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Dream shop

Webb Willmott

Webb Willmott

Joined
Feb 25, 2025
Messages
722
Likes
910
Location
Jackson, MS
If you had a wish list for your dream shop what would it be?

Reason for asking is I’m doing it now. So far, there will be lots, as in lots of lighting. Plugs out the wazoo (120 and 220). Dust collection and air scrubber. Clean up sink. TV and stereo. Doors to the outside. HVAC. Dust collector and compressor in a closet to reduce noise. Desk area.

My entire life, I’ve made do, cut corners to keep cost down, etc. Now that I’m retired and can afford it, I’m doing it. I’m looking for ideas of goodies you wish you had.
 
About 10 years ago, a friend of mine who was a cabinet maker did some work on making my shop much nicer, All new cabinets, Hardwood countertops, etc. For the cabinets on the floor (not the wall cabinets) he put in drawers instead of cabinets with shelves and doors. Try it....you will love it. he measured some of my equipment that I was keeping in that area and made the drawers to fit that size. Think ...tools in a case, place to put ????? and you do not have to get down on your knees to get to the back of the cabinet.....just pull the drawer out. He had some space and put in some drawers that are about 4' long. Drawers....not cabinets. Yep - the best.
 
In the for what it's worth category....the closet you're putting your compressor in should have insulated walls, use a solid core wood door, and if possible...sit on a separate slab than the rest of the room/house. A lot of sound is transmitted through a concrete floor.
 
Ah, dream shop, so nice to dream,

I think a 30x50, 10’ ceilings on main level, a daylight basement below same size, with a killer loft under the roof with 10/12 pitch roof and 6 dormers, sitting on 4’ knee walls, all timber baloon framed with 2x6 T/G cedar throughout, and open beam floor/ceilings.
Lower level my shop for wrenching and storing my F350 Superduty and my Rubicon and my UTV, with a bay for welding and my forge and knife stuff
Main level my wood shop, all wide plank doug fir wood floors, long sealed flush mount strip lights throughout, opens onto a 30x20 covered deck.
Upper level my office and leather/sewing room and Better half's workout room with a kitchen and bath, that the kitchen opens out onto a deck over covered deck on main level.
All with climate control.

Wheres Publishers clearing house when ya need em!
 
John Grace said:
In the for what it's worth category....the closet you're putting your compressor in should have insulated walls, use a solid core wood door, and if possible...sit on a separate slab than the rest of the room/house. A lot of sound is transmitted through a concrete floor.
Click to expand...
Dont forget to ventilate it well, they generate a lot of heat
 
I’ve built new shops each time we moved. Each one better than the last. I built my current shop 9yrs ago and it’s the best, I expect it will be the last. The only regret is I didn’t make it larger :)
 
A comfortable chair for when you want to turn off every last piece of electrical gear and sit quietly in the warm sun coming through the window, and maybe take a nap.

And a mini fridge to keep the root beer cold.

And a closed-circuit camera with a monitor back into the house so someone in there can keep an eye on you, just in case. Maybe as simple as a Ring doorbell or something like that.

And a carport-size roof-covered area on the outside of the shop with a door back inside for those times when something needs to be done outside and the sky isn't cooperating. Put it on the typical down-wind side of the building- I'm in Minnesota, so I would not put it on the north side where winter weather would make it useless.

These are the things I dream about. But I do have a mini fridge now. The rest has to wait a few more years.
 
Lumber storage for those 8+ foot boards that just magically seem to show up.
Open shelving for drying turning blanks.
And racks for all the clamps you wish you had.
TV and Stereo in the corner and that Chair Steve just mentioned.
Toilet and wash sink?
A corner for finishing and maybe a small table for taking photos of all your projects.
 
A separate room for preparing and storing blanks. About to build this room off my garage. I did put a BR in mine with a mud sink, best thing I ever did!
 
Just moved my workshop to my basement I had an electrician install 220 for my lathe and several new circuits with 16 GFI outlets. The shop, at 14 x 20 is still too small, but when is a shop ever big enough? I do have a large sink, dust collector, JET air filtration unit and a finishing area. I don't do flat work, just turning and embellishment. BR is upstairs, but the exercise is good for me.
 
If a sink of some sort is important to have yet impossible or cost prohibitive to install, one could always cobble together a 5 gallon bucket a couple feet above a sink, with a valve (3/8" outlet) and short length of rubber tubing installed on the bucket side near the bottom, and another bucket below the sink to catch the discharge (no drain trap required), and as long as that drain water doesn't have anything hazardous in it, just toss the waste water out the back door onto the ground. Could skip the sink, too, and just run bucket to bucket.

The upper bucket can be refilled as needed with a garden hose. I'd loose-fit a bucket lid on top of it to control evaporation. And if the water will be sitting between infrequent refills, add a very small amount of chlorine bleach to the water to prevent microbial growth (see 2nd website below). The Clorox website gives ratios of how much can do the job, these ratios show a mix for general cleaning/sanitation of surfaces, these are rubber glove concentrations much high than needed for water storage.
www.clorox.com

Bleach Dilution Ratio for Disinfecting | Clorox™

Check our bleach dilution instructions when making homemade solutions. Simple steps help you measure correctly and ensure accurate bleach and water ratios.
www.clorox.com

This EPA website for water emergencies lists how to prepare water for drinking with MUCH lower chlorine bleach concentrations. This is more what I was referring to above, not the cleaning concentrations from Clorox.
www.epa.gov

Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water | US EPA

How to boil and disinfect water to kill most disease-causing microorganisms during emergency situations where regular water service has been interrupted and local authorities recommend using only bottled water, boiled water, or disinfected water.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

And post a sign at the sink- no drinking water!
 
