smart layout for very small shop?

I think I own bath towels that are bigger than your workshop.

--Keep everything small, light and on casters. IIRC J. Baldwin of Whole Earth Review fame used to have a workshop built into a van. ISTR he wrote either some articles or a book about it. There are also a couple of books that you can get on small shop layout and design; although they're primarily aimed at woodworkers you'll find a *lot* of applicable ideas in them. Getcher self a copy of Fine Woodworking magazine or head over to the local Woodcraft store if there's one in your area and you'll find them.

This is slightly smaller than my shop at work, and somewhat larger than the tiny shop I set up while living in an apartment.

The apartment shop was fit into a narrow, deep closet and had a purpose-built bench, a medium sized vise, and a small bench lathe.

The larger shop at work has a drill press, storage cabinet, floor lathe (hardinge hlvh) and a large, sturdy bench with a large vise. There is also a grinder on the storage cabinet top, and a small wash-up sink.

For really small shops, inches count. Your best bet might be to make a built-in workbench with storage included. Also consider that you simply cannot fit everything in there that you need - my shop at work simply will not allow a bridgeport.

As far as the grinder, I made a trap box to keep abrasive stuff from getting into the other machines. But in any event, make a scale drawing with paper dolls and move them around til you find a layout that you like.

Jim

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Don't in any case allow the grinding/sanding gear to be in proximity to other machine tools. Nothing can keep them clean enough of grit and swarf to prevent scoring the ways. In short, you're way under-spaced and really need a lot more shop room, and that divided along the functional lines above.

Regards, Hoyt McKagen

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Can you mount everything on castors and roll it outside to work? All my machines (including a bl**dy heavy 24" thickness planer) are mounted on castors so I can roll them into the middle of the shop to take long stock. How high is everything - don't forget the storage space above your head with drop down boxes, etc Geoff

A friend of mine has a very small workshop that, in my opinion, has a quite ingenious layout. Basically, apart from the lathe and milling m/c, it consists of work benches all round the walls. The benches are made of kitchen worktops but, instead of having normal cupboards and draws undernieth, has purpose made storage boxes on casters. The advantage is that heavy and/or bulky items can be stored and retrieved more easily. He has, for instance, all his brazing equipment and hearth in one box that is simply wheeled out when required. Above the worktops are wall cabinets that contain smaller and lighter equipment. Every box and cabinet is identified by a letter, and the sub-compartments by numbers. When an item is first stored, its address (letter and number) is recorded and its then a simple matter to find items that are not often used. I hope this helps...

-- Regards, Gary Wooding

Drawers are very efficient users of floor and wall space. You can use every cubic inch of space between the floor and ceiling with drawers. Hanging stuff on the wall is the worst user of floor and wall space. Bob