Building a New Woodworking Shop

Layout

Layout Driven Design
In order to help determine the overall size of the structure, I worked extensively on the shop layout which basically means machine placement.  Throughout this phase I have developed and discarded several designs which each iteration coming closer to what I consider ideal.

As I zeroed in on the design I found that the location on the lot was driving the shape to an extent.  The design shown below is actually not the structure I would prefer to go with but the one that fits onto the lot with the least negative side effects. The drawing below is the 13th major design and 3rd sub-variant.

New Requirements
I have added a new requirement to the original list.  This is not driven by the needs of the shop but another.  That is, I want to have a storage spot for a small tractor and a small bathroom for convenience.  Storage of the tractor will coincide with lumber storage.   I have decided to also require a large walk up attic section.  The placement of the shop on the lot will afford a very nice northern view from the attic location and I think I will be better off building in the additional storage.

D16 2D

Click to enlarge (new window)

 

Printable version

Design Thoughts
The main structure is 64' x 28' with a 48' shop area with several windows and doors on the north, west, and eastern faces.  I did some analysis and actually found this size to be a little on the large side believe it or not.  My reasoning for saying this is that although it is quite often heard that one cannot build a shop big enough, it is not a good idea to have a large distance between the work (i.e.: bench) areas and tools either.  I have found that I can shrink the shop area down to 40' x 26' and still meet all of my requirements.   However this does not save an incredible amount on the cost.  Reducing the size further to gain real cost savings has proven to be difficult.  Conversely, there is no appreciable gain found (that I see anyway) in going longer than 48' so I've pretty much settled on this size.

Aside from that, here are a just a few design notes:

  • The second saw is located close to the main workbench.  This saw would be used for a lot of the quick or detailed cut operations and I really like having a saw close to the bench.
  • The drawing shows some machines which are larger than I actually have.   This is meant to ensure that the layout will accommodate machine upgrades   should they (somehow) be acquired later
  • The design allows for two similar but different machine layouts (not shown).  The DC and electrical infrastructure will also support both layouts.
  • The MFT is serving to meet the second workbench requirement.  I may decide to make a larger MFT or second workbench later.
  • The organization of the tools is more along the lines of a work "cell" approach as opposed to work "flow".  We will see how that works out.

Return to the New Woodworking Shop Index