Setting Up Basement Shops?

Peter Atwood · Jun 21, 2003

I'm about to buy a new house and will have to move my shop. This will be a huge undertaking and is going to slow down my activities for a month or two. The positive side is I will have an enormous open basement to make into my shop and it will be WIRED! I'm having 220 put in for a variable speed grinder and LOTS of 4 foot high 110 outlets. Also lots of flourescent lights. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the loss of natural light which I currently enjoy in my existing shop and the fact that I'm not normally a basement shop kind of guy. Dust collection and ventilation are going to be an issue. But all in all I think this is going to be great!

What issues have others discovered when setting up basement shops? What do you wish you had done differently? What are you glad you did the way you did? I've got a blank slate here and I plan to make the most of it.

John Andrews · Jun 21, 2003

Pete, I started out on the kitchen table and basement, now have outside shop. I had the light problem too. What I thought about was running one of those reflective sunlight tunnels to the basement. If I was still working down there I would run a couple of them. Our local Menard's carry them.

rlinger · Jun 21, 2003

My living room would love for me to have a basement.

Roger

Laredo7mm · Jun 21, 2003

My shop is in my basement. I have the forge, power hammer, anvil, grinder, mill, bandsaw, molten salt HT, HT oven, buffer, etc. all down there.

Here is a picture of the forging room. I have a 1200 CFM blower mounted in the window above the forge. Directly acroos from the blower, in the other room, is a window that I open to get good cross ventilation.

Here is another picture. The door on the right is the forging room. I put my grinder right next to that door and I turn the blower on when grinding. Most of the dust and grit gets sucked onto the forge room floor which makes clean up easier, yeah right, like i clean.

Dust still travels thru the house, but not as bad as I thought. One of these days I want an outside (heated) shop. I still don't have a garage, so when I do build one, it will be a combination deal. 24 x 48 sounds good to me.

P.S. I don't know if you would want to tell your insurance agent what you are doing down there. Mine doesn't know, so nobody better rat me out...

John Andrews · Jun 22, 2003

Laredo, your shop compared to mine right now, makes you a neatnik. Second, go ahead and build a 100 X 100. You will fill it up! Your basement shop looks pretty cool,though. When I worked in my basement I just ignored my wife's death threats when kids were taking naps and I was having my way with the steel in the basement shop. Dust? Heck, why do I have furnace filters for, anyhow? I always told her a constant vibration from downstairs should HELP kids sleep! Another benefit, no inlaws stayed over. When inlaws are hinting about staying over, just tell mother-in-law to disreguard poison gasses from your MOP grinding, the furnace filter should take care of most of it. If this does not work well enough, get a canary and tell your inlaws the bird is your early gas warning alert. Just run upstairs yelling,"Run! Get out! The bird just dropped!"

ddavelarsen · Jun 22, 2003

My shop's in the basement and I do not have any dust collection or ventilation. Bad deal. One of my next projects is going to be dust collection. For now I just clean often and finally bought a mask.

As to suggestions - the flourescents are a good idea but I'd recommend adding various other types of lighting. I have some "daylight" incandescent bulbs, as well as various different types of flourescent bulbs screwed into lamps all over the place. You can't have too much light! The downside of that is heat.

I have a lot of "hanging storage" down there too, taking advantage of the unused space above my work benches. I have four work benches plus the top of my table saw... They're all filled all the time, I can't figure that out!

Dave

Stickypoint · Jun 22, 2003

I have a basement shop. I moved in from a shed in the back yard. I have a dust collection system on the grinders and buffers. No dust problem at all. The grinders are in a "small" room by themselves and very little dust seems to leave it. I love it ! In northern Michigan the winters are long and cold and I worked in that shed for 15 years with a propane heater pointed at my backside.

Peter Atwood · Jun 22, 2003

Wow, great stuff so far!

Laredo, that take some balls to have your power hammer and forge down there!

You might consider painting that cinder block white and you'll be amazed at the dramatic difference in light you'll have. I'm going to use UGL Drylock on my unpainted walls.

I like the idea of a separate room for the dust makers and also I've been thinking of an additional small soundproof room for the dust collecter and air compressor.

H.L. Holbrook · Jun 23, 2003

I have an outside shop with 4'flourescent shop lights. But we just finished a new house with a full size drive in basement. I had 8' flourescent put in the basement. The 8' buzz like crazy when on, electrians tell me this is normal. If I had it to do over I would have gone with a bunch of 4'. They make no sound what so ever. Just something you might want to think about.

Alain M-D · Jun 24, 2003

Originally posted by Peter Atwood
What issues have others discovered when setting up basement shops? What do you wish you had done differently? What are you glad you did the way you did?

Hi Peter !
I saw in your video that your previous shop have good lightning with many windows... I think that it is a must!

I installed three double flourescent in my small shop but I added incandescent lamps on each machine (not on the picture bellow) and others lights on the bench. There is never too much light! And I will add others...

Second on my wish list, is the dimentions, it is never rather large and I am always too much tight ! My shop have 11' X 20" and because I work also wood it does not remain much room (table saw, Wood storage...) I would like to be able to have a shop separated, with a a closed room for grinding...

Other thing that I do not like with a chop in the basement, it is that it is in the basement! By making my shop, I isolated the walls and the ceiling to avoid the noise transmission, but the sleeping rooms are right on the top and I must stop using certain machines when my wife try to sleep...

Other unpleasant thing it is that dust and odors contaminate the house... My wife does not like much when I grind bone or other bad smelling stuff... Even with good a fan and a well closed workshop, it is inevitable...

Alain M-D