How do people structure and layout their workspaces?
I do a variety of work, maybe metal for amplifier case or woodwork for speakers, also the usual home renovation, bicycle maintenance etc.
When I moved it all ended up in boxes, tolerably well sorted, like Hammers box, Saws box and so on, easy to find.
Time to unpack and layout the workshop, and "easy to find" may not be the best way to do it. For instance if I do a metal chassis I probably want a hacksaw and perhaps a soft face hammer or other metalwork tools conveniently co-located, while for speaker boxes I want the wood saw near the claw hammer and other wood tools, no use to have the wood saw next to the concrete saw.
But lots of tools are not material specific, drills for instance, or measurement tools.
One option is a kind of work flow layout with a materials input and preparation area (saws to cut to size etc), assembly area (spanners and screwdrivers etc), finish area (sanders, polishers, paint etc).
But not so suitable for ad hoc repairs and the like.
So, what do people find convenient and efficient?
Curious to have some fresh perspectives.
I have about 32 square metres at the moment but plan to at least double that.
I do a variety of work, maybe metal for amplifier case or woodwork for speakers, also the usual home renovation, bicycle maintenance etc.
When I moved it all ended up in boxes, tolerably well sorted, like Hammers box, Saws box and so on, easy to find.
Time to unpack and layout the workshop, and "easy to find" may not be the best way to do it. For instance if I do a metal chassis I probably want a hacksaw and perhaps a soft face hammer or other metalwork tools conveniently co-located, while for speaker boxes I want the wood saw near the claw hammer and other wood tools, no use to have the wood saw next to the concrete saw.
But lots of tools are not material specific, drills for instance, or measurement tools.
One option is a kind of work flow layout with a materials input and preparation area (saws to cut to size etc), assembly area (spanners and screwdrivers etc), finish area (sanders, polishers, paint etc).
But not so suitable for ad hoc repairs and the like.
So, what do people find convenient and efficient?
Curious to have some fresh perspectives.
I have about 32 square metres at the moment but plan to at least double that.
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You may be able to get number of large, clear plastic boxes to store your tools. Then buy or build shelfes that fit them in a way that the top is covered, so you prevent (wood) dust to cover everything. Heavy stuff near the floor, the less weight the higher up.
Tools you always need are best sorted on the wall.
I used such a system for years when I worked on different projects and locations. When you have to do a job you simply get the boxes with the right tools and materials needed, put them in the car and have everything you need, sorted and complete.
I used IKEA clear boxes, they lasted for years, had a lid and where cheap (at that time). As I needed about 50 of them, a "professional" sollution would have cost a fortune. This system keept my basement tidy and practical, eliminating search time for items. The downside of most plastic boxes, the break quite easy when it is very cold. UV ageing was less of a problem, the ones pictured are 20 years old.
Tools you always need are best sorted on the wall.
I used such a system for years when I worked on different projects and locations. When you have to do a job you simply get the boxes with the right tools and materials needed, put them in the car and have everything you need, sorted and complete.
I used IKEA clear boxes, they lasted for years, had a lid and where cheap (at that time). As I needed about 50 of them, a "professional" sollution would have cost a fortune. This system keept my basement tidy and practical, eliminating search time for items. The downside of most plastic boxes, the break quite easy when it is very cold. UV ageing was less of a problem, the ones pictured are 20 years old.
I do a similar mix of work, but my shop is a little cramped. If I had the luxury of a lot more space, I would first segregate by the amount of dust generated. Would be great to have a semi-clean room for electronics and wood finishing, but I have to make do with a dust collector and a pretty capable exhaust fan.
As a "toolbox,"I have a large bank of stackable metal drawers that fill the space underneath a 6-foot/2-meter workbench. One each for wrenches, clamps, pliers, screwdrivers, hand saws, etc., about 30 of them. Other drawer units hold milling and lathe accessories, taps, vacuum cleaner and air compressor attachments, basic electronics items like solder, tape, test leads, large drill bits. Smaller cabinets hold glue, punches, levels, hex keys and other stuff. A few dedicated parts drawer units for electronic components. Fasteners in multi-compartment plastic boxes sorted by size and thread pitch. Because my shop is small, everything is within easy reach. File drawers hold disk snd rotary grinders, wood sanders, extension cords.
