Belle City WW Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 This is the ugly truth, I have way too many benches and cabinets and I need to reorganize the shop so that I have more room to move projects around. I should add that I am not a fan of mobile bases so I like the machines to be stationary. There is a lumber rack on the left wall where it measures 13'3" Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 The trouble in my mind is suggesting to remove some horizontal surface eliminates a lot of storage area. It appears you have a lot of cabinets with drawers. I'm not sure how full everything is. To eliminate some of that i see the sanding station as taking up a lot of space it doesn't need to. Also across the way from that is what looks like a catch all that is on the in feed side of your band saw. It pains me to suggest removing some horizontal surface because it at times can be useful but i think you'd be better served by removing some of it opening up more floor space and building or buying a rolling material cart to move material from station to station. I think the biggest thing in a shop that has been established for a long time is to go through everything and determine what should be kept and what should go up for sale or be thrown. You probably have quite a few odds and ends that you don't need and could sell to possibly fund, who knows what, vacation maybe. From your shop tour it doesn't look like you need any more tools After you remove the stuff you don't need think about what horizontal surfaces you kept around just for the storage under it and get rid of it. Maybe consider a floor to ceiling cabinet with drawers? Utilize the space under your out feed table? That space looks very unused. Make the out feed table smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle City WW Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 27 minutes ago, Chestnut said: The trouble in my mind is suggesting to remove some horizontal surface eliminates a lot of storage area. It appears you have a lot of cabinets with drawers. I'm not sure how full everything is. To eliminate some of that i see the sanding station as taking up a lot of space it doesn't need to. Also across the way from that is what looks like a catch all that is on the in feed side of your band saw. It pains me to suggest removing some horizontal surface because it at times can be useful but i think you'd be better served by removing some of it opening up more floor space and building or buying a rolling material cart to move material from station to station. I think the biggest thing in a shop that has been established for a long time is to go through everything and determine what should be kept and what should go up for sale or be thrown. You probably have quite a few odds and ends that you don't need and could sell to possibly fund, who knows what, vacation maybe. From your shop tour it doesn't look like you need any more tools After you remove the stuff you don't need think about what horizontal surfaces you kept around just for the storage under it and get rid of it. Maybe consider a floor to ceiling cabinet with drawers? Utilize the space under your out feed table? That space looks very unused. Make the out feed table smaller. Thanks for those suggestions! I am sure if I did a detailed inventory I could find a bunch of items in the drawers that could be sold off or given away. I know I have to eliminate some of the benches. Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle City WW Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 1 hour ago, Chestnut said: The trouble in my mind is suggesting to remove some horizontal surface eliminates a lot of storage area. It appears you have a lot of cabinets with drawers. I'm not sure how full everything is. To eliminate some of that i see the sanding station as taking up a lot of space it doesn't need to. Also across the way from that is what looks like a catch all that is on the in feed side of your band saw. It pains me to suggest removing some horizontal surface because it at times can be useful but i think you'd be better served by removing some of it opening up more floor space and building or buying a rolling material cart to move material from station to station. I think the biggest thing in a shop that has been established for a long time is to go through everything and determine what should be kept and what should go up for sale or be thrown. You probably have quite a few odds and ends that you don't need and could sell to possibly fund, who knows what, vacation maybe. From your shop tour it doesn't look like you need any more tools After you remove the stuff you don't need think about what horizontal surfaces you kept around just for the storage under it and get rid of it. Maybe consider a floor to ceiling cabinet with drawers? Utilize the space under your out feed table? That space looks very unused. Make the out feed table smaller. Is this layout better, do you see any disadvantages to it? My hand tool cabinet would move to the 11'3" wall and the banks of drawers would move there too. The workbench is turned and the assembly table is turned and the clamp rack would be moved over next the the clamp rack. The table saw and outfield table would be moved to the middle of the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 2 minutes ago, Belle City WW said: Is this layout better, do you see any disadvantages to it? So i kinda just chopped the image up with my idea. The few things i don't like are the 52" saw rails. I never saw the point in them outside a cabinet shop that wasn't working with full sheets of plywood all day every day but we all know what they say about opinions being like evacuation holes. I like the non-work benches to be against the wall they take up less floor space and are more useful that way. I have 2 benches in my shop that i can walk all the way around and my work bench is the only one that i use like that the other one could go against a wall. I'd also think about how to nest tools together slightly to free up space. You have a lot of space but why waste it when you could nest tools together to save space. notable the drill press and the jointer and table saw. The table for the DP moves up and down and the post generally is close to the wall so it shouldn't interfere with in feed and out feed of the tools around it. My layout leaves a lot of space between the jointer and planer a small bench there would be helpful to set material on when going between jointer and planer. something 18'24" wide at max and maybe 48" long. have access to both sides of it. I also noticed you have you clamps in the back corner. I couldn't really tell where you do assembly. My advice is to try and keep the clamps in an accessible area you have a lot of tall cabinets and hanging some off of the sides of each is a good way to store them where they are useful. The area where the clamps are could be a good place for some additional storage to replace some that your loosing. Man that looks like a wall of text sorry hope you make it through it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle City WW Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 Thank you for those suggestions! I like the suggestion of mounting of the clamps to the end of upper cabinets, Great Idea!!!! I meant to add that I build some pulpits so the additional fence width on the table saw is useful for those pieces. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 The main part of my shop is 17'x30' and right now that is the only heated space. The unheated portion is 14'x8' which contains my wood storage and a 10'x3' utility bench. By the time winter comes around I will have that area walled and insulated so I can move my sharpening station out of the main shop area. I am hoping to free up some space. My table saw, outfeed table and workbench are centered in the main shop area and they are the only tools that are not mobile. The outfeed table does double duty as an assembly table. Bandsaw, jointer, lunch box planer, drum sander etc... are on wheels so I can move them against wall when they are in use. For me, it is the only way I can move in the shop, especially when I am working on a large project. I eliminated the router table by building it into my miter saw station. That station is 22' long and has shelves and drawers underneath for portable tools, jigs, etc... That wall above the station is used for clamps and hand tools. It is really hard for me to tell someone else that "you should do this or move that over there" because we all have different priorities and work flows. I just know that after 3 years working with this shop layout I want to make some changes to free up some space. I have gone through my most of my tools and eliminated the ones that I haven't used in years. That helped some but I am still not happy. So I feel your pain. The picture shows my table saw, outfeed and workbench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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