# 10X12 shop



## MrElliott1982 (May 8, 2013)

Well, I fought the wife and (not) surprisingly the wife won. We have a 18X24 attached and converted garage at our house that we just use for storage, the wife NEVER goes in there so I think "great, I can clean and organize this place, set up a nice shop and start my woodworking hobby." Anyone who is married knows how this goes. Needless to say, instead of fighting about it I decide it is better to wire, insulate and work with what I have which is a small 10x12 storage building. Now I will need to be very picky about what tools I decide to buy and put in there. So far I have an old 8" craftsman table saw, a 10" CMS and a 6" jointer. I think my next purchases will be a drill press and a planer. I was wanting a full size drill press but now I am thinking a bench top and mount it and the planer to a nice flip cart to save space. Since I am just starting I do not know exactly what I even want to build yet, I know I DO NOT want to do wood turning so I don't have to worry about a lathe, so with this small space can you guys recommend any other tools I might need and try to squeeze in?


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## Tilaran (Dec 22, 2012)

Planers are a pain in the ascz and noisy as hell.I've got a 13". I'd rather have a root canal than drag it out of the tool room. Get a big hand held belt sander.As far as a drill press you won't have much bench space to begin with . Get a small one but a floor model so you can stuff it in a corner and drag it out as needed.Mount the table saw UNDER the work bench with a slot in it. It's all bench until you reach under and crank the blade up through or, again, drag it out from underneath the bench as needed.I find I spend very little time cutting and drilling and much more time sanding grinding, fine fitting assembling and finishing. I lay everything out, go from machine to machine, put everything away and start assembly.Many a fine piece of furniture was built pre-joiner and with hand planers. Go to Monticello some day and have a look.Even the rendered animal fat(pre Elmer) is holding tight.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Small shops can be a challenge but they are easier to heat or cool. I do have a couple of quick suggestions. First, I would get rid of the miter saw. I've got a 24 X 24 shop and I don't have room for a miter. A good table saw can do everything a miter saw can do and more. The only advantage to a miter saw is the portability. I did need one last summer for a renovation job (working outside the shop) so I borrowed one.

Second, build yourself a decent workbench. There are lots of them on this site. It doesn't have to be big and fancy, it can be simple and useful. A workbench needs to be flat and stable. My bench was a solid core door for the 1st 12 years until I covered it last year. If you already have a bench, build some other workshop fixture like the flip cart you mentioned. Building shop stuff is a good way to practice woodworking skills and if it's not perfect, it will still be functional. And don't throw out your wood scraps, use them to practice joinery. 

Last suggestion - after you've practiced some and you have a nice build for your shop, invite the wife into your shop and show her. Discuss the possibilities of house builds you could accomplish... with a bigger shop!


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## mengtian (Nov 8, 2012)

BernieL said:


> Small shops can be a challenge but they are easier to heat or cool. I do have a couple of quick suggestions. First, I would get rid of the miter saw. I've got a 24 X 24 shop and I don't have room for a miter. A good table saw can do everything a miter saw can do and more. The only advantage to a miter saw is the portability. I did need one last summer for a renovation job (working outside the shop) so I borrowed one.
> 
> Second, build yourself a decent workbench. There are lots of them on this site. It doesn't have to be big and fancy, it can be simple and useful. A workbench needs to be flat and stable. My bench was a solid core door for the 1st 12 years until I covered it last year. If you already have a bench, build some other workshop fixture like the flip cart you mentioned. Building shop stuff is a good way to practice woodworking skills and if it's not perfect, it will still be functional. And don't throw out your wood scraps, use them to practice joinery.
> 
> Last suggestion - after you've practiced some and you have a nice build for your shop, invite the wife into your shop and show her. Discuss the possibilities of house builds you could accomplish... with a bigger shop!


I disagree about the miter saw. Depending what you do and what size saw you have it is a very good addition to the shop. A 10 inch miter saw has a pretty small footprint whereas a 12 inch slider has a much larger one.

If I am cutting dimensional lumber frequently the miter is the way to go.

It all depends on what the OP plans on doing. Plus, a small miter saw is easily storable until needed.

Anyhoo, what part of NH are you from? I just moved to TX for the Conway area last year. I miss the mountains and woods (we lived in the woods way off the beaten path) and the bears!


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## kkalin78 (Dec 20, 2012)

I have 10x14 workshop and have same challanges. I built oufeed table for my table saw to be a workbench as well. (not a heavy duty one but still good


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## Woodworkingkid (Jan 8, 2011)

My shop is 12X20 and a key is to have most tools on mobil bases. I have a full shop and its small but it works. If I were you I would blow a wall out and expand it.


