New Workshop size

[MG]

Is a room 15' by 25' big enough for a workshop? I'd like to make musical instruments and maybe some furniture. I have a craftsman 10" contractors saw and a lot of other equipment.

Thanks, Mark

[patrick conroy]

[Jay Pique]

It is if that's all you have! There are many ways to get the most out of a small space, and there are many sources for information on doing just that. I recommend taking a look at Setting Up Shop by Nagyszalanczy, Building Woodshop Workstations by Proulx and Small Woodworking Shops from the Fine Woodworking folks.

JP

[MG]

[NoOne N Particular]

Is a workshop ever big enough?

Wayne

[patrick conroy]

No.

[D. J. Dorn]

I went with 20' x 20' thinking I'd have room to ice skate when nothing was going on but after everything was in there, I found myself really thinking about in order to maximize floor space. I could get by with less, but I think I'm at the minimum for ability to move around with a fairly well equipped shop.

Don

[Upscale]

Man, you guys are scaring me. When I finally get a shop of my own, I'm going to have to leave a minimum of 30" manoeuvring space between everything for me to get around it in my wheelchair. Either I'm going to need a football field of space or really organize things well.

[Stephen M]

The short answer is yes. Lots of folks here get by with less.

Lay out a prototype on graph paper with cutouts of your tools (present and future).

lanes lanes lanes. You need lanes to walk between tools, and lanes to infeed and outfeed stock. Infeed and outfeed space can beshred between machines, and can be stacked on top of machines. For instance my main workbench would be in the way of outfeeding an 8' rip from my table saw but it is below the plane of the table taw top.

*for me* it is important to be able to rip a sheet of plywood. Therefore, my TS needs 8' in front and behind the blade. This is the biggest space user in the shop so I started working around that.

Organizing by work area is a nice, but it is second to actually getting every tool into the shop IMHO.

Also a square has less wall space than a rectangle. Look a what tools should be placed against a wall vs in the open.

good luck.

[MG]

I have a book on workshops where a guy has his workshop in a tiny space the size of a closet. I am planning on having the roof extended to give a lot of outside space. I could also later on build a storage shed for materials. I'll also have the garage next to the shop for some spillover. Just can't let the wife know the stuff is in there...hahaha.

[Bill]

I solved this by putting a double door in front of my saw and planer. I can open the door for the few minutes I spend cutting the long stuff.

[NoOne N Particular]

Workshop the size of a football field. hmmmmm. Now you are getting close. :-)

Wayne