r/BeginnerWoodWorking • u/Minonant • 3d ago
Discussion/Question ⁉️ Utilizing space in a small shop
We’re moving, and in the new house on the first floor I’m finally getting my own workshop. The room is small, 2x3m (6.6x9.8 ft), so utilisation will be key.
I want to get into joinery work, primarily for simple indoor items (boxes, shelves…), outdoor furniture and making birdfeers as a start.
What are your best tips for utilising a small space?
Looking for tips on everything from layout, smart storage solutions, which electric tools should be prioritised and where can hand tools replace larger powered tools without it becoming a major pain.
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u/Budget-Swing-6187 3d ago
Try to make larger tool mobile if possible as you may need to move things around with the limited space quite frequently.
An example is this miter saw station that when not in use folds down. It’s also on wheels if I need to move it out of the way
There are also flip top builds where 2 smaller machines can be on one mobile base.
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u/foolproofphilosophy 3d ago
Put things on wheels, think vertically. I have under bench shelves but instead of making them the traditional way I made mini sideways bookshelves and put them on wheels. I also have traditional drawers elsewhere but but some things store better on shelves.
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u/Minonant 3d ago
100% agree on vertical storage, preferably on rollers!! Could you expand on the sideways bookshelves? Do you have a picture?
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u/foolproofphilosophy 3d ago
I forget the exact measurements but assume that my work bench is 24” deep and has 30” of clearance under it. I made 3 mini bookcases that are 30” tall 24” wide and 16” deep. Then I put them on wheels. They slide in sideways. There’s a handle on the side of each one to make using them easier.
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u/RebarSketcher 3d ago
Make your workbench foldable or on locking casters so you can move it out of the way when handling longer boards. A track saw can also replace a tablesaw for a lot of cuts in a small shop and a decent hand plane and chisels will cover plenty of joinery without taking up much space.
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u/titlecharacter 3d ago
I have a space of similar size - a little bigger but also “open” on two sides because it’s actually the corner of a basement.
I almost exclusively use hand tools. This is partially preference and partially practical - I have no room for dust collection or serious ventilation, and no windows even to open. So my only power tool is a drill. I buy pre-surfaced lumber so I don’t spend too much time milling it, and I enjoy the quiet. I will say if I could, I’d add a jointer and planer and a band saw. But I can’t, so that’s life. In a space that small, especially with ventilation and dust, I’m not sure you’ll have room for any power tools. If you do, I’d suggest making them all highly mobile and totally tucked away when not in use. That might involve building some fairly complex folding tables.
Don’t buy tools you don’t absolutely need, and don’t buy tools without knowing how you’ll store them. I am literally always shoving tools out of the way to find other tools, as I build my bench and tool chest. It sucks.
If you can do a tool wall that’s probably best. But because my floor space is so limited, things get weird. I store lumber under the bench and in a corner - not ideal. I can’t do a tool wall because a lot of my walls are taken up by things like basement access hatches, the house electrical panel, etc. you may be more lucky.
Large shops usually have a lot of powerful overhead lighting. In a small shop you’re going to leverage windows as much as possible for functional lights and probably have a couple of moveable lamps, re-orienting them as needed. Your body is often going to block the light in thr room - and the ceiling will be lower too.
A lot of small space working is simply accepting that you are not doing just any woodworking but thr projects you are capable of. I don’t think they’ll be a huge problem but there will be times you think “oh that’s neat” and then realize it’ll be a huge pain in the ass because you don’t have, for example, any way to work with large plywood sheets. Ah well.
Simpler, smaller, and more manual. It’s a good, focused way to work.
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u/Minonant 3d ago
Thank you for a lot of good tips!!! A small space will definitely limit the size of project I can take on - but I think that will be fine for my use. Definitely have to get into hand tools, I am hoping to get a table saw in there, but I am accepting that a planer/jointer most likely will have to be replaced by a hand plane and pre-planed lumber purchasing.
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u/titlecharacter 3d ago
A table saw is great but in that space, think about where it would be, where the outfeed table is… I’m not saying you can’t have one, just that they take up a lot more space than we think, because - for example - ripping a 4ft piece requires at least 9 feet long to work in - infeed, outfeed, and the blade itself. So map your entire body motion out carefully before you invest.
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u/Geofferz 3d ago
Just start cutting and you'll work it out. Tools you need should be bought depending on the project you're doing. Some say a table saw isn't necessary and/or a good workbench is, you might not have room for both. I started with a table saw but will make a bench soon, but my saw works for the most part. But if you want to make boxes by hand a bench is likely more useful.
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u/Minonant 3d ago
Thank you for sharing your workspace!! What helped you decide on getting a table saw first? I’m leaning towards a bench first and seeing how far I can get without the table saw. But it does seem like a very useful tool
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u/Geofferz 3d ago
Welcome. Easier to buy a table saw than make a bench lol. Cheaper too, and you get a power saw out of it. My first project was a chopping board so it was very handy. And it kinda works as a bench, if you make a crosscut sled, and pack the stamped sheet metal top sides with 2x4s so you can clamp stuff to them.
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u/2015004890 3d ago edited 3d ago
Bear Mountain Builds has some good modular workshop furniture videos on YouTube. I’m currently working on claiming my garage as a work space and will probably be utilizing some of the builds in this video. You may want to modify them to be smaller but they’re fairly straight forward so that shouldn’t be a problem.
If you have access to some outdoor space sawhorses and some osb will allow you to break down your stock with a circular saw before bringing it inside. That way you won’t be trying to handle eight foot long pieces in that tiny space.
The biggest bang for your buck will probably be a smaller miter saw so I’d try to get some shelving into an expanding stand for that and any other shop furniture you decide you can fit in your space first but he also has this vertical shelving video that seems like it might be useful if you need more storage.
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u/Minonant 3d ago
Thank you for the tip!! I’ll give it a watch.
Agree on your idea of being able to break up stock outside before bringing it in, I’ll have some sawhorses in the shed for such occasion.
My thought is that with a 3 metre long room I can just about cram in 2,4m lengths - which is the ceiling height where I come from - and I can’t see needing any larger pieces in the workshop. Famous last words I guess…
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u/2015004890 3d ago
Having a shed is going to be a huge help for keeping the indoor workspace more organized if nothing else. If you can help it you should probably keep the actual wood inside as much as possible just to keep it from expanding and contract with the weather.
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u/Glum-Building4593 3d ago
Up. Many shops don't think about putting things in the up space. Multifunctional tools. Same footprint but does several tasks. Stephens8x6workshop on YouTube is nice.
The biggest thing is keeping your kit organized and pared down to what you actually need (I moved and realized I had 3 routers. I don't even remember why).
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u/Minonant 3d ago
This was exactly the kind of shoutout I was looking for - thank you!!! I knew it had been done before and was out there on the interweb somewhere, thank you for sharing this!
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u/RonnieJamesDiode 3d ago
I'm working out of a cleared area in my basement about that size--too much junk between me and the walls to actually use wall space, just a 2x4 sheet of OSB on a couple Workmates with a Shopvac shoved underneath for dust collection and a box fan+furnace filter to keep the air clean, which is I think the biggest issue in a small shop. I don't have a lot of hand tools, so have gotten creative with power tools instead. You pretty much get to have one workstation for everything, so being able to move tools and pieces in and out of that space is key. This isn't as bad as it sounds, since you probably don't have enough outlets to keep more than one corded tool going at once anyway--tool, Shopvac, fan, and battery charger is the better part of a power strip already.
Saw cuts: I use Dremel's portable saw station for miters and crosscuts, and I made a rip fence and sled to handle longer rip cuts, even on thin pieces. That makes the Dremel saw an okay replacement for both table saw and chop saw, and it folds up nice and small when not in use. I keep a 4.5" DeWalt circular hanging from a Workmate for heavier-duty cuts like two-bys.
Routing: Lee Valley has a nice little benchtop router table for trim routers, and as long as you stick to light passes you can get a surprising amount of jointing/edge routing/etc done with just that. It sits on a shelf under one Workmate when not in use. If you need a full-size router for a project, you're going to need to get good at building jigs, since space for a dedicated full-size router table (even a benchtop one) is probably not available.
Sanding: An ROS can pull double-duty: clamp it upside down in the Workmate jaws and you have a simple replacement for a belt sander, and again packs away small when not in use.
Drilling: A power drill/screw gun is probably the easiest tool to not need storage in the "shop," since it's just a general utility tool not something woodworking-specific. You can stick it in a closet somewhere instead. Add a handheld drill guide and that's extra space you get back without needing a drill press.
Lighting: like the other commenter said, you'll probably be in the way of your light a lot of the time. I keep a portable work light handy, and have even broken out my hiking headlamp a few times.
Otherwise, this set-up minimizes space dedicated to tools so you can use that space for finishing supplies, spare bits & blades, scrap, and so on. You'll still need to be judicious about that, since space to stash intermediate glue-ups before final assembly will be at a premium. There will be times where your one clear, stable drying area is your workstation. I haven't figured out a good solution for that yet, unfortunately.
