shop design input requested

[Sully]

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[Robb Parker]

Sully,
10' ceilings would be too low for me. By the time you hang DC piping, lighting, power etc from ceiling tough to turn sheet goods and long boards vertically. I have 14' in my shop and love space above for sheet good rack, lumber storage etc. Plenty of room for mechicals above.
Robb

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

If you build on a crawspace you can insulate the floor (though not a big deal here in NC), run electrical and DC ducting to machines not along the walls, air to the wide belt, and then 10' ceilings will be fine. Framed floor is easier on your feet than concrete, and you can still run hydronic heatring.

Do you have a site picked out in Bath? Any chance locating on a sloped area of the lot for 1/2 basement.

Size-wise it sounds good- don't go any narrower than 30'.

Plan for lots of tall windows- nothing beats natural light!

Have you checked out what it will cost to have the power co. run 3 phase?!!!! Or will you have a big RPC?

Most wood under the lean-to, ready-service rack in the shop? Horizontal or vertical?

Overhead gantry crane? Would make moving and rebuilding machinery easier.

Do you have a spot for the Woodmizer and the Nyle kiln?

 

[Charles Lent]

Jay,

It sounds like your woman wants her garage back.

That's going to be a great shop. I wish mine was as big as the one that you have now.

If that 4 X 10 space for your dust collector, etc. is going to be a separate room (with a door at one end) it should be at least 6' wide or you won't be able to get around the dust collector and air compressor to service the opposite side of them, unless the space is a multiple closet design with several doors, one to access each. I would'nt put the lavatory in with the air compressor or dust collector either - too much oil vapor and dust leakage to settle there. Robb's suggestion of 14' ceilings would be a very good idea. At least go to 12' if the dust collection pipes will be overhead. You will never need 400 amps at 3 phase for a wood shop. If it's going to be a welding shop with more than one large welder in use at one time, well then maybe you would need it. A 208 volt 200 amp 3 phase power system is 3 X the power that they are putting in homes these days, and you will never need more than that for woodworking, unless you are planning to install a commercial sized saw mill or something similar, but then your planned building won't be big enough.

Charley

 

[Sully]

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[scsmith42]

I'm in the planning stages for building a shop. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head but wanted to draw on the collective wisdom of our fine group.

The rough details for the plan are outlined below. Just looking for anything additional I need to consider.

• Two story (upper story will be primarily for long term storage and possible guest room).
• Upper story accessible from exterior stairway.
• 32' x 72' foot print
• 10' ceilings on the first floor.
• Stick built on a concrete slab.
• 200 amp 3 phase service panel (possibly 400 amp depending on how the house is setup)
• Approximately 5 poles spaced 12' apart down the center of the shop for load bearing.
• One side will have two roll-up doors (12' wide) at opposite ends.
• Other side will have entry doors
• Oriented with long axis along EW line to take advantage of breezes typical for the area
• 8' x 10' isolated finishing room
• 4' x 10' room for dust collection, air compressor, electrical and lavatory
• Electrical drops will be waist high along exterior walls and overhead along center line of shop.
• I'm leaning towards overhead dust collection rather than in the slab.
• 10' lean-to on at least one side.

What am I missing?

Jay, it sounds like the makings of a great shop! Here are some of my thoughts.

1 - put the dust collector on the outside, and duct it back inside if you're conditioning your air. Whenever you have to dump your collection system, typically you fill the room with a cloud of fines. By having it outside, you keep the fines out of your shop, plus you're probably closer to wherever you're going to dump the bin. It's nice to move the compressor out there as well for additional noise isolation.

10' is probably an adequate ceiling height if you plumb your dust collection under the floor. If above the floor, plan on losing about a foot and a half.

Under-floor dust collection is undoubtedly the best way to go. Two drawbacks are that wooden joists typically won't let you run forklifts, etc inside, and if you plumb dust collection under a slab you are limited with reorganization options when new equipment is acquired.

Use the best insulation that you can.

Store your wood in a humidity controlled room adjacent to the shop (such as the lean to). Allow adequate room for storing several different species (as well as lengths) of wood.

 

[Jim Kunzweiler]

I would second the gantry crane or some other means of lifting machinery... at the very least put in a couple of steel I beams as you build. You can add a trolley and chain hoist down the road.

I think electrical outlets at waist high are a little low. I find even at 4 ft mine are a little too low when behind saw dust creators. The best thing I did in my shop was to drop a series of 12/3 SO cords from the ceiling just above head height. That way my tool outlets are never covered up and the cords not on the floor.

If you are using an open floor truss for the second floor instead of solid joist you can run your DC pipe and shop utilities thru the truss and have a clean look across the ceiling. I finally had to put in a drop ceiling to hide all the things hung from my shop ceiling.

