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I worked out of a 20x20 shop for about 8 years before I moved into my current shop. The 20x20 was way too small but I was still able to be productive. My current shop is 28'x 40' which is just about perfect for my purposes. Anything bigger and I would be doing a lot of walking between machines. I do have a separate attached area where I have my wood stored and a spray booth. If I was storing wood and finishing in my shop it would need to be bigger. All of this space is dedicated to woodworking. My house has a three bay garage where any greasy work gets done. The grease and metal shavings stay far away from my wood and wood tools.
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You know, if you made it 50 x 50 with bed and bath, you could just move into it and not have to walk from the house back and forth all the time. Heh Heh.
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I have a 25' X 25' separate garage already. But it is full of lawn equipment, grills, a generator, you name it. If all that stuff was in a separate building, and I had HVAC & power to my garage, it would be plenty big enough for a really nice shop.
But the only way that's going to happen is if I win the lottery and have a steel building put up for my shop.
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I have a 25' x 30' shop and am planning on building a 6'x12' lumber storage shed on the back this fall. The size really depends on the tools you have/want to have. When I designed my shop, I never dreamed I'd have 2 Bandsaws, 2 lathes, a 12" jointer and take up wood hoarding. I also wish I had a separate room for finishing.
If we ever move, I've designed my dream shop/2nd garage. It's 26' x 64' and is split into a shop with large 1/2 bath/finishing room and a 2 car garage used for my truck, lumber storage and the DC. Hey, it's fun to dream.
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(09-06-2016, 04:36 PM)daddo Wrote: You know, if you made it 50 x 50 with bed and bath, you could just move into it and not have to walk from the house back and forth all the time. Heh Heh.
It has occurred to me. to buy a class A RV and park it in a small building, large enough to live in. Meaning a wood shop with a RV inside it.
Ag
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I have a smaller shop, 16x23. I would like bigger but truth is the smaller shop forces me to keep it clean....umm....cleaner.
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Ray Newman said most of the thoughts in my mind.
It will also depend upon whether you are making bedroom sets, or carving knick-knacks, or anything in between.
I read a while ago, about 800-900 sq ft was about right as a compromise between having enough room and spending a lot of time walking back and forth. I have a friend with a 5000 sq ft shop. Lots of open space. He spends a lot of time at one bench. Also spends a lot of time moving stuff from the table sawS area to other workstations. And he does not a/c it, and in winter, it's about 55 degrees in there, dangerously close to chalk temperature of glues.
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36X48 and sometimes I wish it were bigger.....................
It all depends on what kind of projects you're working on.
With tools, compressor, etc. I see a car project taking up an entire 1 1/2 car garage.
I think you need two shops.
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09-07-2016, 10:03 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-07-2016, 10:04 AM by Kudzu.)
Quote:Where is your door and where would you prefer it to be?
If you are going to work on cars, I would put the door all the way to one end. Mine is sort of in the middle, splitting the shop and with large boat projects or cars I am am ALWAYS walking around them. Over and over, all day long.
I have found how much a boat is used is inversely related to how much it weighs.
Kudzu Craft Lightweight kayaks
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09-07-2016, 10:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-07-2016, 11:03 AM by Ray Newman.)
BloomingtonMike was dead-nuts-on about checking into zoning regulations.
Woodshop also had a good idea about making a drawing of what you would like. When I had my shop constructed, I did that for machine placement. I drew the design utilizing a large scale on a very large sheet of paper and included locations of doors, windows, utility service, etc. Also made machine cut outs of the various machine footprints to have a better understanding of space requirements. The larger the scale and the drawing the easier it will be for you to "see" the building and its contents.
If you are considering a separate electric meter to the shop, check with the local utility. In some areas a separate meter from the residence will have a higher utility and tax rate higher rate as the ta assessor and the utility company will consider it a business, not a hobby shop.
Also if you contemplate a bathroom, check into how the tax assessor will assess the building.
Something else -- when inquiring about zoning and tax issues, permits, etc., it is best to go to local utility company, county/municipal department, as contractors and realtors often times are not the best source as they are in the business of selling property and staying employed by building.
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