# Small Shops (edited, pics added)



## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

Here's the pictures of the shop somewhat cleaned up, still have a long way to go to be able to fit a DC in there. I may end up building a room on the back to put the DC and air compressor to free up a little room.



















Good morning fellow LJs, I have a small work shop…...12' x 16', and I'm always looking for ideas to save some space. Just curious, those of you that work in a similar size shop, would you mind sharing some pictures of your shops and ideas on tool positioning and things that you have done to save space. Thanks in advance!


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

C'mon man, throw some pics at us so we can see your mess! 

Mine is about the same size or thereabouts.
Here's is my write up…
http://lumberjocks.com/MT_Stringer/blog/series/6453


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

Thanks Mike, I will get some new pics tonite and post em up. Just thinking that I have a lot of wasted space in mine right now. In the next few weeks, I plan on getting the HF dust collector and haven't decided where to put it.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

2/3's of 1/2 of a two car garage ~ 80 sq ft or so. The bandsaw is on wheels out of frame right.

From L to R:
Grizzly Oscillating Spindle Sander on roll cart with "shorts" storage
Grizzly 4×36 Belt Sander
Storage shelf for 2ndary tools: jig saw, biscuiter
Skil Drill press
Grizzly 715P 10" hybrid saw w/Milwaukee 3.5 hp 1/2" router in R wing & Incra LS-III precision fence
1hp DC with separator & .5 micron bag. 2×4" for saw & planer, 1×2-1/2 for all else. Aluminum blast gates
Parts & tool bin with storage for ROS, corded drill & circ saw. Hand tool and clamp storage.
Grizzly 12-1/2" planer with Wixey digital height indicator

M


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## ThomasLightle (Dec 14, 2015)

Hey MBD, I have a shop the exact same size of yours. You should check out my videos on here and on my YouTube channel. Most of my shop projects center around optimizing what little space I have. Currently, I have crammed in the shop the following:

Grizzly G0771 Table saw with Biesemeyer upgrade
Buffalo 14" Band Saw
Dewalt DW735 Planer
Craftsman 12" Double bevel miter saw
Jet 17" Drill Press
Harbor Freight Dust Collector (Modified)
Ridgid JP0610 6" jointer
Ridgid oscillating belt/spindle sander
Delta 4"/6" Belt/disk sander
Briggs 8500 Watt generator (for backup)
...and a 2'x5' Workbench

It is tight, but not uncomfortable and I have enough room to rip a 4×8 sheet of plywood if needed.


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

It is a constant process of looking for any extra space. Anywhere that I can store something to free up floor space is fair game. Recently a auto shop closed, pic 2 is the cabinet I made from the nuts and bolts boxes they had. In all I got 24 trays = 5 boxes of 4 drawers with ball bearing slides.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Mine is called the Dungeon Shop…
No tablesaw..no room

Jointer is 24" long ( see avatar)

Have enough room to work on one side of the bench….other side has a tool chest, two bandsaws, and a bench with a lathe. In the back of all these tools, a small bench with a hand powered Mitresaw…

To use the lathe









I have to move the smaller bandsaw out of the way, and slide the small router table back against the mitrebox cabinet..









Rest of the shop is just about as crowded….









Have since added a couple tills for planes, and Braces, tool chest is Tool Chest #1. 
I also share the area with a Washer & Dryer….


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## sepeck (Jul 15, 2012)

I don't have pictures, but I do have a thought. I used to think about getting the big harbor freight dust collector. They idea is awesome. The phrase MORE POWER occasionally goes through my head. However, lately I have been reconsidering that idea. Do I really need all that power for a smallish (1.5 car garage space) workshop or could I legitimately go with something smaller? I have been considering the smaller model, and planing on putting a thein or small cyclone in front of it. I haven't decided yet, but for me, and my needs, it's seeming more workable.

If you watch April Wilkerson later video's you will see she seems to be using the Rockler equivalent lately. Also while wandering youtube (almost as bad as Pinterest or here for time wasting) I came across this guy's video. So, something else to consider on space.

