Shop Ideas.

jbblount

jbblount

Joined
Aug 15, 2010
Messages
273
About to start building a shop. It's gonna be 24' x 30'. Anybody got any suggestions on layout or any ideas are welcome. Can't make my mind up. Maybe post some pictures of your shop, give me some ideas.
 
Just waiting for someone to refer you to the stickies.

Anyways, one of the first things you really have to consider is lighting- I don't know what your situation is there, so I can't really offer much, but it is something one could overlook. I'd put an "island" bench in the middle to get the most out of your space. Try to isolate the dust-producing equipment from your "finishing station", if you're going to have such a dedicated space. These are just things I've worked with or wish I could do with my shop.
 
Two thoughts:
1) There is no such thing as to much light
2) White walls. They reflect the light and are friendly on the eyes
 
^^^I'll second the good lighting & white walls^^^
I built a new shop 12+ years ago with white walls.
Upgraded the lights 3 years ago and it was like starting new again the better lighting made such a positive impact I'd never want to go back to the old lighting.
Twice the light for half the electrical usage as before.
 
Use the height of your space for storage, trust me, you will need it. Put shelves or hanging braces up to and including your ceiling (make sure your joists can support the weight) and you can store lesser used items on the higher areas. If you make a hinge or pulley system, you can even raise and lower them to make it easy instead of having to get a ladder or stool out. Any time you spend planning now, will be time saved later on while you are working.
 
Use rolling carts for things that you don't use daily. HT ovens, forges, occasional use tools, etc. The HF rolling welders carts are perfect for many tools.

Make a "Drop -In" spot on your bench top. It is a place where the top has a cut-out section with strong braces or lips below it so you can drop-in a piece of counter top or other item. Make a batch of cut-outs to fit this. Mount things like bench grinders, disc sanders, tang stamping jigs,clamping jigs, and other smaller tools on these. Place them on the shelves, or in a rack you build to hold them when not in use, and just "Drop-In" The tool you need when you need it.(You can even put a jig or small tool on both sides of the Drop-In ,and flip the insert to the side you need.) When no tool is needed, you can either put in a blank piece of bench top, a piece of butcherblock, or a piece fitted to your granite surface plate. The sky is the limit for how many things you can make interchangeable with this set-up. If you build a "Slide-In Bread Rack" like the bread and buns come to a store on, the inserts can be stored out of the way, and rolled around, easily. You might want to see if you can score a rack from someplace and make the inserts to fit the rack. Commercial kitchens use them to hold trays of cooked food,too.

Put all lighting on dedicated circuits...and allot plenty of breakers for those circuits. You want all the lighting you can get...plus some.

Decide how much power you need, and add 50% to that....or you will wish you did later . 200 amps should be the minimum.
3Ph power is superb if available.
Have extra breakers in the box for future circuits. Run power everywhere when building the shop, Quad boxes every six feet sounds crazy, but will be very useful. Run 220 to all areas where it could be conceivably needed.
Put a NEMA box outside that can be opened up and will have a 30 amp 110 and a 30 amp 220 socket in it. Being able to work outside from time to time is really useful.

Start clean, and stay clean. Once the shop gets cluttered and filled with grinding debris, it will never get cleaned again.

Ventilation and air quality. - Put is a ventilation system to exchange the air with outside air. If there is no air going out, incoming air won't do much good.
Build a good dust extraction system, with a spark trap for metal grinding. A separate hanging air filtration shop filter that runs on a timer is a superb idea to keep the air clean. It should be set up to turn on when you come in, and turn off an hour after you leave.

Try and group tasks. Grinding in one area, forging is another, etc.

STORAGE - this is the smallest part of some shops, but the largest part of what is in most shops. Think about that - everything in your shop but the piece of steel in your hand, and the tool you are using on it, are technically in storage. Build lots of shelves, racks, cabinets, and overhead storage. If you get in the habit of putting things in their place, you will always be able to find them. If you get in the habit of just setting things on the floor or in piles against the wall....it will end up looking like most of our shops:)
 
As the others have said, you can't have too many lights!

I would definitely have two rooms. A "clean" room for finish work and a "dirty" room for grinding, drilling, welding, etc.

Also, think about dust removal. It would be smart to plan a dust removal system as well as incorporate an air filtration system, something like this ...Jet air filtration system.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.
 
I don't know if it is feasable for you. 24 x 30 sounds like it will be a one room shop but the one thing I am going to do in my next place is divide the space between "dirty" and "clean". Bobby Branton had a shop walk-thru video he made. That is what lit the fire in my mind. He had a separate room for assembly and computer work, with a sliding patio door. I thought that was a great idea. In my case, I would separate Forging, Grinding and Heat treat from Handle Assy, Sanding/Polishing, Fittings and Leatherwork. I would like to have a place in my shop where I can take off the respirator and continue working. I find that I am forced to leave for hours at a time to let the dust settle. Then, I come back and vacuum, only to realise that I need to hit the grinder again.... it's a PITA. It forces me to designate "Dirty Days" which I find really inhibits the flow... I want to do what I need to do when I need to do it....... and still be mindful of my health.
 
