Finally, My Dream Shop #1: First Things First

Calgirl,

A big congratulations on what sounds like a great start. I know it’s an exciting time and the bginning of a dream come true.

I know it was for me. After all the planning and construction, and expense, when we were finished, and all the equipment ws moved in, it took me several days to start making sawdust. (Didn’t want to get the place dirty.)

The shop has been a joy for me for many years – an absolute life-changer. And a number of wonderful projects have wandered out of its doors . . . for my home, for friends and, now for buyers.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

-- Bob

Welcome to Lumber Jocks. Good luck on the shop. If you need help there is someone here who has had the same problem.
Tom

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Wow, what a great way to begin. Did you do a sketch-up model to determine where to place your equipment? Bob has done several sketch-up tutorials, and has shown how he can create a shop. If you make one of those, then you can move things around until you see that they fit how you want.

We are looking forward to the pictures. If you can, take a series of pictures from what the lot looks like now, until the shop is up. You will enjoy seeing the progress and be amazed when you look back at them.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I can’t wait to see the progress. Congratulations on the new shop! I love shop progress pics and setup pics so get on with it! LOL

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Congratulations! Gonna give us a sneak preview of the floor plan? Can’t wait to see some pics. Welcome to LumberJocks!

That sound good, A man needs his space (do not forget the fridge….)

-- Do it right the first time. Becuase fixing it is a wast of time.

Yippee. How exciting

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

AAhh…a dream of mine as well. You might want to look at Sketchup for help in laying out the shop. This thread http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/joey/blog/1946 has a workshop layout I’ve been thinking of. The tools are all available for download but you will want to adjust table heights to match what you have.

Sounds like an exciting time. Good luck.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Calgirl,

Just wanted to send you a picture of my shop (see previous post). It was taken 10 minutes after the County Inspector signed off on the construction. The overall building is 24’ X 36’ It is heated and has all required plumbing and electric. Interior is has 10’ ceiling and is finished in drywall/ The shop is separated into 2 large areas, one for staining and finishing and one for shop equipment. Access is through two overhead doors. The best design feature. Makes it easy to deliver supplies and move things around.

The siding and trim is site-milled cedar. Added 12K to the construction cost. But matches the main house and the barn. Oh well, it’s only money.

Good luck on yours. How exciting!!!

-- Bob

Looks great Bob. I like the cedar very much. Mine will be covered in Hardiboard to match the 2 car garage it will be next to. The front of the garage is stucco to match the house, but the new workshop will not be visible from the street as it will be directly behind the garage.

I opted for a sliding door instead of the garage doors because I didn’t want the rails on the inside. And I plan to build a pocket sliding screen door that will disappear into the wall and not take up wall space. zI can hardly wait to start working on the inside of the shop. I want to be innovative in my cabinetry so that it looks clean and efficient. I can keep all the yard tools in the garage and maybe even make a space for finishing in there. I’m going to have a computer in the shop since I have a vast number of plans. graphics and techniques in my main computer that I will want to access. I have to figure out how to keep the dust away from the computer as I will want to use it during projects. I can’t vent it outside because of the humidity…

I wish I had restroom facilities, but will have to “retire to the house”, but I will have running water…for the coffee pot.

Do you have any good ideas how to insulate the cyclone/compressor noise? My units will be walled off within the shop, but I don’t want to listen to the noise. I know I could do it if I wanted to spend megabucks on sound proofing materials, but I am looking for a more cost effective way out.

-- Forget the health food, I need all the preservatives I can get !

Calgirl,

Unfortunately I could never come up with a good way to muffle compressor noise and the dust collection system. Compressor noise has not been a problem in as much as I use it only to drive pin/brad/finish nailers, which I don’t really use that often. And once it pumps up to pressure, it stays quiet for the rest of the day.

The dust collector is something else. I’ve wired it to go on only when a dust producing power tool is operating, so I don’t have to throw a separate switch. Does nothing for the noise, and I’ve kinda become use to it.

Your sliding doors will work fine. I work outside in the summer. No need for screening due to the fact that we live at 8,500 feet. Bugs don’t seem to like the thin air. Do have an occasional deer wander up to the shop. And last year a young bear took a nap behind the shop. Not as cute and harmless as it may sound. Where you have baby bears, you generally have the mamas not too far away.

But that’s life in the mountains. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.

-- Bob

I only have a very small dedicated wookworking shop (16’x16’) so I was forced to build a small shed attached to the rear of it. I use the shed to house my compressor & dust collecter. Even through wood siding without insulation it is very quiet. Now that I’ve seen how well that works I question why anyone would take up shop space with those 2 items.

I live in a rural area of Florida, so I port the dust collector outward and at a slight angle toward the ground without a collection bag or bin. It spreads sawdust out over about 20 feet of reclained woods/Florida “lawn.” I run my mower over this area anyway and that levels it a bit. The grass seems to love it and I can always start collecting it if it builds up too much. So far no dust problems elsewhere on the property.

I removed the pressure regulator from the compressor and mounted it, along with inlet & outlet pressure gauges, on the wall inside my shop for easy access. Works great so far. No noise problems in the shop.

