New Workshop, Finally!

[David2011]

When we left SE New Mexico we left behind a good workshop of almost 1300 sq feet. It had plenty of electrical service, natural gas, a half bath and three nice rooms that were air conditioned and heavily insulated. Settling in Texas we bought a place where we could build a small shop. After a year of living in the new house it looks like the groundbreaking of the new shop will be Wednesday, Aug 19. The slab is only 20x21 but I'll have some space upstairs for a loading and casting area. I may have to use the Dillons sitting down because the headspace isn't there to put them on my old 42" tall bench. I've only used the Dillons while standing since I got my first one in 1991. At least I'll be back in the reloading bidness.

The design has been under refinement since last fall. I've spent countless hours learning a new CAD program and redrawing the shop until I think it's the best it can be for the space. The lower floor will be for building RC airplanes and other woodworking. I've built and flown model airplanes since I was 10 and now I'm retired. I hope to replace the mill and lathe I sold when we moved eventually.

One detail I still haven't decided is whether to put OSB or sheet rock on the walls. No doubt, sheet rock will look nicer but the utility of being able to hang items of moderate weight anywhere on OSB has a lot of appeal. What do you think?

[dangitgriff]

I personally don’t care for the look of bare OSB, but it can be painted.
Saw a video of a guy who made a whole-wall hanging system using strips of wood run across the entire length of the wall, enabling him to customize every shelf and bin, and to swap locations and rearrange it easily. I bet this method would be perfect for your smaller woodworking shop. I will come back and add the video when I find it.
R/Griff

[dangitgriff]

Okay, after a quick search I learned the correct terminology for that style of shelving, it’s called the French cleat system. Here’s a YouTube video on building them:

https://youtu.be/lzd0dxziyIs

[MrWolf]

I went the route of sheetrock then pegboard in the garage. Every wall is covered in pegboard.

[David2011]

The appeal of French cleats on a wall is growing on me. Lots of woodworkers utilize them either as individual strips or as entire walls like the one in the video. Unfortunately that would cost about $150 for every 12 feet of wall that's covered that way. In the first shop I built the walls were covered in 1/4" pegboard. I've tried to use it in other shops as well in smaller quantities but almost every time I take something off of a hook the hook comes out of the pegboard. I saw an area that had been covered in OSB and then had 3 coats of Kilz rolled onto it. That much Kilz was thick enough that the walls looked like textured drywall. It looked good but rolling on that much Kilz would take a lot of time and money. Probably 20 gallons for the shop but it's a way to make OSB look decent. My last shop had textured drywall for the gunsmithing room and the reloading room. No issues with drywall there but all of my woodworking machines were in the open area of the metal building so there wasn't anything on the walls.

[nun2kute]

Okay, after a quick search I learned the correct terminology for that style of shelving, it’s called the French cleat system. Here’s a YouTube video on building them:

https://youtu.be/lzd0dxziyIs

my great father liked pegboard, me not so much. made mine all from re-claimed wood with dados and used BLO for finish. if your building your shop new, the French cleat system has the added benefit of being highly customizable to the way you work. that video was very interesting, and the ones after it gave some good pointers about how NOT to do it.

[glaciers]

In my loading room I used plywood and then hung rock on it. No need to make something to span from stud to stud just screw right in anywhere. In my shop it's painted plywood, OSB gets rough over time especially if you're in a high humidity area. My shop will get Sheetrock at some point if I live that long.

Peg board sucks except in small area for a specific use.

[country gent]

Having been thru what you are starting for the last year with new building and shop inside heres my thoughts increase size to 40 x 42 they gill up way to fast when machines are involved. I put Plywood up on the walls my new building is 40 X 50 X 10 the shop is 17 x 30 x 10. Shop is insulated air and heat.

You didnt mention doors If no garage doors then use the biggest entry doors you can. My front entry door is a double 6' in line with the 8' pocket door to the shop. The back door is a 4' single door. the big doors make moving machinery and stock in or finished projects out much easier. Also consider windows and placement. Anther is air supply a manifold placed in the floor ceiling supply both with compressed air thru connectors in the walls, this makes it so only short air hoses are needed and no hoses on the floor to walk over, Electrical outlets figure what you need and add 1/3 more or double them. 110 and 220. My machines are hard wired in 2 from drops in the ceiling Lights outlets are in the ceiling also. I highly recommend knowing what and where you want it before starting.
Mine has been nick named the BOAT ( Bust Out Another Thousand)

[shell70634]

Electrical outlets figure what you need and add 1/3 more or double them. 110 and 220.

I made that mistake in the first shop. Remembered the lesson when I built the second one. Living in Baytown, you may want to look at de-humidifiers especially if you have areas without a/c.

