Replies

1. 
   SCFrankland | Jul 24, 2003 08:12pm | #1

   My shop ceiling is 9' and it is better than the 7'6" ceilingin my old shop.  With that said I never had a problem with the 7'6" ceiling, I was just used to the height. 

   Scott C. Frankland

   "This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control"

1. 
   Woodchuckle | Jul 24, 2003 08:17pm | #3

   Thanks for the suggestion.

   Woodchuckle

2. 
   forestgirl | Jul 24, 2003 08:15pm | #2

   Certainly wouldn't want it any lower than that, and would probably go for at least 12', for two reasons:  length of lumber and height of the lighting.

   Although my lumber rack stores wood horizontally, there are plenty of situations where I need to prop a piece up against a wall for a period of time.  Ten feet would be the minimum I'd want available for that purpose, and 12' would be much better, making it possible to prop the wood up as close to vertical as gravitationally possible.

   The lighting thing may be a weird personal choice.  The fluorescents in my shop are now at about 8 or 9 feet, and they glare somewhat in my eyes -- would prefer to have them up higher to prevent this.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   Woodchuckle | Jul 24, 2003 08:20pm | #4

   Thanks for the help forest girl

   Woodckuckle

3. 
   AlanTurner | Jul 24, 2003 11:58pm | #5

   How tall is the furniture you build?  Do you tenon on a TS with a tenoning jig?  If so, how long is board you are tenoning?  I heard or read that Frank Klauz, in order to cut the tenons on the ends of his workbench, just flipped it vertically, and ran it on the TS.  That makes aobut 7' + 34" or so.  I would opt for taller, if convenient.  12', and 14' would be nice too.  Aren't we all collectors?

   Alan

4. 
   RoyinMD | Jul 25, 2003 12:17am | #6

   I just put in a drywall ceiling in my 7'9-10" ceiling height, and I've already banged it about 10 times, dangit. The lights are screwed directly to the ceiling, no short chains. I'd go with 10 to 12 feet. Keep in mind the higher the ceiling the more lighting required and higher/longer dust ducting.

   Enjoy, Roy

5. 
   RANGERP75R | Jul 25, 2003 03:39am | #7

   Woodchuckle

      I think 10' to 12' is ideal. As Roy stated, too high an requires more lightning an heating capability. Too low an you get restriced as too what you can do vertically.

      Bottom line is, you will adjust to whatever height you have; no matter what height.

   sarge.jt

6. 
   DennisS | Jul 25, 2003 06:21am | #8

   10' minimum, 12' would be nice but I concur with Roy - even lighting becomes an issue. However with the higher ceiling you can go with low bay warehouse lighting and get reasonable light coverage. For my 10' ceiling I'm using high output flourescent but I think I'll add a couple of 250-300 watt halogen above the table saw. Still get some bothersome shadows.

   ...........

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

7. 
   Fritz | Jul 25, 2003 07:17am | #9

   I am in the process of building a shop and went through the same design question.  My solution was to go with 10' walls and use pole barn trusses for the roof.  I am currently framing in the top chord of the truss which I will insulate and panel the inside of with white steel (for light, ease of installation, and it doesn't hold dust) giving me about 15 feet of headroom in the center.  That way I have plenty of room to put longer lumber on end and room for storage etc.  I will hang lights off of the lateral braces along the bottom chord of the truss so they will be about 10' high.  This is an adaptation of the shop I am currently sharing and I really like the additional vertical space between each truss.  I am putting in in-floor heat so the heat will be where I am working.  We will see whether this all works as planned.   Good Luck!

   Fritz

8. 
   Manchild | Jul 25, 2003 03:01pm | #10

   I think 10 feet is a minimum. I've worked in high ceiling areas and they are better space to work in. There's more room. Not horizontally, but vertically. Most of the time you don't need it but having it there feels better to me. The sound of the space is better too I think. When I have to work in cramped quarters I feel like a bull in a china shop.

1. 
   RoyinMD | Jul 25, 2003 08:12pm | #11

   Before I put the drywall ceiling in my shop this spring I had 4 ceiling hung racks (made from ply strips) for 12' extension ladder, wood storage and crap. The soon as I distroyed them to put the ceiling in I knew I was not going to build replacements. Really opened the area up and makes it look and feel better.

   Enjoy, Roy

9. 
   LarryPile | Jul 26, 2003 05:15pm | #12

   Hi.

   I'm in process of finishing my current dream shop....24 X 40 w/10'6" ceiling on the first floor...basically 10 foot high walls on top of 6' concrete stem walls...so I get get the floor wet without messing up the rock.

   While I'm just finishing and haven't "worked" in the shop yet, all of the wood that I've purchased so far easiliy fits vertically.

   I've got lights basically screwed to the ceiling and that works well...along with doors and windows that let in light.

   If I did it again, I would change a thing....don't think any higher is necessary.

   Good luck.  I plan to post some pictures eventually.

   lp