Plan in advance for ample wood storage.. especially cutoffs.

As you lay out your DC, air and electrical I would assume that almost everything will get moved at one time or another. As I add more equipment I am always rearranging machinery to maximize space and efficiency. My shop is a mixture of single and three phase equipment but I laid the electrical out with junction boxes and disconnects around the perimeter of my shop so I don't have to do much work to power up a machine after I rearrange. All my electrical runs thru 12x12 pull boxes on the ceiling so I can easily reroute power.

Sounds like a fun project. Best of luck.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Others have already made some of the same comments, but I'll add my thoughts in red below.

I'm in the planning stages for building a shop. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head but wanted to draw on the collective wisdom of our fine group.

The rough details for the plan are outlined below. Just looking for anything additional I need to consider.

• Two story (upper story will be primarily for long term storage and possible guest room). If you think you will ever use it for a guest room, go ahead and put in the rough plumbing for a bath and kitchenette now.
• Upper story accessible from exterior stairway. Wish I had done this w/ mine, instead of the pull down stairs inside.
• 32' x 72' foot print
• 10' ceilings on the first floor. Mine are 10' and I'm very satisfied. I've got DC piping running along the ceiling, as well as air hoses, and haven't had any problems. I use sheet goods frequently, but haven't hit the ceiling, or ducts, yet. The only time I have to be careful is if I'm handling a 10', or greater, board. My main reason for going w/ 10' vs higher was heating and cooling cost.
• Stick built on a concrete slab. Have you considered a crawl space? That's probably the single best thing I did in mine. I have some DC pipes and electrical running under the floor to machines and benches that are away from the wall. I didn't want to be tripping over extension cords and DC hoses.
• 200 amp 3 phase service panel (possibly 400 amp depending on how the house is setup)
• Approximately 5 poles spaced 12' apart down the center of the shop for load bearing. Have you considered truss joist or engineered beams? I used truss joist for a 36' span and haven't had any problems w/ sagging. I use the attic space for storage, as well as the HVAC equip. Based on previous experience, post in the shop were more of an obstacle when handling sheet goods than a low ceiling was.
• One side will have two roll-up doors (12' wide) at opposite ends.
• Other side will have entry doors
• Oriented with long axis along EW line to take advantage of breezes typical for the area Will it have windows? I chose not to have windows, but that's a personal preference.
• 8' x 10' isolated finishing room Mine is 12'x12' and I wish I had made it bigger. Even 12'x14' would have been better. W/ a 12" counter against one wall, it get's a little tight when I have a large piece of furniture in there. Also, make sure you have a door large enough to roll some of those pieces of equipment you work on in there. I used a double door approach, where one door is just right for me, and the other door can be opened when I have something large to roll it. Last, but certainly not least, ventilation is a whole other can of worms and probably deserves it's own thread. :eusa_thin
• 4' x 10' room for dust collection, air compressor, electrical and lavatory Be sure to insulate the wall between to keep the noise down. If your shop will be heated and cooled, you'll want to allow for return air from the DC to get back into the shop. Otherwise you lose your heated or cooled air, and that get's expensive. A DC also produces a lot of heat, which is nice in the winter, but not so nice in the summer.
• Electrical drops will be waist high along exterior walls and overhead along center line of shop. I put a dual receptacle every 4', but wish I had put a quad every 4'.
• I'm leaning towards overhead dust collection rather than in the slab.
• 10' lean-to on at least one side. Here I would go 14'. The extra 4' won't cost that much, and I think you'll be surprised how much stuff mysteriously finds it's way under there. :icon_scra

What am I missing?

What about lighting? If you don't have a lot of windows (as I don't) you'll need to have plenty of lights. I laid out the locations for my major tools and work areas, then installed lights (4 & 8' T8 florescent) to adequately cover those areas. For work areas along the walls I use track lights, and swing arm lamps.

Good luck on the shop, and post lots of pics. :banana:

Bill

 

[Sully]

Lots of great ideas. Keep 'em coming! :wsmile:

 

[jemcguire]

Sounds like you're going to have a great space when done.
Lots of good advice here. I'd add that if you're set on a slab floor, you might think about putting down sleepers and plywood under at least the manufacturing part of the shop. My slab is getting awfully hard (even with fatigue mats), and I am thinking about doing just that in my shop. Also, you can then run electrical directly to machines.

If you produce a lot of cabinets, the posts and 10ft ceiling might be a problem when moving plywood sheets around.

Do you need an office? I was able to close in a small space with an 8' ceiling which gave me plenty of room for desk/computer/files/bookcase plus the added bonus of 4ft of storage space above.

Have you thought about large hinged doors or sliders instead of the roll-ups? You could then insulate the doors with rigid foam.

Have fun planning. Do you have a construction date in mind?

John

 

[Sully]

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