Setting Up a Woodshop at Home

For most of us who have ever taken saw in hand and made a long board shorter, sooner or later, the need for a dedicated place to do our woodworking projects becomes obvious.  It’s one thing to have tools and jobs to do- it’s another thing altogether to have a safe, convenient, well-equipped place to work.  A woodshop at our rural home is a great idea, and properly set up and maintained, a woodshop is a source of great pleasure and outstanding do-it-yourself efforts.  However, like all good things, woodshops don’t always come together easily, and they almost never come quickly.  Truly, having a woodshop is an ever-evolving process.

Jack Loganbill, a woodworker from Chicago, says of the most likely way to go wrong in a new shop, “If you don’t know what kind of work you will be doing down the road and go out and buy a bunch of tools that won’t be used, they’ll just take up room and never be used.”

Some woodworkers use “borrowed” space from a garage or other storage building for a shop.  This can be quite efficient, but it can take some juggling of tools, wood, projects and cars which all need the same space at the same time.  Probably the best arrangement- although the most expensive - is to build a completely separate building for the woodshop.  I’ve used both systems, and the dedicated shop building is much the better choice.

The first question most woodworkers who are planning to build new woodshops want to answer is how big should the shop be?  Well, that question is sort of like asking, “How long is a piece of string?” Different shops are different sizes, and some folks do excellent work out of closet-sized shops.  However, for most of us, there comes a point where a certain amount of space is necessary.  Arthur Krause, a professional woodworker from Jacksonville, North Carolina, says, “Find an area or build an area for working.  Space is important, and you will find out quickly that space is lost when adding worktables, storage, shop tools and so on.  I have a 20 x 20 room.  This worked best for me and should any others.”

My personal woodshop is about twenty-five feet by thirty feet, and it’s open on three sides so I can move long boards and strips of wood in, and completed projects- mostly boats- out.

One of the primary considerations of any woodshop is access to the shop itself.  We need doors big enough to allow plywood sheets to be carried in and completed projects to be carry out.  Remember, the old “I built a boat in the basement, but I can’t get it out!” situation? That sort of thing happens if we don’t allow for adequate passage in our shops.

Lighting - We Can’t Work in the Dark

Since my shop is an open shed, my lighting problem is easily solved.  When the sun is up, I can see to work.  However, for woodworkers whose shops are not open, the situation is more complicated.  It comes down to this: we have to be able to see so we can safely cut.  A woodshop absolutely needs good lighting.

Many tools come equipped with lights.  My new bandsaw has a light attached to it, and that is very nice for cuts that require great precision.  Shops also need good ambient lighting, and that usually comes from overhead lighting.  Fluorescent lights are cheap, and a long battery of light tubes is very good for providing full-shop lighting. It’s hard to find small tools in the dim light of many shops, so anything we can do to increase the amount of light in a shop is a good thing.

Clamp-on spotlights can be useful in a woodshop, but their cords always seem to be too short, and if dropped, they tend to break easily.  They are very adjustable and lightweight, and they don’t cost much at all, so I have some and use them for projects that I can’t finish during the daylight hours.

Power Supply - Super Important

The biggest weakness in my present woodshop is power supply.  I have to run drop-cords from a nearby outbuilding, and this is not always a convenient way to work.

 In any woodshop, the more good electrical outlets, the better.  In a new shop, we will want lots of floor-level and workbench level outlets.  We need to try to eliminate overlapping cords- tools get pulled off the bench onto the floor and broken- I’ve done this.  Also, we can install retractable cords that drop from the ceiling for use on certain power tools like table saws and band saws.

Of course, all new shops need to have the electrical supply properly installed with breakers and fuses adequate to meet the load.  When a couple of big power tools are working at the same time, it’s easy to overload wiring that isn’t properly installed or is not heavy enough to carry the load.  Check with an electrical contractor if you don’t have the experience to do the wiring yourself. 

Ventilation- It’s Not Just About a Smooth Finish- Your Health is at Risk

Dust is just about the biggest problem of any and all woodworkers.  Not only is dust a cause of smooth-finish disasters when sawdust or saw powder gets blown onto fresh varnish, but that same flying dust is a very real hazard to the health of woodworkers and any other folks who have to breathe the air.  Arthur Krause says simply,” Invest in or build a dust filter system.”

