The Other Another shop project

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ROBsSON

ROBsSON

Yeah thats my dad
10 Year
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Threads
41
Messages
1,271
Location
North Carolina
Well we were able to work out some clearing with the builders yesterday and they knocked out this little spot in no time for the shop. So I planted a shop seed and hope to see something grow soon.
Made this thread cuz I don’t wanna ask a crap ton of questions in other threads on what other people may have done and liked reading through @fourtrax thread and some some good ideas, maybe i can come up with one for someone on here too or just learn from what I mess up on. haha




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Add a lean-to if you have room. Good to have covered storage and the lean-to isn't a bank breaker. Also, if you think you will ever want a lift, then I would look at required clearances (12' I think is what most recommend).

I like shop build threads. Sub'd.
 
@jynx
lean-to will be an addition later on off both sides more than likely to accommodate extra cruiser or cruisers haha, but for now I’m try to get as much size as budget will allow.

im waiting to get some numbers back now on goingto 12ft tall depending on how much of a difference it is go that route but I can live with working on jack stands if it means I’ve got enough room to have a welding/ fab area for the shop.



Talked to the builders and are going to look into upgrading to a 400amp service and they are going to drop the panel box on the back corner of the houses garage about 50’ from the shop. I would like to have a 3 phase connection in my future for a lathe or mill.
 
Make sure your electrician sets you a true 2-section panel. We did a 400A and the dang electrician set 2 -200A panels and loaded them in such a way that I cant add any significant load to either one. One is loaded with small stuff and has no spare slots and the other one has all the high amp stuff.. I am having a separate panel set for mine but it's too far and there is too much rock for me to get from the house to the shop. You look like you've got some good dirt so easy digging.

Lean-to are easy to add. Just make sure you think about that when you place your doors. And how high your doors will be in relation to your eve height, head space over the doors for future rafters to attach, Etc.
 
Really good suggestions so far. For me personally, I’d choose a smaller space with 12’ walls vs 10’ and more sqft.

Also, after living with a deep vs wide space, I think I’ll go wider for my next shop. It’s way to easy to box in a vehicle with random craigslist purchases while your working on something...ask me how I know!

22’ would be the absolute minimum depth with something like 26’ being much better. My Chevy is 18’ so that doesn’t leave much space in front for things like toolboxes, shelves etc.
 
Agree with depth. If your building a shop to work on stuff, you need to be able to get around the project. Also as @S4Cruiser said you want some working room. And junk placement can definitely take over if you're not careful. Believe me it so amazing the first day, then no matter how careful you are, it's all downhill from there.
 
Definitely want to go wider with less depth, 30x30 is on special but I’m trying to talk to a few different builders hope to hear good news back from someone soon.

I did get back from a few that 12’ would only be 1000-1500 more so seems kinda worth it in the long run.

@jynx thanks got the heads up on the panel set up I’ll definitely be asking about that and make sure we don’t do the same.
Good news is i won’t be able to buy anything new of craigslist for a while after we get this so clutter should take over to quick

@S4Cruiser so far 24x40 looks like it’ll be the best option hoping we can not kill the budget going to 12’ will be deep enough for the 60 and anything else I’ll bring in and still have enough room to work on projects in the corner
26x40 (meant to be 24x40)
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30x30 layout Leaning toward this because the lean-tos would be easier to do
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No doubt that this will evolve and change as it goes along but this is kind of what I see it being. I want the side entry for maybe a car, mower, tractor go kart whatever it may be other two would be for storage/lift work but may put the lift on the side entry just since that would be main project area.

-4’x5-6’ welding table/ rolling work bench
-storage cabinets/light work bench for things I don’t need to beat the crap out of.
-air compressor in the middle
-welder behind the door.
-Tool box next to the door
-some sweet peg board somewhere to hang stuff and pretend I’m organized for the first few weeks.
 
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22' isn't deep enough for a working shop imo. 30' deep is what I've got and it's workable, but not roomy (yes I have too much s***).

30x40 possible? Either 30 wide or 40 wide would be perfect IMHO

Edit: when pricing out three phase service from your Elec company, keep in mind that a full blown 10hp rotary converted three phase setup is around 3k, if it's similar to what I did at least.
 
Build the biggest space that you can afford! No matter what you build it will seem too small to you in short order. 22' is very short when you compare to the length of a vehicle. You'll want benches and space for tool boxes on the back wall. 12' even is still low for a lift. My shop is just at 12' with the Styrofoam insulation, had to cut holes in it for the towers to fit and the cross bar rubs on the Styrofoam.
 
