# Your thought on this workshop layout please...



## ratkinsonuk (6 Dec 2017)

Too cluttered, or would be OK?


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## Jamesc (6 Dec 2017)

Hi,
My first thought is that it looks tight on space for the table saw. By my reckoning you will not be able to cut the length of a full 8x4 sheet.
Would it be possible to make the stuff on the right hand wall movable so could get them out of the way when needed?

James


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## ratkinsonuk (6 Dec 2017)

Those 3 'boxes' on the right would all be on wheels, with the possible exception of the drill press. The others will be planer/thicknesser, sanding station, etc.

I'm hoping most of the raw cutting will be done with my circular saw as I don't fancy pushing 8x4's over my table saw. I can then square and reduce them down on the table saw.

Rob.


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## MikeG. (6 Dec 2017)

My instinct is that you haven't the space there for a table saw. Given that you need a bench, and somewhere to work on sheet material or layout/ glue up etc, I just can't see a table saw working. Further, I can't see how you can pull a P/T far enough out into the room to work if you have that big lump in the middle.


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## ratkinsonuk (6 Dec 2017)

Hi Mike.

There's a couple of feet between the window/wall and the table saw, so I'd probably design a system where I wheel the cabinet over and clamp it to the outfeed table to give the option of putting full length pieces through it. The workbench outfeed could also have pull-out panels built in, that form an outfeed for the planer (and any other machine for that matter), so that I don't have to run round the shop to catch the wood coming out and reduce the chances of snipe.

That's not to say that I'm disagreeing with anyone by the way. I wouldn't have asked the question if I wasn't dubious about the space in the first place. I think I'm going to start with essential tools (they're littered around all over the place at the moment), and organically grow it from there.

My workshop has been up and running for 10 years and I've only just gotten round to organising it properly, so I don't expect to be rushing headlong into any decisions 

Rob.


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## ratkinsonuk (6 Dec 2017)

This is a 'in progress' picture from a few years ago to help visualise the space...


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## MattRoberts (6 Dec 2017)

Looks very similar to my single garage 5m x 3m. I fit my tablesaw in there fine, albeit more against a wall rather than in the centre.

I can share my plan / pics if it helps?


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## SteveF (6 Dec 2017)

put the drill press in-line with chop saw
if you can get the height right so you can use the worktop for both

Steve


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## ratkinsonuk (7 Dec 2017)

MattRoberts":37fkc1yl said:


> Looks very similar to my single garage 5m x 3m. I fit my tablesaw in there fine, albeit more against a wall rather than in the centre.
> 
> I can share my plan / pics if it helps?




Thanks Matt - that would be really usefull


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## ratkinsonuk (7 Dec 2017)

SteveF":2q574z6m said:


> put the drill press in-line with chop saw
> if you can get the height right so you can use the worktop for both
> 
> Steve



Cheers Steve. My original sketch had the drill on the end of the chop saw station, and that's probably where it would eventually end up depending on how things pan out. My ineptitude with the web version of SketchUp lead me to just dropping it 'wherever' for the purposes of the initial design.

A side question - has anyone bought one of the cheap £25 copies of SketchUp Pro from eBay and do they work or is it a con?

Cheers.


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## RobinBHM (7 Dec 2017)

If it was me, I would get rid of that huge sign that says 'STORAGE' -its taking up far too much space


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## ratkinsonuk (7 Dec 2017)

I know what you mean - I'm forever tripping over the 'BLE' sticking out of my sanding station too


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## Beau (7 Dec 2017)

I cut a giant letter box in the end of my workshop to allow long lengths down one side of the workshop. On this wall I have the bandsaw, chopsaw and router table at the same hight to utilise the extra length the "letter box" enables me to handle. Just a thought.


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## MikeK (7 Dec 2017)

ratkinsonuk":2a6a2qlh said:


> Cheers Steve. My original sketch had the drill on the end of the chop saw station, and that's probably where it would eventually end up depending on how things pan out. My ineptitude with the web version of SketchUp lead me to just dropping it 'wherever' for the purposes of the initial design.
> 
> A side question - has anyone bought one of the cheap £25 copies of SketchUp Pro from eBay and do they work or is it a con?
> 
> Cheers.



I think the eBay versions are cons and would stay away from them. Is there any reason you aren't using the free SketchUp Make? This has all of the features I could ever want in a free program. I use AutoCAD at work and cannot justify the cost of SketchUP Pro.


