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Unmotivated with small shop

6K views 94 replies 63 participants last post by  rolfeskj 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have stepped away from wood working for about a year now. I did a few projects durning that year but I think the reason why I have been staying away from it is because the shop it too small. I built what I could and expanding it is not really an option. I would love to get bak in to the shop and make some projects its just kinda cumbersome in 288 squar feet. Any ideas?
 
#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Try turning some pens. A small lathe is pretty cheap and they make great gifts. Quick projects and pretty fullfilling.
My shop is about the same size as yours. 12×20 - sometimes it's a pain to do bigger jobs (I can't fit a 4×8 sheet into the basement), but I really enjoy it, so I make it work. Roller bases on everything is the way to go to make it easier. Also a vac system will really help. I find that I get kind of discouraged when the dust builds up on everything. A clean shop is easier to work in.
 
#3 ·
You can try and but some of your equipment on roll around bases and tuck them in where you can. Pull one machine out at a time to use. It'll take a bit more planning to work like that but you can get it done without a doubt.
 
#4 ·
Honestly 288 sqft is larger than a lot of woodworkers have to use. Sure, we'd all want larger shops, but we make do with our space. Is it that you have a bunch of large machinery? Perhaps you can get into hand tools, which require little space. Planing by itself can be very therapeutic.
 
#6 ·
I'm in half of a two-car garage, so I've got no more space than you. I'd love to have a huge shop with every tool in it's place and a central dust collection system, but I make do. Most of my tools are on wheels so I can make a little extra room when I need it.

To give up woodworking because your shop is too small is like giving up sex because you only have a single bed. Improvise, man! :)
 
#8 ·
Mines only 250 sq ft. I have two benches (one with a motiser and d/p) the other is for everything else. A t/s with extensions on the left and right, miter saw, b/s, joiner, planer, a couple of metal lockers, lumber cart, router table, Jet d/c and a few jigs. The t/s and the benches are the only things without wheels.

The benches have shelves for additional storage and I just finished putting wheels on the miter saw and router table so I could move them out of the way if needed.

Maybe just reorganize a little bit (if the machines are movable)? I believe there are websites that will let you layout your shop and place tools to maximize space. If not, use some graph paper and cut pieces (footprints) out to scale and move around.

Adding mobile bases is a lot cheaper than expanding and may provide you with alot more options :)
 
#9 ·
I work in a 9'x12' room, and the best thing I ever did was put a table saw / router table combo on casters. I keep a sheet of plywood off to the side so this serves back-up duty as a mobile workbench (finishing bench, planer cart, etc.) as well.
 
#11 ·
Is it the size of the shop or the layout and/or organization in the shop?
Or, maybe something else?

There is a member on here, who I won't name, that had a totally un-supportive spouse and had to work outside and drag everything out for every work session; then put it all back up at the end of every session. This person now has a one car garage to work in and just puts out an incredible amount of work; happy as a lark. I wish I could be so motivated.

But, my point is you can find motivation, regardless of conditions, if you want to. Get motivated to improve the efficiency of your space, for instance.
 
#12 ·
If you had a 2000sqft shop, you'd just have a bigger mess to clean when everything was finally too cluttered/dusty to work well. I'm hoping to have a shop your size at the next house. That would be so much better than having to share garage space with the car.

-Brian
 
#14 ·
I have half of a one car garage. We all would love some more space…...and for it to be clean (my wife would love that). Anyway, maybe if you make something for someone as a gift, or as a donation for a charity or something. That would force you to really concentrate and finish. Sometimes being woodworkers we do things so much for our own enjoyment or pleasure and forget that others might benefit from our craft. I saw the door you made, gorgeous work.
 
#15 ·
Organization is the key to working in a small shop. I have about as much space as you, I'd love to double it. I get by though and don't suffer from lack of motivation. I do try to balance woodworking w/ other activities and try alternate between hunting and fishing w/ shop time. I need my outdoors too.
 
#17 ·
Just search You Tube for garage shop ideas…cabinets, mobile tool carts. That ought to get you motivated to get better organized so you have a little more room. I also work out of a one car garage with lots of stuff in it so I can sympathize with you.
 
#20 ·
I work in around 128 sq ft in a 2 car garage. Organization and multi-functionality are key. My shop area looks like a wreck, but it gets cleaned of dust and shavings very regularly and I always know where to find things. I'd definitely suggest looking into woodturning. It's a great way to be very productive with little room and time.
 
#21 ·
My shop is about 110sq ft. of shed attached to our garage, 288 sounds like a dream.

