New shop size?

[chris_goris]

OK, So im going to be moving soon, downsizing the house. The next thing is how big of a shop do I build?. This is truly a dream come true!. Im asking all of you professionals and semi pros out there. I will be filling it with industrial grade equpiment, all large, like a 20" planer, 12" jointer..... etc etc... I will continue to turn as well and also picked up a Laguna Carver. My main use will be custom casework, architectural millwork and cabinetry. So any and all input is appreciated!. Thanks all!

 

[Phil S]

My short answer is 2000 sq ft with min 9' ceiling and lots of natural light

 

[chris_goris]

I was thinking the same about light and ceiling height Phil, But 2000 sf? 33 x 60? not sure Ill need quite that much, I know theyre never big enough.... but... but...

 

[Berta]

Whatever you build. It will not be large enough. Be sure to make a finishing shop in there!

 

[Travis Porter]

30 by 40 with 10 ft ceilings. A walled off area for finishing.

I used to have a 24 x 32 and loved it but really wanted a finishing room. I have pretty much all commercial/large equipment in it, and it was a joy. I do miss it.

Good luck!

 

[srhardwoods]

as large as you can afford. Not sure if this is going to be hobby for you or not. My new shop I just finished building is 4500 sf, 10' ceilings in part of it and 15' in 2400 sqft of it, and I'm out of room. Separate finishing room if you can is nice to help keep it clean and continue to work building things while others are drying is a huge plus.

 

[Mike Davis]

When we built the plant at work 20 years ago I never thought we would fill 90000 sf. In 5 years we were drawing plans for expansion.

Now there are 4 buildings and the original plant is 180,000 sf with very little free space.

My shop is 14 x 23 and I make myself do small things, there’s barely room to move.

What I wouldn’t give for a 40x60 shop.

If you build cabinets you will need space to store them until they are all done. Think about a 4x8 cnc and a large finishing room.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Chris, you're not that far from me, so if you'd like to come down some day and see my shop, you'd be more than welcome. We can talk about why I did what I did, and what I would do different.

The shop is roughly 36 x 56 (2,040 sf) w/ 10' ceiling and on a crawl space. It has a 12 x 12 finishing room.

 

[KenOfCary]

I'd take Bill up on the offer to see his shop if you haven't seen it already. It is very well laid out and he has learned what works from experience building multiple shops, each better than the last one.

 

[JimD]

I would use a layout tool to put the tools you plan to have into a drawing of a shop and see what you need. A lot depends on how you work. The desire to cut full sheets of plywood on a table saw means you might want as much as 16x16 for that tool, for instance. But I cut up full sheets with a track saw out of necessity plus a desire to reduce handling of full sheets plus better accuracy. I still need about 16 foot length but much less width.

A finishing room would be REALLY nice. I have 14x24 - almost same as Mike apparently - and it is small. If I spray, I have to do it in the car garage or outside, neither is ideal.

I know from experience that I cannot get by with much less than what I have and I didn't have the space or budget for something bigger.

There is a house close to me that seems to have a shop bigger than the house. It has three tall garage doors plus a shop space that looks to be about 20x20. The garage doored space appears to be additional shop, it also has garage doors on the back of several sections. And there is a big shed and large overhangs. The garage/shop part looks to be around 24x60. The house isn't that large (but there is a secondary house now too). My wife's comment on the shop/garage part is that is what happens when a guy goes unsupervised.

 

[JohnW]

Chris, My shop is 560 sq ft (20 x 28) and I can squeeze a cabinet job out of it, but it takes planning and a lot of moving things around during the build. I've recently turned down some cab jobs just because I don't want to deal with the lack of space. Does not answer your question but here are a few other tidbits.

I'd go with a min of 10' ceilings. You want to have a clear height of at least 8.5' so leave space to hang lights, ducts, etc...

Adding a couple rooms (finishing, storage, bathroom) gives you more wall space. I ran out of wall space as well as floor space, so design any additional room knowing the walls will be very useful for storage.

Wish I had running water (sink, commode) in my shop.

Lumber and sheet good storage will be critical. When designing my shop, I planned on storing sheet goods leaning against a wall, stacked 4' high x 8' long. Placed outlets @ 54" off floor just to accommodate this. But in reality, it was way too hard to pull a sheet from the back, or even the middle of the stack. Ended up storing sheet goods perpendicular to the wall standing up 8' tall. I can slide any sheet needed out way easier than digging behind a stack. I'd recommend trying to incorporate sheet good storage in with any additional room you build. For example, one end wall of a storage/finnishing room could also be a "leaning post" surface for vertically stored plywood.

Excited for you. Good luck.

 

[CDPeters]

Not to be flip, but twice as big as you think you'll need. I built mine 10 years ago @675 ft2 and now I wish it was twice that size. Put lumber storage and finishing room at the top of the considerations list instead of the bottom (like I did!).

 

[Willemjm]

As big as you can afford, as it will always be too small.:gar-Bi

 

[chris_goris]

Chris, you're not that far from me, so if you'd like to come down some day and see my shop, you'd be more than welcome. We can talk about why I did what I did, and what I would do different.

The shop is roughly 36 x 56 (2,040 sf) w/ 10' ceiling and on a crawl space. It has a 12 x 12 finishing room.

Thanks Bill, I may take you up on that!

 

[Fishbucket]

" My Woodshop is too big". - said no man, ever.

 

[Bas]

For a "typical" shop with a jointer, planer, table saw, etc. you need about 1200 square feet to house the equipment. Add 200 square feet for a finishing area. Then add another 200 square feet for storing lumber, supplies etc. Finally, add 400-600 square feet to give yourself room to work. The best shops I've seen have 4 or 5 large tables for assembly, dedicated sanding station, veneering setup, etc. Without that, you constantly have to move stuff around and put stuff away, which really impacts how you work when you have multiple projects in varying stages of completion.

But in the end, build what you can afford of course. No matter how large or small, furniture will come out the other end.