Small workshop tour

[Howie]

I have recently re-organised my workshop for the umpteenth time and thought it was now worth showing on the forum. I love to see other workshop tours as they often give me ideas on how to better use my limited space. I hope you enjoy.

My man cave is a single brick built garage with dimensions of 16' x 9' which gives me about 145 sq/ft floor space. It has a sloping flat roof of 9' at the double doors end and about 7'6" at the other. Not much I know, but I find if you are careful about how you arrange the space you can find it quite usable.

As I have mentioned above this is the latest of many arrangements for this workshop. I find as a new piece of equipment gets purchased, the shop needs to be altered to ensure I can get the best out of the equipment and the remaining space. After going through this process many times I have now come to the belief that having unused space in the workshop is more valuable than filling any available space with machinery which may only be used very rarely. I mostly use sheet goods and so require a fair bit of open area to swing a 8' x 4' sheet of MDF around for cutting on the table saw.

My shop only has 3 large pieces of equipment, a table saw, router table and a bandsaw. I would dearly love to have a pillar drill and a decent sized belt and disc sander but these would be luxuries which I currently cannot afford financially or as a space sacrifice. They would be handy only occasionally for me and so I keep my wallet closed! :wink:

Anyway that's enough justifying my meagre shop, on with the tour.

View looking in from the front doors.

View looking from the rear of the shop to the front doors.

My pimped record Power TSPP250 with wheeled storage cabinet, Jessem sliding crosscut carriage and axminster overhead blade dust cover.

Clamps, templates etc......

From left to right. Pillar drill..... sorry just dreaming.... fridge, bandsaw, battery power tools and glue station, router table and computer.

Axminster SBW3501B Bandsaw on a mobile base.

Behind the bandsaw is small parts storage.

Router table which also serves duty of table saw outfeed table and bench top.

Part 2 to follow soon.

Seasons wishes

Howie

 

[Howie]

Ok part 2

Drawer storage underneath the workbench containing hand tools, screws etc. I like putting all my stuff into drawers and cupboards as it keeps them dust free.

Next to the drawers is the compressor for my brad nailer, it is housed in cabinet which helps to keep the noise suppressed. If you are interested I did a posting on the construction of this compressor cabinet, it was titled, 'Air Compressor Noise Solution'. Here is the link.
air-compressor-noise-solution-t59432.html

The last thing stored under the workbench is a cabinet which houses my Record Power DX4000 extractor, once again I did this to help suppress some of the noise, which it does.

To make emptying of the extractor easy I used a new (of course) toilet pan connector which simply fits the 100mm extractor inlet, push on, pull off.

I have tried to keep the left hand side wall relatively clear as 9' is not very wide. It contains my sheet goods storage and a bare wall, which is tempting to fill, but as I have said earlier I value having room to move in my workshop.
Walnut veneer boards waiting to be made into a extending dining table and sideboard.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bare wall...................space.

So that's about it, how do I keep it all so clean and tidy? Have a shed!

Guess I need to clean out the garden shed now.

best wishes

Howie.

 

[wallace]

Really nice space to play in. You must spend quite a bit of time in their, fridge for refreshments and a computer.
Mark

 

[GCR]

Very impressive!

Do you have dedicated storage for materials/off cuts? That what always defeats me.

Bob

 

[Howie]

Thanks for the positive responses chaps.

Mark,
I try to spend as much time as I can in my fortress of solitude, I'm a typical bloke where I like to shut myself away from the world and just make lots of saw dust and the occasional bit of furniture. :wink:
The computer is brilliant for researching up ideas and also playing my tunes. The CPU box is in the cupboard below and has a ducted fan to an air brick in the rear wall. Keeps the computer cool and dust free.
The fridge is a there because SWMBO has to have an overflow fridge/freezer to house the regular visits to the bulk buy warehouse. :twisted:
One day I will have the time and money to build a kitchen extension to house her fridge.

Bob,
I try to keep my off cuts down to a minimum by having a good throw out every month or so. Not such a drama as mostly it's just MDF and not some lovely bits of real wood. I have tried keeping the timber all over the shop in various configurations and racks but found laying it up on end by a clear wall with an slightly inclined support behind and a rope to keep it safe is the most space saving. I also have a small cut off bin behind my table saw for anything that is going straight to the dump. If in doubt throw it out!

regards
Howie

 

[Lons]

Hi Howie

That's impressive use of a single garage =D> you have to be disciplined to keep it that tidy, shed or no shed. not sure I'd put up with a fridge - wife or no wife :lol:

I was tempted to stick a PC into the workshop but I'd spend too much time on here instead of being productive, anyway I sit all night in front of the telly with a laptop on my knee as it is :roll:

cheers
Bob

 

[Roughcut]

Yes I really like that Howie.
I only have a single garage to use, although realistically I can only use about half the space for woodworking as the other half is storage for "other stuff". (hammer)
I have considered building or buying a small shed to store the "other stuff" which would give more more room in the garage.
That might well happen yet!

