My shop is located in the lower level of my home. Three years ago we relocated to this home and one of the requirements was to have a dedicated space for a workshop area other than having to share with the car and lawn mower and be able to work in the winter months.

The space is made up up two areas that are separated by double doors. The combined space is 730 square feet. There are double doors that open to the outside for bringing in materials and machinery.

My heavy tools are located in the larger shop area and the other area is used for assembly and finishing. I have all of my tools installed on mobile bases so they can be rolled quickly to where they are needed. I use a Jet roll-around dust collector plus a JDS air filtration unit to reduce dust from getting into the living area. A feature that I never had in my shops until this one is a large utility sink that makes clean-up easier after those finishing projects. When possible, I try to use water base finishes.

My tool storage is in drawers and tool boxes located around the shop area. Storage for clamps is on a Rockler roll-around clamp rack. The Rocker clamp rack has several shelves that I used to store my glue and other items needed when doing a glue-up and has worked much better than a fixed wall-mounted rack. I have reorganized my work areas several times but the current setup works great.

My shop is a work in progress. I enjoy taking a concept drawing for a client and turning it into reality. I also enjoy remaking/duplicating antiques and fixing broken furniture. I use my shop to build custom cabinetry and kitchen cabinets for clients as well.

Currently, I am opening up my shop as a millwork shop for people who need material planed, cut to size or projects glued up & overall general help building projects. To see some of my work please check out my website: johnwhitedesign.com

I have a 24 year background in construction and the last 13 years as a commercial construction superintendent. I have been building furniture and cabinets for the last 12 years and teaching myself new techniques to improve my skills with every project. I have been laid off since last Sept. and haven’t had much luck finding another superintendent position, so I’ve been trying to make a start at my own woodworking business.

The shop is a 26ft. x 40ft. pole building that I built in 2005. I framed in the walls to insulate and drywall. I also decided to frame and sheet the floor instead of concrete. It has a 200 amp independant service. It’s location is about 100′ from my back door. Equipment is as follows. 5hp Delta unisaw, 15″ Delta planer, 14″ Powermatic bandsaw, 18″ 3hp Jet bandsaw, 36″ vintage Crescent bandsaw, Powermatic 719T mortiser, Delta 8″ jointer, Performax 2244 drum sander, Jet 6″x108″ edge sander, Shopfox spindle sander, Delta 6×48 belt/disc sander, Delta/Rockwell 24″ scroll saw, Delta 12×36 wood lathe and too many hand tools to list.

My basement shop is a little more than 1,500 sq. ft. including a dust collection room and bathroom. There is a large laundry sink in the bathroom. I also have a 240 sq. ft. finishing room at the rear of the garage. The finishing room and basement workshop are connected by double doors and a 6′ wide stairway. This is great for bringing materials in and taking projects out. The finishing room is also used to store a 5′ x 10′ trailer for getting materials. There is also a traditional stairway from the shop to the living area of the house.

Some of the unique features of the shop include six 3′ x 5′ daylight windows and a 9′ foot ceiling. The shop has color correcting fluorescent lights like those used in paint shops. A dedicated electrical panel provides power to the 110V and 220V outlets that are spaced about every 3′ and 50″ off the floor. The shop stays about 60 to 70 degrees year around. Anti-fatigue mats cover the floor. The ceiling and walls have two layers of drywall with sound resilient channel between the layers. There is blown cellulous insulation in the walls and ceiling. The dust collection room has additional sound proofing and also houses the air compressor. All this creates a good sound barrier to the living area of the house above. The shop has a 37″ flat screen TV connected to a stereo. The sound can be transmitted via a long range FM transmitter so that I can listen to music or TV thru my headphones even with equipment running.

My primary equipment includes a Steel City 3HP granite top cabinet table saw, Festool Kapex miter saw, Grizzly 2HP 17î bandsaw, Dewalt 20″ scroll saw, Grizzly 3HP oscillating edge sander, Grizzly floor standing oscillating spindle sander, Grizzly 12″ baby drum sander, 5HP 38″ Woodmaster drum sander, Delta bench top disc sander, Delta 17″ drill press, Jet 2HP full size lathe, 3HP router table, Grizzly 3HP 15″ spiral head planer, and a Grizzly 3HP 8″ spiral head jointer. A collection of Festool power tools compliments the stationary tools. There is a 4′ x 8′ vacuum press for veneering. The dust collection and air filtration for the shop is an Oneida 5HP cyclone dust collector and two Jet overhead air cleaners.

The work tables include a 20″ x 40″ sanding table, 4′ x 8′ worktable with a shelf underneath for storing the current project, a 38 x 76 traditional hardwood workbench with more project storage underneath, a miter saw station with two 8′ wings and ruled stops for quick and repeatable cuts, 7′ x 4′ table saw out feed table with offcut storage underneath, two 48î x 26î rolling cabinets, and 3 Festool multifunction tables. The Festool MFTs are the most used work surfaces in the shop. In all there are 55 shop made drawers plus a few cabinets for storing hand tools and supplies. A couple of long shelves are used for storing veneer. The clamp rack holds over a hundred clamps of varying sizes. The 4′ x 8′ lumber rack holds stick lumber, sheet goods and two large rolls of waxed and unwaxed paper.