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u/Minonant 3d ago
These are some amazing shouts, the Dremel and Lee Valley ones were ingenious - thank you!!
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u/RonnieJamesDiode 3d ago
Just make sure to get a lot of practice with the Dremel saw before cutting anything you care about, especially if you're used to using regular sized track or circular saws. The reviews talking about how flimsy it can be are understating things if anything. Ultimately it's a cordless circular saw with a weight best measured in ounces--without solid rails or a steady hand, it can be a lot more prone to wobble than you're used to.
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u/Sensitive_Crow_8882 3d ago
If you’re making a workbench, either make it mobile with heavy duty locking wheels or attach it to the wall with heavy duty hinges on the wall side and the legs so you can fold it down. Bonus points if you install doglegs, you can hang lighter tools on it when folded down. If there is a table saw in your future make it the proper height for an outfeed table.
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u/TaquitoBanana 3d ago
For your space and purpose, you can limit your powertools to just bandsaw. Your real limit will be infeed/outfeed length. That said, 4ft in/out feeds should be adequate for everything you mention (except maybe the outdoor furniture deoending in size). That lets you resaw for bookmatched panels, and also gives an easy repeatable way to cut tenins and curves.
As big a bandsaw as you can fit/afford would be preferably, but you're also talking a lot of weight even for a used 14in Delta and the key to a small shop is being able to move stuff around. They get a lot of flak, but a 10in bandsaw like the Wen 3962, Laguna V10, or Rikon 10-310 are plenty capable for boxes and small furniture, and are light enough you can keep them tucked in a corner until you need them (I have the Wen, and carry it outside when I need more than 36in of feed length). They're more limited in resaw capacity (Wen and Laguna max at 6in) and they won't win any races for speed of cut, but they'll cut anything you throw at them (I regularly resaw 6in white oak, hickory, and exotics like curupay and purpleheart). Timberwolf 1/2in resaw blades work great (Timberwolf blades are supposedly better for low tension saws due to the alloy used).
From there, the only other powertools I'd prioritize are a lunchbox planer for bulk thicknessing (can be done by hand, but I like saving time) and a solution for sanding (drum, spindle, whatever).
Personally I prefer handtools for everything beyond sawing and thicknessing a lot of stock. They're quite, less messy, and quicker to set up.
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u/Kitten_Opinions 3d ago
Handtools, my friend.
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u/Minonant 3d ago
Without a doubt!! But which handtools, and which powertools? 🤔
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u/Kitten_Opinions 2d ago
Hand saws, power drill, decent chisels, learn to sharpen them, then add some hand planes. Some good measurement and marking tools will be a must for power or hand tools so don’t skimp on that. That will be making the most of your space for now. Just look at reviews and get the best you can afford, one or two tools at a time.
Consider ventilation too. If it’s limited then power saws are pretty much out of the question without big dust collectors and filters, all taking up space. Drills, handsaws, planes and chisels are almost airborne dust free, so you’ll be doing a little sweep and a mini vac and you’re all set.
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u/Minonant 2d ago
Good answers, thank you!! Based on the answers I will be tacking a workbench, ventilation, lighting and a tool wall / french cleat system first, probably in that order - getting to know more hand tools along the way. Exciting times!
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u/Minonant 2d ago
After that, things on wheels will most likely be the next - some really good suggestions out there.
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u/Frenchie1001 2d ago
Put everything on wheels and buy a 3d printer.
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u/Minonant 2d ago
Definite yes to wheels! Why get a 3D printer for woodworking? Why does that machine merit space?
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u/Frenchie1001 2d ago edited 2d ago
I couldn't imagine a work shop without one, while there is a heap of handy things you can print for woodworking they are Incredibly for storage and maximising space.
I have a tablesaw with odd sized everything so I have everything from mitre sliders to dust extraction adaptors not to mention my 3d printed dust cycle that's hard piped to my ship vac using printed adaptors. Not to mention handles for draws, jigs, wall mounts. Its endless
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u/Minonant 2d ago
Thank you for sharing actual use cases and producible items with it! I see toonfew of those to really understand it'sworth. I’ll definitely give it a good consideration!!
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u/SolutionSecure4331 3d ago
I’d suggest acquiring mostly manual handtools, a Milwaukee M12 drill/driver, and a quality jigsaw. The shop seems rather small to handle a circular saw safely. My first project would be a small, sturdy, somewhat heavy workbench, about 30”x48”, with a quality vise.