Amen Brother Walter.

Go vertical if at all possible.  Build the highest ceiling you can get away
with.  Shelves up high for wood storage and other stuff not used often.
Benches with lots of drawers underneath.  Everything on casters.  If you get
clever, you can "nest" machines (if you have some, which I know a lot of
Galoots do) by tucking a shorter one under the outfeed table or fence rails
of another, etc.

Workbench, lathe, drill press, desk - should pretty much fill up that shed.
As long as you can work with the doors open, you probably can make it work.
Put the bench on wheels, best if there is some way to retract them, and roll
it out of doors for use.

Just remember the mantra - when floor space is limited, go vertical.  Tall
sets of shelves, tall racks, etc.  Make maximum use of available wall space
and ceiling; store stuff under and inside benches.

Did I mention I'm a pack rat?

- Bill T.
- With a 16 x 24 shop that ain't enough square footage.

-----Original Message-----
From: oldtools-bounces@r...
[mailto:oldtools-bounces@r...] On Behalf Of walter cheever
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 7:00 PM
To: Roger Books
Cc: old tools
Subject: [OldTools] Re: intro & shop question

Roger,

I am blessed by having a 12' x 24' shop.  But from my experience...

Have everything against the walls, and on casters.   That way what is used
can be in the center of the space, and the rest of the stuff pushed out of
the way.

Even my bench at 300+# is on 6 3" castors, and it takes more than planing a
board to move it.  (Grab with both hands and swing the body).

You need a wall of storage shelves.  I found the space above 7' on the wall
doesn't get much use, so I put shelves there too.  The biggest problem is
where to put stuff.  (I also use the rafters of my steel shed)

You need some place dedicated to storing wood.  Big pieces and leftovers.
The advantage of having a decicated space for small stuff, is that when it
gets full, you have to make some decisions about pitch or not, instead of
just letting it slosh around in the way.

And finally, you need some sort of extra flat space, a temporary table,
plywood on sawhorses, etc, for putting stuff on "temprarily" that can be
moved out of the way when you need space for something else.

>From what I've read on the Porch, very few of us would say our shop was big

enough, and we didn't lust after a few dozen more square feet of space.

Walt C

Roger asked for advice ahd help....

My name Roger and I have a problem...:)



My problem is I don't have a shop. It looks like a multipurpose shop
in the backyard, a shed, will be it. It will need a workbench, a
lathe, a drlll press (for metal only) and a desk. Does this sound
like too much to put in a 10x14 shed? Any advice on small work area
is appreciated.

I'm in Tallahassee Florida. I'm considering AC for my shop but I'm
concerned the swings in humidity will make life difficult.

Thanks all

Roger

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