“Go look at a professional woodworker’s shop,” says Jack Loganbill, “There will be a huge dust collection system installed in the shop.  The pros don’t mess around.”  A decent dust collection system will cost about $1,500, and it needs to be installed in the shop from the very beginning. For rural homeowners who are considering a new woodshop, Loganbill has an excellent website for potential woodshop builders - www.thewoodshop.20m.com/shop_layout.htm- that is very highly recommended reading for woodshop builders.

There are several kinds of dust collection systems.  Some are as simple as hooking up the shop vacuum to a tool, and others are very sophisticated whole-room air cleaning systems. 

Just about the only wood shop that doesn’t need a dust removal system is one like mine- outdoors and open on three sides.  The dust I make blows away and doesn’t get concentrated. I do use a dust mask when I’m working with certain tropical hardwoods - the dust from purpleheart wood, for instance - is very irritating to my nose and throat. For any other woodshop - ESPECIALLY a shop attached to the home- a dust removal system is crucial. If dust and powder from the shop gets transferred into the home air, the powers that be will not be happy.

Of course, the main reason to have a shop ventilation system is to prevent buildup of airborne powder and fumes from finishing products.  Fumes from paint and varnish and even wood powder can and will explode if the concentration gets high enough and a source of ignition happens. 

Storage and Space Usage

There’s never enough space in a woodshop.  However, there are some things we can do that will maximize our storage and workspace.

The workbench is a crucial part of the shop, so get or make as solid and big a workbench as you can afford.  The workbench will get smaller as incomplete projects pile up for completion. When the workbench is used as tool storage, it needs to be even bigger. The workbench needs to be very firmly attached to the wall so that it cannot tip over under heavy tool or workload.

Many of our stationary power tools can be placed on mobile bases.  A good, secure base with wheels allows us to move machines out into work areas when needed, and then put them back in a corner out of the way when not being used. I often have to take certain tools outside to work on wood projects I can’t move inside, so my small table saw sits on a kid’s red wagon and I can wheel the saw anywhere I need it to be.

Try to put machines that logically work together close to each other.  Having the table saw and the jointer side by side is a good idea.  Putting a planer next to the jointer makes sense.  In this way, the worker can move wood pieces from one machine to another with minimal lifting and carrying.

Pegboard is a traditional space-saving storage technique, and it really does work.  An astounding array of hand tools can be hung from pegs on a pegboard.  Just make sure the pegboard hooks are securely fastened to the backboard.

A very good idea is to have a separate drawer or cabinet that stores nothing but manuals, instructions and other paperwork for projects and tools.  When a tool breaks or needs a replacement part- and they all do from time to time- it’s really nice to have the necessary information to order parts right at hand.

 Tools- Where the Edge Meets the Wood

We haven’t said much about equipping the woodshop with tools.  Tools are absolutely important, and bad tools can ruin a project almost as fast as a bad woodworker.  However, there is no standard setup for all woodworkers.  We can’t just go to a hardware store and order a “woodworker’s shop” set of tools.  Only long experience will show us what tools we need and what tools will just take up space.

 For instance, in my present shop is a really nice power cut-off saw that I received a few years back as a present.  It’s never been out of the box.  The work I do doesn’t require a cut-off saw, so even though the gift was well-intentioned, it isn’t useful to me.

However, in my shop is a wide range and variety of planes, files, belt sanders and palm sanders. Most woodworkers won’t need half of these tools.   Since I build mainly wooden boats which require lots of working down and sanding, my shop and my tools are different from a woodworker who makes mostly cabinets, chairs, or other furniture.

However, there are a few tools that nearly all woodworkers will need.  Again Arthur “The most important tool for me is the table saw,” Krause tells us, “Just the fence for mine was $300, and the saw cost over $1,000.  Most of the time with tools, you get what you pay for.”

In general, most of us are much better served by buying a few good quality tools rather than a bunch of low-end, cheapie tools. 

Buying used tools- especially if you know the person selling the tools and how the tools have been used- can be a good option to save some money over buying new.  However, like all used equipment purchases, the tool buyer needs to be wary.

The Last Words- Safety Equipment

The best workshop in the world is useless if we have been injured and can’t use it.  Here are some purchases that should be the first purchases for the shop:  Safety glasses or eye shields are first on and last off in a woodshop.  Hearing protection - especially in a shop that uses power tools – is also a necessity.  A good respirator is helpful, too, as some woods can be very irritating and even dangerous if the dust and power is breathed.  Work gloves can save a lot of nicks, cuts, and splinters.  All of these safety items can be purchased for around $40.  Please remember to get these safety items - and use them!