# Small Shop Showoff!



## MrSamNC (Sep 24, 2012)

Lets see those small shops! Be proud of them, it's not all about size, mind you!  Anything smaller than a two car garage (20x20) is game.

My shop is a self-built 12x16 shed with 8' walls, 3' loft, and metal roofing. Right now, it's doing double duty as a woodworking shop and a general storage shed. Hopefully that will change soon.

I want to add a storage loft, perhaps on each end, insulate it ASAP and probably get rid of the huge rolling lumber rack for a wall mounted option. I need every inch of space I can get! I also want a better option for the drill press and band saw.

Thanks!
Sam


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## Boomhower (Jul 11, 2012)

Looks great :thumbsup: I like how you used the Craftsman table saw stand for your drill press n band saw.


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## Stodg73 (Jul 10, 2012)

How about a 8 x 21 mobile office? Usable floorspace of 7 x 20.
































































I now have a considerably larger garage that I am turning into a shop. 13 x 37 main with 10 x 16 storage room.


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## newtrix (May 12, 2012)

*Small Shop In Progress First Wall*


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

I've posted pictures of my 14' x 14' shop before, but I've been working in it since, and now looks lived in.


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## MrSamNC (Sep 24, 2012)

Wow Wrangler, that's hands-down the most unique shop I've ever seen! It looks like a museum setup or something. I also like the treadle fret saw in the corner! :thumbsup:


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

MrSamNC said:


> Wow Wrangler, that's hands-down the most unique shop I've ever seen! It looks like a museum setup or something. I also like the treadle fret saw in the corner! :thumbsup:


Thanks! It all started by taking a class building split bamboo fly rods. The rod building shop was finished like a living space. Then, in planning to build a glucose powered shop, I read a book that talked about 16th and 17th century cabinet makers working in their houses. 

After, my bride of 40+ years, my son, four grand kids, and I built the place, this is how it turned out. It is a wonderful place to hang out, and keep me out of everyone's space since I don't have a job to go to.

The treadle scroll saw is an 1860’s New Rogers that was a shop warming present from a friend. 

Some day it will share space with a treadle lathe that I am planning to build.


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

Great idea for a thread Sam.

Nice shops guys.

Subscribed!


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## Phaedrus (Jan 18, 2012)

Wrangler said:


> I've posted pictures of my 14' x 14' shop before, but I've been working in it since, and now looks lived in.


Wow, That is amazing. I would love to work in a space like this. I'd have to have a different room for the big messy power tools, at least until I my hand tool skills improve.:thumbsup:


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

What a nice hand tool shop Wrangler. It does look like a good place to hang out!


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

Are there only four of us out here that have the pleasure of working in a small shop??


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

I have a small shop but it's a 2 car garage. I haven't measured it to see if its 20'x20' / 400 sq. ft. I don't know if I'm eligible to post it.


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

jharris2 said:


> I have a small shop but it's a 2 car garage. I haven't measured it to see if its 20'x20' / 400 sq. ft. I don't know if I'm eligible to post it.


I'm not the OP, so I don't make the rules. But I like looking at shop pictures!!


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## SLAC_Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

I broke up my two car into two shops. Metal working and woodworking. My woodworking shop is smallish at around 12 x 22. My shop is very dense with tools but I have plenty of bench space for hand tool work, and assembly. I consider myself a hybrid woodworker using both power and hand tools. I am fortunate enough to beable to dedicate my space just for woodwork so I don't have to share it with anything else. To help save space I have my dust collection and air compressor behind the house in an auxiliary shed. 