My shop is 21 x 27 with a stairwell out of it to a one bedroom apartment above which I have converted to my office. I started turning the garage into a woodshop about a year and a half ago. When I started, it had one plug-in and two light bulbs. I have replaced both doors with insulated doors, replaced the old fuse box with a breaker box and wired it both for 110 and 220. I added a Jet 1 ½ hp dust collector and ran pipe to most of my machines. I have a utility sink that I need to plumb in so I don’t have to run upstairs all the time. The furnace and AC for my office is in the garage so it never gets too hot or too cold and when I need it, I have a vent that I can open in the garage. I am still working on tool and wood storage and some shop furniture. I have a bathroom and kitchen upstairs in my office and I am thinking about making the bedroom a finishing room for things small enough to get up there.

My tools include a Delta Unisaw, Delta drill press, Delta band saw with a Kreg fence, a Powermatic hollow chisel mortiser, a Powermatic 15? planer, a Delta DJ20 8? jointer, a Jet slow speed wet sharpener, a Dewalt compound miter saw, an 8? bench grinder with a wolverine jig, an Earlex 5000 series HVLP spray station. We are getting there but we still have a long way to go.

My shop is small, so I use all available space as efficiently as possible, especially wall space.  I have plenty of storage for the small hardware that usually sits on the table in the way.  I use the empty space under tables and benches and also under my table saw out feed table.  The shop is 20′ x 24′ and I have all the room I need, but it took me a year to get it there.  I also have a garage door for getting stuff in and out.  As you will notice in the pictures, there isn’t ANY wall space (at floor level) that is not used.  I still have plenty of room to move around.  I have an open area which is about 10′ x 15′ and when I want to use a piece of equipment, I roll it out there, use it and then roll it back, that way it doesn’t sit out in the middle of the floor for me to walk around, trip over or use for a table to store things on like Marc does.  Gotcha Marc!!

And did ya notice the boards on the table? Those are for my new torsion box I’m making!! Thanks to Marc!! I made the out feed table myself.  It is two sets of rollers and it really works great. It took several changes in layout and a year working at it, but I think I got it now. Also, if you notice, I even have my roll around tool boxes in the shop! The layout table will be real nice when it’s done. I like things nice and neat and clean. I sweep the shop every time I use it, which makes for a better attitude. My shop is also heated and air conditioned and I have hot and cold water and soon it will have cable tv and telephone. Guess where I go when the wife’s mad? Thanks for looking at my shop and I hope you enjoyed it!

This shop is in a one car garage set off from the main 2 car garage. I added a door between the two to keep dust (and heat) contained in the shop portion. This is what it looks like between major projects, after all of the flat surfaces have been cleared of the tools, sandpaper, wood scraps, finish containers and all the miscellaneous stuff that accumulates during a project.

The equipment has been acquired over many years, some items are replacements of early items (Craftsman Hybrid table saw to replace original Ryobi, Dewalt planer to replace original Delta) and some have been in the shop quite a while (Delta drill press and small jointer). The dust collection system was upgraded a couple years ago and really creates a much more pleasant (and safer) work environment, it goes to all major tools and can connect to the random orbit sander as well.

Over the past couple of years I built new cabinet bases for many of the tools, trying to find logical groupings of tools to share a base (drill press/jointer, planer/miter saw) and all on wheels so they can be tucked away when not needed. The large white built-in cabinets hold finishing supplies, hardware, hand tools (jig saw, biscuit cutter, drills etc).

The main limit of the shop size is dealing with larger stock – ripping an 8 foot board is a bit of a challenge requiring moving the table saw and working with full plywood panels requires rough cuts with a circular saw to get down to sizes the can be managed on the table saw without a large in or out feed surface. But I am not complaining – I know I am fortunate to have this much space to work with, less than some, but more than most.

Hi Marc, I figured this would be a good time to photograph my shop and send to you since I did a much needed pre-spring spring cleaning.

My workshop is located near Grand Rapids Michigan. It is about 25×25 and was divided in half with a wall which I tore out and installed a large beam to hold the garage up. In the center of the shop is a 10″ Jet contractor table saw with shop built extension wing and out feed table/work table.

Along the south wall is my 14″ Delta band saw, 6″ Jet Jointer, 12-1/2 Delta planer where I store my Delta scroll saw and have a over head lumber rack and keep sheets of plywood against the wall. Along the west wall is where my Delta 10″ compound miter saw lives, Porter Cable 15 gallon air compressor, Delta drill press and where I store clamps on the wall and various jigs. On the north wall is where all my power tools and hand tool are stored. This is the first time I’ve seen my bench top in about a year… lol. Along the east wall is where I store various items, garage heaters and projects in waiting and where my router table is located. Well I hope you enjoyed my shop tour!

Well, I have finished my shop (are you ever really finished?), and I thought I would share with all. We bought a small piece of land and I tell family and friends that we built a shop with a house attached. The stand alone shop is close and connected but no dust in the house. It is 24 by 28, I wish I had made it bigger. I have been heavily influenced by your advice and I have used a lot of Norm’s ideas in the outfitting of the shop. You can see his stuff in the pictures. It has heat and air so I can work year round. The roof is quite high so I can add an upper loft later. The walls are lined with CDX so I can screw and nail to the walls without looking for studs. The builders splashed paint on the walls while using the space for painting so they had to paint the CDX. I have pretty much all the tools I need. Not visible are the scroll saw and mortise.

The shop is now producing projects as you can see. I am using the roll around dust collector and some day may put in a cyclone but the high ceilings will make it difficult. I am pleased with it and I am thoroughly enjoying working in it.

Here are the companies we visited:

Leigh, Blum Tool Co., Ex-Factory, DeWalt, Powermatic, Delta, and Laguna.

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