bassman Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Hello again everyone, Its been several months since my last post here, and several months since my last bass. I have been completely engulfed in the proccess of home selling/buying and moving. My new house only has a detached oversized single car garage, my older house had a workshop that was the about the size of a two car garage +. The proper arrangement of power tools and work surfaces is proving to be harder than planning and building a bass. I am bassically trying to arrange my setup so that I will not only have room for bass building, but just enough to build the occasional piece of furniture or cabinet. Neatness and organization will be the key to keeping frustration levels low in my 270 sq. ft. work shop. All garden tools and accessories as well as bikes and my souped up Vino scooter all have their own place outside of the garage, thankfully. Are there any suggestions/tips that you guys might have for working in such a small space? There is a flipside to the new house, I am now out of the ghetto and in a fairly new, beautiful rural subdivision. My new plot of land is literally about 34 times larger than my old one, and on the end of a cul-de-sac, with as much privacy as is possible with 2.7 acres. I just love it out here in Powhatan. So I will be hanging around here once again and posting pics of my upcoming projects. I am also pleased that I will very soon be on DSL. Its good to be back... Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsilver Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Bassman, congrats on the new digs. With 2.7 acres, you should be thinking about building the shop of your dreams. Until then, there is a mag called Shop Notes that is all about shops and space and really helpful. Its my fav. Also, Fine Woodwooking mag has an annual Tools and Shops edition that is helpful. There is lots of info on how to maximize small shop space out there. Best of luck in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 There is a wicked article in one of the latest woodworking magazines. (cant remember which one) Had the planer anchored to a table top and it will flip over when space is needed to give you a clean tabletop. They have a mitre saw bracketed to the wall so things can fit under it. They also had a table high enough that the jointer can be moved under it when not in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 Neatness and organization will be the key to keeping frustration levels low in my 270 sq. ft. work shop. DEFINATELY! 270 sq. ft. is big, though. The two rooms I have my tools in are only 100 sq. ft. & 55 sq. ft. and I have no trouble working in them. If you search for one of those 'shop pics' thread you can see how I make out with my small rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 I wish i HAD 270sqft. I have less than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted September 24, 2005 Report Share Posted September 24, 2005 If you have the space on your property, consider an old mobile home. Sometimes you can get these free, because they are not always taken care of very well, and nobody will buy them, and the owner doesn't want to pay "pad rent" for it anymore. I know that you can tear out interior walls inside them, because I have a freind who used to have one that he did that to. Anyway, I think a 50' to 60' foot long, by 10' to 15' foot wide workshop would be nice. For climate control purposes, I would want it to be no more than 50' long. ( I have a hard time keeping my 25' x 35' basement climate controled just for the sake of my workshop on one side of it) The down-side of mobile homes is that they are expensive to have them moved, I guess. Plus a tornado might come along and pick it up and take all your Stew-Mac tools.... well, back to Stew-Mac, LOL ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 wood magazine has had several good articles over the years on how to set up a shop in a small space. i would imagine that if you went to their webbsite you could buy back issues. congrats on the move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Hehehe...no better way to get on the good side of the new neighbors than to park a mobile home in your backyard. I am currently squeezed into a 1-car bay in a 3-car garage, and I still have to share my bay with an upright freezer and John Deere lawn tractor (which I back out when working). These are the best pics I have. On the left is a duplicarver table and just to the right of the bandsaw I have a small Craftsman router table; both tables are bolted to the walls with heavy door hinges, so that they can be folded up to make space. But I never fold up the dupli table, it is a good work surface. Rest of one wall is a row of waist-high shelves whose tops are work surfaces, storage underneath. Rikon 18" bandsaw is on a roller base, so I can nudge it around, but it mostly stays put. Jointer is next to that. Green stuff on the floor is where the John Deere normally sits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Here's the other half... Behind the bandsaw near the garage door is my radial arm saw, swing the arm out of the way for another good work surface. Rigid bench-top edge & spindle sander on one shelf. The thickness planer is usually standing in front of the jointer, I do have to move that if I want to use one or the other. Then I still have room for the ShopVac, fold-up portable table saw (which I wheel out and use in the driveway) and 45 gallon trash can. From shoulder height to the ceiling, one wall (between the windows) is all Elfa wire-rack shelf units from Container Store, storing wood, templates, towels and scroll saw. About the only things I wish I had room for is a 24" belt sander and a spray booth. When I upgrade from rattle cans, I will probably just shoot outdoors by hanging stuff from the basketball hoop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted September 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 It sounds like I was spoiled by the size of my first workshop. I definitely feel as though I have enough room to build basses, no problem there. Its the cutting and handling of 4'x8' sheets that is a bit tough. I made some big progess on the setup today. Part of the problem with my setup is that in addition to my 6'x8' work table behind my rather large table saw, I have an oak table (40"x90") that I made specifically to fit in our old dining room. The table is much to big to fit in our new dining room, so it is now an unnecessary workspace in the garage. I "should" probably just cut it up and use the oak to make a "real" heavy duty work bench. Why dont I just sell it? It cracked (pretty badly down the whole length) last winter along with a couple of other pieces of furniture in my house during an extremely dry period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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