Ship Building Workshop

[Castos]

Good Day

 

I have recently extended my carport at home and now have an are 6mX4m which I am going to close for a workshop.

 

I have drawn up a plan (attached) on how the layout will be. Please advise if it is correct or any modifications that need to be done.

 

 

[allanyed]

Castos,

With the equipment you show, you hit home for me.   I have similar a situation and have not had a proper work area since we moved south several years ago.  We have gone to one car so there is now room in the garage and your layout looks similar to what I have in mind.   My only problem is that the summers in SW Florida can be stifling, so at least a ceiling  fan and/or a portable AC unit or some such will be part of the set up.  Any suggestions here would be more than welcome.  I am seriously considering setting up a bit of duct work and large vacuum system or adding a semi permanent shop vac as it only needs to be used when making sawdust anyhow.  Would be nice though to enclose it to cut down the noise.  Any suggestions on this would be welcome as well.  

Allan

[Jaager]

One rule from biological research labs:  You can never have too much bench space.

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

Except for the very heavy equipment  near the walls, every others are on tables with wheels, the bigger the wheels, the easier it will be to move,  so that you can change the set up as you need.

 

The first one I would buy would be an electric height table and add wheels to it. Working at the good height, will improve the quality of your work and it will be less exhausting.

 

Once you will realize this, you will always work with this table, and for every job, you will optimize the working height.

[mtaylor]

You don't show power outlets but make sure there's plenty.

[Castos]

Hi All

 

Thanks for the comments. There is no copyright on this, if it helps I am happy. 

I am planning to use a small vacuum clean use pipes will be reduced in size to about 15mm to get into tight places.

I have include all the plans for the Work Area

 

 

 

New Work Area.pptx

[thibaultron]

I would put the thickness sander in the corner, and the band saw in the middle to give you more elbow room when sawing.. Buy a rolling toolchest and mount the lathe on it. This gives to storage for a lathe tools, chucks, measurement tools etc.

[Castos]

Thanks for the advice Thibaultron.

[Altduck]

I like the layout but I’d suggest more lights and power outlets.

If you can, I’d suggest putting the LED lights full length down both long sides and also across the end over your computer disk and library.

And outlets on the other side where the bandsaw etc are, and convenience outlets elsewhere.  You can’t have too many.  Task lights,  Dremels, chargers, music, coffee pot, etc - they all need to be plugged in. 

And when I did mine, I ran 2 power circuits all around so Adjacent outlets are on different breakers, and lights on another circuit so if I amp out a tool, the lights don’t go out with it.

And enjoy your man cave 

[Castos]

Thanks for the advice Richard.

 

I have a friend who is an electrician who will be doing all my circuits. as I have to get a COC for it otherwise it will not get insurance cover.

 

The lights are all 1.2m (4ft) double row LEDs in the workshop and over the building area, I will have a Square bank of LED spotlights to provide enough lighting. I have found in the past you can never have enough lights .All our plugs boxes have 4 connection ports and will have one plug box under the work area. I am still looking at the idea of having the building stand being able to turn (if it is feasible) and there will be a plug box underneath it.

 

The walls will be foam insulated panels which will provide enough protection against the cold ( max -3 degrees C in winter and 34 degrees C in summer. If need be, I can always install an AC unit for the work shop (long time and feasibility).

 

There will an extractor fan built into the one wall of the machine area.

 

With a lot of graphic businesses closing down, the A0 plotters/printers are selling for less than $1000, including spare ink and paper. I am interested in a plotter as I already have an A4 printer.

 

I am still in the process of designing and any suggestions from the knowledgeable members is greatly appreciated.

[thibaultron]

I don't remember if you have or planned for one, but a porch roof over the doors. This would make unlocking, and opening them in the rain more pleasant. My shop has just enough  roof overhang to drip water down my neck while I'm doing this.

[Castos]

Thanks Thibaultron

 

Attached is a Google Earth photo of the position of my workshop. My property is 1666m2.

 

Andre

 

Carports.pptx

[Castos]

Good Day and a Merry Xmas to all.

 

Reading Hank's post and others about insulating the walls for heat and cold.

 

The idea that I had was to place corrugated roofing on the outside and wood paneling on the inside.

 

I then went browsing and found that we do have insulated panels Chromadek in South Africa. This is the way that I will now go. The ceiling will be normal ceiling board.