And earlier today, came across this idea for one of those flippable tool stands, only don't put in two tools, just flip it down and stow it under the table saw extension. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/91727

Also, lumber storage. I built one based on the same plans these guys did however, for a small shop, you may want to look at the modification by Steve Ramsey which is smaller.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

One word…casters. I'm trying to get everything possible on casters so I can reshape shop as needed.


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

Thanks guys, I wasn't able to make it out to the shop last nite…...kid's basketball games, but will get some pictures this weekend. Everything is on casters now, except the tablesaw. I'm gonna do some deep thinking this weekend and see if I can do some major re-arranging to accommodate the DC.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

HF add in Wood Mag has the Dust Collector for $169. Just sayin'

Here is a pic of the shop with the current project in progress. It is a 5 foot long coffee bar for my mom. The wall to my right has the tool box, cabinets and miter saw station along it…with some lumber storage above the miter saw.












































Notice my table saw is near the garage door. If I need to rip anything longer than 45 inches, I have tor raise the door and let the AC out!  Yep. Mini Split AC w/heat pump, and insulation in all walls and ceiling.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Grizzly has a nifty shop planning tool on their website…it's free and intuitive to use, and is helpful for seeing what various scale layouts might look like.

My shop is a bit less than half of a 2- car garage:


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## devann (Jan 11, 2011)

I too am in the small shop category. Here's you some more pictures. http://lumberjocks.com/devann/workshop


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

Did anyone else notice the safety violation in Woodbutcherbynight's rig? The saw blade is raised when the saw is not in use …









M


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## wmgworks (Sep 14, 2015)

Here's a workshop I've found a lot of inspiration in. Especially the multipurpose stand for the miter saw, grinder and drill press. I forget what magazine this was in originally
" 
http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/smart-shop-one-car-garage":http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/smart-shop-one-car-garage


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

> Here s a workshop I ve found a lot of inspiration in. Especially the multipurpose stand for the miter saw, grinder and drill press. I forget what magazine this was in originally
> "
> http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/smart-shop-one-car-garage":http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/smart-shop-one-car-garage
> 
> - wmgworks


Thanks, I have this diagram in my shop and it is what I based my miter saw cart on. You can see it in my projects, but is unfinished. I will get current shop pics this weekend and post em up.


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

> Did anyone else notice the safety violation in Woodbutcherbynight s rig? The saw blade is raised when the saw is not in use …
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I only hope this is a joke.


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

I am also in the small shop category. About 12'x20' of space, single car garage. Also share the space with my well pump, pressure tank, carbon filter & water softener. Also, storage of about 40 fishing rods, some hanging above garage door, others on a vertical rack behind miter saw and compressor (in the picture, directly behind where I am standing to take it) and a 5 tier shelf that holds fishing gear and boat stuff. I am going to get rid of some (most) of the lumber storage that you see to hopefully clear up some more wall space, as I recently installed a lumber rack in the shed.

It may be small, however I am very thankful that I have the space at all, and the means to work in it.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

> Did anyone else notice the safety violation in Woodbutcherbynight s rig? The saw blade is raised when the saw is not in use …
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Me too. Mine is only lowered if I need to use tabletop as a work/assembly surface. Glad OSHA never visits me


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## rhybeka (Nov 8, 2009)

thanks for starting this one, Matt! I'll be moving from my half of the two car garage into a 12×16 shed…once I get it built  I'm trying to get a jump on storage and such now if I can (too cold for shop work atm)


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

MBD

knotscott; That is too cool! I had no idea that Grizzly offered such a tool.

A workshop is such a person space that it is hard for one woodworker to help another with its arrangement. However, there are some principles that can be followed to get the most out of the space one has.

1) Get rid of stuff you do not need. It is a constant struggle for me to get rid of stuff, like cut off scraps and tools that have not seen the light of day for years.

2) Go vertical. Wall hanging cabinets and shelves around the perimeter offer a ton of storage. Items requiring floor space can often tuck under the cabinets. I have used about all the available vertical space in my shop. Shop accessories, fasteners, cauls, clamps, etc. are consuming wall space and are out of the way. Clamps, levels, marking tools, push pads, and other junk set on shelves or hang from screws in the walls.

