Hi Peter,
When I was very young my Grandfather Adams, who I called "A'Pa", lived with us in a huge loft apartment in West Greenwich Village. My Dad and A'Pa had bought that building and the one adjoining it to the west in 1928. A'Pa had a corner bedroom. My parents had the larger bedroom next to his, while my room was at the other end of the loft. That left a great room with a skylight of over 2.500 square feet. His antique traditional furniture making bench could be shoved against the wall under the skylight between projects. Mind you, A'Pa only wanted to use tools and methods common in 1800, so he had no power tools. He also only work with solid hardwood, no plywood. This worked out because that loft was a 4 storey walk-up, with narrow winding stairs. Getting the lumber up to the loft was easier than moving the finished furniture down those stairs to the street.
My own first workshop was in 1948. I shared a fifth floor walk-up across the street from Washington Square Park. Four of us engineering students shared the entire top floor, with small bedrooms in the corners. leaving me a space 18' x 30' when we were not entertaining. I was both an engineering student and a union stagehand. The other guys entertained even less. Again the trick was moving sheets of plywood up the stairs and re-moving the finished cabinets.
In 1950 I moved to Burbank to finish engineering school while working for a movie studio. Since I was not a member of Local 40 which built scenery, I could not even hold a hammer on the studio lot. My apartment was not far from the studio. To build cabinets I rented a 20' x 25' corner of an industrial building in Burbank. It had a large roll-up door and lots of power. My landlord used the rest of the building so he could sign for lumber and plywood deliveries. There my only fixed machines were a 14" Davis & Wells cabinet saw, a 12" jointer, a 20" thickness planer, a drill press and a 14" D&W bandsaw, plus a bunch of hand electric tools. I made a bunch of custom cabinets in that shop. While I was on active duty in the USMC my landlord did not charge me rent for the smaller space where all my equipment was stored from January 1955 to February 1959.
Back in civilian life, I got married to Jean. At first we lived in a house I owned in Pasadena which had a 2 car garage. Instead of setting it up as a shop, I went partners with my father and father-in-law to buy a building about 5 minutes away already set up as a machine shop. On the same property there was a separate 25' x 50' building. I moved my woodworking equipment there. We had machinists working on three shifts, and during the day there was an office manager to sign for deliveries. Both buildings had large roller doors and we shared a 6,000 pound Yale forklift.
Both my Dad and FIL died in 1966. I inherited their interest in the buildings and machine shop. I moved the machine shop to Van Nuys, CA to take advantage of very inexpensive former WWII era aircraft plant buildings. I bought a 20,000 square foot industrial building in the eastern section of Pasadena which was my cabinet shop for 30 years. The Yale forklift went with the machine shop. I bought a 4,000 pound electric Yale fork lift for the cabinet shop. It already had 480v 3ph power and a big door. I added a dust collection system. Over the years I also added more fixed machines.
But in 1996 my duties at the studio no longer gave me the spare time to run my side-line, but profitable, cabinet business, I sold everything except the land and building to my employees. For the next 10 years if I wanted to build anything I borrowed or rented shop space from friends. Jean had dies in 1989 and I no longer lived in Pasadena. I had bought a 4,000 square foot condo in 1993 just south of Hollywood. It is one storey up from street level, with a small elevator on the other end of the building and a tall flight of stairs near my condo.
There my first work space was originally a bedroom, 16 x 21 feet, but I lined opposing walls with 3' deep industrial shelves, leaving me a space 10' x 18'. Unfortunately there is no good entry to that room, so the largest sheet of plywood which will fit is 4' x 7'
Once I embraced Festool and really became hooked on the green beverage in January 2006, I expanded my condo activities to include the spare living room. It has one column 12' from one wall x 26' with an adjoining section 8' x 11' The door is only 40" wide, but a straight shot for 4 x 8' sheets. I had a local welder build me a 4 x 8 sheet stock cart with 12" casters. Even loaded with 20 sheets of 19mm plywood, I can move it by myself. I use wedges to lift the top sheet, slide a sheet of 1/4" Luan under that and the long Festool screw clamps to start the sheet breakdown until the parts are small enough to be moved into the other room which has a 4' x 80" assembly/cutting table, along with a second CT22, a drill press, a small Inca table saw and a miter saw (since replaced by a Kapex).
Here every lumber yard has a bunch of willing and talented people outside the fence looking for work. When I would buy a half lift of plywood, the dealer's truck would take it to by condo. I would lead the way in my car with a day-hire to do the carrying up the stairs.
After I retired in 2007 my cabinet business expanded. I rented space from other shops, sometimes from 3 at once, requiring me to buy more CT22s and TS55s. By late 2009 I had selected a group of 6 excellent cabinet makers, all frustrated from working in shops so small work would have to stop to move things around for the next task. We met a couple of times a week deciding on the big machines we wanted, as well as the work flow. Once we agreed on a floor plan, I gave the specifications to a trusted industrial real estate broker. We all wanted a lot running from one street to another, so trucks did not need to turn around on our land. Our plan required a building at least 66' wide x 270' long, all clear span. We ended office/show room space the width of the building about 30' deep. By January 2010 such a building was located and a deal set. It had been built in 1950 as a warehouse, so while it was the right size, even with a 20' wide door, it did not have industrial 480v 3ph power. And, the restrooms did not meet the ADA or current plumbing code.
Fortunately my industrial plumbing contractor is the brother of my local Festool dealer and one of their brothers-in-law is my industrial electrical contractor. When escrow closed we had all the necessary permits. The new transformers and pole were on order. Demol and build-out of the remodel only took 90 days, by which time all the internal wiring was done. It took almost that long for our electrical switch gear to be built, so we could start installing the big machines. Oh, yes, while construction was on-going, Toyota loaned me a 6,000 propane fork lift. As soon as we had the 480 v 3ph power to run the charger, Toyota delivered our 4,000 pound 3-wheel electric fork lift.
Early this year the 16,000 square foot building across the common parking lot was offered for sale. I bought that as storage space for plywood and lumber. Escrow has closed and our permit to install a 20' wide door was recently approved. That door assembly is under construction. It should be very convenient.
However, this much space is beyond necessary for custom shops with fewer workers. All of us have made money in space smaller than a 2 car garage. Having enough space we do not collide reduces frustration.
