Let's talk shops...

My shop is a double garage that came with the house. It was all insulated and ceiling covered with 1/4" plywood ,walls with 1/2" drywall painted white. It had its own 65amp breaker box, which I branched out with surface conduit for 220v.and 120 v. outlets and installed 30 4'X 2 tube florescent lights in big main area and some existing 2X 2 T12 tube lights. I built an entrance alcove for the DC,air compressor, and lumber storage.

Herb

In 1995 the place I was working, closed, moved to South Carolina, so was laid off. I got a nice bonus, because I put in suggestions. All the suggestions were unacceptable, but strangely enough about six months later one of the supervisors submitted the same thing, but different of course. Those suggestions were accepted, along with a nice chunk of $ to the supervisor. Anyway, I got around $1500, and none of the other workers got a cent.

That was extra money, so went for a shop. Knew if I didn't buy a shop then would likely never be able to again. $785 if I recall right, a bit extra because of a window in the back wall. Guy came out on a Saturday morning, about 8AM, put together prefabbed pieces he had done at home, worked alone, and had it up, including shingled roof, by noon. A roomy 8X12 feet. Rest of the money went for tools, in particular a used Shopsmith. Later figured out how to fit in separate tools, so sold the Shopsmith and used that money for tools. Never been in a position to get another shop, so that is still it. Ample room for the stuff I do. It was that or nothing, and didn't want nothing. Right now, I figure for the shop and tools in it I have around $2500 total invested. Money well spent. I always keep it nice and neat at all times also.

Stick486 said:

@DesertRatTom..
where's the pics of the inside of the shop???

Click to expand...

Posted those long ago. It's kind of tight in there, so here it is in sections, at least as many of pictures as I can find.

Pictures in order.
1 Folding work bench. Harbor Freight. almost always fully open now.
2 Me at my table saw, some of the shop visible in the background.
3 Workbench folded down, it's usual position. Now shown are large amounts of pine under the lip of the table to facilitate clamping.
4 TS, small band saw, sliding miter with DC curtain, all on shop built cabinets with doors to keep dust out. You can also see the outfeed table and some shelving for less often used tools and some larger jigs.
5 Sideways picture of the DC chamber. Look close and you see the HF unit, chip collector, Super Dust Deputy and in the background, the return to the shop
6 Back wall of shop with pegboard covering with smattering of tools and also to the far right, the clamp area.
7 Counter area on the right side of the shop, small stuff, small hardware, all my manuals and receipts.
8 under construction shot of the DC chamber. Door in back leads to a small comfort station., and a bit of the sub panel. This chamber is well sealed to keep cleaned air contained for return to shop.
9 Storage shelves behind workbench. Note matching plastic, covered boxes, labeled with content. Tape, and odd stuff lives up higher, floor area is clear for easier cleanup.
10 The shop with my original TS and tools. Layout is largely the same, just a little tighter.
11 another shot of the storage area next to the workbench. Note it's on racks so they can be changed. It also now holds the overflow of clamps, which just fit into the shelves.
12 Router table with DC box underneath. Still there. Table is same height as TS so I can feed long pieces across it.
13 Tool storage drawers from HF. Keep most larger drills, files, dado set, and some rarely used tool in there.
14 My Laguna Hybrid Table saw with outfeed table and a small storage drawer unit for the odd TS accessories. I've since replaced the miter gauge with an Incra, but also use a Rockler sled in additin to some shop made jigs and tall fence.
15 pix of radiant barrier in garage roof and part of the insulated garage roll up door.

That is all.

The Garage houses another HF DC unit, chip collector with Rockler setup. I keep a Laguna Fourteen 12 band saw, PowerMatic 6 inch jointer and a DeWalt 735 planer out there as well as some storage for 5x5 BB ply. Lots of shelving for misc stuff as well. The Garage had an open ceiling, but we had it insulated and dry walled a couple of years ago and it is far morelivable these days. The inside of the roof sheeting was covered first with about $250 of radient reflective mateial, which lowered the temp by 35 degrees on that surface. then R38 and 50ths sheetrock ceiling. One side was unfinished so we had that insulated drywalled, then shot insulation into the remaining, uninsulated walls. The roll up garage door has a layer of radient barrier, then 1.5 inch insulating foam, then another layer of radient barrier Which was well worth the effort. No longer blasts heat into the garage. I can open the door into the house and let the evaporative cooler air come in to knock off any heat.