I used osb bottom 4 feet and white 1/4 pegboard for the upper walls. They make small plastic clips to keep the pegs in. The white pegboard and shiny white ceiling panels help reflect light.

Shelly

[rancher1913]

if osb gets hard to find you could use the metal wainscot panels, they have a more commercial look but are tough and easy to replace when damaged. like country gent said, if you can make it bigger at the get go, its cheaper than add ons later, even if it means doing less refinements on the inside right away.

[Mal Paso]

I won't use OSB or particle board for any projects. They are heavier than plywood and won't stand humidity.

I used plasterboard in my shop. No spotting screws, it's a one coat process with plaster that sets rather than mud that dries. So glad I insulated it.

[jsizemore]

Drywall is fine if you keep the space air conditioned. Living in a place called Baytown I imagine your humidity is on the high side. Exterior grade OSB will stand up just fine in a garage. If you like standing when you load, try building 4'x4'x3.5' high box on rollers for your bench so you can turn it to get the high spot for stand up loading. I like standing to reload.

[country gent]

My dislike with plasterboard or drywall in a shop setting it moving stock and heavy items a mis move and bump youve got a hole your walls

[David2011]

my great father liked pegboard, me not so much. made mine all from re-claimed wood with dados and used BLO for finish. if your building your shop new, the French cleat system has the added benefit of being highly customizable to the way you work. that video was very interesting, and the ones after it gave some good pointers about how NOT to do it.

The video showed a great way to set up French cleats. I've seen it done in many videos; that was the best layout method so far. I agree, lots of bad examples on YouTube, too.

In my loading room I used plywood and then hung rock on it. No need to make something to span from stud to stud just screw right in anywhere. In my shop it's painted plywood, OSB gets rough over time especially if you're in a high humidity area. My shop will get Sheetrock at some point if I live that long.

Peg board sucks except in small area for a specific use.

I did sheetrock over OSB in some areas of my last shop. Don't think I need it here.

Having been thru what you are starting for the last year with new building and shop inside heres my thoughts increase size to 40 x 42 they gill up way to fast when machines are involved. I put Plywood up on the walls my new building is 40 X 50 X 10 the shop is 17 x 30 x 10. Shop is insulated air and heat.

You didnt mention doors If no garage doors then use the biggest entry doors you can. My front entry door is a double 6' in line with the 8' pocket door to the shop. The back door is a 4' single door. the big doors make moving machinery and stock in or finished projects out much easier. Also consider windows and placement. Anther is air supply a manifold placed in the floor ceiling supply both with compressed air thru connectors in the walls, this makes it so only short air hoses are needed and no hoses on the floor to walk over, Electrical outlets figure what you need and add 1/3 more or double them. 110 and 220. My machines are hard wired in 2 from drops in the ceiling Lights outlets are in the ceiling also. I highly recommend knowing what and where you want it before starting.
Mine has been nick named the BOAT ( Bust Out Another Thousand)

The shop would be bigger if I could. There's no space to make it bigger. The location of utilities coming into the existing garage are one limiting factor; easements are another. Last shop was 36'x36' so I have to live with what I can do. That's just a price of moving close to my aging parents that I'm happy to pay. This shop is attached to the back of my 3 car garage which has an 8'x8' door in the back of the garage that will separate the shop from the garage. It will remain functional for ease of moving machinery and materials in and out. The air supply will be PEX set on the surface just in case it needs changes or maintenance. The compressor will be in a store room in the garage on its own circuit. There will be a 110VAC duplex outlet on every other stud (16" centers) and outlets in the ceiling for LED lighting and the air filtration. There will be two separate lighting circuits controlled from wall switches. For 220 service I'll have a dedicated circuit for the welding machine, one for the air conditioner and two outlets for the table saw and dust collector. Planning has been ongoing for many months so I have a pretty good idea of what will go where.

Electrical outlets figure what you need and add 1/3 more or double them. 110 and 220.

I made that mistake in the first shop. Remembered the lesson when I built the second one. Living in Baytown, you may want to look at de-humidifiers especially if you have areas without a/c.

I used osb bottom 4 feet and white 1/4 pegboard for the upper walls. They make small plastic clips to keep the pegs in. The white pegboard and shiny white ceiling panels help reflect light.

Shelly

No chance of going without air conditioning. It was dry here today; the humidity was only 55% at the heat of the day and it was 94°. Heat index was 103°. I just don't like pegboard. I have the small plastic clips. Still don't like it for myself but can't say I'll never use any.

[David2011]

Drywall is fine if you keep the space air conditioned. Living in a place called Baytown I imagine your humidity is on the high side. Exterior grade OSB will stand up just fine in a garage. If you like standing when you load, try building 4'x4'x3.5' high box on rollers for your bench so you can turn it to get the high spot for stand up loading. I like standing to reload.

I like standing to reload on progressives but there's no headroom for a 650 on a bench where I'll be reloading. To stay within the height of my existing garage I can only manage to get 72" in the upstairs "storage" loft. Guess I should have designed in a cupola and widow's walk for more headroom. You're right; I'm 6 miles from Galveston Bay. I have friends not too far away that live in Beach City. You guessed it!

[country gent]

To gain a little cushion in the electrical my mini split comes of the house circuit taking that 20-30 amps off the 100 amp garage circuit. With the rotary converter for the big lathe and lathe running an air compressor and possibly the furnace air kicking in I may be close to the 100 amps at times.

Something to consider on the electrical equipment and supply. Check the equipment for peak amperage and add up any combinations that may be running together at the same time to make sure your under the supply.

[Ozark mike]

Id put efis or stucco over ply since i can't bring myself to recommend osb

[redneck1]

You could use the steel interior duro liner , its a good bit cheaper then what the exterior steel siding /roofing is .
Its durable , already painted and no more difficult to put up then anything else .


I have a 21x21 shop .. You can be surprised by how much stuff you can cram in with some thought on how you wanna use everything .
Putting some things on wheels so you can move it around helps to .

[bedbugbilly]

Congrats on your plans for a new shop finally coming together! You'll enjoy it greatly I'm sure.

Over the years, I have had a number of "shops" to work in. I started out with a 20 X 40 shop at my house when I started my custom woodworking/millwork shop and luckily, had a 20 X 40 shop at my folk's house 1/2 mile away that I could use as well. Both were lined with OSB - painted a basic white. Like you say, it's convenient to be able to put up hangers, hooks, etc. anywhere you want to to hang things on. When I built my shop in town - about 2,500 square feet - I decided to line the shop with rough sawn ship-lap - it was a woodworking shop after all and I wanted the "aesthetics" look of an old time shop - and I design the building on the outside to look the same way.

I was on the fire department at the time and those things always stick int he back your mind - "what if". When I built the shop in town, I was on village water system and I plumbed a 1" water line to both ends of the shop with a valve and a heavy duty hose/nozzle coiled on a hanger where it could quickly be turned on if needed and each hose was long enough to go the length of the building.

I eventuallyy closed my business and rented the building out. Unfortunately, I had a tenant who leased the building and couldn't "make it" so he torched the building and as a result, considerable damage was done - but fortunately, the FD got the fire knocked down and I was able to have the building repaired.

My point is this - when I built the building I was "young" and looking back, "very foolish" when I lined the interior with the shiplap - yea - it looked great - but certainly not fireproof. When the shop in town was rebuilt, I opted to have the entire interior lined - walls and ceilings - with 5/8 firecode drywall.

If you are going to be doing woodworking and plane building - I'm sure you will not only have the sawdust issues but also be working with different adhesives - some of which are flammable as well as a variety of finishes. You might want to consider and compare the costs on OSB versus firecode drywall as far as lining the walls and for your ceiling in you shop. If, heaven forbid, a fire ever got started in your shop - the firecode drywall might make the difference between keeping the fire contained until your local FD can get there to knock it down as opposed to losing the entire structure and contents. Your studs will still be behind your drywall and a commercial type shelving/hanging system, installed over it or you can run horizontal boards such as 1 X 4, 1 X 6, etc. on a wall to which you can attach hooks, hangers, etc. to hold tools, patterns, fixtures, etc.

A lot of things to consider and it sounds like you have spent a lot of time in planning it all out. The nice thing is that you are starting from scratch and design it for you and what you want to do. Good luck with your build and I hope you'll post some photos as it moves along - always nice to see what others do. Enoy your retirement and new home - you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of your new shoo!

[David2011]

BedBugBilly makes lots of sense. I have decided that OSB is not a good choice. I can make French cleat panels and hang them where necessary. My first choice of wall material would be birch plywood finished with satin polyurethane but that would cost more than I'm willing to spend and would take a week to finish. A week isn't much on the grand scheme but I'm ready to get my tools out of storage and start making things like shop cabinets.

Lots of the YouTube woodworking people have shiplap, pallet wood or other wood coverings behind them but for the most part those are just sets for the videography.

I rarely use adhesives that are flammable. My favorite glues are the Titebond series for both big stuff and the airplanes. I use epoxy when necessary; very little of anything else. I do miss the Ambroid that many of us used as kids, especially peeling it off of my fingers.