smallest shop have you seen?


duckkisser

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I knew a guy who worked out of a 6x8 shed and he basically just had the bare minimums on tools and keep it all under 1 bench had a few things hanging on the wall behind the bench and that was about all he could store he bought the wood as he used it and what was left over either got burned or put in a tote box that he also kept under the bench.

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I believe this question came up here before, may have been somewhere else. But then small shops fascinate me anyhow. Since the question is the smallest shop seen and how they dealt with space in the shop for storage, I'll assume that your in a similar type of situation. Since you don't mention the size of your closet shop or larger. LOL I will describe a friend's shop he had. It was about a 6x10 shed. He had all bench mounted type tools, I say type as when you first walked in the door there was his table saw. It sat up against the wall on the bench and there was a small size trap door that was for outfeed going through the wall. The door was about 8"tall and about 24" wide. His saw wasn't the usual bench saw it was an old contractor's saw with the wings removed and shortened rails for the fence mounted to the saw. Needless to say that what wasn't mounted on the bench went under the bench. He also had 8" wide shelves above the benches, he had narrow benches on each side of the shop. Needless to say there was a lot of stuff in the little space. He had me build him a 4x4 add on off the corner. He built shelves in it from top to bottom to store his tools and hardware and finishing supplies in. This gave him a tremendous amount of space in his little shop to move around in and do more. Dust collection was nothing more than a shop vac. He had a lumber rack on the wall in his garage to store his lumber. If you can envision what a 4x4 add on could do for you, I think you would be surprised at how much space you could have in your small shop. While i'm a firm believer in hanging everything on the walls, wall space comes at a premium. Which for me has come to mean space saving cabinets in the shop. By Space saving I'm thinking of vertical pull outs that resemble vertical drawers with shelves that can be of varying widths. Of course this means I have to build them yet.

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Check this one out. This is courtesy of one of my favorite sites (other than this one), Instructables.com. While it's aimed more for hack space (think Make Magazine), it has something for everybody. (My current favorite are the Ice Worm Martini and the Tron Themed Lamps.)

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I believe this question came up here before, may have been somewhere else. But then small shops fascinate me anyhow. Since the question is the smallest shop seen and how they dealt with space in the shop for storage, I'll assume that your in a similar type of situation. Since you don't mention the size of your closet shop or larger. LOL I will describe a friend's shop he had. It was about a 6x10 shed. He had all bench mounted type tools, I say type as when you first walked in the door there was his table saw. It sat up against the wall on the bench and there was a small size trap door that was for outfeed going through the wall. The door was about 8"tall and about 24" wide. His saw wasn't the usual bench saw it was an old contractor's saw with the wings removed and shortened rails for the fence mounted to the saw. Needless to say that what wasn't mounted on the bench went under the bench. He also had 8" wide shelves above the benches, he had narrow benches on each side of the shop. Needless to say there was a lot of stuff in the little space. He had me build him a 4x4 add on off the corner. He built shelves in it from top to bottom to store his tools and hardware and finishing supplies in. This gave him a tremendous amount of space in his little shop to move around in and do more. Dust collection was nothing more than a shop vac. He had a lumber rack on the wall in his garage to store his lumber. If you can envision what a 4x4 add on could do for you, I think you would be surprised at how much space you could have in your small shop. While i'm a firm believer in hanging everything on the walls, wall space comes at a premium. Which for me has come to mean space saving cabinets in the shop. By Space saving I'm thinking of vertical pull outs that resemble vertical drawers with shelves that can be of varying widths. Of course this means I have to build them yet.

well the shop im using is the schools and it is a big space 3000 square feet. but i saw a guy who built a shop out of apartment storage unit 5X5 and it was crazy how he had it set up. everything was mounted and he had the tools so they changed out of a mobile cradle that ran all the different tools(belt sander, band saw, oscilating sander, router.) the cradle was in a track that that was mounted to the sides of storage unit and then lowered to the ground. table saw had no table top just motor, blade and narrow strip for the blade. his fence was mounted to pipes that extended from the table saw with clamps and his outfeed table was just rollers. and all his hand tools were mounted on the walls of the storage unit.

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Check this one out. This is courtesy of one of my favorite sites (other than this one), Instructables.com. While it's aimed more for hack space (think Make Magazine), it has something for everybody. (My current favorite are the Ice Worm Martini and the Tron Themed Lamps.)

looks like the guy built everything that is there.

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Check this one out. This is courtesy of one of my favorite sites (other than this one), Instructables.com. While it's aimed more for hack space (think Make Magazine), it has something for everybody. (My current favorite are the Ice Worm Martini and the Tron Themed Lamps.)

I think I have seen this somewhere before, anyway that should leave everybody feeling good about their shops size. Pretty cool. Duck, I guess I would have to see the TS you are talking about but right now it sends shivers down my spine!!

