# Workshop design help



## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Hi all, need some inspiration, imagine this is your new double garage (internal) and you are a DIY/hobbyist wood worker. You’ve managed to negotiate over half the garage space from your wife to use solely for work working. The Non grey area is what you have to work with.

how would you setup your shop? big central bench with machines build in, or side benches, even a mixture of both.

I primary have interest in making small to medium sized furniture 





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## Jameshow (3 Jan 2021)

I'd get rid of that kink in the wall tbh. 

I'd go for a wall mounted bench. 

Think about workflow machining - joists -assembly - finishing. 

You need at least one assembly table too. 

Make the table saw, mitre saw, bandsaw, PT all the same level perhaps in a run with DX attached. 

Cheers James


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## Awac (3 Jan 2021)

I always thought this article used a small space well for woodwork.


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Jameshow said:


> I'd get rid of that kink in the wall tbh.
> 
> I'd go for a wall mounted bench.
> 
> ...


What is DX?


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Awac said:


> I always thought this article used a small space well for woodwork.



I’ll give that a read thanks - although I think my space is a little wider perhaps


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Jameshow said:


> I'd get rid of that kink in the wall tbh.
> 
> I'd go for a wall mounted bench.
> 
> ...



why would you get rid of the kink? Surely it’s useable space


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## Old.bodger (3 Jan 2021)

DX = Dust extraction ???


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## Jameshow (3 Jan 2021)

Yes dust extraction. 

I don't know your situation. 

But a kink in the wall is extra work to make and fit benches round. 

You may however have good reason for it.

Cheers James


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## Awac (3 Jan 2021)

Akwoody2402 said:


> I’ll give that a read thanks - although I think my space is a little wider perhaps


Well, then that gives you more centre space. The ideas are good and shows you how to think about combining units, outfeed etc. I like units on wheels, because you never have enough floor space!


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

I see thanks, I’m kind of thinking fixed units down the left side as James suggests. Then on the right similar but on wheels, similar to that article really.

I was think of using the kink to Reduce how far the mitre saw sticks out into the space if that makes sense. It’s only 40mm but will help


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## Doug71 (3 Jan 2021)

As already said everything on wheels and the same height.

Avoid machines built in to benches, the bench will always be covered in clutter when you want to use the machine


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## Cabinetman (3 Jan 2021)

" That kink", is I think is a carefully negotiated settlement re the division of space between a.k.Woody and his wife, get rid of the kink and one of them loses quite a bit of space ha ha


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## Cabinetman (3 Jan 2021)

The more I look at this the more I think your wife is going to be pretty unhappy being in the same garage as you when you’re making noise also with the best will in the world she is going to get dust on her things, things could get very acrimonious! Do you have space to build her a garden room? Spare bedroom to turn into a work room for her?


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## Retired (3 Jan 2021)

Hi,

I think it's impossible to design the perfect workshop from scratch; my workshop is constantly evolving to suit my current needs; I do however have many and very varied hobbies from DIY to wood and metal working; my workshop is our garage beneath the bungalow at around 22' x 11' it's got a very low ceiling.

Inside my workshop are crammed two woodturning and one metal turning lathes; two bandsaws one vertical for cutting wood and aluminium the other a horizontal for metal cutting; a large radial arm saw; industrial oil cooled arc welder; TIG welder; industrial floor standing pillar drill; home made 4hp saw bench; home made 4" belt sander and 2" belt grinder; lots of wall cupboards and benches down one side and across; machines down the other side with double side hung doors I made.

Every bit of space is used; benches are loaded underneath with a large assortment of power and hand tools; generally unless on a project my workshop is kept extremely tidy; it has a central bench which double up as run off for the big saw bench; I've tried to keep types of tooling together clearly showing what each is; finishing materials are to hand.

I installed a dedicated lighting circuit and also a ring main having many 13A double sockets also I added a 32A socket protected by a "C" type breaker for my big machinery.

I installed five 2' square LED light panels which I dislike; it was a mistake I hadn't realized by having such a low ceiling these panels were little better than large torches with directional light. Lighting is very important as is power; hot & cold water are very useful too. I avoid safety hazards such as trailing cables and my only safety problem is the arm on the big radial arm saw; if I need something from under it I've a tendency to forget the arm is there but it lets me know when I come into contact with it with my head and I see stars as I try to stand up.

My workshop isn't perfect but it suits my needs and there's an awful lot of kit crammed in; the central bench is very heavy and solid but it's a mixed blessing although I couldn't manage without it.







My workshop at present and its usually as tidy unless I'm doing work.






There used to be an up and over garage door which was a real pain having to fully open and close it each time I visited the workshop so I made a pair of wooden side hung doors with wired safety glass and what a tremendous difference these have made; I can pop in and out in seconds; in winter all the heat doesn't escape; draught proofing is added as is security and outside we have high end CCTV.






