Need Some Ideas For Shop Reorganization

[Robby W]

I am getting close to moving things around in my shop and I would like some review of the layout I am thinking of using. First, some restrictions I have to live with:

There is a raised section on the back 3 feet of my shop. My shop started as a double garage and code around here states that no fluids may flow into the house, so the contractor poured the floor slab with a raised section that is used for a walkway to the side door of the shop. I can't block the door because it is used to access the trash cans. The raised area restricts my ability to place tools on the back wall, which is why you will see them move out from the back wall. My shop is about 20 feet wide and 22 feet deep, measuring from the walls.

Second, my wife insists that I keep a walkway clear from the front of the garage to the door to the house, which I suppose is a fair trade for exclusive use of the garage. I also keep a clear area around our freezer and pantry and the right side wall is only a partial wall separating the main area of the garage from the single car garage on the right, which is used for storage. The wood rack at the end of that wall is used for sheet goods and extends partway into the adjacent single car garage and has pantry shelves on the end of it. Since I live in the San Diego area, there isn't a lot of reason to use a perfectly good garage for cars. I can use the walkway while working on projects, but I move things back into the shop proper when done for the day. Much of my assembly work takes place in the walkway or outside my garage.

Finally, power and dust collection locations aren't really important. I used to be a licensed electrical contractor and moving power around isn't a big deal for me. My ductwork is ABS pipe and it is easy to reconfigure. I will be adding a Super Dust Deputy to my dust collector as part of this rearrangement, but it will use the same footprint as my current DC setup.  I've given thought to moving the DC outside, but outside wall is stucco and would be a bear to patch invisibly should we move. The DC's current location makes it easy to get to the bag for emptying.

Here is my current layout:

I am not happy with the bunch of tools by the lathe on the right. It is a pain to move them around and connect them each time I want to use them. I like my tablesaw where it is as I can open the garage door, fold up the outfeed table and I am good to go. I tend to use the tablesaw a lot and like the access to it without having to go around to the other side. My router table is in the left extension wing, which makes it easy to get to. Fastener storage is under the lumber rack on the back wall. The octagonal table is a swivel top grinder bench. My original idea was that I could just swivel the top around and get to any of the grinders, but it mostly forms a surface to collect junk.

Here is what I am thinking about as my layout:

Things I like about this layout:

I can get to any tool without moving it for small parts. I will replace the octagonal grinder table with a rectangular top to free up floor space. I may still have it spin - haven't decided. The benchtop mortiser, oscillating spindle sander and planer are all on cabinets with wheels and can be easily moved if necessary. The jointer is on wheels for really long stuff. This layout gives me more room between the tablesaw and other tools on the island. I don't normally rip on the bandsaw, but can get pieces up to six feet on it without moving it. I have plenty of room to swing a sheet of plywood in front of the tablesaw. My air compressor isn't really movable - it is a 5 HP compressor with an 80 gallon tank that is plumbed in semi-permanently, but it is out of the way and a handy place to put plan sheets with a magnet.

Ok, enough of my thoughts. Anyone have a better idea to improve the layout? Once I get to moving things, I will make a journal of the progress. Should be fun.

[JosephThomas]

Seems like a lot of open space in the middle that isn't utilized (on the left, not the walkway)..but perhaps it is hard to tell the scale from a picture. How big wide is the area between the tools on the left wall and the stuff in the middle (planer, etc)? Also how big is the space between the planer and table saw going to be?

[Robby W]

Each square is about 1 foot, so 6 feet or so for each. I seem to use a lot of sheet goods, so I tried to open it up as much as possible.

[JosephThomas]

I see, thanks. Do you have any photos of the are to the right where the 'pantry' and 'wood rack' are?  Just trying to visualize some of the immovable objects helps...

[Robby W]

Joseph - I'll take.some.tomorrow and post.them.T hanks for giving it real thought.