A table saw is at the center doing double duty as a work table, with a wood chop saw and wood bandsaw permanently mounted, all connected via sliding gates to the dust collector. Tiny mill, WWII metal lathe and drill press are fixed to bench tops. Other items like a metal cold saw, small metal bandsaw and belt grinder are on small tables with casters so I can move them out of the way when I don't need them.
I've lined the room with shelves, stacked with labeled tubs or power tools in their cases. Usable wood is on steel rack shelves at one end of the shop.
As a "toolbox,"I have a large bank of stackable metal drawers that fill the space underneath a 6-foot/2-meter workbench. One each for wrenches, clamps, pliers, screwdrivers, hand saws, etc., about 30 of them. Other drawer units hold milling and lathe accessories, taps, vacuum cleaner and air compressor attachments, basic electronics items like solder, tape, test leads, large drill bits. Smaller cabinets hold glue, punches, levels, hex keys and other stuff. A few dedicated parts drawer units for electronic components. Fasteners in multi-compartment plastic boxes sorted by size and thread pitch. Because my shop is small, everything is within easy reach. File drawers hold disk snd rotary grinders, wood sanders, extension cords.
A table saw is at the center doing double duty as a work table, with a wood chop saw and wood bandsaw permanently mounted, all connected via sliding gates to the dust collector. Tiny mill, WWII metal lathe and drill press are fixed to bench tops. Other items like a metal cold saw, small metal bandsaw and belt grinder are on small tables with casters so I can move them out of the way when I don't need them.
I've lined the room with shelves, stacked with labeled tubs or power tools in their cases. Usable wood is on steel rack shelves at one end of the shop.
There are probably equivalents elsewhere, but in the UK, Bisley make steel cabinets with 10 or 15 drawers designed to each take a ream of A4 paper. Those shallow drawers are excellent for segregating and storing hand tools in an electronics lab and measuring instruments in a mechanical workshop. My workshop evolved and is a poor layout; the really important thing is to make sure you can walk directly from one place to another. Putting tools close to where they're likely to be needed is great, but it can't always be done, so short walks are important. One day, I'll work up the courage to move everything around. The tool cabinets on wheels used for car maintenance are useful for heavy stuff. I have one stuffed with lathe chucks, drill sets, etc, and on top is mounted a bandsaw. You will never have enough space. And if you have, it's time to buy a bigger lathe or mill.
Electronic assembly and swarf production don't happily coexist, so I have a separate room for the electronics lab, negotiated with SWMBO when we moved in together twenty years ago.
Electronic assembly and swarf production don't happily coexist, so I have a separate room for the electronics lab, negotiated with SWMBO when we moved in together twenty years ago.
Well gentlemen, l can only commiserate and watch this thread for more good ideas.
I have a tablesaw with a large extension, a router table/cabinet, floor standing drill press and bandsaw, a miter saw bench, a large work bench that has kick-up wheels, a dust collector, large welding table, welder/cart, forge/anvil plus a couple chest freezers, lawn equipment, chainsaws, a kiln and various crap crammed into ~ 500 sq ft.
I'll spend a weekend getting the shop in order and it slowly devolves into a crap corral and it starts all over.
I have a tablesaw with a large extension, a router table/cabinet, floor standing drill press and bandsaw, a miter saw bench, a large work bench that has kick-up wheels, a dust collector, large welding table, welder/cart, forge/anvil plus a couple chest freezers, lawn equipment, chainsaws, a kiln and various crap crammed into ~ 500 sq ft.
I'll spend a weekend getting the shop in order and it slowly devolves into a crap corral and it starts all over.
I have a guy trying to sell me this mill cheap but I haven't seriously entertained the thought... where the hell would it live? 🤣
Is it only a vertical mill or is it a universal mill (head can be rotated through 90 degrees either way)? A universal mill is much more useful. Even more useful is if it has a quill. I rather suspect the mill in the photo is neither.
We were discussing that recently and concluded that the likelihood of having a problem is low. It's a 4" slab with rebar and it's sitting on hardpan. The machine weighs ~ 2 1/2 tons. If it gets to the point where dude just wants it to go away, I'll get more serious about it. Check this old lathe out. It was given to a buddy of mine. It was originally powered by a line shaft/belt system but an electric motor was added at some point along with the transmission from an old truck for speed control. She runs just fine
A Tree 325 is still a good mill, but the controls and software are pretty much dinosaurs. They repain popular for retrofits, if they are in good shape otherwise. That Cat 40 taper spinde is way better more rigid than the R-8's used in lite weight knee mills!
