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New here. Looking for advice.

2K views 16 replies 16 participants last post by  JBrow 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
First off, hello everybody. I'm new to this site and have done a little bit of woodworking in my past. Looking at picking it up again.

I need some help trying to figure out what's best for my space that I have. The room I want to use is about 10'x10'. I want to try to limit to 3 major pieces of equipment. I was thinking; 10" bandsaw, table saw and a surface planer. I could also set up a router table as well. I know the space is limited, so I can also use the carport of my house as an on and off work area as well. Would be easy to set up the planet outside when it's needed. I'm not looking at making large projects. Mainly small stuff like cutting boards, plaques, signs, small tables….nothing too large.

Thanks,
Vince
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
My shop is not much bigger than yours (110 sq ft). I am allowed to spill into the garage when the weather is nice and my wife parks her car outside. With careful arrangement, you can certainly do those three pieces of equipment and still have room for a decent workbench and some storage. For quite a while, the machinery in my shop consisted of a table saw, drill press and planer, so similar in space requirements to what you are considering. With the table saw taking up a bunch of space in the middle of the shop, it got tight sometimes, but can work.

I'll give you another option to consider, as well. Skip the table saw and upgrade the bandsaw to a good 14in unit. You'll be able to rip on the bandsaw. You'll also have a lot more capability than the 10in bandsaw. The rougher cut of the band saw can be cleaned up with the planer or hand planes, if you go that route.

There are quite a few professional furniture makers that do not own table saws and base their shops around band saws. Once I started thinking about going that route, I spent a year where every time the table saw got turned on, I asked myself if the same procedure could be done without the table saw. In every case the answer came back as yes, so I made the change to add flexibility to what could be done and also to save space.

On the other hand, I do a lot of hand tool work, so the downsides of not having a table saw aren't as limiting as someone who is totally power tool based. It's not for everyone, so give it some thought, but wanted to bring up the possibility for you to consider. Best of luck with whatever you choose.
 
#7 ·
I have similiar dimensions.
except I am long and narrow.

I currently have:
miter saw station/work bench/storage.
Fence is removable to clear bench

Hybrid table saw with portable outfeed stands.

Planer on wheeled cart

Drill press on stand

I want to add a long narrow work bench for hand planning.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the welcoming and all the quick replies and help on this, much better already than your typical automotive forums which I've been a part of in the past.

I was thinking the 14" bandsaw route also and keep going back to it. My main problem is, going that route is a much larger investment. Buying a used one, always worries me as well because I don't know how it was treated.

Hand tools are going to be in my shop as well, still gathering a list of those.

I'm definitely going to check out The New Traditional Woodworker.
 
#12 ·
I'm also new here,

I work in a single car garage thats 11×20, but the back half is never used for anything except garbage cans/etc,
so I work in similar dimensions. ( maybe another 2 feet then you ).

One thing I did is make sure everything I have is both light and mobile ( lathe, router table, miter saw, bench grinder, all get used on bench and then stored away, I also do my sanding, glue ups, etc on the same area ) so that I can use the same spot for multiple tools. My talbesaw is a crappy ryobi thats nothing special but moves in and out
of the way when I need it to.

My garage is sloppy but it works, take a look at my shop pictures to get an idea of what I am talking about.
 
#13 ·
I m also new here,

I work in a single car garage thats 11×20, but the back half is never used for anything except garbage cans/etc,
so I work in similar dimensions. ( maybe another 2 feet then you ).

One thing I did is make sure everything I have is both light and mobile ( lathe, router table, miter saw, bench grinder, all get used on bench and then stored away, I also do my sanding, glue ups, etc on the same area ) so that I can use the same spot for multiple tools. My talbesaw is a crappy ryobi thats nothing special but moves in and out
of the way when I need it to.

My garage is sloppy but it works, take a look at my shop pictures to get an idea of what I am talking about.

- redesigningwood
I've got a two car garage and I'm fighting the never ending battle of space to work. I like to do different metal and wood furniture projects and between metal stock and wood, it's difficult to move around. I have a mobile table saw, mitre saw, and I'm working on attaching a router option to my welding table so I don't have to add another piece of equipment to my garage.
 
#14 ·
A tiny shop is just an opportunity for creativity. The three tools everyone needs are the Tablesaw, Thickness Planer and Jointer. These are the holy trinity of woodwork, because they do work on 100% of all of your builds. You need to be able to get boards straight, parallel, and of a consistent thickness before you can build anything.

You'll also need a decent workbench. Small is fine here, mine's 2 foot by 6 foot with two vices and a deadman. If you went 2X4 you could pickup the extra 2 feet by using your TS as another work surface. Set the height of your workbench just a 1/16 under the height of your TS and make it an out feed table (trust me, this is small shop 101). Position your jointer parallel to this setup and butted right up against the back of your bench. I assume you'll be using a table-top lunch box style thickness planer (which is a perfect and economical choice) Store it under the bench and drag it out whenever you need it. You have all three of your machines and your bench in the tightest configuration possible.

Hang all of your other tools on the walls, and build a cabinet for things like planes right behind the bench. I've seen shops with this amount of space pack in hundreds of handtools, and they are equipped to churn out basically anything you can think of as far as projects go.

Welcome back and enjoy.
 
#17 ·
Sharpeye,

One option for a small shop is a combination machine. Several manufacturers offer combination machines that provide several stationary tools in one footprint. One that I considered for some time earlier in my woodworking was the Shopsmith . I went another way so I have no experience with Shopsmith or any other combo machine.

Shopsmith claims seven basic tools in the package and offer add-on accessories like the bandsaw and a 4" jointer that are powered by the basic machine. The advantage is the machinery is compact and it offers a lot of capability. The disadvantage is the machine must be reconfigured when switching from one tool to another. There seems to be a strong secondary market for the Shopsmith. Getting rid of it when you no longer need the machine should be fairly easy.

http://www.shopsmith.com/markvsite/
 
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