For reference our first one, we built ourselves is 28x40 with 10' ceilings and a 12' lean-to along the back. I did 10' ceilings so as to not entice me to put a lift in it. We built it to use for storage while we were in an apartment while we built. Size is decent, but since it started out full of crap it never really had a chance.

We just finished a 40x60 with 14' ceilings and a 15' lean-to along the back. I have a thickened/reinforced slab section for a lift. We still have to get the electricity to it (new 200A 1PH service) and insulation in and finish walls out.

And even though the second one isn't even complete, we already have 5 trucks, a tractor and a camp trailer in it and I already find myself stumbling around things... all that to reinforce the "build as much as you can reasonably afford" statements. Again, reasonably is the key. You can alway add on or add another one down the road. Also, I'm not a good reference as we currently have 10 trucks and are going to pick up 2 more this weekend, so if your a normal person, you should be just fine with 30x30 or 30x40 with future lean-tos.

Also, on the electrical side, not sure what the difference in a 3PH service is vs a 1PH (both initial and monthly base) but with VFD technology these days, it is possible to take a 1PH line and put it into a VFD and power a 3PH motor. Just have to put more into the VFD on the 1PH side. Also, make sure you check on the installation costs. Around here the electric utility give you the first 300' +/- of 1PH for free and you pay per foot after that. Our house is about 1400' off the road and I think it was like $3/ft past their 300'. I have priced 3PH for some clients at work and to extend 3PH is usually pretty expensive, like alot. So depending on how far you are from the main, or if the 3PH main stops a few miles from you, then it could cost a small fortune just to get it back to you.
 
NCFJ said:
Build the biggest space that you can afford! No matter what you build it will seem too small to you in short order. 22' is very short when you compare to the length of a vehicle. You'll want benches and space for tool boxes on the back wall. 12' even is still low for a lift. My shop is just at 12' with the Styrofoam insulation, had to cut holes in it for the towers to fit and the cross bar rubs on the Styrofoam.
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X2 on all of that. No matter how big you build it, you’ll always wish it was bigger. Also 12’ would def be a bare minimum, especially if you plan on staying here long term. You don’t want spend the next 30 years saying to your self “ oh man I wish I had built that a foot higher or built that a foot longer”, even if it means putting it off for a little while, build it exactly as you’ll need it. I had a shop that was 100x100 with 16’ doors, the application was quite different, but I wished it was bigger once I got to using it. When I bought it I thought there was no way I would ever run out of room.
 
VFDs get expensive very quickly as you get into larger HP models, and have other restrictions with certain types of loads. Used to have one on my mill and it would start really slow, or not at all if cold in the shop. Couldn't really power feed, because using the drum switch on the machine would trip the VFD and require you to power down to get it to work again. On the other hand, I still use a VFD on a set of squirrel cage fans in the garage for circulation, and it works wonderfully.

That said, I started with VFDs (cheap), realized I didn't like them, and that I wanted more three phase machines, so I moved up to a rotary setup.

TL;DR: VFDs are good for some types of loads, but not great for others.
 
Well looks like we might be limited for a while in size because of the location of the repair field and we don’t want a gravel road running though the back yard.
Waiting in approval from the health department but looking like 26x40x12 will be my max, we have a architecture committee that didn’t want out area having metal shops but I just got approval today as Long as it doesn’t interfere with septic fields or is viewable to the other neighbors and color matches the house. Now trying to get a quote from a few builders on concrete

Good news is I plan to build a lean to off the back and side one will eventually be walled in and that will be my extra space the back will be likely for parts and misc.

For now I’m happy with the size just because I’m going from a driveway with no carport so I’m exited also I have only 1 car that will be in the shop so that’ll be nice at least for now. And having the ability to build off of it later.
 
If 26x40 is your max, and you plan to some day have a lift, I recommend you go 40' deep, with the main door(s) along the 26' wall. 26' deep is enough for a car on a lift, but not for a car on a lift with room on both ends, with workbenches and stuff.
 
i would have gone bigger if i had more room. if you go with something like what i got you could always take down an end wall and make it longer in the future. just lay it out with that in mind.
 
A shop is like a gateway drug... once you have one, you will suddenly find you need things you never knew even existed ;)
 
@GLTHFJ60 thats the plan I want the lift to come in from the side where I only have the one garage door that way I can get in there with a welder or whatever I need and hopefully have enough room, I wanna keep 6’ from the post to the wall. I know it’s not a crazy amount but I think that’ll do the trick for what I need.

@fourtrax I’m definitely going to leave room for a bigger shop in the future but for now this will do later down the road the additional shop add ons will come after some more grading and fill dirt is bought in for that section.

@jynx I thought landcruisera were bad enough ...$h!t.....
 
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