Pwalter5110 Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 This is going to be a very dumb question for most. But I have a shop in a room in my basement. It measure 12X12 (144 sq ft) I have a garage that is currently being used for storage that is 10X17 (170 sq ft) If you guys had to choose which room to put your shop in, which would you choose. The problem I am having, is that the basement room already had outlets in it. The garage has 1. I installed 220 in the basement room, and will have to move it to the garage. And the biggest problem is that the garage floor is far from flat. Its heavily sloped towards a drain in the middle of the garage, and I am afraid most of my tools won't sit level. BUT I can desperately use more space. I have: Ridgid R4152 table saw Grizzly G0490 that is 72" long Grizzly G0555 bandsaw. Dewalt 734 thickness planer Porter Cable floor drill press Jet mini lathe on a stand I would like a small outfeed table for my table saw, with a router table built into it. Currently my router table is in a wing of my table saw. Any advice on how to accommodate the tools I have with the space that I have available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 I would use the garage, just to avoid moving tools and materials up and down the basement stairs. But I live where it doesn't usually get too cold to work in an unheated garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Well, my garage is also in my basement. Neither are "heated" but the house heat keeps it bearable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hhhmmm...does the shop room have a door into the garage? Why not take over both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Turner Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 For me i would use the basement, it may be smaller BUT it has alot of what you need already.. The only concern I would have is getting larger projects out of the basement (I have that problem).. <<<< Just something to think about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 I would absolutely love to use both, but one of the rooms are needed for storage. The wife would kill me if I tried to take over both. My biggest worry is of the garage being so narrow, if it will become a pain to move around the tools. But then I think about how packed the room in the basement is, and I can't imagine it being any worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 As in your first post above..... sorry I'm going to be that guy here for a moment, put me in the most category -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 I'm becoming a small shop ninja, and posted some ideas in another thread. How about some pics so we can see what you have for space? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raefco Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 you dont have to call the space in the garage "a shop" store your table saw and jointer in the garage and pulling them out as needed taking the resulting work to the basement shop to be assembled and finished, so there if she can store stuff in the garage so can you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimberMagic Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Since you live in Pennsylvania, I'm assuming that working in the garage in Winter also means adding a heater, in addition to adding wiring. I would be inclined to move some of the bigger tools to the garage, maybe use a space heater, and also store as much as you can in the garage, to free up space in the basement. One added benefit is that if you move lots of "stuff" to the garage, you will get a lot more exercise going to and from the garage to get that one additional item you need. Keep the basement shop to do most of final assembly. I have a basement shop and really appreciate it this time of year. Our garage is on the north side of the house and is just painful to spend anything more than about 5 minutes in it. If you do decide to move the shop, can you perhaps pour a new floor to level it out? If it is not too much of a slope, or interfere with entryways and doors, maybe use a self-leveling material? I share your pain, somewhat. I have a basement shop, and although it is bigger than your shop, I am always shuffling things to free up space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Im still not sure what I should do. I figure, i am only gaining 26 extra square feet. Roughly 5x5 of space. But it is in length, so running long boards over the jointer, or table saw wouldn't be nearly as big of a problem as it is now. My biggest worry is the width. only being 10 ft wide, I'm not sure how much room I will really have to get around all the machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyF Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 The length of the garage might make a big difference at that size. Maybe use the Grizzly Shop Planner or paper cutouts and try both spaces with layouts to see which works best. The "heavily sloped" floor sounds like a problem. Would wood and tools actually slide on tool surfaces? If not, out of level might be workable if it's not blatantly unsafe, or if you plan to move the tools often, cause every tool to need shimming to avoid rocking. How's the garage lighting compared with the basement? Would anything non-woodworking be done or stored in the garage? Do you have kids now or might in the future? My garage is used for car repair, lawn/garden stuff, and storing the kids' vast fleet of bikes and riding toys. It just didn't work well together to have to clean and rearrange everything before and after working in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Well, I tried to put my jointer in the garage, and immediately realized that the floor has way to much of a slope to set anything heavy down evenly. So I guess my question now is, how do I best accommodate the space that I do have, which is 12X13? I am thinking about lowering my planer stand, so that it can tuck under the wing of my table saw. That would free up a couple of feet of space. What do you guys with small shops do to maximize the space you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimberMagic Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I have started taking things off dedicated tables or carts, and setting them up on a piece of plywood, which can be brought to my workbench and secured. That works for things like a grinder, and my small, 10" benchtop bandsaw. I have a Powermatic 14" bandsaw, and so the little one gets infrequent use to cut small items, but iI could part with it if I had to. I also have an arbor press I use when making pens, but again, it does not need a permanent place on a cart. Heavy items like my DeWalt planer get dedicated cart -- too heavy to move on and off a workbench. An old woodworking magazine I have (Wood?) has plans for a tall open cabinet with shelves, where all these small tools can be stored, and then slid out and brought out to place on a workbench. Takes up 3-4 square feet of floor space, but could accommodate maybe 5 or more tools, and that allows a lot of floor space to be freed up. I have an older workbench with an embedded T-track at one end that I have used to secure my scroll saw or my grinder, and either easily slides off. The grinder may be one tool that goes back to a dedicated cart. The mess from grinding lathe tools is not something I really want to deal with on a multi-purpose workbench. Too messy! For my other portable tools, I am using two benchdogs (tall Parf Dogs from Lee Valley), to drop thru the two opposing corners of the tool's plywood base piece, and into the 20mm benchdog holes on my custom MFT-style workbench. Finally, I have my benchtop drill press on its own cabinet, so I have plenty of easily accessible storage for drilling accessories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Pat, My first thought would be to use the garage as I'm not familiar with basements in my area. However, I agree with you on the narrow 10' dimension. If moving items in and out are not a large concern, I would keep the shop in the basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenaqua Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I grew up in Murrysville to the east of Pitt. If you can get the garage floor issue resolved I would pick that. You can put some leveling concrete in there if you have the means or put some 1x sleepers with shims and plywood etc to level it. Then you will have something a bit more comfortable to work on. I would choose the garage because when you open up the garage door you can use some space outside pending the weather. For example you could push the jointer all the way to the front of the garage and when you need to mill a board you open the garage door. Will give you much more space. Being able to wheel out a work table or project material onto the driveway while your work just gives you so much more flexibility than an enclosed room. Same with sawdust issues, you can sand with the door open so you don't choke on sawdust. You could also blow out your shop with a leaf blower from time to time to clean up. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I grew up in Murrysville to the east of Pitt. If you can get the garage floor issue resolved I would pick that. You can put some leveling concrete in there if you have the means or put some 1x sleepers with shims and plywood etc to level it. Then you will have something a bit more comfortable to work on. I would choose the garage because when you open up the garage door you can use some space outside pending the weather. For example you could push the jointer all the way to the front of the garage and when you need to mill a board you open the garage door. Will give you much more space. Being able to wheel out a work table or project material onto the driveway while your work just gives you so much more flexibility than an enclosed room. Same with sawdust issues, you can sand with the door open so you don't choke on sawdust. You could also blow out your shop with a leaf blower from time to time to clean up. Good luck. thats a very good point. I will look into how much it will be to level off that floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raefco Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 There are a lot of options that do not require removing the old floor, depending on clearances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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