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Shop size

3K views 37 replies 34 participants last post by  Tomj 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi there
I was wondering what size shops you guys have?
I've a space in the yard were I could maybe get a 12×8 shed/shop if I pushed my luck and wallet (not to mention the wife) I could get a 14×12 shed. But that would give me construction problems.
I'm wondering if this is too small to work? Or do you make do with what you have at hand?
Thank
Joe the joiner
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
I currently use a 10'x11' spare bedroom in my apartment, so I don't see why that 8'x12' wouldn't work if it had to. Obviously it's dependent on what kind of work you want to do, and how. Working with larger pieces may get annoying, but probably still doable. Keep tool storage in mind as well, as it can eat up space quickly. May have to get creative in that area.

EDIT: I should also probably mention I'm a handtool only (other than cordless drill) shop in my apartment.
 
#4 ·
What do you plan to DO in your shop and what is the climate where you live? Meaning, how likely is it that you could bring stuff outside the actual shop to work on it?

My shop is in a 24×16 building. My wife got 6 feet of it so my shop is 16×18. But I'm building her a garden shed this year and taking that 6 feet (her suggestion, not mine). So I'm going to end up with the whole 26×16 :)

12×14 would be better, but I can tell you as someone who now has 16×18 that you'll want bigger unless you can be creative with space management. :)
 
#5 ·
Depends on what you want to make.

I started with one bay of a two-car garage, then took over the other bay, and then moved to a house where I could have a three car garage. I wish I had a more space still.

Make do with what you can, but understand that you will definitely want more. In a 12×8 shop, you will be limited in what you can make. (Dining tables are probably out.)
 
#6 ·
I think any size could be made to work with enough ingenuity and planning. It certainly won't be the best setup, but depending on what tools you have and what you want to build, I'm sure it could be made to work. As for me, I don't have the planning or ingenuity, so I just bought a 8×16 shed for the back yard to move all my non-woodworking stuff out of the garage so I can convert it into my dedicated shop. This will give me about a 20×20 workspace.

In my old house I had a 1 car garage and had about a 12×18 shop. It actually worked out pretty well.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
I would say that most things you could get done in there with a little planning. I only have a one car garage and half of that contains lawn equipment and other such. I would think where you would want your tools and how much swing you have with them. Build a small deck in front of your shed and use that space as well. Bigger things can be cut outside as can assembly. This is my method for doing things. Or I make sure that when I am doing a big glue up, I wait until the end of the evening and do it before I walk inside for the night and do leave it in my small work area. I was in a guitar building shop in Spain that was literally the size of a closet, well maybe not, but it was smaller than a shed. This man produced some wonderful instruments in that shop. I think you should have plenty of room no matter what you do. And I think deep down inside, even the guys with the big shops still wish for more room
 
#8 ·
I just built a 28" x 34" shop last year and I could use more. LOL Build it to fit your space and budget, no one wants to be 'shop poor'. Besides, it doesn't matter how big or small you build it, you will be out of space soon enough!! HAVE FUN
 
#9 ·
Consider the footprint of stationary tools like the tablesaw and bandsaw. Add to that room to maneuver stock around the tools. I think you will find a much larger shop size will serve you well.
Do you have a garage space to use? Rolling tool stands can help store tools against a wall when not in use.
 
#10 ·
12X8 is pretty small, but it really depends on what you want to do in there. If you have dreams of putting many stationary machines, like a contractor table saw, bandsaw, jointer, ect… you would constantly be playing tetris to get to the machine you need. If you are using hand tools you might be able to get away with it.

I would consider having Garage Door on it, so you could effectively remove one wall if you needed some more space for sheet goods and set ups.

Grizzly has a shop planner that you could get an idea of size, compaired to machines that would go in it: http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner.aspx
 
#13 ·
IMO, that 8ft dimension is just TOO small to even turn around in when holding on to a piece of lumber. As Charles says, much can be done with hand tools and portable power tools, however I would not rush into limiting yourself to ONLY that type of woodworking. A 12×14 shop would be much more flexible in allowing you to utilize various forms of larger WW equipment as needed. Plus you need a certain amount of room to store lumber and your tools out-of-the-way so that you can actually do some work in there… ;-)

I am fortunate to have a good sized shop, 24×30 garage and only 1/4 of it is for the motorcycle and the associated automotive tools.
 