I would highly consider quick connect ductwork. It is very expensive (e.g. our 12' x 16' shop was approx. $6,000 installed) but it is so worth it. The ease of assembly and the flexibility is just amazing. Also there are no screws sticking though the pipe, and no duct tape needed. I would go for it now while you are building and not retrofit later.
 
I visited a great shop recently that had the dust collection piping under the floor with the ducts coming up to each machine from below. Worked great, looked great. Agree with separate area for finishing/painting/etc.
 
Ken Cardinal said:
I visited a great shop recently that had the dust collection piping under the floor with the ducts coming up to each machine from below. Worked great, looked great. Agree with separate area for finishing/painting/etc.
Click to expand...
That would be nice, but only with access from underneath. No way you would want to take up the floor to change the layout.
 
What all is the shop for? Just turning, flat ww, anything else? Mine is multi purpose, Turning, flat ww, spray finishing, store and work on motorcycles and anything else. May require separate rooms, etc.

For hvac filtration will need extra work, such as pre-filters. With the fan on it could serve as the shop filter. Over Insulate, especially the ceiling. If all one room, no need to use a lot of ducting - blower fans and or ceiling fans can mix/distribute air well.

Couple of windows, put a 1/2 window in the man door.

My shop is not a “hang out”. I have a home office for that. If it is to be the man cave and shop the size and design changes significantly. TV - not in the shop for me, I use a phone or laptop if I need to review a video on how to do something.

Stereo - yes, I have a very nice one for a shop system. I just upgraded it a few months ago, new set of speakers in a different location and a much upgraded subwoofer. Very much depends on what you want, just background music or an actual music experience - volume level, clarity, soundstage, imaging, etc. I stand most of the time, speakers are mounted with tweeters ear height. Depending on your expectations this is a separate thread.

Prefer sealed concrete floor - I use a lot of nasty chemicals the get spilled occasionally. Due to this, a large door with cross flow from man door and or windows that allows venting the whole shop quickly if needed.

Storage - determine the type of stuff to be stored and where/how to store, then add some to it.

Layout - work on this until you are sick of it. Do a paper scaled drawing, cut out all the machines, cabints, shelves, etc, and move them around. Think through how things will be done, how much room to move wood or other things around.
 
Wherever you install receptacles make them double duplex. The added cost is very small. It would also add a little more cost but have (2) circuits run to each location and then put a duplex on each one.

Have a separate circuit for the lighting in the shop, so when you trip a circuit with some equipment, you don't end up in the dark.
 
What Jim said. I have quad outlets fed by two 20 amp circuits. Separate circuit for lighting.

If I were building new, I would definitely want a grade level shop with at least a partially paved drive leading to a large door. This is to receive all the new equipment I would want for my new shop :).

And to go along with my new equipment purchases, a properly reinforced section of roof/ceiling and an over head hoist to lift heavy equipment for unpacking and assembly.
 
Good idea on hoist. The night before my lathe arrived I couldn’t sleep worrying about how I was just going to get it down off the pallet. In the end, I walked it off but it was a little stressful since it’s so heavy.
 
I like my refrigerator. Besides cold drinks, I store CA glue and some finishes in it to extend storage life. Next to the fridge, I put in a standard built in cabinet style microwave for drying bowls and warming up morning coffee. It recently went out, and I replaced it with a much bigger and cheaper countertop microwave. Wish I had built something to keep it off the countertop.
 
First shop was 400 sq. ft. A bit tight.... Second shop was a 24 by 36 pole barn. Not too bad. Current and "forever" shop is almost 2500 feet. This summer I will be building a storage shed for lumber since I do some flat work, and have a large wood stash. It will be 200 sq. ft. since that is a size you can build here without a permit. Things I would do different.... One would be higher ceilings. Mine are currently at 10 feet, but I would opt for 12. In part, with a full sheet of plywood, it is difficult to move the sheet through the shop, and not only because I hung my duct work from the ceiling. With a 10 foot ceiling, you can't rotate the sheet on a diagonal. I would also run the duct work in the attic, which would probably require more insulation. The "lathe" room has a concrete slab. Not sure if I would if I would want to run them under the slab. My walls are a stacked block wall that is 12 inches thick and was made close by. They are wood fiber and concrete, and have HUGE thermal and sound insulation properties. I would keep them. I do have a fridge for beverages, but I would add a small microwave just to allow for reheating my coffee. I do heat with a wood stove, and weather is generally mild so no need for air conditioning or heating, other than the wood stove. I do go through about 3 cords in both the shop and in the house. The shop uses a bit more due to the concrete slab. I would keep that. I do have a full bath with a shower stall. Part of that is due to the idea that some one can convert the shop into a house some where down the line. I am on one acre and on the edge of town. I do have to have a land scape company manage my lawn care. It is more than I can take care of. I ain't no spring chicken any more.... Some one commented before I moved into my forever home and shop, "you will be surprised at how fast it will fill up". I told them that it would be full as soon as I moved in. That was true, but I actually had room to move around in the new spot. Oh, I put grab bars in all the showers and bathrooms. I am getting older....

robo hippy
 
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