Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations with your first workshop. Your workshop may be small, mine is a bit larger, but with a small lathe and milling machine you should be able to make your engines. Using the vertical space is good advice. I have small drawers underneath my bench. Journeymans workshop might give you some ideas although his workshop is larger than yours. It has also been discussed on this forum.

Thor

Edited By Thor 🇳🇴 on 17/05/2023 09:30:01

Most workshops are an evolution of needs over the years so don't put up anything too difficult to remove

Hollowpoint gives good advice, don't think vertical think horizontal, if you have a high space overhead put up support rafters for overhead storage

Enjoy your journey, it's part of the fun

One of my old magazines has a photo of a Myford built into a home-made cabinet like a writing desk, where the top and front panel hinge open to reveal the lathe and form a small bench. Drawers underneath, I think Hollowpoint's Bisleys would be better. Unlike a real writing desk, the frame was heavy timber, probably 2×4, to keep it rigid, and it may have been bolted to the wall.

If you can, store materials and infrequently used tool somewhere else! Oily metal under the marital bed is rarely acceptable, but maybe one of those Garden Storage box thing outside.

Like Nick, my workshop shares space with ladders and other DIY necessities. Fitting it all in was going to be a challenge. So I sat down with a sheet of squared paper scaled to map the available space, marked up it up with avoid areas like windows, doorways and light fittings, and then cut out scale rectangles representing the bench, lathe, mill, self and power saw (the last is important: hand-sawing can ruin the hobby because it's tedious and exhausting. Ask about saws in another question – there are options!)

Then I moved the bits of paper about, looking for fits. Having found a candidate layout, check it for gotchas. For example, mounting a lathe with its headstock tight into a corner means you can't put long stock through the spindle, have blocked access to the gear-change banjo needed for threading, and can't fit a hand-crank (useful for threading on a small lathe.) Tailstock end in a corner is mostly safe! Milling machines need more space than is obvious. because their tables move a fair distance sideways.

Another thing to watch is the space needed to install machines in the first place. A flat run through a big garage door makes it easy to move heavy equipment with an engine crane, but once inside the engine crane needs space to turn. I hot it wrong by forgetting a load of junk was stacked against the wall, so the crane couldn't complete a 90° turn. Luckily I had a Plan B!

Check out weights and sizes, for example the short bed SC3 is 40kg and the long bed model 50kg, both top-heavy. Next size up, an SC4, is 95kg, or a WM250 at 125kg. Smaller lathes and mills can be lifted by a single fit individual, but beware – machine tools are awkward, unbalanced and top-heavy. More difficult than lifting the same weight in a gym. On the other hand, an SC3-sized mini-lathe is an easy two man lift, even if both are weeds, but only if they have room to manoeuvrer. Usually best to install the most awkward items first because every addition reduces manoeuvring space.

All do-able, because heavy weights can be managed with rollers and other tricks of the trade, but trickier to do in a tight space than an empty warehouse. Especially if moving the machine from front-door into the cubby-hole scuffed SWMBO's new carpet, or squashed her cat, or otherwise enraged the boss. The execution may need some thought – as they teach in the Army, "Prior Planning Prevents Piss-poor Performance".

Have you thought of writing it up as a magazine article? How people manage in a small space is always interesting.

Dave

Hey, I am building out my workshop too! best of luck to you.#

Something that is causing me sleepless nights are my storage and racking options…

In my dads old workshop he had what I would describe as layered sliding shelves (think sliding French patio doors but shelving.racking for tools and stuff).

I massivley agree with Bisley cabinets and drawers they are solid and there are plenty on ebay that are cost effective.

A custom option that I am looking at is these style trays….

**LINK**

They are available in A4 A3 both deep and shallow. My plan is to make a custom shelving system under my workbench that I can slide these in and out of (I realise they are plastic so I am using shelves rather than rails to slide on, preventing sagging and collapsing).

For your power tools like grinder and or chop saw, you could make a flip top tool cart that you could move around…

something like this

Of the shelf (pardon the pun) stuff is great and all but nothing will utilize the space you have, more than custom solutions. it all comes down to budget, preference and creativity.

The other thing You and I need to consider is power, how and where do we install power sockets etc. personally i am planning to have mine high up so I can keep cabling tidy and mostly hidden in conduit. I can then fix any extensions to the wall lower down if needed.

As for lighting, I will be running as much LED strip lighting as I can possibly fit into the workspace

I will also be getting a de-humidifier for the workshop as breathing is wet business and I don't like rust.

Another point that might be moot for you is somewhere to hand the plans of the things I am making so I can easily reference, a Whiteboard may also be useful for notes and reminders.

Edits: Spelling and final points

Edited By Rooossone on 17/05/2023 12:33:00

Edited By Rooossone on 17/05/2023 12:34:21

Edited By Rooossone on 17/05/2023 12:36:51

I just noticed the floor, I recommend making it something pleasant to spend hours at a time on.

I use these double layered (probably excessive but it's cushy!)

Halford floor mats

these will also provide some level of protection to things when you inevitably drop them!

Edited By Rooossone on 17/05/2023 12:41:27

As suggested use the walls for storage, and if you can make them with draws to suit your needs. Better to have enclosed units as it is surprising where the swarf gets. Yes I know as I have some shelves which I need to clear off the tools to clean it off.

I like the bisley draw units especially the shallow ones for the smaller stuff as having to dig into deep draws to find something is a pain

A small workshop has to be kept tidy.

Waste no space! Clean and put back everythinbg, in the right place, after use.

Use cabinets to store the various types and sizes of hardware, toolbits, toolholders etc.

Mine is a mechanised version of Rubik's Cube. The sturdy shelves carry a lot of weight (A pile of 6 boxes of Taps and Dies, of the various types . Further along sit boxes of drills, Various metric, number and letter. Imperial live in a drawer under the Milling machine bench.

If there is a clear horizontal are, It is unlikely to remain clear and uncluttered for long!

HTH

Howard

Matt,

Looking forward to seeing progress on your workshop.

One of my old workshops was a bit smaller than yours, Bisley drawer units are a great way of storing a lot of tools in a small place.

Best of luck!

Jim

Check your town for a flooring/carpet company. I have a local one that is continually filling a skip with offcuts of new carpet and wood flooring. With such a small space I could easily just change the carpet every week instead of sweeping.

The Bisley draws will be used under the lathe on the floor and the custom made draw unit on the wall with the correct fixing to the wall it should be strong enough. Heavy tools and fitting being stored in a cupboard which will fit under the bench