Lots of good ideas so far. Here are a few more...


  • Are you just using this shop for knife making, or will it serve general construction and mechanic purposes as well? Whatever you're going to be doing there, when it comes to layout think process flow and work triangles too, not just items and stuff.
  • If you will be working wood as well as steel than consider how the equipment/areas will coexist/be segregated. Wood table saws, band saws, belt sanders and planers need their own dust management separate from steel grinding.
  • A flammable liquids storage cabinet is always a good idea. As are strategically located fire extinguishers.
  • Will you have an air compressor some where and want to pipe air anywhere?
  • I haven't seen anyone mention a plumbed utility sink yet.
  • With enough space, a shower, toilet and place to change into clean clothes before returning into the home environment would be way cool too.
  • Many folks enjoy other creature comforts in their shop too, like a a small frig and tunes.
  • An outside lean-to style roofed area might be helpful.
  • Heck while your at it, if secluded enough with some greenery around, a shaded hammock, picnic table and grill in the vicinity could be fun too.

Ha, ha, ha...I've been hanging out in the tropics too long! Whatever you do, I guess what I'm saying...in addition to productivity and safety, make sure you "hard-wire" fun, relaxation and pleasure into the equation too, whatever that looks like to you.

Keep us posted and share lots of pix of your progress!
 
Great thread. Stacy, I'd love to see some pics of the interchangeable drop-in system you have. And, my old JHS shop teacher always told us to, "make a place for everything and put everything in it's place." It's impossible, but a good goal. +1 on carts. I also like to have small carts with all my blades on it, so that I can move from the surface grinder to the KMG to the bench for handles, etc... easily, without having to juggle everything. I know these guys have said it a few times here, but just to emphasize here: keep your grinding room separate from your finish area.

My only real advice on your shop layout is to avoid making permanent decisions. As my business grows and my knifemaking needs change, I am always moving benches, wishing walls weren't there, building new walls, re-arranging, re-organizing. Just something to think about.

-M
 
You're going to need WAY more electrical receptacles, both 120 volt and 240 volt than you ever dreamed you would. Plan for adding future receptacles and how you're going to add them.
 
Make sure you use a 30 space breaker box. Having a bathroom is real handy. I laid my out before I poured the concrete knowing it would be a while before I got it hook up.
 
While a bathroom is nice, a sink is even more important. Rick says his sink is his bathroom from time to time. Putting a PVC mop/deep sink in the corner is a piece of cake. They come complete and self standing. A water source is almost a necessity.

Even if the sink sits outside the door, and is hooked up to a hose from the house, and the drain is just a pipe out to the grass, it is invaluable for filling dunk tubs, slack buckets, washing FC off blades and hands, and washing the blood off to look and see if you need stitches. Build a simple table next to it for cleaning fish and other dirty chores the wife doesn't want done in the kitchen.

If you want to get fancier, make a basic gravity feed solar water heater and have some hot/warm water for washing up with. Sink a shallow well and run a HF pump, or bury a roll of PVC water pipe from the house.
 
bladsmth said:
Rick says his sink is his bathroom from time to time.
Click to expand...
it's also my beer cooler and soup bowl on occassion.....:o

I found an old laundry tub at a yard sale. My current shop is attached to the house(which is why I'm looking to make another) but it is nice because I was able to connect to H&C water and a drain. No more dirty doors and bath towels.... the wife is happy. I keep an eyewash attachment and first aid kit right above the sink. The telephone is close by, too.... "Honeeeeeey, what's the number for 911 again?!!!":eek:
 
What Rick said, I have a clean room for assembly/hand work. I also have a grinding room. Keeps all the dirt/dust off of my milling machine and lathe. In other words I have three areas.
Clean room, machining area and grinding room. If you can sub divide your areas you will be very happy. I also heat/cool my clean room but not the other areas. That way when it is smoking hot or cold in the shop I just
do hand work in the clean room with a small Mini-split AC/heat unit to keep it comfortable.
CW
 
Getting a lot of good ideas. Thanks everyone.

I don't do any mechanic work but would like the option. Kinda wanna keep the knife making to one half. I have alot of wood working tools too. The wife wanted a wood working section so she could "build something". Defiantly going to have a bathroom. Big sink. And I like the idea of moveable benches cause I change my mind a lot. I don't think seperate rooms are going to be possible for me at first but we'll see.
 
I've sofar only set up my 'clean room' (working on the rest)
What I did is finish it ca. 90% and did a few projects. This spring I'll take the time to redo a few things, fine tune some otheres and finish up.
Things always will work out differently then you've planned.
 
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