Recommendation? New Shop. What would you have done differently?

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120 Acres

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Jan 5, 2017
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So I am looking to retire by the end of the year and am going to start building a new shop to do mostly knife work in. A few designs I am mulling over at the moment, but for the most part it looks like I will be going with a 16 x 30 with a "office" sectioned off of the workshop part. I will have an oversized door leading out to a side lean-to area. It will have a front & back porch.
This is all the basic layout, but I am wondering what things you guys would have done differently or glad that you did do...
For instance, it will have a crawlspace, but I may add a room with a concrete floor incase I ever get a large piece of machinery that will be too heavy to put in the shop area (like a big ole milling machine).
Any ideas will be welcomed and taken to heart.

Thanks in advance.
 
see if there is a Habitat for Humanity thrift store or building supply recycle facility near by. old kitchen or bathroom cabinets with or without counter top is a good start for work benches. also a good source for wall paint, floor paint, tiles, and light fixtures. rather than a clean room, have a small dirty room, especially for wood working.
 
Kevin McGovern said:
A segregated clean room, good ventilation, lots of light and outlets/ circuits, a small room for material storage and organization.
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Yep, lots of lights & receps. Check.
Clean storage, Check.

scott.livesey said:
see if there is a Habitat for Humanity thrift store or building supply recycle facility near by. old kitchen or bathroom cabinets with or without counter top is a good start for work benches. also a good source for wall paint, floor paint, tiles, and light fixtures. rather than a clean room, have a small dirty room, especially for wood working.
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Good thinking. I usually just build my shelves and workbenches because I am particular about the height for doing certain things, but I can see where that would come in handy and cheap.
 
scott.livesey said:
see if there is a Habitat for Humanity thrift store or building supply recycle facility near by. old kitchen or bathroom cabinets with or without counter top is a good start for work benches. also a good source for wall paint, floor paint, tiles, and light fixtures. rather than a clean room, have a small dirty room, especially for wood working.
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Yes, I meant dirty room. I worked in the CBRNE world for a time and when I think of an isolated room to contain something, I think clean room.
 
Definitely a separate and dedicated grinding room. In fact I'd divide my next shop into 4 parts not including the office. A grinding room for the belt grinders, disc Sanders, buffers, ect
A machine shop for the mill and lathe, surface grinder, drill presses, welder, couple workbenches, ect
A woodworking area for the bandsaw, tablesaw, jointer, planer, ect
And a hot work area for forging, which would obviously be left out if you only do stock removal.
I'd go for 3 spaces as fine wood dust and sparks aren't the best combination, and precision machine tools with any kind of dust aren't a good combination either.
 
Lots of lights
White walls and ceiling (reflects light)
Electricity sockest everywere (more then you think you will use)
Workbenches at different hights
Screw thin plywood on top of the workbenches. Replace when dirty/used a lot. A few $$$ will get you a nice and clean workbench
 
keep all the stuff that makes dust and grit at the far end of the shop and curtain it off. i use extra tall clear vinyl shower curtains so i will not feel claustrophobic. white walls will lessen the effects of shadows. make the clean room double as an office to save space. maybe a wall mounted exhaust fan near the dirty section so less dust makes to the cleaner parts of the shop. congrats on retiring !
 
I would build directly on a slab or slab with frost wall. First concrete is not going to catch on fire, secondly you may become interested in larger machinery, like you said, and do not want the floor to be a limiting factor.
 
1. Dedicated grinding room with ventilation
2. Dedicated room for bandsaw/ table saw/ buffer / anything else that makes dust
3. Dedicated area for clean work,Mill, tumbler, welder, etc...
4. Office/ break room space

Additional considerations
A clean sink and a dirty sink
Lots and lots of electric.
Lots of lights.

I'll be implementing all of these changes into my shop that I'm moving into as we speak :D
 
As much electricity as possible is a very good consideration. I'm most likely going to install 400 amp service in the new shop, just to insure I'm never limited.

Also dust collection. It is a lot nicer to deal with if it's built in rather than an afterthought. No tripping over hoses, ect
 
Flato has a good point about electrical power, go big, also add 220Vac outlets any where you think you might want a welding machine, ,a large compressor, hydraulic press, or any number of other items which use 220vac. I suggest 40 or 50 amp outlets, not just the 20 amp variety.
Running water is a good thing. Comes in handy for washing grit out of your eyes and putting out any pesky fires you may start. It also beats having to fill your slack tub by hauling water.
 
DAMNENG said:
compressed air is frowned upon because it can push foreign materials into the pores and skin causing alergic reactions, infections etc.
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No kidding? I would have never thought of that but it makes perfect sense. I guess I will switch over to the shop vacuum instead of the compressor. This is exactly why I love this forum, thank you for the correction folks.
 
Run 220 to each wall at minimum. I've got 120 every 4', but only one 220 line for the welder, and one 120 line for the compressor, each dedicated. Plan the dust management from the start, rather than as an afterthought.
 
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