What is the ideal shop size?

[Gvax]

Hopefully attached is the floor plan and some pictures of my current shop. It originally started as a 22'x20' shop which was to small. The funny shaped addition was necessary due to the building pocket on my lot. In total it is now about 1000 square feet. The time has come now to relocate and so a new shop is in my future. What size is the ideal to build? Is square or rectangular better? Personally I think the 1000 square feet is a bit large (please don't revoke my man card for this statement). It's a hobby shop but it will most likely be where I retire in. Just looking for advice and opinions, as I want to get this one as correct as possible. Both my father and I use this one, but at 81 his days are getting limited. That's the reason there is two work benches in this shop.




Shop Floor Plan.pdfphoto (59).JPGphoto (61).JPGphoto (56).JPGphoto (57).JPGphoto (60).JPGphoto (55).JPGphoto (58).JPG

[Ajcoholic]

I doubt there is an "ideal" size.. for me, the more room I have the more machinery and tools I want to fill it... leading to wanting more room.

In terms of layout, having had previously a rectangular shop, and now a more or less square one, I like the square layout better.

AJC

[Mark in Burlington]

It all depends on what you build and how big your machines are. Make a list of the machines you would like to have one day, a bench area, finishing and wood storage and work backwards. My shop is long and fairly skinny it gives three rooms, storage machine and bench and finishing room.
Cheers, Mark

[Brian @ Muir]

I have never heard anyone complain of having a shop that was Too Big. Lots of people with shops too small. I would build it as big as possible taking into consideration of your financial situation.

Brian

[Tim in Milton]

+1 for Brian's comment. The key though is to keep your walking mileage down though so grouping of machines or tasks is just as important. Bit like the triangle in a kitchen between sink, fridge and stove.

Always make sure you leave enough room for actual construction. This is often overlooked on plans I see here and then suddenly the only place to put that table is on your saw which rather hampers its use when you realise you need to cut something. My shop is 26 x 35 and I probably use a third to a half of that for building space. It's not ideal but being on a hill there is no where to expand to.

[John-in-Abbotsford]

My shop is 22' x 23' my biggest complaint is I have no assembly space, and I've often thought that if I had an additional 10-12' in length it would be ideal for tool layout however I would still be needing that assembly area. so for me it would be 22' x 35' plus maybe another 10' of length to give ample assembly area so that brings it to 22' x 45' but I would still be very happy with a 22' x 35' space and don't forget about storing all that lumber, currently mine is in the attic of my shop.

John

[mikeddd]

Another vote here for build it as big as you can. My shop is 24' X 48' and I've never needed more space for my projects, I could probably get by loosing ten feet of length and still be happy with the space.

[Rob Brown]

I've always thought the amount of junk and wasted space is directly proportional to the amount of room you have. I work (professionally) in a 20 x 22 shop. At first it was too small, but if I have it clean and organized I rarely have problems.

[Peter Kelly]

Mine is 24 x 14 and it does feel a bit cramped, 200 or so additional square feet would be perfect. Forces me to be more disciplined about the space though.

Gets expensive to heat a larger shop in the winters.

[the_other_ken]

Don't forget about that third dimension, height. As someone with a 6' ceiling in the shop, I say make sure that your ceiling is at least 9-10'.

[Tim in Milton]

Don't forget about that third dimension, height. As someone with a 6' ceiling in the shop, I say make sure that your ceiling is at least 9-10'.

Good point.
Another thing to consider is what doors and windows you have. Lots of light is good but at the expense of wall space and machinery positions. Likewise if you have up and over garage doors, the tracks will protrude into your space. Jp helped me workout how to angle mine up so that they still function but now are considerably less in the way.

[Bart Leetch]

If your going to use standard framing keep it on 2' or 4' increments so you have less material wastage.

[Gvax]

Thanks for these bits of advice. The lots that we are looking at are all 1/2 acre or a bit bigger so I can go quite large. I think I will go 32 x 32 or maybe 32 x 30 at the smallest. As you can see I've got most of the machines. I will put the dust collection piping under slab to keep the upper space free and looking better. This shop has in floor heating so I will go with that again. Just the standard 9ish feet high ceiling is good enough for me. I do need to clean up this shop a bit, and teach my father how to use my planes. Then he will sand less and create less dust. I will also partition a small finishing area off and partition the dust collector off also. I have one of the Clear View Cyclones and when it's going it is way too loud. You'd think you're at the Indy in the pits. Square will be better than this layout and will be a treat to set up. I guess I should learn from my first one and just build it bigger than I think I need. It's always easy to fill the excess space with more wood!!!

[Brian @ Muir]

I have a Kraemer 5 hp DC that I have connected to a cyclone. Prior to having the piping in place when turned on it sounded like a jumbo jet was about to take off and I was having second thoughts about using it. Hooked it up and with all the ducting it is a lot quieter than my old 2 hp model. I offer this in case you have not hooked up the ducting.

Good luck with your journey.

Brian

[Owen]

Mine is 24 x 14 and it does feel a bit cramped, 200 or so additional square feet would be perfect. Forces me to be more disciplined about the space though.

Gets expensive to heat a larger shop in the winters.

I agree with what Peter Kelly said. Heating in these parts of the woods is my major consideration.