In spite of the tight working space I carry out big projects; here I'm making a new front porch.

Kind regards, Colin.


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Cabinetman said:


> The more I look at this the more I think your wife is going to be pretty unhappy being in the same garage as you when you’re making noise also with the best will in the world she is going to get dust on her things, things could get very acrimonious! Do you have space to build her a garden room? Spare bedroom to turn into a work room for her?



she doesn’t need a work space as such, just at the moment in the house we don’t have room for anywhere to store shoes and coats and also a second fridge freezer (existing one is tiny and built in so cannot enlarge.

so there are things that can’t get covered in dust so was considering putting some separating stud walls up between the two sides.

my Garden is 30ft deep 42 feet wide, I did consider building a wood workshop in there, but that would cost a lot more and id end up with a garage where only 50% of the space is used 

I allowed (that’s what I tell myself) the move on the basis we had to have a double garage so I could do this, so in this situation I have significantly more say than I do normally would so to speak haha


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## Jameshow (3 Jan 2021)

I have a simalar situation in that i have the rear half of a tandem garage. 

Works ok if you use hand tools / have adequate dust extraction for power tools either hvlp or lvhp. (You will probably end up with both!) 

I'm working on low pressure high volume DX in the spring when I pick it up from my sister's house. 

Cheers James


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## Stanleymonkey (3 Jan 2021)

Akwoody2402 said:


> Hi all, need some inspiration, imagine this is your new double garage (internal) and you are a DIY/hobbyist wood worker. You’ve managed to negotiate over half the garage space from your wife to use solely for work working. The Non grey area is what you have to work with.
> 
> how would you setup your shop? big central bench with machines build in, or side benches, even a mixture of both.
> 
> ...




What sort of items do you make / are planning to make? It might gives us an ideas of what to suggest.

What level of interest do you have? Are you a complete newbie or someone who has years of experience? Are you going to be hoarding skips finds and pallet wood or more likely to have big sheets of ply delivered straight off the lorry?

Apologies for a long list of questions. It sounds a bit rude and grumpy! Might be helpful to think about.


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Retired said:


> Hi,
> 
> I think it's impossible to design the perfect workshop from scratch; my workshop is constantly evolving to suit my current needs; I do however have many and very varied hobbies from DIY to wood and metal working; my workshop is our garage beneath the bungalow at around 22' x 11' it's got a very low ceiling.
> 
> ...



thanks for the pics, shows just how much you can squeeze in and still have space to work. Looks like you only have a bench one side, the other some of your machinery is against the wall? With overhead storage is that right


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

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This is the current situation, just boarded the loft so a lot of the stuff will go.
excuse the half built mud kitchen, I use the term built loosley


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## Retired (3 Jan 2021)

Hi,



Akwoody2402 said:


> thanks for the pics, shows just how much you can squeeze in and still have space to work. Looks like you only have a bench one side, the other some of your machinery is against the wall? With overhead storage is that right




Yes that's correct Akwoody2402; a bench with a cupboard above can only be used on smaller items but in my workshop the surfaces beneath the wall cupboards prove extremely handy indeed; I place tools and materials on these allowing more freedom on the free standing middle bench. The radial arm saw is located allowing cross cutting of timber of up to 20' long and boards up to 18" wide; my big saw bench is on wheels so I can rip any length. The bench tops allow support of timber whilst being cut; it did take quite a lot of thought to sort it out but as I say it works for me.

Down the back wall there are wall cupboards but on the bench top I have lots of under cupboard lathe steel bar ends in both mild and stainless steel. This is incredibly heavy ensuring the bench is solid and it never rocks; I have my big engineering vice on this bench also my home made 2" belt grinder and tucked into the corner a drawer cabinet full of twist bits of all kinds on top of the cabinet is the tin full of larger sized twist bits.

The wall with the machinery has a wall cupboard in the corner housing lots of lathe tooling. The Lorch Schmidt precision engineering lathe resides under an old double bed sheet to keep most of the dust from it; I fully restored the Lorch a few years ago; next is a chest of drawers I made and sitting on these is the Wilmac 6" vertical bandsaw which I fully rebuilt a few years ago; next to this is the Union Graduate woodturning lathe again another machine I fully rebuilt but I heavily modified both these lathes they now each have a 1.5hp 3 phase inverter rated top quality Brook Motor but with switching I sorted out each lathe can be run from a single VFD due to the switching arrangement. The Graduate I use both for woodturning and also metal spinning. Then there is a wooden door leading to lots of storage space beneath the bungalow floor; this runs the length of the bungalow where I store lots of timber and metal. Then a very slender tall bench built just long enough to support my third lathe this being a Record Power DML 24". In front of this on the floor are my horizontal metal cutting bandsaw and the TIG welding equipment these on a wheeled trolley. Everything has its own place and I keep tidying as I work; A record Power dust extractor fits nicely under the Graduate this on castors so can be easily moved out of the way. On the wall behind the Graduate are many lathe tools including a comprehensive set of hand threading tools some covered by a dust sheet also below the lathe on racks are 50m big rolls of abrasive paper.