3) Keep it neat and tidy. Clutter in a small shop just makes it hard to do good work and it can become a safety issue. From time to time, I go around the shop and pick up and put away items I used but left lying.

4) Establish a Standard Height for Stationary tools. I keyed off my table saw table height from the floor to establish my standard height because it is not mobile and work horse. I raised the table saw when I installed it, giving more height for other tools. Every other tool that has a work surface, such as the router table, the downdraft sanding table, and work bench do not exceed the height of the table saw. The workbench is on the infeed side of the table saw and the router table, when not in use, has the fence removed and is stowed on the side of the router table and the router table serves as the outfeed table for the table saw.

5) Go mobile. It has already been suggested to add casters. Beware all casters are not the same. Casters have various load rating. Only buy casters that will handle the load. If the load exceeds the caster's load rating, it will not roll easily and eventually will fail. Also the height of the caster is important. The casters raise the height of whatever it supports. If too large, the caster could raise the supporting tool above your standard height. I have casters on all my tools except the table saw, which is the center of the shop. I am constantly moving the workbench to get just that little extra room I need.

6) Get a tool. One tool that could overcome the space problem the breaking down a 4' x 8' sheets of plywood is a track saw. The track overcomes the problem I have in keeping the saw running true and against a guiding straight edge. The track saw always cuts straight and easily stows out of the way. You could buy the Festool or Dewalt track saw systems with plunging saws for a lot on money, or buy a track system that retrofits to you circular saw for a couple hundred dollars.

7) Plug the Holes. In my shop, I found naturally formed cubby holes in various place. For example, the table saw has a 3' x 3' extension table. I have a cabinet in the space below the extension table. The workbench also was open between its legs. Again I filled this space with a cabinet and now store my handheld power tools there. The cabinets have the advantage of restraining dust and debris getting on every stowed in the cabinets. Also cubby holes can be used to stow a bench top tool such as a planer or spindle sander.

8) Get a Good Plan. A good plan is a huge benefit and in my judgement critical for optimizing shop space. It is easy to make changes on the plan, rather than straining the back to move tools around. The Grizzly tool that knotscott mentioned is one approach. My shop layout is locked in a CAD program I bought.

But if you do not have the time, money, or patience for learning, getting, and/or using CAD, there is a low tech way to develop the shop plan. By the way, once you have a shop plan, you will find it indispensable whenever confronted with "where to put the new tool" problem, like that Dust Collector you are considering.

The low tech plan starts with a trip to an office supply store, where large format (2' x 2') graph paper is purchased. The shop room is drawn on the graph paper to scale at the largest scale you can make work on the graph paper. Separately, cut out each tool that takes floor space, also at the same scale as the shop room. With all the tools represented by these cutouts, the cutouts can be positioned at various places in the shop. If you do not like the cutout idea, buy some thin architectural overlay paper. It is see through and can be purchased in a large format. Overlay the architectural paper over the graph paper and draw away on the overly paper. You can try several competing layouts on separate sheets of architectural paper.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

You should crank you blade down for both your and the blade's safety. If someone accidentally kicks the power on with the blade down no fault, no foul. Ever have a little one (or an idiot) try to 'help' you work?

No, leaving the blade down is one of those things that makes you one degree safer and over time can make a difference. Safety, like security, needs to be a habit.

M


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

Safety violation? ROFLMAO Broke alot of rules to take this pic in Iraq.


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## calisdad (Apr 8, 2014)

> Safety violation? ROFLMAO Broke alot of rules to take this pic in Iraq.
> 
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Good on Ya Mate. Your shop- Your rules.
I'll roll mine down but I'm not anal about it.
Kids in a shop? There's your safety violation.


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## Frustrator (Jul 12, 2015)

My shop is about 2.6meter*3meter..but have no good advices as myy shop is a mess..


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

> My shop is about 2.6meter*3meter..but have no good advices as myy shop is a mess..
> 
> - Frustrator


ROFL, as is mine most of the time.