-- The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. Albert Einstein

Marty, I toyed with exhausting the DC to the outside, but I decided against it because I’ll be running a dehumidifier and an AC. Even tho I have been in Fla two years, I still have not acclimated to the humidity and heat. In San Jose, Ca., it is much, much dryer and the nights always got below 65 due to the fog coming in from SF bay. There are lots of things different here, most of them good, and I am very happy that I made the move. It’s wonderful to be in a “efficient” state that has no state tax.

As for the shop, I may move the DC and compressor to a “lean to” on the outside in the future. I have one “close” neighbor who is close enough that I am concerned with noise and dust as well. I want to be able to work in the shop at whatever hour I please and so I have to be concerned with noise as the neighbor’s bedrooms are on the shop side of the house. As it is right now, I will not even have windows when the shop first goes up, as I have asked the contractor to build without them so that I can decide just where I want them once I move in. He said that he will come back and install them for me at no charge. I also won’t have a proper door (just the sliding door for unloading sheet goods, etc) at the rear of the building. I want to get into the shop before I decide where the door and windows should be, and I want to see how much light I will get from the 6- 2’x4’ skylights. I live in a nice area, but am still concerned with keeping the shop secure as well, because of all the expensive machinery, etc. One of the big advantages of being retired is that I have plenty of time to do what I want to, and to take my time doing it! It is pretty rural here now, but gated communities have sprung up all over, along with two new shopping centers. I bought here to be away from the bustling city, but it seems it is following me. My community is fixed and most houses have from .5 acre to 4 or 5 acres, so I won’t be crowded out at home at least!

Do you have any suggestions as to compressed air distribution throughout the shop? Should I go with copper or would schedule 40 pvc work? I was going to put it under the slab concrete, but have decided to put it in the walls and bring it out where needed. I have never heard of a quiet DC! What kind and size is yours? I admit that I am sensitive to noise tho. What kind of insulation did you use?

Thanks for your insights and help. Calgirl

-- Forget the health food, I need all the preservatives I can get !

Don’t put your air lines under the slab. You won’t be able to drain them. There is a lot of water that will collect in your system if you don’t have a coalescing filter. There are a lot of tricks to running air lines. Make sure that you check them out.

PVC, no. Too easy to break.
Copper, no. Too expensive

Steel pipe, Yes. Cheap, Sturdy, easy to change in the future and add on to. I wouldn’t run it in the walls either.

Here is a good example on how to plumb an air system:

http://www.tptools.com/statictext/airline-piping-diagram.pdf

Gary

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gary,
Thanks very much for the info and url. Those two pages contain everything I need to know.
Calgirl

-- Forget the health food, I need all the preservatives I can get !

Gary Great Link. I’m [laming to place some air around my shop so I can use tools without having to run hoses all over the place.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Hope this works. Calgirl, congratulations. Setting up a new shop is a wonderful, wonderful experience, sometimes frustrating but very satisfying. I’ve read through the comments and your responses. It seems as though you’ve already pulled out most of the info you need. Just a few thoughts on what has worked for me. Added an 8’ step down slab to house my vac. system and upright air compressor. Extend that as far as you need across the back of your shop to house lawnmowers, etc. plywood storage. Extend your rafters in that area (mine ended up about 6’ from the ground). Made my own doors-double to fit the opening with a standard swing door on the side. It’s very quiet even without insulation. Marty S. this is your thought too. I used schedule 40 pvc (cost and ease of installation governed my decision). Steel is much preferred- Gary K. If you can afford to, now is the time to add the concrete slab at the rear. The yard is torn up, the contractors are there and you won’t regret it. Also for everyones information-fellow lumberjock, Lee Jessberger’s eezee-feed infeed table is the real deal. A question for miss debbie—-will you be coming out with a poster for our shop walls? Something like Betty Grable-WW11. Stay safe all and be well. As I said in my profile I’m very new with computers, now let me see if I can turn this thing off. Al.

-- MrAl

MrAl, Thanks for your insight. I really do appreciate the information those who have done this before me provide. Concerning the air compressor system, check out the link above which was provided by Gary, because on the second page this company presents a good argument for using black pipe. It makes a lot of sense to me, so that is the way I’m gonna go, I think. There is a great diagram showing all the items you need to keep your air tools in top condition too.

I plan to do simular construction to wall off my DC in the corner of the shop. I’ve gotten great suggestions for insulation, all the way from cardboard egg trays to the exotics that cost $60. a sheet. I still haven’t made up my mind yet, but I have different scenarios to choose from thanks to the ‘Jocks on this site. It is interesting that you and one other Jock have both said that their DC systems were not very noisey. Maybe I won’t have to go to the chicken farm to insulate mine! I’ll see.

I can live without Betty Grable on my shop wall, but can think of some male physiques which I wouldn’t mind putting up. Maybe we can get all the Jocks to submit pictures, and we can do a calendar thing? I kinda like that idea !

My wonderful shop, should it ever appear, will be a separate building just behind my garage. Thankfully, all the garden equipment has found a home in the garage, so my workshop will be entirely for woodworking. I do plan to put a comfy reclining chair in there, for meditation (don’t you know) and to rest my back which tires easily, but other than that, it’s woodworking heaven.

As for computers, you did fine…don’t know what the funny squiggleys are where apostrophes are supposed to be, but considering the lenght of time I have been computering and the thinking I had to do to figure out how to set up my Jocks page, you did great!

-- Forget the health food, I need all the preservatives I can get !