workshop size

[Anonymous]

Okies, silly question I know but what size is minimal for a workshop? After finally moving into a new house I can build a shop in my back garden with the wifes blessing, so long as its not too big!

I can only go to a maximum of 10 feet wide by approx 12 feet long. Do you reckon this is enough or should I hold out for a little more? I am expecting replies along the lines of the bigger the better etc but realistically is 10 by 12 enough? I am not making massive furniture pieces but want enough room to house the usual stuff including bandsaw, router table, table saw, bench, jointer and lathe etc as well as timber storage.

I hae never had a dedicated workshop before so am a little hazy on what space this lot actually occupies (i only have some of the equipment at the moment and make do with the garage when the cars out) so any thoughts gratefully received!

Many thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Stevie,

Obviously, the bigger the better :wink: . A 10x12 will soon fill up with lots of toys etc, but if you are happy to move each of the larger tools (router table, table saw etc) into the middle of the shed when you use them, and re-stow them afterwards, you should have room for most things. Don't forget that with 12 feet length, the maximum timber length you can use at the table saw, jonter, router table etc. is 6 feet ( 6' infeed plus 6' outfeed) and you will probably be down to 5 feet or less in reality. I have a 14x10 and it suits most of my needs, but I still need to use my skilsaw to cut up 8x4 sheets into manageble sizes.

I chose a 14x10 as the largest size I could accomodate in the space available (16x12) and still get round to all walls for creosoting, installing electrical supply & earth spike etc.

 

[sawdustalley]

You don't need a HUGE shop. That should be fine. I cope with a single car garage with a car in overnight. I can fitt all the stuff in no problems with the car in.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Stevie

Don't forget that if you can eke out another few inches of height you'll have more space to store planks and even suspend stuff from the ceiling!

Have you considered putting doors on opposing walls? It might help you to feed large pieces of timber into floor standing machines.

Hope you and the family are happy in your new home.

Gill

 

[Anonymous]

Stevie

Before I moved into the barn, I worked, proffessionaly, from a 12x10 shed. I managed to site most things, so that with a little bit of juggling, I could machine pieces up to 10' by shooting them through doors and stuff.
If you have a look at my website, most thing in my current workshop were in that one, except the saw was be stripped down to a bare minimum, then attatchments (sliding carriage etc) were put on as I needed them ( abit of a ball ache but it worked), and I didnt have extraction.

Cheers
Doughnut

 

[Woody]

Steve,
You can always extend your available space by having a hard standing around the shed which can be used as extra 'floor area' when the weather is OK.

Oh! the real use of this piece of space is as a patio/BBQ area, of course :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Oh! the real use of this piece of space is as a patio/BBQ area, of course :wink:

I wish I could use that excuse, unfortunately, the 16x12 patio now houses my 14x10 shed! :shock:

 

[Woody]

Woody

 

[Anonymous]

indeed. I even had to demolish the brick barbeque to fit the shed in On the good side, we now have a new portable gas barbeque that sits on the other patio just by the house rather than the old patio at the bottom of the garden. The only problem for me is that I did not have the option of having two opposing sets of doors to run long timber as the patio is surrounded by trees/hedges on 3 1/2 sides. My only option for handling long pieces is to cart the tablesaw or router table outside

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for all the help and advice, a tall 12x10 it is!

Cheers,

Steve. :lol: