Shop layout guidance


Mzdadoc

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1. Is my garage layout on graph paper. 2. Is from my back service door. 3. Is from my 3rd stall door. 4. Is from in front of my tablesaw to back of garage. 5. & 6. Are the corner nook where my compressor is and my 220 plug. 7. Is from my main door to the back. 8. Is from the 2 car stall side

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I've never used the Grizzly shop layout app, but understand it's pretty good.: http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner

 

If you google woodshop layout and go to the images tab, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of PDFs, SketchUp plans, etc. plans for basement, garage, etc shops. Good plase to find a baseline, then customize for your situation.

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Unfortunately, shop layout is a trial and error undertaking, and those trials and errors go on for years - if not indefinitely - as you add tools and become more familiar with your workflow.  Even if someone were to take the time to make suggestions, chances are they wouldn't match your own preferences...which are all that matter in the first place.

 

Play with the Grizzly app, find a layout that makes sense, move your tools to those spots, and get ready to start all over again.  It's taken me something like seven years to settle on a layout I'm happy with, and that's after dozens and dozens of changes, large and small.  I've moved every tool in the shop at once on a number of occasions.  It's inevitable, but I always enjoyed the evolution, and frankly I kind of miss it.  Now I'm to the point where I'm refining every nook and cranny and filling in all the few remaining leftover spaces.

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Unfortunately, shop layout is a trial and error undertaking, and those trials and errors go on for years - if not indefinitely - as you add tools and become more familiar with your workflow.  Even if someone were to take the time to make suggestions, chances are they wouldn't match your own preferences...which are all that matter in the first place.

 

Play with the Grizzly app, find a layout that makes sense, move your tools to those spots, and get ready to start all over again.  It's taken me something like seven years to settle on a layout I'm happy with, and that's after dozens and dozens of changes, large and small.  I've moved every tool in the shop at once on a number of occasions.  It's inevitable, but I always enjoyed the evolution, and frankly I kind of miss it.  Now I'm to the point where I'm refining every nook and cranny and filling in all the few remaining leftover spaces.

 

Eric is absolutely correct!  I haven't been moving stuff quite as long as Eric but, I too feel like I'm fine tuning.  Just this last weekend, I made a major revamp to one entire end of my shop..  Taking out an entire work bench and cabinets, adding lights and tools, installing plugs, etc..  It is a never ending cycle so, enjoy the journey!

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Great starting point.. 

 

I would suggest adding an out feed table to your table saw which will mess with your jointer.   Also, it's important to consider dust collection.   Try to keep your runs as short as possible to improve the dust collection.

 

Is the item in the upper left your bench?  Where do you plan to assemble projects? 

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Jointers usually make more sense to me against a wall, unless you create a cluster and have another tool back to back with it.  It takes up a lot of real estate out there in the middle.

 

A tip to consider from the start is trying to make all your surfaces the same height.  That helps prevent the inevitable bumping into this or that when working with longer boards and having to move tools around.

 

One requirement I've always had for my shop is being able to work on 8' boards at every machine without having to move anything around to do that.  I've accomplished that goal with the exception of my planer...I have to open the garage door to plane anything over about 5'.  Router table is the other exception...I have to wheel it out to use it for anything.  But having the rest of the tools set up the way they are makes workflow very efficient, and I rarely work with 8' boards anyway.  Nothing slows you down like moving machines around.  It took a long time to put the puzzle together...it's like a huge, heavy game of Tetris.

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I agree with Eric that you want to be able to work with 8' boards at every machine. I originally did my layout in Sketchup which was close but I made a few minor adjustments once the machines were in there. Here is what my layout currently looks like and I think the machine groupings make sense for DC pipe layout. I can hanle 9' long boards without moving any machines.

 

Original layout in Sketchup

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Current layout after adding tools

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