Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all,

I'm in Indiana house-hunting right now and need some help. We are trying to decide between 2 houses and I'm wondering how much space I need for my power tools. Can somebody give me a swag as to how much floor space the following will take: table saw, band saw, jointer, drill press, drum sander, and dust collector. My choice is a large basement where it can all go together, or a split basement with 2 seperate rooms. I'm trying to figure if all the power tools would fit into one side, and leave the other side for everything else. Of course I didn't measure my tools before I left so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

John

John...Grizzly has a worksheet that has all the power tool footprints for laying out a shop.

Let me know when you're settled...we have some impact-testing (code word: golf) to perform.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Also a note basements are VERY humid during the summer....

You can prolly get away with a 2 car garage (I do.. but I'm cramped...soon
to change)

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Just think BIG. However much room you're getting...you will easily fill it and it will become too small. My primary shop with all those tools is roughly 11 x 19, and it's way too small to function in. I would have preferred twice that, all wide open. As it is, I have to move my tablesaw around all the time in order to do anything. Same thing with the thickness sander. Go as big as you can, and then get a seperate area for your assembly and finishing etc. Contain the dust.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

John - My shop is 12X22, if I had it to do over, id have 2 shops 12X22 , one for dirty tools and the other for everything else.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Well I have managed to fit al those tools into one 14 x 16 shop I still have to buy a jointer, but I have a space saved for it). I also have 2 good sized work benches, a router table, and a free standing go-deck. It is sure tight but it works. Part of it depends on how big your tools are. If you have a big table saw and drum sander you will need more space.

I would echo what everyone else has said. The bigger the better. And you will do yourself a big favour if you can have a dust free room. I know it would sure make my life much easier.

Josh

_________________
Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

My shop is 11x24. In it I've got a full sized cabinet saw with extension, 25" dual drum sander, 16" band saw, 48" edge sander, floor drill press, jointer and a 4'x4' bench. I've been able to make lots of use of overhead space with cabinets running around most of the shop. I would like more space sure and I NEED space for my new spray booth. It will be 6'x12' and will pretty much house all of the finishing steps.

mobile bases help with congestion in small spaces, especially if you are disciplined enough to plan your work sequence so that you are not constantly shuffling them back and forth.

two rooms obviously give a better chance of keeping finishing areas cleaner, whether you buy it build it later.

safety is another factor to consider in how congested you let a shop get.

i think it is feel comfortable in the space with no induced claustrophobic type feelings. i'm large, and tiny shop spaces make me feel very uncomfortable, where i've known some that feel lost in a big space.

I agree with all those who said go for the most space you can get. My shop is 30' x 50' and it looked terribly empty when I moved into it. It has filled up quite a bit over the last couple of years though.

And, I still haven't partitioned off the office, the work room and the finishing room that I have planned.

All the coins seem to go back into other stuff.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Is there ever REALLY enough space?

yeah, stuff always seems to procreate to exceed the space available!!!! and then the thing you absolutely need goes into seclusion, or is kidnapped by the shop gnomes...crazymanmichael38510.4398263889

The new shop I'm moving into is 24x76. Hopefully within a month I'll be
there....

More space is always good!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I've got about 500 sq. feet (plus attic storage) and love it. Cheap to heat/
humidify/air condition; easy to hear the sound system throughout the
shop; short runs on the dust collection. It's big enough to do the work,
small enough that if I want a new tool I have to decide if it's important
enough to give up something I already have, and most importantly --
when people ask about apprenticeships I can say, "Sorry, no room."

ok. Cool, but I bet most basements do not have AC. Well at least not any
basements attached to homes I've lived in (granted that's only three
basements...hardly enough for a real blanket statement :) )

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John I'm in the middle of moving to a new location right now (that's why I've been silent for a while), I got a full three car garage to put all my tools and stuff in, I was in about half the space before and of course I already want more space but I think that's just because I have boxes everywhere (in fact I teased my wife that I expected to find one of the kids boxed and marked for the move).

For a one man shop it seems like enough room, I only have one more big tool coming and then I'm done with that for a while (getting one of the big vertical sanders from Grizzly), I have just enough room to put my tools where I need them and that's all I really wanted.

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Thanks for all the input everybody! We were deciding between 2 houses this morning, and as it worked out, we had a bid accepted at the house with a 650 sq ft unfinished open area in the basement. The other half of the basement is 650 finished additional square feet I can use as a clean room. We are really happy with the house and I think the space should more than suffice for a hobby builder making 3-4 guitars a year. Thanks for all the input.

Cheers!

John

Congratulations, John...and welcome it Indiana! Looking forward to extending some Hoosier Hospitality once you've gotten settled.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

that sounds like a really outstanding space! don't envy you having to mive but at least you have something nice to look forward to at the end of a daunting process.

congratulations!!!!

Thanks guys! I can't wait to get settled so I can actually start building again. This will be my 10th move in 14 yrs. JJ--I'm looking forward to getting the sticks out and checking out your club. We'll be out here for good on 1 Aug. How late is the golf season out here? Last year in NE I was able to play at least once during every month of the year. Our cutoff was at least 45 degrees and winds less than 15.

Cheers!

John    

i empathize -- the was a period of 17 years when i moved an average of once a year, including three trans-pacific. not fun.

will look forward to seeing how you set up your new space. 1300 sf should be great. er...., how long do you think you will get to stay?

This will be a great move because it's a guaranteed 3 years here, then my follow-on assignment is 4 years in Dayton, then it's retirement and into my final house!!! YEAH, no more moving after that.

Cheers!

John