Shop layout

schmism · Aug 28, 2006

Hears your chance.

Ive moved my shop 3 times now. each time to a slightly larger shop. (so im not new to setting up shop pun intentended) My past garage being a standard 2 car (20x22 or so) and is currently PACKED with tools.

With the recent property purches it came with a 32x60 x 12 (i think) pole barn. The point is its HUGE! i mean just F'n HUGE!

like im standing in it sat night with it lit with the 3 flourecent fixtures. (enough light to seee, but really not "work by" pondering were to put stuff... and i am faced with that problem of its SO large... i really dont know were to start.

so the layout/givens.

the south west corner

as you can see i have a large front "2 door" sliding entrance. full height, 20' probibly. to the left of the man door is a single sliding door probibly 16' wide.

gravel floor.

no other entrances.

What i have (will have)

full machine/fab/mechincs shop. Everything from rebuilding engines, to body work, off road fab, to oil changes. (i have a small personal fleet of cars/trucks)

addtionally i have a full woodworking shop. As you can imagine the 2 dont really work together well. machine work doesnt like dust, and wood doesnt like grease.

I WILL have a 2 post lift.

I really only want to put concreet in half for right now( $$ considerations)

considerations
I need space to park the tractor
I need space for 2 post lift
I have no other covered parking so a daily "garage" duities for 2 cars (till something else "garage" like is built)

Im considering converting the single sliding door to a 16' (or double 8') roll up doors. the rear most (most north of the 2) would have the lift located in it.
With this layout i could still have the front door as pull in access for reg maintaince or tractor parking. The east 10' used for bench and machine shop layout.

what say you?

FYI hears a quick sketch

schmism · Aug 28, 2006

the little green rectangle represents a new padmount transformer that will supply the compound with underground power in place of the current overhead that runs right through my "lawn" front yard

schmism · Aug 28, 2006

few other notes.... im not opposed to creating more doors.... But like any pole barn... you got 8' between 6x6 (or could be 8x8) posts....

Ive thought about relocating "tractor" storage to the "back" half of the barn with a new door on that side.

oh ya and i have no idea how to heat a space this big.

my current garage i have a small wood burning stove which is great for my current 400 sq feet but will be woofully uneffective in my new 1920 sqft.

not that i need my garage 80deg in the winter... but its nice to to freeze your toes off while tring to work on projects.

George2615 · Aug 28, 2006

Nice pole barn. I currently use my garage w/ 2 post lift in winter and use a salamander heater to take the chill off when needed. It has a 7 gal. oil tank and if I run full bore it heats for several hours. I don't heat the garage all the time, only when I'm working in there on a cold day. My garage is only 24x24x14H. If you use a wood burning stove and supplement with a salamander I think you'd be all set.

InlineDieselFan · Aug 28, 2006

schmism,

you have aproblem that most people would love to have!!!

I have a 42x48 shop and have been trying to figure out how to lay things out. I wish it was a 60x48 but money was a big issue. We moved out of the shop in Feb/Mar.

It could be the drawing not to scale but leave plenty of room for and aft of the lift for crew-cab sized pick-ups, and your tractor with the bucket on. It could be just the drawing but it loks to close to the wall/door.

I heat my shop with a ceiling mounted propane heater, it goes from 45-50 degrees to 70 (like I said we lived in the shop) in about 10-15 minutes.

For myself I like an 'L' or 'U' shaped area as the small machine shop bench area, my plan is for a 16' bench on one wall, then an 8' bench butted up against it. Then on the opposite wall from the 8' bench will go the drill press, grinder, parts washer. Welder, lift, big air compressor further down on that same back wall. If this makes any sence without a picture.

What you can do is lay out pieces of cardboard on the floor to place all of your stuff, this may give you a better lay out. I would keep 4' minimum to each side of the lift, and 6' minimum to the front of where the largest vehicle would sit.

Now someday to get teh money for all of my shop toys.

Is it wired yet?

steve

schmism · Aug 28, 2006

ITs got some power... currently has 30 amps of 240V

but by the end of the year i should have the new underground power run to the building which means ill have 200 amps of 240v. unfortuantly no 3 phase

ovrszd · Aug 29, 2006

Well you have the cheapest part done, the building. The expensive part is yet to come. I built my own shop and when I was to the point you are now I thought I was about done. Boy was I wrong. You have plumbing, concrete, electrical, ceiling, insulation, wall covering and lighting to do. Then you will have a big open building. You could easily spend twice what the building cost and twice as much labor. Looks like a good long term project to me!!

3RRL · Aug 29, 2006

Don't forget a good size 2 stage air compressor and a clean schematic for running all the air lines every 10 feet or so so you've got plenty of air hoses and some water bibs all around. When I laid out my 27,000 sq ft mold shop I had all electrical, water and air underground coming up into divider walls. There was nothing on the floor or overhead except the lights.
Get a rotary 3Ø converter and you're in business. That's a nice size (1800sq ft) for a shop. I recon my new shop will be about half that size but it'll have to do.

schmism · Aug 29, 2006

ya ive been reserching 2 stage compressors for a while.

phase converter is likely in the future also...

Whats your thought on air line?

my current shop i quick and dirty ran some 1/2 PVC. works well but i know most people frown on it.

copper is "easy" but expensive. Screw pipe (black pipe) works but is hard to deal with. PVC is cheep and easy to install. With some safty considerations i see no reason why it wouldnt work. (mainly keep the plastic out of the way, use either black pipe or copper for the drops)

George2615 · Aug 29, 2006

I personally would not use PVC for air line. I trust it for water line up to about 50 psi but most air compressors run at 100# or higher. Would not want PVC shrapnel flying around me while I'm working should a line blow. A friend of mine ran PVC in his garage and when a line blew on him it sent a schard of PVC into his back. He promptly replaced it with galvanized. Copper is expensive and would be too soft to use for drops (bends easily unless securely strapped). I ran 3/8" ID pnuematic air hose in my small garage. If my garage was larger I'd have run 1/2" galvanized pipe with outlets every 15' with a 1/2" flex hose to connect to the compressor. Northern tool and TSC have compressors at reasonable prices.
For your own residential type garage / shop you don't need 3 phase commercial power. 220 single phase will work fine.