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## ratkinsonuk (7 Dec 2017)

MikeK":1t3avml9 said:


> I think the eBay versions are cons and would stay away from them. Is there any reason you aren't using the free SketchUp Make? This has all of the features I could ever want in a free program. I use AutoCAD at work and cannot justify the cost of SketchUP Pro.



Thanks for the heads-up Mike.

To answer your question, I've got a pretty decent laptop at work, and the web version just hangs on me a lot of the time. The tools are difficult to get to, there's a bug with the 'Text' tool that means I have to restart my browser when I use it, and you can't manually type a length (as far as I can see).

That's just the functions I've tried so far. Pitty I don't have my 2007 Desktop version still....


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## nabs (7 Dec 2017)

you can still get the 2017 desktop version of Sketchup Make. As far as I know this will be available indefinitely, but they have no plans to do any more updates to it (only the Pro full client and web-based Make will get updates from now).
https://www.sketchup.com/download/all


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## ratkinsonuk (7 Dec 2017)

nabs":2fa3h8v0 said:


> you can still get the 2017 desktop version of Sketchup Make. As far as I know this will be available indefinitely, but they have no plans to do any more updates to it (only the Pro full client and web-based Make will get updates from now).
> https://www.sketchup.com/download/all



I think you may have misread my post - I was talking about the version from 10 years ago, which used to be free. Everything on that link has to be purchased.

Rob.


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## nabs (7 Dec 2017)

nope - sketcup make 2017 is free to use.


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## ratkinsonuk (7 Dec 2017)

Thanks Nabs, I'll take a look tonight.


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## MattRoberts (8 Dec 2017)

Here you go











The big grey cylinder is my hot water cylinder, and the green one is my dust extractor / thien baffle

Excuse the mess...


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## TFrench (9 Dec 2017)

I have a pretty big space but just have everything on wheels so I can pull it out into the centre of the room. Make an adjustable outfeed table that can catch stuff from any of your machines and you'll have a lot of flexibility.


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## ratkinsonuk (11 Dec 2017)

I've had a measure up, and done a little mock-up, and I think there's just about enough space with some clever planning...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eg938qgitc7d3 ... 190607.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxamqnnnb0joy ... 190655.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6s86rjpbj1ieu ... 190720.jpg


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## ratkinsonuk (11 Dec 2017)

MattRoberts":3ev0b8cy said:


> Here you go



Thanks for sharing that Matt. It looks like your shop is about the same size as mine, and you've managed to fit in something similar to my intentions, so it's good to know this is a proven setup.

Rob.


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## whittler1507 (23 Dec 2017)

Guys one of the best bits of advice I got was how are you going to work and design your workshop around your workflow


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## SteveF (24 Dec 2017)

ratkinsonuk":2mpj4723 said:


> SteveF":2mpj4723 said:
> 
> 
> > put the drill press in-line with chop saw
> ...


if you put it at the end you are limited to just drilling the end of a long piece and cannot drill the middle section
think of it the like your chop saw where in an ideal world you would have 3.6m either side
but the drill would only need 1.8m
Steve


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## ratkinsonuk (27 Dec 2017)

SteveF":2p9r8qvn said:


> if you put it at the end you are limited to just drilling the end of a long piece and cannot drill the middle section
> think of it the like your chop saw where in an ideal world you would have 3.6m either side
> but the drill would only need 1.8m
> Steve



My current drill is just a small benchtop model Steve, so it would end up on a wheeled pedestal for those times when I required the extra width. If I do upgrade to a full height drill (I can't see the need at the moment), then I'd have to rethink it's location.

I'm trying to build as much of the workshop using modules as I can, so I can move pieces around. Even the workshop itself was designed so that it could be taken apart and moved to a new house, with very little loss of materials.

Cheers, Rob


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## LancsRick (27 Dec 2017)

One thing I'd suggest which I did in my single garage setup was to have a three piece thicknessing setup.

I have my lunchbox thicknesser mounted on a piece of 18mm MDF. This has locating dowels such that I can add a 1.2m piece of MDF on both infeed and outfeed with rollers fixed at the matching height to the thicknesser bed. This then means that they can be stored vertically behind the workshop door, the thicknesser goes under the bench, and if I need to run any truly long stock through it I can just lay the whole thing out on the garage floor in about 3 minutes flat. Works a treat!


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