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## rhybeka (Nov 8, 2009)

yeah - mine is right now as well. JB is bringing it back to basics. I think even for my short time left in this space, I need to plan out what will go well in the new space and work towards that storage.

Matt, my only 2 cents to add would be to think on possibly adding pegboard or magnets to areas around tools for items that need to be close by - like push sticks/pads, blade wrenches, etc.


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

> Safety violation? ROFLMAO Broke alot of rules to take this pic in Iraq.
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I am the same, I try to crank my blade down, but I don't mull over it if I forget. In my high school shop classes, we had to crank the blade down, and put the fence on top of the insert plate. Seemed a bit excessive, but I understand the concern for safety and the teachers liability in such a situation.

About kids in the shop, come on now. My kids love it, and I hope they continue (especially my daughter) to do so! I posted these pics in another thread, but this is what they made for their teachers, family friends, and grandparents this year.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

The only tool that would put one of our grandkinds in danger is the table saw. So when Blondie is coming over, I make sure the blade is lowered and I lock it out using the lock that came with the saw. She loves to help out. She is literally growing up in the shop!


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Those are precious ste6168 and MT_Stringer!!!


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

Back to the regularly scheduled, small shop pics… Past few days, I have been trying to get my space organized. Also, SWMBO bought me some floor mats, so I put those down today. Think I need a couple more packs, and I should be all set. So far, they are great, but man do they STINK! I also built a little shelf under that HF bench/outfeed table. Need to build cabinets or shelves under the other bench. I also took down wood storage, and put up a single portamate rack. Getting there.

All while we went and looked at a home today, with a 2 car garage. Doh!


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## indianajoe (Dec 20, 2012)

I have a small shop as well. I try to make sure everything has more than 1 purpose for example the table saw also houses my router table. clamp rack also doubles as tape measure storage. etc,etc.


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

> I have a small shop as well. I try to make sure everything has more than 1 purpose for example the table saw also houses my router table. clamp rack also doubles as tape measure storage. etc,etc.
> 
> - indianajoe


Same, and spend alot of time working how that will be set up. LOL


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

Pics added to the top, thanks guys for posting up the shop pictures! Keep em coming!


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

> Pics added to the top, thanks guys for posting up the shop pictures! Keep em coming!
> 
> - MBD


MBD, that shop looks great! Is it an outbuilding, or attached to the house? Hard to tell.


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

Thanks ste, it's detached. It's one of those prebuilt storage sheds that I picked up for $300 bucks, couldn't pass that up!


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Is your fan positioned to exhaust the dust? If so, put an AC filter over it and it will catch a lot of the bigger stuff.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/100976


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

> Is your fan positioned to exhaust the dust? If so, put an AC filter over it and it will catch a lot of the bigger stuff.
> 
> http://lumberjocks.com/projects/100976
> 
> - MT_Stringer


Yea, but only exhaust it when it is decent weather. I have an air cleaner hanging from the ceiling in the center of the shop and run it non stop, but if I'm sanding or doing a lot of cutting and planing, I will turn the fan on.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

> Is your fan positioned to exhaust the dust? If so, put an AC filter over it and it will catch a lot of the bigger stuff.
> 
> http://lumberjocks.com/projects/100976
> 
> ...


Yep, air cleaner for me also…and a dust collector. It's amazing just how much dust is in the air when one is running the power tools.

Your shop is looking good. Makes me think I need to do a little cleanup also…just as soon as I finish the current project. I do have a helper that loves to clean up whenever she comes to visit!


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## MBD (Mar 28, 2013)

> Is your fan positioned to exhaust the dust? If so, put an AC filter over it and it will catch a lot of the bigger stuff.
> 
> http://lumberjocks.com/projects/100976
> 
> ...


She's a cutie, it's amazing that the younger ones can be entertained for hours sucking up saw dust!


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## Frustrator (Jul 12, 2015)

I know my tools are in there somewhere..


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

Still squeezing space from ever crook and cranny I can. Note the loft is full, both side of my shop have 16 feet lengths. LOL


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