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## MrElliott1982 (May 8, 2013)

Woodworkingkid said:


> My shop is 12X20 and a key is to have most tools on mobil bases. I have a full shop and its small but it works. If I were you I would blow a wall out and expand it.


Why didn't I think of that. For a few hundred dollars I could increase the square foot by quite a bit.


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## ctwiggs1 (Mar 30, 2011)

Look in the show us your shop thread and check out Kenbo's shop. Lots of good tricks to be seen there.


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## Paul W Gillespie (Jul 7, 2011)

I am still not clear on why the wife will not let you use the bigger garage if she never goes in there. I don't want to pry, but it might be worth trying to convince her it would be better to use the bigger space. Move the garage stored stuff into the smaller space. Promise to build her awesome things in the bigger space. Not saying you should argue with her, and not sure if you already gave it your best shot, but I would give it another go. I just blew out a wall and got rid of our unused home gym area to expand my small shop and I had about 12x20, shared with the laundry room area.

I guess I am lucky that my wife had let me do what I want with the basement and my woodworking hobby, within reason. I can't go out and blow big money on a new table saw or anything. When I was just starting to outfit my shop we were in Sears and I saw a nice hybrid table saw on clearance for $400. I asked her what she thought and she said if I wanted it and it would make me happy, go for it. That is how I got started. I probably spent about $2000+/- in the last two years outfitting my shop, mostly used stuff, and she has not complained. Again I am lucky.

Good luck.


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## EWerner (Oct 14, 2010)

My wife appreciates my wood working skills because building a dinning room table is way cheaper then buying and equivalent one. My shop space is small, one stall of a two stall garage but I make it work by having almost everything on a mobile base cabinet which I build. Shop cabinets can be really fun projects. I 2x the idea of expanding your shop space and it wouldn't be that expensive. Also hand tools for smaller projects plus you get lots of practice using them. Good luck and have fun.


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## pidaster (Feb 22, 2013)

Wait until she's gone for a weekend and move all the storage stuff to the storage shed. Move your tools into the garage. It's not like she's going to move it all back.


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## snookfish (Jan 10, 2011)

My wife complained about the sawdust in the garage so she "made" me buy a shop vac. After that I made her a few small things and a shoe rack. Now she doesn't mind so much. Butter up the wife with a nice box and something like a shoe rack and I bet you can sweet talk her into the larger area.
I have the majority of our 2 car garage but find that putting everything on wheels except my workbench has helped me with the space issue. It's easy to move things around for the extra space.
As far as the drill press, I bought a used one for cheap and I'm glad I did because I'm finding too many limitations with the bench top model. Go for the floor model if possible or at least the biggest bench top model you can get. I'm looking to upgrade the one I have. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Tilaran said:


> Planers are a pain in the ascz and noisy as hell.I've got a 13". I'd rather have a root canal than drag it out of the tool room. Get a big hand held belt sander.


What? How are those a substitute for each other???? My planer is my second favorite tool.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I used my table saw, planer, band saw, router and drill press today while working on three different projects. The jointer was used yesterday. I am making some cutting boards and bread serving trays, a thin rip jig for the table saw, and just starting a microwave stand. I need more room also even though most of my stuff is on wheels.


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## Stodg73 (Jul 10, 2012)

This is my 7x20 Office Trailer Shop.









12" Dewalt SCMS. I used the window to get the distance for the sliding mechanism. With this setup, I was able to cut 16' sticks of trim, I hat 12' on one side and 8' on the other.



















Under the Benchtop Shaper/Router is a 10" Ryobi Table Saw.










Bench top Drill Press, 4 x 36" Belt Sander.


















Parts Cabinet. Storage Cabinet.

I used the table saw as a bench for the planer. I used c-clamps to hard mount all the mobile tools to the bench when I was using them, so that I could keep the benches clear. Make sure to have lots of pegboard or any other type of hanging material to put up for storage.

When designing this shop, it took about 3 weeks to figure out where to hard mount the SCMS and put the table saw.

Hope this helps.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Very impressive set up Stodg. We sometimes forget how lucky we are having our shops. I saw a shop on a front porch and the railing served as a workbench. Some shops consist of a closet packed to the gill and tools are taken outside during good weather. Your set up is impressive and you obviously know how to think outside the box to have made shop work with open windows. 

I also like to think outside the box and maybe I can help you out just a bit be suggesting how you might swap out tools a bit easier. Check out my workbench set up and see if you can incorporate some t-tracks http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/versatile-small-shop-work-bench-unique-40361/


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

I have a very small (8x10) shed that is really for storage, but if the weather is bad, I can clear just enough room to stand and use my bandsaw and my drill press. Anything else has to wait for better weather.  Get a bandsaw! I use mine on almost every WW project.


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