if you have a small shop and are feeling jealous of all those warehouse workshops you see on the youtubes then i'll show you how to layout and organize your small shop to make it feel like a big shop except without as much walking around having a shop that is well laid out and organized will expand its capabilities making more efficient and make shop time much more enjoyable [Music] let's start with what you really need to have in your shop versus what you can store elsewhere or eliminate completely if you can minimize what's in your shop you can maximize the capabilities of the tools that you really need and give you the most space to work on your projects prioritize the stationary tools you use the most and what's the tool that you use the most when you're in your shop is it your band saw is it your planer it's your table saw isn't it nope it's your workbench just because you have a small shop doesn't mean you have to compromise on your workbench you're going to be spending 95 of your shop time at your workbench so its placement needs to be priority selecting which stationary tools are most important for a small hobbyist workshop will ultimately come down to what kind of projects you do and let's be real it is very difficult to do large projects in a small shop so that can guide us in deciding which tools we can eliminate for example a miter saw excels in cross cutting long boards to length but since we're not making large projects a table saw can make all of our cross cuts for us and probably a bit more accurately too and that's why i don't have a miter saw in my tiny shop with that in mind we can also think about tools that have overlapping functions to help you decide what you truly need versus what is nice to have another example that i've been thinking of recently is removing my drill press from my shop since i can most likely achieve 80 of what a drill press can do with a hand drill and one of those guides again this thought is based on the projects that i do in my shop and i realize more and more that a drill press is just not essential for the projects that i make this example may not apply to you but it's the thought process that counts is there a smaller version of a tool that you can get by with sometimes yes sometimes no for instance i have a 20 gallon air compressor in the storage closet that always gets forgotten because i only use it on the rare occasion that i bring out my brad nailer but i can ditch the whole compressor and buy a cordless nailer so i should probably do that yet at the same time i have a 12 inch jointer and a 16 inch planer are there bench top versions of these tools sure am i willing to compromise on my milling machines no some may say that you should have some duplicates of tools so you can save some steps when you're working in your shop like having your drill bits at your drill press but then having the same drill bits also at your hand drills it makes sense for a large shop but we're talking small shops here and you cannot tell me that taking two steps to grab your drill bits is more of an inconvenience than having extra space for a tool that could potentially boost your productivity [Music] you've all heard that you need casters on all of your tools and cabinets and while it definitely does help it's not going to solve all of your layout issues in fact i hate it when i have to pull out a machine every time i have to use it coming up with a smart layout can save you a lot of time and hassle when your shop time is limited an easy way to get started planning your shop is to use graph paper and create a drawing to scale of the walls the doors and any other obstacles in your space you can then cut out scaled versions of your stationary tools and your work surfaces to see where you can make things work start by placing your workbench where it'll work the best remember this is your number one most used tool so it gets priority now my number one and my number two my workbench and my table saw are really a single unit since my workbench doubles as an outfeed table for my table saw so i place them in a position where i get the most infeed and outfeed possible kind of in the center of the room this goes for most of the other stationary tools as well place them in such a way that it'll get the maximum in feed and outfeed possible doors may seem like an obstacle to work around but they can also provide an opportunity i've purposely set up my table saw such that i can open the door to the storage room behind me to increase the max length that i can rip my planer can also be oriented so that i can open other doors and increase the max length of board i complain furthermore don't think you can't place a tool on an angle in your shop angling can also increase the max in feed and outfeed length available since a rectangular room is longer when you measure it from corner to corner thanks to mr pythagoras i find looking at your shop's layout on graph paper can only take you so far with a bird's eye view we live in a 3d world and a small shop has to not only have a smart floor plan but it also must maximize all available volume within you can model your shop in a 3d program like sketchup and i totally did that for mine but it's not necessary if you don't want to venture down that road [Music] you can reduce clutter and increase storage options for essential tools and supplies in your shop that you need close at hand by eliminating wasted space that may be consumed by items that you truly don't need nearby or even poorly designed shop furniture that doesn't give you any storage opportunity as crazy as it sounds the biggest culprit of wasting volume in a small workshop in my opinion is wood one of the biggest reality checks when i started my own shop is when i brought home a hundred board feet of maple i got for super cheap and i realized that i had absolutely nowhere to put it realistically your small shop is not the ideal place to store wood if it's taking up room that you could otherwise use for tools you may have other options like storing wood in a shed or in a crawl space but for the most part you might just need to simply buy the amount of wood needed for each project as they come scraps can get burnt for firewood or turned into shower cutting boards but they can also get way out of hand really quick so if you are of the packrat persuasion you have to be cutthroat about getting rid of scraps a wall mounted lumber rack could instead be used for a french cleat wall that'll make you more efficient when working a scrap bin could be a cabinet to organize your sanding supplies you know what is another huge waste of space those cheap tool stands that are made out of pressed sheet metal whose only function is to raise the tool up to a semi-acceptable working height if you're frodo baggins but i can't carry you and it does that in a fairly rickety manner i might add there is so much wasted volume under them it's insane and it can be better used for add