 

[Silverbirch]

I have now come to the belief that having unused space in the workshop is more valuable than filling any available space with machinery which may only be used very rarely.

I admire your restraint (and your organisational skills). I have a similar sized space. I think I need to hire you as a consultant to sort my mess out :mrgreen:

Ian

 

[riclepp]

Hi Howie,

Fantastic use of a single garage, wooden flooring too You show in the first picture the main garage door, which you seemed to have coved with two false door. May I be chheky and ask how you acheived this and does it keep the whistling winds out. The record power extractor does this not get hot being stored and run in a confined space???? Is the a hidden fan or somthing to keep it cool/ventalated?

Thank you for sharing, has motivated me to get my finger out and sort my single garage out.

 

[Howie]

Hi Richard

I am chuffed that you are feeling inspired to try and make your workshop a better environment. I find that my shop has a tendency to get full very quickly with just stuff and this makes me less inclined to go out and work. By keeping everything organised I can work more efficiently and safely. After all it is OUR only really personal space where we can get some respite from the world, I guard my workshop jealously...... apart from SWMBO's fridge, we all have to make the odd concession. :wink:
I was lucky the garage has two old timber doors and not the more modern roller or tilt metal door. I wanted to try and keep the workshop a bit warmer, more secure and quieter so I did the following:
I have beefed up the doors by adding a frame to the edge of the doors, filling the void with old carpet and underlay and then covering with 12mm MDF. Also added some weather strip around the frame edges and some door bolts and two huge kryptonite locks to keep the thieving b**tards out.
I am guessing you have one of the metal single doors so am unsure how you would approach this. The biggest problem with these is probably the edges where the frame and the door meet. I think perhaps try making up a heavy fabric curtain and no doubt there are a few good ideas out there on the net.

Regarding the dust extractor noise reducing cabinet, you are right to query the potential for over heating. The manual states you should not operate the twin motors for more than 20 minutes at one time. I always use the twin motors for maximum suck, but only for no more than 10 minutes at a time. The cabinet was my first attempt at noise reduction and I got the idea from the net. However I really need to introduce some kind of fan extraction to help it to keep cool, much like I did for my compressor noise reducing cabinet. It's fairly easy to do and really works.
In the new year some time I am planning on upgrading the DX by taking it out from underneath the workbench and putting it up high behind my table saw. I will add a timed bathroom extractor fan to the noise reducing enclosure for the DX and also probably incorporate a Thien separator into the unit. The benefit of this will be I then have some space underneath the workbench for a belt and disc sander on a mobile base.

I'm always planning and then sometimes doing!

regards

Howie

 

[johngraves]

Great use of the space. Wish I could keep mine as tidy though. =D>
I have a single garage too and have a similar layout but have more 'toys' as I have them all on castors and move them against the wall when I'm not using them. I'm lucky in that I don't use sheet materials very often and so can cram more in.
I have insulated the up and over metal door by framing the inside and then covering with breathable roofing membrane, roofing insulation, tri-iso thermal membrane and finally covering the whole thing with 9mm ply - no drafts, very cosy and cuts down the noise quite considerably. All the insulation materials were left over from building work on the house a couple of years ago and so the cost to me was minimal.

 

[Wood Monkey]

Hey Howie

Great use of the space. How do you get on with the overhead saw guard/extractor?

Jon

 

[Howie]

Hi Jon

I have found the overhead blade guard/extractor a big improvement over the old blade crown guard for 2 reasons:

1/ The old guard only had an asthmatic 27mm hose and didn't really pull up much dust when cutting. The new one has a 75 mm hose and works much better picking up most of the dust that flies above the table.

2/ As the blade guard has independent overhead support I was able to file down the riving knife to just below the top of the blade which allows me to do trench cuts.

All in a very stout well built bit of kit and when I bought it a few years ago from Axminster it was a bargain at just over £100.

regards

Howie

 

[Wood Monkey]

Thanks. Very helpful.

I've made several new blade guards for my Scheppach 2500Ci. Each time i've introduced improvements - clear perspex, bigger dust hose, better clamping and so on, but there are some problems I cannot overcome, such as having a guard in place when making trench cuts.

I've seen the same kit as yours but never been too sure of the effectiveness of this type of guard. But now I'm going to have a rethink.

Cheers, Jon

 

[gregmcateer]

Looks great, Howie.
That looks a great space to me.
Can you show us what it looks like when you've been using it for a month or so :wink:
I'm going to have my wooden garage rebuilt in brick and block this year, so I'll have to phot it before and after - give you guys a real giggle at what I have to put up with now!
Cheers
Greg