Asa's 2-car garage shop

comments (3) August 18th, 2011 in blogs, Shop Tours, Workshop Floor Plans, DreamShop Summer Challenge        
AsaC Asa Christiana, editor, Fine Woodworking magazine
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When we built this house in 2000, I made a deal with my wife: No cars in the garage, in exchange for me shutting up about all decorating decisions in the house. Win-win for both of us. My shop is perfect for me: heated, insulated, and well-lit, with plenty of room for machines, work surfaces, and a big assembly area. Sorry for the mess--Im in the middle of a project (two Morris chairs).
I attached a beefy lumber rack to the studs.
I built a raised wood floor in my bench area. Its much easier on the feet and on projects Im assembling, and it separates the shop into two distinct areas.
My two best purchases have been a jointer/planer with a segmented cutterhead, and a big bandsaw.
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Shop Specs

  • Location: Thomaston, Connecticut, USA
  • Size: 600sq. ft.
  • Type: Garage
  • Focus: Furniture
  • Heating/Cooling: propane wall unit

When we built our house in 2000, I made a deal with my wife: She would get the last word on all design decisions in the house and I would get the garage to myself. That meant clearing snow off the cars in the winter, but I promised to help with that, and she took the deal. I asked the builders to make the garage slightly oversized, with engineered joists forming the attic floor. Those could span the whole 24 feet without needing any support posts that would get in the way of my workflow.

 

I installed a sealed-burner, propane-fired, wall-unit heater, and insulated the heck out of the place, leaving the attic uninsulated. I installed a set of drop-down stairs to access it.

I love my shop. It has tons of space, enough lighting to land a plane, and it heats up quickly in the winter. By the way, I covered the walls with plywood, which means I can hang stuff easily, wherever I want it. I painted the plywood white to keep the place bright. And I put in a foot-friendly plywood floor in my bench area, covering the left-side of the shop, from the edge of my tablesaw over.

posted in: blogs, Shop Tours, Workshop Floor Plans, DreamShop Summer Challenge, workshop
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Comments (3)

Andersrl Andersrl writes: Asa,
I'm planning a workshop about the same size as yours. I really like your layout and the tool groupings, table saw/outfeed/assembly table, jointer/planer, drill press/bandsaw/router table, workbench/handtools. However, it looks as if the lumber storage area is too small. How has your shop worked for you? What would you change if we're to design it over again?
Thanks,
Randy
Posted: 7:22 pm on December 23rd

AsaC AsaC writes: Will do.
Posted: 11:13 am on September 9th

NikonD80 NikonD80 writes: Sounds like you got a good deal there Asa.

How about some photos though?
(Please)
Posted: 7:22 am on September 8th

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