Have never had enough shop space, even when I had a 4000 sq ft building for building Pioneer Electronics demo car fleet in the 90s. Also suffer from automotive and snowmobile addictions, so those bring plenty of space and money shortages all on their own.

Been living here in Toronto the last 16 yrs. House came with a 13x20 car and a half garage, totally unfinished, with a asphalt floor which continues to be the bane of my existence. Added a loft for storage, converted the fuse panel to 240V out there, added some sheds for extra storage and remote dust collection. Also put up a 20x10 car shelter / tent in the driveway about 10 feet in front of the garage.

Multiple hobby disciplines and making things movable when possible has been my guiding light. The garage used to serve as a snowmobile service center, since a sled should be maintained and serviced/inspected after virtually every ride.....never mind the modifications like a new track, drive shaft, suspension relocation etc.

The car has lived in the shelter the last 4 years during the current restoration, but it will end up finding an indoor home next winter. The garage/shop functions in winter (partially insulated, oil and ceramic heaters), but for real woodworking the nice weather is required so the little portable table saw and chop saw can sit in front of the garage. Beggars can't be choosers, but I am fortunate that I have most of a complete woodworking, car audio and car restoration/maintenance shop stuffed into this little space, as well as some storage etc in the the basement furnace room. There is a dedicated welding table (I built) comprising the basis for metal working area in the LF corner at the door that is accessible (barely) with the door closed.

Built a 5hp 17cfm 240V 60gall compressor with about 100 ft of iron pipe throughout the garage and feeding outside to the work area and the car shelter, which also has three highbay lights as well as air and electricity in it. Ghetto to the max, but it all works.

The one thing missing from a woodworking perspective is a real table saw; that will be added after the car is screwed back together and I can clean up and take advantage of the newfound space currently taken up by the doors, dash, sandblasting cabinet etc. Below are some pics, incl the car stereo/12Volt test bench I built 2 Christmases ago.

Just bought a double scissor lift hoist for the car (old German made Nussbaum from a Mercedes dealership) that will be installed inside the car shelter later this summer.

My shop is 14'X 30' it is a block building that was on my property when we bought it. I always wished it was bigger. My son and grandson helped me put a new steel roof on it this weekend. My grandson is currently unemployed due to this virus mess. He manages a restaurant in Orlando so I put him to work. We are also going to tear off the original 9 X 30 lean to. We are going to build a new inclosed lean to that will be 14 X 30 with a wood floor for storage. Our idol show vending trailer and truck is sitting to the left of the shop it is patiently waiting to get back on the road.At least I am getting caught up on projects around here.

My shop is in the basement storage room. It is about 14 by 20'. I am banging into things constantly but it is convenient and warm. Building the 8' long tv console was a challenge.

The location keeps me from buying new heavy machines. Saw a great deal on a Hammer combo planer/jointer but the memories of getting the jointer, bandsaw and table saw down there stopped me from buying it. The house is a walk out so it does have a door to the outside ground level but it is still brutal moving things in and out.

A smaller shop makes you organized. I have a lot of things on wheels so you can move them around. My best investment was the Clearvue cyclone and taking the time to plumb all of my machines. When your shop is in your house dust collection is paramount for marital bliss.

PS Before Stick makes a comment about it being too clean. My day job is in a sterile room that is cleaned every 20 minutes and everything has its place. I like things clean and tidy.

I am currently in a 2 car garage under the house, which helps a little in summer and winter, but I have to be mindful of the noise when the ladies are sleeping. We added a sun room off of the master bedroom which gave me about a 12 foot overhang outside of the garage doors. This has been a fantastic improvement in my space, as it allows me to set up the jointer and planer outside, and I don't have to panic if the afternoon pop-up shower rolls through in the summertime.

My dream shop will be detached, in the 3-car garage range to around 30x40 feet. Ten foot ceilings are a must, as I have really gotten used to them. I would also like a wash sink and a toilet if I can squeeze that in. We have looked at a couple properties which would have been perfect, but are waiting until my youngest graduates this summer before seriously looking.

If I have to build, it will either be a pole barn or a miracle truss steel building. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and I am sure to agonize over all of them when the time comes.