NEW SHOP

[gimpy]

Hey folks, My honey gave me permission to build a new shop...

Not sure of the size, was thing of a 20 x 40, but that seems to be to small.

Any suggestions - recommendations would be greatly appreciated

 

[Skie_M]

20 x 40 ... that's 800 square feet! You've got a BARN as big as what they use in The New Yankee Workshop! (just single story, anyways... )

My house is smaller than that, and I do my woodworking in my 12 x 15 living room...

 

[liljohn1368]

I'm in a 12X16 right now. I'm thinking of building a 16X24 in the spring.

 

[Curly]

You gotta see what you're doing.

Mine is 635 sq ft. inside and is not big enough, double would have been better, but it was all the budget will allow. Apart from building as big as you can afford, I suggest you buy your LED lights directly from China. It's where most come from anyway and the money you save can go towards other things in the shop you need. I saved two to three times what I would have spent locally for the equivalent from the Borg and lighting stores. From a little research good lighting in a shop should be 100 candlepower per square foot. That translated to 63,000 lumens for my shop. It took 16, 40 watt fixtures to get that. At about $26.00 each including shipping, it's affordable and they are UL approved. If you want the details PM me and I'll send you the info. Enjoy it when it's completed.

 

[robutacion]

Well, bigger never hurts, we ready almost everyday of someone building a shed/workshop and in no time, they are complaining about being no big enough so, follow this criteria, whatever you think is sufficient is size, simply double it and you will endup with what you really need. Since when a little bigger has hurt anyone...?:wink::biggrin: Ooops...! no no, that is not what I meant, bugger...!

Cheers
George

 

[beck3906]

Mine is 32x40 and I wish I had more.

 

[Lucky2]

24'x40' is a nice size.
Len

 

[jttheclockman]

You do have to ask yourself a few questions. How old am I??? Can I do this for some time yet?? What is it I am planning on doing, building furniture or making pens and other small objects.??? Do I have to heat and or air condition, the bigger the more expense. The bigger I make it the bigger my air cleaning needs to be, dust collector and air cleaner. If you work in a shop now you should have a good idea what your needs are and how much larger. Have to remember the cost factor of building and the codes too. Heck I would love to have an airplane hanger but would be very tired walking in it. If money is no object then I say 50 X 100 would do nicely.

 

[tbroye]

Mine is 10X12 (120sqf) with loft for storage, have use step ladder to use it. Have 9 X10 outside where i roll things I am not using if I have big project. The table saw, Jointer, and planner are in Garage. Every thing in shop including one work bench are on castors for moving. Tool cabinet for Lathe, Band Saw and disk/belt sander router table/cabinet also. 24"X 5ft bench can go out also. leave on 9.5ft bench permanently installed. Built all our kitchen cabinet in there. Of course this is only in good weather. It works for me The shop is wired insulated and heater in winter and has a Window AC for summer. First thing built when I retired.

 

[Jontello]

Mine in a 4x8 foot. Small but does the job.


Sent from my iPad using Penturners.org mobile app

 

[beck3906]

Make it big enough so that when you sell the house someone can use it for their purposes. Some folks like to work on cars. Design it so it has a 10 ft wide rollup door that's at least 8 ft tall. Make it so it can get plenty of work space for multiple uses. Add a small room for storage or finish work, etc.

I have three rooms approx. 10x14 off the main room that is approx. 32x28. One room is storage, one is my turning room, and the other my office. I have window air conditioners in the turning room and the office. I added a very large window a/c unit for the main room when the Texas summers get too unbearable and I need to use the main room. The turning room and office have small floor heaters to keep things warm during the cold days.

Here's a picture of the main room when I cleaned for a pen turners gathering.

 

[terry q]

I'm 32x44 and wish it was larger.

 

[SteveJ]

And here I was feeling good that I just got an 8x16 shop instead of taking up the garage. Of course I am not presently doing anything other than turning , segmenting and hopefully some scrolling.

 

[tbroye]

I didn't have much room in my yard for a shop tucked into the back corner of the yard. 120 sqft was all I could do with out an expensive building permit. So I used a Tuff Shed and modified for my use. I could have gone bigger but didn't want to dominate the yard. Started off as a general workshop and evolved into a woodworking/pen making shop.

 

[bmcclellan]

that is awesome. cannot wait to see the progress

 

[gimpy]

Well, after doing some measuring, I think I'm going to figure a 24' x 60'.. I hope that will be big enough....

 

[sbwertz]

Mine is 20x20 and I have to turn sideways to walk between the tools! By the time you put two lathes, a table saw, a big workbench, a jointer, a bandsaw, a drill press, a router table, a chop saw, a sanding station, a buffing station, dust collector, 80 gallon air compressor, a thickness planer, a sharpening station, an assembly station, clamp rack, wood racks, etc, 20x20 gets filled right up. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have hanging wall cabinets on three walls! Both my husband and I work in the shop...he does cabinet work and general carpentry, and I'm the turner.