Regards

Andre

Edited December 25, 2019 by Castos

[Castos]

Good Day

 

Cannot wait to be home in 5 weeks to throw the concrete slab for the flooring of the new workshop. doing one thing at a time to get it done properly.

 

Regards

Andre

[Mike Y]

Great layout! Hope it would work great for you.

I would recommend to put a disk sander closer to your working area. It is by far the most used power tool when you make small things, once you are used to it.. Like who needs a table saw for cutting planks into proper lengths, where you can just cut rough dimensions using some wire cutters or any other simple tool, and then fine fit using a disk sander?  

Combined with some small household vaccuum to catch airborne dust - it is handy to have it close by.

P.S.: consider an electric lifting table, it is actually the most used "tool" in my shop overall  

[Castos]

Thanks Mike Y.

Could you please post a photo of the electric lifting table. Have never seen or heard of it.

 

Thanks

Andre

[Mike Y]

Hi Andre,

 

They are fairly common in modern offices, and allow to work while standing. Height is adjusted smoothly and continuously with two buttons under the table, no tools required and it takes a few seconds. It is not a fixed set of positions, you can move it like you move your car window. I move it up and down all the time, depending on the work being done. They used to be expensive, but then IKEA released a very decent version for half the price (model name BEKANT).

You can buy the ready-made office table, or just a frame separately. Screw any tabletop on it and you have your custom made electrical table.  It is nice to have a solid wood instead of an office fiber board, so you can add a vice and clamp things without damaging the top. They exist in different sizes, colors and even corner versions are available: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/products/?q=bekant frame stand

The only downside - it is a table for light work, not a replacement for workbench, since legs have motors and screw rods embedded into them. So I would not recommend chiseling a tenon an mortise joints for your furniture projects on such table... Otherwise it is great   

 

There are a few topics on this forum where this was discussed in details, with photos, etc.

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Mike Y

[Castos]

Thanks Mike Y

 

[Castos]

Hi Mike

 

This is the only one available in South Africa. Is it the correct one?

[Mike Y]

This is something else, but there is more than one "correct one". Try it, shake it, make sure it is not too flimsy, check the max height if you are tall  

[Castos]

Good Day

 

"Rome was not built in one day" as they say. What I have done on my recent time-off at home, was to move the sprinkler system for the garden away from underneath my new workshop. On next time-off, will be throwing the floor and thereafter the walls and doors will be installed.

 

Have a pleasant "building" day.

 

Andre

[Landlubber Mike]

One thing to keep in mind is the in and out feed from some tools like the band saw.  Tools like those can't really be put against a wall, so a moveable table or some other option should be considered.

[Castos]

Good Day to all

 

Back on the air after all the Covid shenanigans.

 

I manage to build my shed (7m x 5m), installed tables and my equipment.

 

Although it seems complete, the job is still not done, but the most important is there including a coffee machine and music.

 

Regards

 

Andre

[Mirabell61]

Congrats to your fine workshop Castos,

is there also a window to look into the Yard / Garden ? And how do you heat it in the winter months ?

 

Nils

[Clark]

Congrats. Did you even keep the music in mind (radio on the shelf?). Like Nils I am also wondering about heating, which might be a more severe problem in Germany despite climate change.

Clark

[Castos]

Thanks all.

 

The ceiling boards will be installed when I am home again. I need to redo the floors with epoxy paint then everything will move to the garage again.

 

I winters are not the cold, maybe down to -2 but a normal winter temp is 6 degrees Celsius. I have a small fan heater which will do the task of keeping warm if required.

 

On the shelf I have my Ipod music.

 

What must still be fitted is my 29" computer screen. I have a A4 laser printer anything bigger will go to the printshop.

 

Cupboards and light shelves will still be made.

 

Cheers

 

Andre

[Clark]

You will enjoy it

[Hank]

Quite nice shop!!! Now, I guess it's time for both of us to go to work, right???

[Castos]

Thanks Hank.

I agree, but will have to wait until December went I return home from South Sudan.

 

Cheers 

Andre

[Castos]

Good Day

 

Back in the hot seat in South Sudan. Have been out for 3 months for a very bad claw toe operation (result of being in the Infantry). 

 

Ceiling was put aside and have installed the wiring for the downlights. This will all be fixed in Jul/Aug.

 

Whilst convalescing, I continued with the translating the book and I am still learning a lot from it.

 

Regards to all.

 

Andre