The small size does make it more difficult to do larger projects, but it's usually doable. Table saw is on a mobile base to tuck into the corner and will soon be switched to a mobile work station to utilize wasted space. Benches are designed to have lots of storage. I've also added French cleats to a couple walls, which helped a lot with being able to rearrange tools to fit better, and use the overhead space as much as possible.

When working with large pieces, such as breaking down plywood or assembling a piece of furniture, I either work outside or move the car out of the single car garage and use that space for a few hours. When I am done, it all gets packed up back in the shop.

A couple of other things that work for me. 1) Keep it simple-if I do not need a tool on a regular basis, I don't own it. 2) Use hand tools instead of a space-eating machine, when possible. For instance, I don't have a jointer or planer, so do those operations with hand planes. Same result, a bit more time (maybe), and a lot less space used. 3) Work on one project at a time. Don't start another until that one is out of the shop. If the projects are really small, I do violate this one periodically, but there is never more than one furniture piece at a time going.

If you want to do woodworking, you can find a way.
 
#24 ·
I have exactly 288 sq ft right now. I built my kitchen cabinets in there. I had to move them to the garage as I completed them and the garage became the "finishing room". It gets to be quite a mess when I have something larger going on. Right now I'm building a garden shed for my wife. The shop looks like a bomb went off. When I "clean up" at the end of the day, I basically drag everything into the shop. Next day, I take out what I'm using again. It's supposed to rain on and off for the next 3 days. I'll go out there and tidy up. It's kind of relaxing putting stuff away.

I have a table saw, 14" band saw, grizzly 6" jointer, dewalt planer, bench top drill press, a corner for assembling electronics for my radio controlled airplanes, a workbench that doubles as an outfeed table, a clamp cart, shop vac, several cabinets…. I think the biggest thing for me was getting everything on wheels. I can arrange things for a specific job or project and then park them when I'm done.

Oh yeah… when the garden shed is done I get to remove a partition wall and gain another 6 feet (96 sq ft) so I'll have the entire building and a total of 384 sq ft. :)

Kind of a nice incentive to get the garden shed completed. hehehe
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
How the lack of square footage is the source of not being motivated?
Imagine if you had a larger shop, What would be your motivational factor to get some work done? What would you build?
I do have a tiny workshop compare to many people on this site. I wish I had 1000 sq, even 500. But no mine is 180 sf (9×20) and absolutely no way to expand it. It's in the basement! . And I do have to store 2 see kayak in this space with my tools. Question of organization. Cramped yes but fun to be there. Maybe woodworking is not what you really want to do. Reconsider your options.

In your statement " but I think the reason why I have been staying away …" might lay the answer. You are not sure … you only think. What makes you say so, what makes you think this is the lack of space. Imagine for a second if you had more space what would you do. ... How would you get motivated. What would be the motivational factor … Think about it.
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
A small shop can be discouraging. My shop is 18×18 minus one corner that is 7×7. I carved off that corner because my wife needed a place to put the freezer as well as for her to have a little storage. The other problem about my shop is that people have to walk strait through the middle to be able to go into the back door of the house. I figure my shop is about 275 sq ft. One time I made 2 full size bookcases for my daughter. It wasn't easy but I managed. There are all kinds of skill building smaller projects that you can do, including smaller pieces of furniture. Everything in my shop is on rollers except for my scroll saw and the drill press. I have a full size Powematic PM 2000 table saw and an 8 inch Powermatic jointer. I have a Jet 18 inch band saw. I have a complete set of portable power tools, and a large collection of hand tools. I also have the usual stuff like a a workbench, portable dust collector, miter saw, Midi Lathe, scroll saw, vertical/horizontal 6 in. belt/disc sander. One thing that helped me was building plenty of work table space with lots of drawers and I also built some storage cabinets for the walls. I even had one wall with small plastic drawer units for all kinds of hardware. It sounds crowded but it was a totally useful shop and had it setup where most of the time I didn't have move anything to get to something. Sometimes I wanted to build something big and it got a little frustrating but I've often worked on the concrete driveway if I had to. I no longer live in that house and have moved to a bigger house where I will finally be able to build at least a 25×25 stand alone shop. But I used that other shop for about 8 to 10 years.

Think about building smaller things like boxes, spice cabinets, and end tables. A midi lathe doesn't take up too much room. There are also countless small projects like scroll sawing, intarsia, power carving, and woodcarving just to name a few off the top of my head. Get yourself organized and work on turning your shop into a lean mean machine. You'll love it. It's always fun to work on your shop.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 
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