Nate

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I think I have seen this somewhere before, anyway that should leave everybody feeling good about their shops size. Pretty cool. Duck, I guess I would have to see the TS you are talking about but right now it sends shivers down my spine!!

Nate

no kiding the table saw looked like it would be better in a dungeon but it was super acurate. he made a cut on it and then he placed a lazer along the cut to show that it is super strait.

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DK, I know this is not a small woodshop, but it does show alternative thinking when you have no place to go but down. Notice the entrance to his woodworking shop just inside a Japanese parking lot door. This is Stu getting a SawStop tablesaw lowered into his underground parking lot woodshop.

ok thats nuts what was it used for before and why turn that area into a wood shop......hate to take anything up and down out of there. and i hope he gets a good suction to clear out dust and gases. i cant wait to see how he finishes up the shop

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This shop (“Tokyo Dungeon Workshop”) was set up a few years ago. Stu Ablett lives in Japan (as an American), and owns a liquor store in town. With space at a premium in the city, this was his best option for having a woodshop of any size at all, which is under the building his store is in. On the left side you’ll see other links. You should see 4 links titled cyclone-cyclone4. This shows the installation of his cyclone dust collector. You’ll also see the link I posted “In the beginning”. Just click on the numbered links after that (1-15) to see more of his “underground” shop. A few of the links are not about the woodshop (4-6).

Link #2 shows additional pictures of the shop and at the bottom of the page you’ll see a diagram of his shop layout and the length and width dimensions as well as the equipment layout. Being below the parking lot level, I don’t think he deals with exhaust fumes. Here’s a FWW page that tells a little more about some of the restrictions Stu had to deal with a Sept. 2006 shop tour video that’s informative (second video down the page). Here’s his April 2010 shop tour. You’ll see definite differences between the 2006 tour and the 2010 tour.

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This shop (“Tokyo Dungeon Workshop”) was set up a few years ago. Stu Ablett lives in Japan (as an American), and owns a liquor store in town. With space at a premium in the city, this was his best option for having a woodshop of any size at all, which is under the building his store is in. On the left side you’ll see other links. You should see 4 links titled cyclone-cyclone4. This shows the installation of his cyclone dust collector. You’ll also see the link I posted “In the beginning”. Just click on the numbered links after that (1-15) to see more of his “underground” shop. A few of the links are not about the woodshop (4-6).

Link #2 shows additional pictures of the shop and at the bottom of the page you’ll see a diagram of his shop layout and the length and width dimensions as well as the equipment layout. Being below the parking lot level, I don’t think he deals with exhaust fumes. Here’s a FWW page that tells a little more about some of the restrictions Stu had to deal with a Sept. 2006 shop tour video that’s informative (second video down the page). Here’s his April 2010 shop tour. You’ll see definite differences between the 2006 tour and the 2010 tour.

ya i understand that tokyo is cramped just a messed up way to have a wood shop i cant imagine gong up and down those stairs everyday. and i see that he put in a escape hatch that goes into somewhere i just wonder if it would be possible to put in a door rather then a hatch. as i get older and my knee start creaking i just cant see myself climbing up and down those stairs all day.

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My shop is a car port. My tools are stored in a 5 by 5 foot storage closet. Putting my tools away is like putting a jig saw puzzle together. My table saw and jointer have BBQ grill covers over them to protect them from the elements. I to also have only one work bench and store all my craps and cut off peaces in a tote box under my bench. I am currently on a waiting list for a house with a 1 car garage. Once i get a planer it to will have to be stored out side and a grill cover used to protect it.

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My shop is a car port. My tools are stored in a 5 by 5 foot storage closet. Putting my tools away is like putting a jig saw puzzle together. My table saw and jointer have BBQ grill covers over them to protect them from the elements. I to also have only one work bench and store all my craps and cut off peaces in a tote box under my bench. I am currently on a waiting list for a house with a 1 car garage. Once i get a planer it to will have to be stored out side and a grill cover used to protect it.

im sorry to hear that a car port is just not the place for a wood shop. if you dont get the house (i am planing on geting a house in a couple years "nock on wood")try asking around the local farms they often have a shed or outbuilding that they rarely use as its just for storage you might be able to work out some kind of deal where you can convert it into a wood shop the few guys i have talked to were inturested in being able to have a wood worker handy to help them repair and let them tinker around with a few of the biger tools.

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Stu in Japan is a good friend of mine. He is in the middle of a rework again. He is changing out his work bench for another type. Along with some other tool moving.

As a side note, I sent him a Stanley #7 to use on his new bench. You wouldn't believe what it cost to ship it.

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Here's a pretty neat way to put in a table for cutting sheet gods: http://www.swedishwoodworking.com/articles/the-micro-workshop-part-2/

(part 1 is here but not that interesting)

i like the work bench might even be better then some out there since you can clamp dirrectly on the borrom and there are no legs to get in the way but then again it might not hold as much weight or be as stable

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