larry. I think it is an excellent lay-out. If you run into some un-seen problem when in actual use.. you can adjust on the fly. I don't see any problem with the office where is it. A port-hole (or small window) should solve the potential problem.

Kudo's on where you put the TS and BS which are two large fine dust makers.. close to the front doors which allows you to use an electric leaf blower to clear some dust out occasionally while in use. I don't care how large or elaborate a Cyclone system you install.. you will not get it all and that's fact. I open the doors and blow my front cut area out at least twice a day on a 6 hour cyle. More past 6 hours.

And.. where you put your saw will allow temporary extentions in the rear if you ever rip any really long stock. Maybe not but you're capable if ever needed. And I also like the door on the outer wall of the finish room. You will shout praise when you discover just how useful that can be with the aid of a fan to clear fumes.

And don't forget to add the porch in the future! Big one with rocking chairs. Love to have one on mine and wish I had the set-up for a pot bellied stove also. My gas space heater is great but... a pot bellied stove would just be well... just like the good ole days!

Well Done.. well done indeed.....

[LarryG]

JR, and perhaps others: Hmm, I'm going to have to revisit my thinking on access to the office, to make sure I'm not glossing over a serious problem. I really don't think I am, but I'll allow for the possibility.

I see the office as the most independent function in the whole building. My woodworking MO is to design a project, print out the plans (to the extent formal plans exist: I often just rough out the basics and work out the details as I go), and take the print to the shop and work from that. I won't cut a piece, go into the office to read the next dimension off the computer monitor, go back to the machine room and cut the next piece, run back to the office, etc. There should be hardly any direct, ongoing interaction between the office and anything else. When I'm doing office work, I'll be doing office work; when I'm making sawdust, I'll be making sawdust. Obviously there will be exceptions to this, but they will truly be exceptions.

So as I see it, speaking purely from a circulation standpoint, the office door(s) can go almost anywhere. As I've said, the doors are where they are only because that's the best location to help control dust, and to include the office in the conditioned envelope.

But I will think about it.

Sarge: It's a long, convoluted story, but ... Cliff Notes version ... the plan orientation as you see it here is a comparatively late development. For most of the design period, the layout was mirrored left-for-right, but still with the porch and double doors on the right end. The double doors were centered on the right end wall, opening directly into the assembly room. There was no exterior door out of the finishing room, and the big tools were a long way from any opening except a window. Flipping the plan allowed me to orient the "central" tool cluster as you see it here, not far from the double doors and with very short runs to the dust collector. I initially resisted the flipped plan, probably because it looked so foreign after staring at the original arrangement for so long, but within a couple days I realized how much sense it made and how well it cleared up any number of niggling problems.

[Fusilier]

Just a though on the well discussed office. Your plan doesn't show a window. Your office will feel like a closet more than an office. Perhaps a large window opening onto the machine room? Your office will feel larger, you'll get at least some natural light, and you'll see anyone coming into your workshop. Make the window non-opening (or seal it anyway) to prevent dust. Noise shouldn't be a problem because it is your workshop and I pressume you won't be in the office and running machinery at the same time.

Anyway, sweet plan and you're now the envy of a lot of woodworkers.

Cheers,
Marcel

[LarryG]

Borrowed lights (aka interior windows) are definitely in the works for the office. Nothing is firm yet, but I'm thinking of replacing the swinging doors with sliding panels, basically like Japanese shoji screens but using a transparent material for some or all of the lites; that would really open up that side of the office. On the opposite wall would be a similar panel with a view out into the Machine Room.

Which means, incidentally, that I did take a long look at flipping the doors to the other side of the office, as I promised JR I would; but I'm standing pat with the doors on the assembly room side.

Also under review is whether the work bench ought to move to the other end of the assembly room. I placed it where it is so it would be under the windows, so I'd have natural light for hand work; but this is also the farthest possible point from the remainder of the shop. Moving it to the other end of the room would save a few steps, and would also give me a good view of the shop's entrance when I'm working at the bench.

[pelligrini]

If you do pocket doors, don't forget to take into account any outlets, switches & blocking. There's not much room left once the door goes in there.