Workshop Satisfaction

[ByronBlack]

I'm having another 'transitional' period in the workshop, yet another new setup and layout, and another 'deep clean' in a bid to get organised, but somehow after each time I do this (this is the third time in two years) within a few months I feel agitated to change it around again in the grand goal to achieve perfect woodworking feng-shui

Am I the only one who does this?

Does anyone else also feel the need to re-organise, re-plan, and re-tool their shops in the hope you'll find workshop nirvirna?

If not, what works for you? Cupboard space, shelving, mulit-use stations, or seperate machines, what's your idea of workshop layout perfection (given the space limitations most of us suffer)?

 

[Karl]

Am I the only one who does this?

I doubt it!

I used to constantly change the layout of my 'shop (single garage). Made all the more difficult when you've got some household stuff in there (fr/frzr) and you want an 8' workbench.

But....

I think i've finally found a set-up which works for me. Ok, so I could do with a proper bandsaw, and am working on that at the moment. And a permanent router table. Oh, and a mitre station would be good.

At the end of the day you have to accept the limitations of space, and just dream of what may be if you ever get the space.

I have a book about "small" workshops (although being a US publication, they're not so small!). But one of the 'shops is in a garage similair in size to mine. I found it quite inspiring. There was a thread on it not so long ago, with a link to an on-line copy of the article.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Mattty]

Am I the only one who does this?

I doubt it!

I used to constantly change the layout of my 'shop (single garage). Made all the more difficult when you've got some household stuff in there (fr/frzr) and you want an 8' workbench.

But....

I think i've finally found a set-up which works for me. Ok, so I could do with a proper bandsaw, and am working on that at the moment. And a permanent router table. Oh, and a mitre station would be good.

At the end of the day you have to accept the limitations of space, and just dream of what may be if you ever get the space.

I have a book about "small" workshops (although being a US publication, they're not so small!). But one of the 'shops is in a garage similair in size to mine. I found it quite inspiring. There was a thread on it not so long ago, with a link to an on-line copy of the article.

Cheers

Karl

If you could find this i would be very grateful. I'm just building a new workshop and am keen to get it as close to right 1st time.

Thanks,

Mattty

 

[wizer]

My habit (as everyone knows) is adding to my workshop. I think I have stumbled upon the best layout for my shop. I have been out there all afternoon planing up the parts for a couple of toy chests. Not once did I think the layout was wrong. I do need an outfeed table which is next on the list. There have been tools that I wish I hadn't bought and some I have quickly realised I have little use for (Leigh Jig). Then there are the tools which I just love and am over the moon with (Jet TS & P/T, BUS Smoother, etc) Slowly, I am getting better at matching my tools to my skills/needs. The biggest issue I have workshop-wise, is space. Wood storage is the biggest offender. At the moment I am keeping the best stuff in the spare room, but there's still a ton of off cuts the I can't bare to bin. I certainly have never considered a complete overhaul.

 

[Karl]

If you could find this i would be very grateful. I'm just building a new workshop and am keen to get it as close to right 1st time.

Thanks,

Mattty

Here you go

Cheers

Karl

 

[Mattty]

If you could find this i would be very grateful. I'm just building a new workshop and am keen to get it as close to right 1st time.

Thanks,

Mattty

Here you go

Cheers

Karl

Thank you,

Mattty

 

[Mr Ed]

I think space has a lot to do with it.

Up to 4 years ago I had a single garage as my workshop which I was constantly re-organising, but never finding a layout that fixed everything. I moved to my current house (and workshop) 4 1/2 years ago and the layout today is the same now as the day I moved in (well once everything was set up...).

The difference is that I now have about 4 times as much space and the minute details of layout don't matter to such a critical extent. In the old shop I had to move equipment constantly just to suit the length of the workpieces, now I can leave things where they are and work around them.

Now I'm not saying we can all go out and move to a new workshop, or that you need big spaces to do good work, but there is a size below which everything you try to do seems to be a pain. I don't seem to have the re-organisation urges I used to now.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... hp?t=26446

Cheers, Ed

 

[ByronBlack]

Glad I'm not the only one.

I actually think space wise I'm ok, it's just a tad bigger than your regular 1 car garage, and I adopted a layout from an American chap who wrote an article for finewoodworking.com this worked well for a while, but I just always felt 'stuff' wasn't organised right. I think ultimately it comes down to storage

Wizer, I'm with you regarding tools. Over the last few years, I've gone through three entire different machine setups, some tools/machines have been great, others not so (my triton for example, just could never get on with that). The only time when I did have a setup I liked, I had to get rid of it for non woody reasons, so I feel I'm back at square one again, however, it's an oppurtunity to re-purchase more suitable machines/tools.

Strangely, for me, it means having smaller machines, ones that are more specific to the task and more mobile, rather than the larger more stationary ones.