The electrics are supplied via a modern metal clad 16 way consumer unit; this can be isolated from the incoming mains fuse by the 100A double pole isolator which is handy; I can isolate the entire workshop and bungalow using this switch.

Here is some of my kit that I squeezed in;






Fully restored Wilmac 6" bandsaw. It's got a decent capacity without occupying much space and it's a lovely old machine.






The fully restored from scrap Graduate woodturning lathe but now doubles up for metal spinning. turning tools to hand as are the assorted face plates Inside the small wall cupboard with the white door is the VFD supplying 3 phase power to both lathes; both lathes are fitted with identical motors so I can switch the VFD between lathes; my idea because I've never seen this done previously; it did take quite a bit of time to sort the remote controls and switching out but it works a treat. The big plastic case on the floor is a concrete breaker I bought about three months ago needing it to punch fence post holes through solid rock as I erected a fence. The dust extractor sits nicely beneath the lathe.






Looking a bit untidy is my Record Power DML 24" woodturning lathe; I used this delightful lathe a lot before finally buying the Graduate. Hot & cold water taps are on the wall below the lathe and in front under the dust sheet is the TIG welding equipment.






Next to the TIG welder sits the metal cutting bandsaw.






A poor picture of the expensive TIG welding equipment it on a wheeled trolley I made.






Industrial floor standing pillar drill with back gear bringing revs down to 60rpm another machine I rebuilt years ago. The workshop doors I made and under the bench can be seen a number of my power tools stored neatly and labeled.






The radial arm saw allowing very fast accurate cross cuts to be made; note ear defenders also the amount of kit stored inside the bench.







My home made 2" belt grinder; I use this for tool sharpening; made from offcuts I had to hand also a motor I had kicking around it works very well indeed.






The 6" Wolf double ended grinder I fully restored also my home made 4" belt sander this another machine made from what I had kicking around






My very rare and expensive Lorch Schmidt precision engineering lathe that had been stored dry for over 20 years in a scrapyard; it definitely looked like scrap but after I rebuilt and modified it I enjoy owning and using it; I heavily modified this lathe as seen with the new motor drive arrangement; it really is a beauty; junk stored beneath it until the weather warms up and I can have a good tidy up. Only one hole was drilled in this lathe so it's very original; even the old flat belt countershaft can be seen although this is no longer used. Offcuts of Perspex and Tufnol lean against the drawers; I could do with a lot more space.

I built two garden huts so at least all my petrol machinery used in the garden is stored safely out of the way. Workshops are never perfect but I think mine is pretty good for my needs; I can repair or make anything I wish in decent comfort; I'm not smug because it's taken a lifetime to reach this stage and it will never be finished. Over the years I've fully restored many machines some I've sold on and replaced by more suitable machines but I've gained some wonderful machinery at little cost buying as broken or scrap and rebuilding them. I don't expect others to do as I do because I'm a mechanical engineer and can restore machinery with little difficulty; a lot of old cast iron machines can be restored by a keen DIY'er though because these old machines can easily be rebuilt using a handful of spanners; replacing bearings and drive belts costs little and converting from 3 phase to single phase at first seems daunting but a lot of money can be saved buying a second hand suitable single phase motor with correct starter and setting it all up just getting a sparky to do the electrics.

Sorry to ramble on but I enjoy playing in my workshop and just wanted to demonstrate even a garage can be converted into a full blown workshop and doing so my way buying scrap machines I've got machines better than new tinny expensive machines.

I need to spend less time on the keyboard and more time playing with my toys but at the moment we still have snow on the ground and its cold.

Kind regards, Colin.


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## Akwoody2402 (3 Jan 2021)

Retired said:


> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I appreciate you sharing, definitely inspirational


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## Sandyn (3 Jan 2021)

Retired said:


> just wanted to demonstrate even a garage can be converted into a full blown workshop


Amazing workshop, Reminds me of inside the Tardis!!! very well designed and very tidy!


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## NOTTNICK (4 Jan 2021)

I installed a new ring main with masses of power points. The ones I use the most are those I have hanging from the ceiling. As most of my machinery is on wheels it really helps.
I love my large flat panel LED light units too. As I have quite a few, I get excellent flat light with minimal shadows.


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