Proposed workshop layout

[Aegwyn11]

I guess my workshop could be considered a "member project"....

Anyway, I'm in the process of building out my workshop and I'm trying to plan things. My Delta 50-760 (1 1/2 horsepower) dust collector is going in its own little room so as to not eat up space in my shop, which is why you don't see it on the drawings. I've done a very basic Sketchup drawing of what I'm thinking and wanted to get feedback. I don't have a ton of space so I want to make most efficient use of what I have.

My idea is to have a main "workspace". You can see that as the open area in the drawing. I'll have spiral pipe ran down the empty wall about in the middle so that I can wheel any of the big machines over and easily hook up to DC. When something isn't in use, it goes back in its place out of the way. I also want to try to avoid having to move a machine to get to another machine. I simply don't have the room or DC power to have multiple machines hooked up at once.

At this point, I'm planning to build the bench for the SCMS at the same depth/height as the Unisaw. Also, I think I'm leaning toward the MFT as a workbench since its collapsible and could be stored very easily....it seems like the MFT would fit good in my 'open space' when I need it and go out of the way easily when i need to use the big machines.

Oh, and the wall I left off the drawing will in fact be a wall...the entry door will be on that wall right next to where the A3-31 is in the drawing.

Feedback? Suggestions of what to do differently? All the machines will be on mobile bases, so rearranging them isn't a big deal. The main things I need to put in stone are where the spiral pipe will run to and the dimensions for the SCMS bench.

 

[CharlesWilson]

I don't know how easily you can move the unisaw, but it won't be much use right up against the wall, so you should have swivel casters (instead of the most common rolling base with two fixed wheels and one swivel) so you can easily move it in, out and around. Having the SCMS bench the same height as the Unisaw is a good idea as it will allow it to collect the offcuts.

I would suggest you keep an extra wide entry door so that you can process 8 foot boards (and possibly longer) by using the doorway for infeed.

Sheet goods can most easily be handled in cramped quarters using a TS-xx saw with guide rail.

Because the LS1013FL is less than 50 lb, I would recommend that you consider making it easily removable from the bench. You could then populate the bench with holes and use it like an MFT.

Also, a few hints as to the types of projects you have planned will help us focus our suggestions.

Charles

 

[johnsonri]

Aegwyn11,

When you use the Unisaw, do you plan to roll it away from the wall? It seems that you'd want better clearance for the Unisaw.

Depending on what you will be doing positioning the LS1013 such that you only have 24" on the outfeed side there might be frustrating at times. Since you have a door along the other wall, you could position the LS1013 along that wall for additional infeed space.

I think that I'd want the SCMS, planer and bandsaw along the walls with the TS in the middle. The MFT would be the wildcard and could be moved to the outfeed of the TS for workpiece support. You could also put a support on top of the MFT to get add outfeed for the bandsaw if/when needed.

I threw together a quick sketchup of what I mean. I left the Kreg table out. But the is space to the left of the bandsaw.

[attachthumb=#]

With the MFT and the TS at the same level, that could serve as general layout space as well. Personally, I like having full perimeter access to the MFT. So, I'd put neither the MFT nor the TS against a wall.

Sounds like you are having fun though!!

Regards
Rey

 

[Aegwyn11]

Good ideas already! I need to go back and make a v2 of this and repost. Right away, I should clarify that EVERYTHING is mobile with the exception of the SCMS bench. When not in use, it gets shoved out of the way. I didn't see any easy way to use the Unisaw with the stock base, so I'm planning on welding on some thick sheet metal stock where the current fixed wheels are so that I can put on swivel casters...that way it can move in any direction easily. That way, it can be slid in and out of its little hole against the wall in about 10 seconds. My thought process was that the open space I left would be a sort of configurable workstation...slide whatever big equipment I need to work with into the space and put it away when done. Ideally I would want to be able to slide equipment in/out of position in less than 30 seconds.

As for sheet goods...i was kind of planning on a Festool TS anyway. I've messed with a little bit of sheet stuff on the Unisaw and its almost impossible to do without help (safely).  Plus, a TS55/75 would be nice to have in order to straight line rough lumber before going to the jointer.

I hadn't thought about using the SCMS bench as a psuedo MFT...great idea. I think that would be pretty easy and could be really nice when I get to the sanding stage of projects...

As for our project plans, mostly going to be furniture, starting with rough stock. I really like the idea of being able to use the doors to the room to increase infeed/outfeed room for everything (N4400 for resaw, A3-31 for jointing/planing, Unisaw for ripping, etc).

Depending on what you will be doing positioning the LS1013 such that you only have 24" on the outfeed side there might be frustrating at times. Since you have a door along the other wall, you could position the LS1013 along that wall for additional infeed space.

My thought was to keep the "infeed" side of the SCMS as long as possible, thinking that way I could cut longer boards to the length I wanted. I suppose that i would give myself more flexibility in breaking down stock if I had more "outfeed" area...I'll have to think about that one a little.

 

[woodshopdemos]

More than a year ago I sold my Unisaw and jointer and set up the shop to primarilly make cabinets but I find that it working for furniture projects as well. Here is a panorama of the shop:

Here is the description:

http://woodshopdemos.com/reorg-5.htm

 

[Aegwyn11]

Okay, here is v2 of my layout. Again, this is designed to yank the equipment into place whenever its going to get used, and get shoved out of the way when done. I really like the idea of keeping the "workspace" aligned with the doorway so that i can open the doors if necessary to allow for processing longer stock than I could normally handle in the shop. I wish I had a bigger space that allowed me to dedicate space to distinct workstations, but that just isn't possible at this point.

Here I moved the SCMS bench to a different wall and increased its length. I don't think I really lost any usable space in the shop, but increased the usable space on this bench. I also increased the space on the "outfeed" side to 3 ft (plus the space on the saw table after the blade). I figure if I need to chop up wood bigger than what I could handle here, I can always just yank the SCMS off the bench and take it to the garage and chop the huge pieces down, then take them into the shop (that kind of wood probably wouldn't fit in the shop as is anyway).

Thoughts/ideas?

More than a year ago I sold my Unisaw and jointer and set up the shop to primarilly make cabinets but I find that it working for furniture projects as well.

I've read quite a number of the excellent demos on your website...wish I could do that, but we're going to be doing picture frames (large, deep coves), and processing very rough wood. I'm lucky enough to have a wife as excited about the shop as I am and she's pretty amped about processing rough rough wood (I explained to her how we could actually take a 10" log and turn it into usable boards with the tools we have/are getting and she got real excited  ;D).