Also, I find wood-storage a problem - just how do you decide that an offcut is not worth keeping around? I just went through my wood storage box thingy and cleared out an entire sack of various bits and bobs, I still have the sack, and can't decide whether to dump, keep or save for when we can't afford energy

(No, I'm not jealous of Ed's space at all, nosiree!) ;-)

 

[Digit]

Am I the only one who does this?

No!

Roy.

 

[matt]

My current layout it working OK for me. Not perfect but OK for the space I have (single garage). My problem is keeping it clear. As soon as there's enough space to work in there's also enough space to "temporarily" store something or other.

I too suffer from indecision about chucking out offcuts. Matters improved after I bought my tablesaw and subsequently the bandsaw. I don't find the offcuts building up so much because I re-dimension a lot more stuff (rather than waiting for the day when I just happen to need a 6"length of 2x2!). I quite fancy trying to find a way of using a wood burner but really can't dedicate any space to it

I also hoard doors... I have some old french doors, a room door, 4 sets of cupboard doors... The other thing I have loads of is tool cases. I can't be bothered to get a tool out of the case every time I want to use it, nor do I feel inclined to ditch the cases :?
:roll:

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

Probably the best way to find out what works is to make projects and make note of what has been awkward and what you would change, then modify the lay out to suit for the next project.
I've just had a major move around at my workshop (2200sq ft :wink: )
and am now finding that things are flowing from operation to operation much better. Just a shame the jobs still arent going out quick enough!

 

[Tierney]

The solution is wheels! I have a one car garage and the only way of being able to have a table saw (with side extension/sliding table) and planer was to put them on mobile platforms (constructed as torsion boxes as per an article in FWW perhaps a year ago). There is the inevitable non wood stuff like garden tools and some household stuff to contend with also.

I'm only part way through my mobilisation - next thing is to build a 8ft long unit to house SCMS and router table; then, maybe I'll do something to allow me move my workbench occasionally. Then maybe I'll make something!

David

 

[MikeG.]

David,

I've never thought the wheels solution was the right way forward. Benches should in my mind be big, heavy and rock solid. No, I reckon the real answer is build new sheds for all of the extraneous gumph that otherwise snarls up your workshop. So, a bike shed, a garden shed, a store shed etc. Best of the lot is if you can get all of your wood out of the workshop........never managed that myself.

Mike-five-sheds!

 

[Tierney]

Mike,

Agree on the bench front, there was some tip (again in FWW) where some guy used an old car jack to enable wheels on his bench whenever he needed to move it, but the rest of the time it stood on its legs, so was thinking of something along those lines.

I think SWMBO will want to see me make a few other things before making a shed (funnily enough she had no interest in the mobile platform for my planer, or the tool cabinet for the wall that I am also making)

David

 

[DaveL]

Mike-five-sheds!

Sounds like a gloat. 8) :roll: :wink:

 

[filsgreen]

Mike, I'm with you on this one. The bench that i have just built must weigh at least 200lbs. I weighed he 5x4 ft 32mm mdf top, it weighed 47 lbs and there was two of them plus the lower workshelf. What I'm trying to say is an 8x4 x32 mm sheet of MDF is heavy!!! Then there is the 12 mm plywood top and and the 4 inch legs and supports.

That's as far as I've got, there is two metal vices to be added, plus the planer and the other heavy tools that are stored within the bench. That is without the doors that I'm sticking on!

Its not moving period

Phil

 

[Rob_H]

My problem is always adding more stuff! I want to add a lathe and a new workbench this month - so something's going to have to give. Oh yes, I have a wood burner in mine, but it rarely sees an off cut - I just can't bring myself to burn oak or elm - it always heads for the 'might be useful drawer' - I may need to make oak plugs etc etc (and then never do!!)

 

[Doug B]

Rob, that not burning offcuts will get worse once you have a lathe, since getting one i save every offcut. If its too small to turn it will come in for segmented work! :?
I`m definitely thinking of an out building of some sort for storing timber. Has anyone stored veneered sheets in a shed? I`m worried the damp environment over the winter might affect the veneer.
James.

 

[ByronBlack]

Rob, that not burning offcuts will get worse once you have a lathe, since getting one i save every offcut. If its too small to turn it will come in for segmented work! :?
I`m definitely thinking of an out building of some sort for storing timber. Has anyone stored veneered sheets in a shed? I`m worried the damp environment over the winter might affect the veneer.
James.

You could keep your veneer in an insulated chest of drawers - similar to what artists use to store paper/canvas.

 

[woodbloke]

Veneer needs to be kept in a warmish environment, where the RH is quite low or they'll warp and bend. The very best way is to keep them in a 'sandwich' with the two outers being scrap board and then the whole thing is bound up tightly with some tape of some sort.
BB - from reading this thread, this seems like Plan C for the workshop arrangement...is 'el rusto' still in existence? - rob