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A Workshop In Your Home is a Valuable
Ideas for workshop includes tools, storage and organization and design possibilities.
Here you will find easy step by step instructions to construct your own woodworking workshop.
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Rating: 3 This is one of our easy home improvement projects.
1 = Easy ...............10 = Complex
My workshop is located in the basement of my home. I built it here because I had the room and I didn't have room anywhere else. Advantages include year round comfortable working temperatures and electricity is nearby. Disadvantages include being careful not to build something too big to fit out the doors leading from the shop and the basement. Overall, though, this location works very well and I would encourage you to build your workshop in the basement as well.
As you can see from the picture, space is at a premium and it continues to be truer each week as new equipment, tools and supplies move in. Another important aspect to a workshop is the abundance of work areas. You can't have too many countertops (of any size) and the addition of shelves will help you keep these countertops clear of stuff. Additionally, good lighting is a must. This will eliminate most shadows, however, some may still happen.
Storage Ideas
This picture shows some of the storage ideas I have incorporated into my shop. You can see a shelf that holds
pieces of wood but allows what is there to be seen. If I stacked them the other way, I probably could not
really not see what pieces I actually had. Another part of the picture shows drawer storage. Drawers are
quite handy as they open when needed and then push back out of the way when finished. Here you can see the
different blades for saws that take up little space as they hang on the wall. This way I can sort them by size or
sharpness. A pegboard paneling is nice but it is not necessary. I used a relatively cheap paneling and simply
anchored shelves etc into the studs which are located every 16".
Notice throughout the shop, I have attempted to make use of every square (or cubic) inch of space. It's nice to have
the waste can slide in under the countertop. This allows for increased floor space which soon becomes a premium.
I have several drills both battery powered and electric. I built the little angled stand to hold these items and
their cords. Otherwise they are hard to store and the cords are constantly falling down on the workspace below.
Some tools need to be movable. The planer is one of these tools. I set it in the middle of the shop on a table
when I need to use it. This allows me to send long boards through it and not hit a wall.
This is a picture of my workshop which shows multiple shelves in the background, a small storage cabinet and a
table saw. The table saw is one of the first tools used in nearly all wood projects. It seems I constantly
am required to rip to size the boards needed to build something. This tools is definitely one that must be
kept in the middle of the room to be used. Think about it. If a 4 x 8 piece of plywood is to be ripped, then I need
to be able to lay it flat on the saw, pull it back so it can start going through the blade, walk around the piece
of plywood and continue the ripping without having the plywood jump out off the saw. This takes some room.
Obviously, the entire length of the 8 foot plywood must pass the blade so this means you must have at least 8
feet of length in the room after the blade. You can see part of the table the plywood slides on after it passes
through the table saw. This table works best if it is the same height as the table saw.
Here you can easily see the drill storage area as well as cubby holes for saws and other electric handtools.
Another handy thing to have in your shop is a cabinet or better yet, several of them. These can be used wall
cabinets or ones that are extremely marked down in price at a big box store. The advantage of cabinets is that much of
the accumulated dust you will make basically stays out of these so you can store supplies that you don't want
to get dusty in them.
Whether or not to store your tools in their respective cases is up to you. Sure it is nice to know where all
parts of a certain tool are, but it is also a pain sometimes to stop and unpack all that is needed just to use
that stored tool. Sometimes you'll be setting it all up for just one short and quick cut. Then packing it all
up again. Seems like a waste of time usually.
Tool Ideas
A bandsaw is shown in this picture. This tool come in handy if you need to curves or patterns. It is not as necessary as a jig saw which will do the same thing for less money and a jigsaw will take up alot less space.
A chop saw or better yet, a compound-mitre chop saw is probably the most used tool in my workshop. I use it
to cut every board be it a straight-cut or a mitre cut such as 45 degrees. The difference between a regular chop saw
and a compound-mitre saw is that you can make a two-angle cut such as that required when installing crown mould.
The saw pictured here is a Makita 10" sliding compound mitre saw.
A drill press is a nice luxury for your shop. It is not a tool that is necessary when you are setting up a new workshop. A simple electric drill will allow you to accomplish the same thing.
The electric grinder shown in this picture will be used a lot more than you think. It is invaluable when you need to grind a piece of metal, shorten a screw, sharpen a lawnmower blade or other unimaginable things. I suggest anchoring it down to the countertop for secure operation and precise grinding as needed.
Ahhhh...the electric planer. What a tool! This little gem is another luxury. It will take any rough board and instantly transform it into a perfectly smooth piece ready to stain and seal. This is assuming the blades are sharp and have not hit a nail. This model accepts boards up to 12" wide and will remove about 3/16" slice of wood per pass.
In this picture you see a radial arm saw. This is a tool that can be very handy to have in your shop. It does many different types of cutting and can rip boards as well. It is also used to make dadoes in wood pieces when needed.
A tablesaw is a very important tool. It is usually the first tool used each time I make something.
This is a router table. It is homemade and handy to have but not necessary.
A simple anchored vise is soooooo handy. I recommend one for sure.
Portable Work Surface
A simple work table is absolutely necessary for most projects. This one doubles as a board holder for the table saw too.
Lighting
This picture attempts to show adequate lighting in my shop. I suggest using 8 foot long florescent lamps. Each of the ones I use hold two 96" florescent bulbs. I have two strips of continuous lights installed in my 18 x 16 foot workshop. You can always add another or even a shorter one in specific spots if need be.
Tips on Lighting
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