In my "small" shop I have

Cabinet Table saw with outfeed that doubles as router table
dedicated miter saw station
Woodworkig bench
18" Floor Drill Press
Counterspace and sink/running water
6" Joiner
15" Planer
18/36 Drum sander
17" Bandsaw
6/12 belt disc combo sander
Additional Festool dust collection for using the Festool power tools
Other amenities like mini fridge, stereo, and tv with streaming video

In these photos, the shop is kind of a mess. I try to keep it cleaner than this. The general rule of thumb is that everything has a place if it doesn't then it gets tossed or put in storage. One of the more helpful tips for working in a small shop that can really apply to all shops regardless of size is to put away the tools when you are not using them, at the end of an operation, and especially at the end of the day. It's amazing how clean, uncluttered bench space can promote efficient workflow during a project.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*very complete and tidy!*

The island approach is a great idea to compress footprint in a small space. Nice storage ideas also.. Assuming that's the "wood" shop? What else Ya got on the other side? :blink:


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## SLAC_Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

woodnthings said:


> The island approach is a great idea to compress footprint in a small space. Nice storage ideas also.. Assuming that's the "wood" shop? What else Ya got on the other side? :blink:


The other side.....I used to have a small business designing and manufacturing aftermarket assemblies for 1/5 scale RC's cars. I would do all the design, development, prototyping then farm out for production. As a result I ended up with a small machine/fab shop. I still kept the equipment but had to cram it into a 10 x 17 space. 

On this side of the shop I have

Bridgeport Mill
Lathe
CNC Mill
36x48 granite plate
Floor Standing Drill Press
Taping machine
TIG and MIG welder
Various metal working tools

Even though I don't have my business anymore, I still do oddball machine jobs for work and fun. Lately I have been using the CNC for machining router templates. On my latest project I used the CNC to cut out parts for a wooden clock that I made from scratch. In the near future I would like to get into making more woodworking tools.

Here is a link to the video of the wooden clock











Here are some example of tools that I have made/have produced

carvers mallet









Radius template









Driver Kit for Festool tools









24mm wheel wrench with bottle opener


















Sorry for the tangent, here are my shop photos


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## against_the_grain (Aug 15, 2010)

*Little Shed Expansion*

Under construction. Please excuse the mess !

Currently in progress with a Phase I expansion of my little tool shed (10x7) Expanded new addition will take it to ~10x12. Working on getting the rafters cut at the moment. :furious: 
One of those skills that unless you do it often enough it can become a test of patience . If you know what I mean.

Anyway, snow and cold is right around the corner but i have a few days to get the roof over it. 

The floors I insulated with 2 inch rigid XPS. The walls and ceiling will probably use fiberglass. 

I will be taking the joists out and replacing with collar-ties to gain about 6 inches or so more headroom.

As soon as I get the roof on I will be tying this into the other shed(7x8) (Phase II) first pic below, thereby tripling my original space (from ~ 60sq. ft. to ~155 sq. ft.) and giving me some room to do some actual woodworking.


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## nmacdonald (Jan 13, 2012)

SLAC_Engineer said:


> I broke up my two car into two shops. Metal working and woodworking. My woodworking shop is smallish at around 12 x 22. My shop is very dense with tools but I have plenty of bench space for hand tool work, and assembly. I consider myself a hybrid woodworker using both power and hand tools. I am fortunate enough to beable to dedicate my space just for woodwork so I don't have to share it with anything else. To help save space I have my dust collection and air compressor behind the house in an auxiliary shed.
> 
> In my "small" shop I have
> 
> ...


I like your clamp storage. You never mentioned your lathe


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## MrSamNC (Sep 24, 2012)

jharris2 said:


> I have a small shop but it's a 2 car garage. I haven't measured it to see if its 20'x20' / 400 sq. ft. I don't know if I'm eligible to post it.


Eh, close enough!  I like seeing shops too--gives me ideas.


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## MrSamNC (Sep 24, 2012)

Well, I suppose we're it for the small shop owners.


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

Not so fast! The OP says I can play so I'll post asap.

I had just gotten over the plague when I travelled to Georgia and got reinfected on the plane.

I've spent the better part of the last two weeks in bed.

That'll teach me not to get my flue shot!

Will post asap.


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## Tilaran (Dec 22, 2012)

About 6 years ago when I was building this dump. Filled it up since then.


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## blaineo (Dec 29, 2012)

wowie....hmm...thinkin' I need to take some of my shop..hehe...lot's of things I've seen I could add to my shop to get stuff more accessible or off the floor. Hmm...very nice and good use of spaces guys!


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