Minimum Shop Size

[Carpenter96]

My first actual full time shop was a 10' x 10' third bedroom in a three bedroom apt. I now have an 18' x 20' garage and alot of machine tools on mobile bases. I have built as big as a dining room set with 12 chairs. We all could use more room, just remember that we grow into our enviroment. Regards Bob

[JimD]

Well we are nearing crunch time on the house. We've found a number of things wrong that my wife and I have differing views of. She thinks the dining room is unacceptably un-level, I cannot find a significant tilt (I used a level on a 6 foot piece of scrap and it detected nothing but she notes the scrap isn't perfectly straight). All the bathroom are functional but we really don't like any of them. The MBR is also the only br for the main level. The spare bedrooms have their own BR but they are tiny. 32x32 showers, wall hung sink in one, small vanity in the other but sloped roof limits usefulness. Plus toilets, of course. So I could be re-doing 3 bathrooms and adding a half bath. It also needs a new kitchen and she wants a couple doorways or possible a door way from the dining room to the Great room plus a window replaced by a french door to the patio. It has poor flow. Also needed is storage for books, pictures, and nicknacks. There are lots of plusses, of course. We pretty much need to decide this weekend.

If we buy, I will want a 20x20 shop but it will have to fit within the available budget of time and money. Parking is definitely a higher priority and we need to talk about the rest. Both of us have done home improvements like this before including a bathroom in another house we still own earlier this year. So skill is not an issue but we know how much time and energy it takes too. But I like this sort of thing and if we can stretch out the schedule over several years.....

Thanks again for your shop thoughts. It has convinced me I could maybe try to use the existing 12x12 for awhile if I have to.

Jim

[dkerfoot]

I do all of my work in a 10' x 11' shop in the winter (I live in Michigan). In warmer months I move my 21829 (Folding CM version of BT3), planer and my CMS to our detached single-car garage in order to spread out a bit.

I can only get away with this (in the winter) because I have a Shopsmith MK5 that I use for my Lathe/DP/BS/Sanding station. I've never used it as a TS, as my 21829 is better for that job. The 6" beltsander, 12" sanding disks, and bandsaw are very capable and really reduce the space I need. I use the Shopsmith as a Lathe all the time, mostly for bowls and segmented vessels. I did shorten the Shopsmith by about 12" to reduce the footprint a bit, since I don't plan to do longer spindle work.

I'd love to have a 20' x 40' shop full of stationary tools, but with a bit of planning and patience I've never not been able to accomplish what I set out to do. The combination of the 21829 and the MK5 is a remarkably capable duo with a truly tiny footprint. Doing ambitious work in a tiny space can be rewarding in its own right - similar to using traditional hand tools instead of buying the latest and greatest power tool for every task under the sun.

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