Make sure you keep the beer fridge easily accessible....
Consider making shadow boards to hang the hand tools.
Keep the 'other', metal and wood machinery widely separate - nothing blunts a wood blade faster than non-wood dust and wood blades are a pita to keep sharp.
Consider making shadow boards to hang the hand tools.
Keep the 'other', metal and wood machinery widely separate - nothing blunts a wood blade faster than non-wood dust and wood blades are a pita to keep sharp.
Sadly, I've no idea what that might be. The key thing is whether the head can rotate. Thinking about it, given that it appears to be CNC, there would be no need for the head to be rotatable. As pointed out, any CNC software that uses 3 1/2" floppy disks must be truly ancient, and probably not very user-friendly. I'd leave it for someone else who has a better use for it.
That is a lathe and a half. Looks like an overgrown Myford or South Bend.
And machine tools for metal don't like wood dust because it absorbs moisture and causes rust.
Yeah, I have translucent plastic boxes, industrial ones that are not cheap but the oldest have lasted decades, and I didn't buy them all at once, just as I needed more over the years.
But now I have a lot of them and they are not that convenient, need to pull them off the shelf, open the lid (dust proof but not easy to remove), search the bottom of the box, replace the lid, and reshelve the box.
I am tired of it!
I want a tool cabinet with drawers but can't find the size I need, 600mm deep by 1800 wide, Australia has a poor selection of this sort of stuff. (I think SnapOn has one but a lot of reluctance in Australia to buy US American any more)
So I have moved to tool boards for as much as possible, tool cabinet when I find or make one.
Best wishes
David
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Yeah, dust is a consideration, excellent discussion point.
I do electronics in a room in the house, not the workshop, and I do dusty woodwork outside on the concrete driveway, because I don't have the traditional woodshop ducted dust extraction.
Since I do some, but not continual woodwork, probably more sensible to improve the outside work area than install an elaborate dust extraction system.
Especially with the portability of modern cordless tools.
Best wishes
David
Spoken like a true Aussie😀
But, while most people move the beer chiller to the shed to declutter the house, I have the beer chiller in the house to declutter the shed. Priorities!
Definite yes on the shadow boards/tool boards. Did this since I was a teen, it has just taken a while in the new workshop to replace my old, cheap chipboard panels with steel (less to worry about when I weld).
It was partly the blank slate of the new boards that inspired this thread.
Best wishes
David
Wow, I can relate. My woodworking shop is 24' x 32' with a similar array of items except no welding equipment or freezers, but add another workbench, another router table and dust collector, and a 4' x 8' x 6' rack full of hardwood. And in spite of my best (worst?) efforts, it's often a mess. And then there's the search, whenever I have to do something in the house, or work on the ATV, for a specific wrench, hammer, screwdriver, cordless tool ... Crap corral sums it up. 😀
That lathe must have come over on the Mayflower, plain split babbit bearings, oh my!
Don't forget the space you need around stuff, I recently moved my department at work, I stuck the bandsaw at 45deg so long pieces could pass through the fire door, one lathe I positioned so something long could stick out the spindle bore, both lathes have the headstock end clear from the wall so I can access the motor on the back.
That's a nice milling machine in the post above, but knee Mills take up a lot of space - also not easy to transport.
My bench at work is an L shape, two shelves around, small wooden chest on the bench with a row of blocks of wood on top with commonly used tool sitting in drilled holes - needle files in two blocks, reamers in another, taper/plug taps in another.
That's a nice milling machine in the post above, but knee Mills take up a lot of space - also not easy to transport.
My bench at work is an L shape, two shelves around, small wooden chest on the bench with a row of blocks of wood on top with commonly used tool sitting in drilled holes - needle files in two blocks, reamers in another, taper/plug taps in another.
One potential big issue with that mill is that it looks to be purely CNC - I don't see any handwheels. I think for the kind of things our sort would use it for, manual would be better. A friend had a CNC mill (a Bridgeport clone) in his machine shop years ago; basically no on touched it as it wasn't worth the effort for one- or two-offs - they strictly used the Bridgeports next to it. Some one of theses years I'll get my paws on a Bridgeport or the like for home...
-Pat
-Pat