If You Could Change Something About How Your Shop Is Set Up, What Would It Be?

My advice to anyone is even before you have all your equipment stop and think of the layout. Designate a clean area (with a nice desk that will be used like a desk) for leather work, assembling small parts etc and the as far away as possible have your dirty area for grinding drilling milling etc. Dust collection would def be high on my list. I have the whole 2 car garage as my shop and setup my grinder table and other "dirty" machines close to the door and also have them on rollable work tables so if I need I can roll them outside and blow/clean them off outside. Also makes it alot easier to sweep out the "shop" when nothing is in the way.

In this pic you get the idea. Yes I was stupid not wearing a mask. This was about a year ago. But notice the 220v plug in the ceiling (very convient for my layout). I now have my mill about where the couch is in the pic. Easy to roll the grinder table out and clean up some.

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Also I wish I would have planed more room for bench grinders/buffers. Id like to have a grinder and 2 buffers on their own table. In the near future I will be buying/building a set of bookshelf style cabinets with doors to keep buffing wheels and other things like small grinder wheels clean and safe from all the dust that gets in the air. I'm still trying to come up with a plan for air filtration which may end up being something in the attic above. Not sure yet.
 
I would like to have a second separate shop away from the house. During cold weather I cannot grind in the house for all the dust that it generates. Using the exhaust fan sucks all the heat out of the house. I could do all my dirty work out in the new shop, and do all the clean work inside my warm heated shop in the house
 
Dust collection, at least for those whose shop is in their garage and their furnace shares the air space! I have been put on notice this last week from the Mrs. with examples of just how far MY dust travels through our house. A year ago it was no big deal, but now im building more knives, stepin up to the grinder and utilizing sfm, using the table saw to slab up micarta, etc., etc, BUT my air filtration has stayed the same..fans, water bucket, and respirator! Now having been to some very nice shops ive noticed the use of industrial slide curtains that are used around equipment areas, and an air filtration system is mounted above them. For me not having the space to create an actual grind room this seems like a viable solution to at least containing the dust when im doing a ton of grinding. Anyhow nice shop and plenty of room to establish some "dirty spaces" in there! Id love to be able to knock the dust off in that shop tub you got there, get that nasty horn and micarta stench off!!:D GHaile
 
Lessons Learned:

1. Buying cheaper equipment, costs more in the long run. Don't pinch the pennies and buy the best equipment.
2. DUST COLLECTION per the wife
3. Install enough lighting to make God squint
4. Dedicated circut/s for your shop and equipment
5. Make sure you have the proper electricals to operate the $2000 HT oven BEFORE you buy it.
6. Open bar

If building your own shop:
1. Size your shop for the amount of equipment you will aquire, not what you have already.
2. INSULATION, keeps it warm in the winter, cuts down on noise
3. ELECTRICAL, unless you are an electrician, pay a qualified professional, again plan for what you WILL need not what you have.
4. Open bar
 
I am currently redesigning the layout of my shop. I am going to build a center island and close off half of my shop. I will do a curtain in between the sides to cut down on dust on the clean side. I am also stealing Nick's idea about the tool chests under the benches,(have 4 of them, might as well use them.) Have 2 under the bench right now. Also, i am plumbing pipe along the walls for air lines. Phillip, PVC works just fine for this...We did it in my dad's body shop and have not had an issue in 5 years, and it is far cheaper.
 
Mike Davis said:
I am currently redesigning the layout of my shop. I am going to build a center island and close off half of my shop. I will do a curtain in between the sides to cut down on dust on the clean side. I am also stealing Nick's idea about the tool chests under the benches,(have 4 of them, might as well use them.) Have 2 under the bench right now. Also, i am plumbing pipe along the walls for air lines. Phillip, PVC works just fine for this...We did it in my dad's body shop and have not had an issue in 5 years, and it is far cheaper.
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I know PVC is supposed to work, but it does get brittle in cold weather. I like to overbuild things anyway, so the extra expense would be worth the peace of mind.
 
Insulation. Dust collection. Wood burning stove, directly in the middle(actually, I may make this happen soon enough).
 
Mike, I believe it may have worked but it is a time bomb waiting to go off. I am speaking from experience and PVC is like shrapnel when it does (and it will)blow up. I had to get 12 stiches in my back because of it. I am not trying to be a jerk, just be careful buddy. I know of others that have had the same problem. Also if it damages anything the insurance company will deny your claim due to not using the proper material (again experience talking). I just can't recomend you don't do this enough.
Daniel Combs

Mike Davis said:
I am currently redesigning the layout of my shop. I am going to build a center island and close off half of my shop. I will do a curtain in between the sides to cut down on dust on the clean side. I am also stealing Nick's idea about the tool chests under the benches,(have 4 of them, might as well use them.) Have 2 under the bench right now. Also, i am plumbing pipe along the walls for air lines. Phillip, PVC works just fine for this...We did it in my dad's body shop and have not had an issue in 5 years, and it is far cheaper.
Click to expand...
 
Another thing would be running water. In the winter I use a humidifier, which uses about 2 gallons a day, and I just get tired of hauling water from the house to the shop.
 
Things I did right:
big power, RPC and air compressor in a separate area, insulation and heat/air, separate areas for clean and gritty, shelving.

Things I did wrong:
not enough outlets, not enough light, no air drops, didn't paint the floor.

Things I wish I had:
More room (man you just wouldn't believe it) larger roll up door so big forklifts can fit in, truck height loading dock (okay, most of y'all won't need a dock)
 
im sizing up a shop and still working out all of what i need and the funny part is it might be cheaper for me just to buy a run down rancher home and gut it then rework it as a work shop 1300 Sq ft range
 
tryppyr said:
If I could change something about my shop it would be making it a detached building. I see you already have that covered. The next thing I would change is having the place wired for any kind of power needs I could have. I'd have a 220V 3-phase power drop or two installed to allow me to run big VFD motors for the grinder(s), and a serious heat treat oven. I'd have separate spaces for "dirty" work, "stinky" work, "hot" work, and "clean" work. I'd use as much natural light and natural ventilation as possible. It would be equipped with robotic maids that cleaned up after me and put my tools back where they belong.
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Is the 3 phase that more efficient? I mean, for a guy doing this as a hobby. Also on the air filtration that seems to come up often, are we talking about the vacuum unit that sucks debris off of each machine or a shop wide system?
 
I don't have an air filtration system, so I'll let others speak about that. The 3-Phase power is what is used when installing variable frequency drive motors to allow you to adjust the speed of the grinder. Again, something I don't have, so I'll let others expound the virtues.
 
We just signed the lease on a place today. Got a LOT to do.
 
I am on my third shop since I started(25+ years ago) and I have already incorporated most of the suggestions above.
The walls and ceiling of my shop are white(or at least they started out that way) I do have a buffer with a tapered spindle.
My shop is 16 x 32 and I have 18 power boxes 13 of them are 110 4 gang and the other 5 are 220v outlets.
One of the biggest changes I made was to put and 8 ft bench sticking out into the shop and put the grinder on the end of it. This way I can move around it freely(from 3 sides) and it is still secure. I had to put a dust shield behind it to keep the rest of the bench a little cleaner, but the grinder is in the exact center of the room and I like that, because its the most important piece of equipment. My shop is insulated and heated and I do have a roll up door on one end. The one thing that my dad gave me grief for is that I have no windows in my shop.
I need a shop elf that cleans and knows where everything should be put ;)
Del
 
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