#14 ·
When I designed my shop, I put in a set of french doors so I could roll the table saw in front of the doors (and still walk past it) and pass a piece of stock through it. I've done this same "trick" when passing long stock through my planer. My clamp rack is on wheels, my planer, jointer, bandsaw, table saw. Pretty much anything heavy except my workbench (which doubles as an outfeed table for the table saw) is on wheels. My sliding miter saw is on one of those stands that folds up, wheels around like a 2-wheel dolly and stands against the wall when not in use.

It really only takes a few minutes to decide what machines you need and roll them out to where you can use them. I often have my sliding miter set up outside the shop, where I chunk stuff down to rough length, then pass it through the planer sitting in the french door doorway and then it goes to the table saw.

I work alone almost all the time. So I tend to cut things into manageable pieces and I probably generate more waste doing this, but with a little fore-thought, not much more waste.

I can not WAIT to get that 6×16 piece of building from my wife though. Partially because I'll also get 2 more doors and a window for ventilation :)
 
#16 ·
I make do with a dinky one car garage. About 1/3 of that is lawn and garden stuff. Having the ability to open the garage door helps immensely. If you are building a shop of whatever size, I second the recommendation to put a garage door on it.
 
#18 ·
Several thoughts come to mined. If your climate permits, just store your tools in the mini-shop and move them outside when weather permits you to work. Even with a bigger shop I mount alot of the heavier tools on one-way wheels to slide them "out" from the wall, and then back in storage position when done. Another option is the hinge a workbend to the wall, folding it down for the use of benchtop portable tools, and then back up for storage or moving another tool into the "workbench" site.

If you ever get serious about woodworking, it sounds like you'll have to move your residence. Regardless, as someone else posted, every shop is soon too small.
 
#20 ·
There was a 12' x 19' storage room attached to the garage of my house when I first saw it. It's pretty much why I bought the house. It works fine and I am very very grateful for the space. But if I had another couple of hundred square feet it probably still would not be big enough. No matter what size shop you have you will work around its limitations. You will find ingenious storage solutions, make devices that you can fold up and store someplace else if possible, work outdoors if possible when the weather permits etc….
Enjoy what you have.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
My studio is currently 1,250 sq ft … but I started in a 15×15 basement 14 years ago… I kinda miss the intimacy and the low overhead.. and the inability to work on huge projects… 12×8 though tiny is better than nothing, and if you are about smaller projects it could work fine…. just put everything on wheels.. which I started in my first shop and now my place is so big I have to have wheels to move around the ever growing amount of tools and wood.
 
#23 ·
My shop is 15×20 with a 10×10 addition built 10 years ago. IT IS NEVER BIG ENOUGH! Before I remarried I considered turning the house into a multileveled workshop and the workshop into one bedroom with a living room apartment. (Laughing) Disclaimer.. I am not responsible for what happens to you if you make this suggestion to your spouse.
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
My first shop was something like 12×18 It was shared by lots of garden equipment. Next was literally a closet where all my portable tools would go and I would work on the back deck off of one outlet. Next two car garage. And now working on mine currently, it is 14×24… So yes if your well organized (im not usually) I think you can work out of either size. I promise you wont regret the bigger space vs smaller and probably over the long term isn't as big of difference in costs. Consider getting one with a little loft space for extra storage.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
I had a 10×7 and it soon became obvious it was much too small to be of much value as a place to do any serious woodworking. I know if you just use hand tools and it isn't used to store the patio furniture and BBQ grill you
could get by I suppose. I'm still in the process of enlarging my space. It will be around 10×15 when I'm done.

I highly recommend you go for the 12×14 shop. Whatever hassle you have to bear you likely won't be happy with a 12×8 shop, ever.

For me , my ideal minimum would be around 16×24.But restrictions here won't allow for that.

But to answer your question point blank, yes 12×8 is to small imo.
 
#26 ·
My shop is only 220sq.ft. I have just about every tool a woodworker would want or need. I've been annoyed working in it for the last couple of years because a big new bandsaw was hard to place without some serious crowding. However, I did finally find a new configuration that is comfortable and workable without any major compromises. My suggestion is to start with whatever you have or can build and either adapt to that or find a way to get more space later. At least you will be woodworking in the meantime.
 
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