# New Bedroom Shop Build



## fsts2k (Nov 9, 2020)

Hello all, 
I am in the process of building a new home and am going to build a workshop / modeling space in one of the bedrooms. I enjoy building models of all kinds including model railroad equipment for HO and G Scale. Lately I have been diving quickly into the Live Steam hobby and have many Live Steam engines which require periodic attention / maintenance. In addition I am going to start to get further into machining and plan to purchase a lathe, mill, and bandsaw in addition to a number of other tools beyond all the things I have today. 

A few things about the space:
- It is a concrete floor
- Working space is 11'8" x 12'  
- There will be a walk in closet for storage. I debated not having this framed in but believe I need to keep a closet for the bedroom for potential resale
- I have asked the builder to add in many outlets around the walls, have three per wall at this point
- Lighting will be cans augmented with additional lights mounted to workbenches


What I would like to attempt to do:
- I really like the Bedroom Machine Shop build that Wildo did: (https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/bedroom-machine-shop-build.41545/) including the bench top, I think I am going to attempt to build that
- I would like to have an assembly table on casters that I can set in the middle of the room so I can assemble from all sides
- Would like to put a small spray booth in for airbrushing
- Will be putting vacuum ports / suction for dust extraction around tools and paint booth
- Space for 3d printer
- As mentioned I like model railroading and the largest I plan to build here will be F gauge (1/22.5) so parts won't be huge


What I am working through
- I am struggling with Lathe and Mill purchase, I keep leaning toward PV-1030V as I want to limit bench space taken by lathe. Have not selected a mill. I have looked at Sherline and others; realize they all have their trade-offs
- Floor treatment, I will have vinyl flooring (looks like wood) in rest of basement
- How much of walls should have work benches around the sides
- Other things to consider

Purpose of this thread is to start to document what I am doing. Thoughts / suggestions are appreciated. I have attached a picture of the bedroom from the plans.


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## graham-xrf (Nov 9, 2020)

Do I understand this right? The room has workshop tools - and a bed?


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## fsts2k (Nov 9, 2020)

No.. it will be a workshop room inside my house. No bed


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## Cadillac STS (Nov 9, 2020)

For the floor I would leave the concrete and put on a good epoxy paint covering to be able to clean up grease and sweep up metal shavings.

Good idea about the closet for resale later. For now plan on shelving and a place for wood and metal stock.


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## mickri (Nov 9, 2020)

I wouldn't put the lathe in front of the window.  My lathe has a high window behind it.  The glare from the window makes it hard to see at times.  My lathe and mill are in a corner with the drill press between them.  This makes good use of the corner. 

 Everything in my garage shop is on wheels except for the lathe.  The mill has its own stand as do the band saws.  Everything else is mounted on 3 drawer filing cabinets.  These are handy because of the storage and they come with wheels.  Stored against the wall when not in use and pulled out when needed.  I got the file cabinets at a county auction for under $10 each.  You can't make something that cheap.




I drew your workshop to scale in Sketchup.  Played around with where to place things and came to the conclusion that only the lathe and adjacent work bench/desk should be permanent.  Everything else should be on wheels including the mill.  I centered the lathe on its wall to allow room for things to stick out of the headstock on one side and into the entry on the other.  You may never need this but it is nice to have the option. The work bench/desk seemed to be the best use of the corner space next to the lathe.  Corners are always problematic and often have wasted space.  For your assembly table I would look for a small desk.  You can often find these at garage sales or I would consider putting a top on two of the 3 drawer file cabinets.  These cabinets are 15" W x 24" D x 27" H.  Or get a rolling cabinet/tool chest from HF and put a top on it.




Always fun to see how people organize their shops.


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## Weldingrod1 (Nov 9, 2020)

Wire all your outlets with at least quads. Run a 20 amp 220 dual breaker and 4 wire romex to the boxes and wire the right outlet to one leg and the left outlet to the other leg. This is a good trick sometimes used in kitchens. I am VERY happy I did it in my shop. You can later go back and swap to a 220 v outlet anywhere you want it!
Even better, use two double breakers and alternate circuits on your wall boxes.

Also, use shuttered outlets and put them above bench height. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## fsts2k (Nov 10, 2020)

Thanks! This is awesome!

I am going to visit the space on Friday and get a bit more layout. I agree on the lathe under the window doesn't make sense


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## mickri (Nov 10, 2020)

Just noticed that you are brand new to the forum.  Welcome aboard.  Lots of knowledgeable people on here who will help you out.


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## ThinWoodsman (Nov 10, 2020)

fsts2k said:


> No.. it will be a workshop room inside my house. No bed



bigger lathe + tailstock removed + military cot clamped to ways = guest bedroom!


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## rwm (Nov 10, 2020)

My bedroom shop is 15 x 12. No matter what the room size is, it is too small.
Robert


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## fsts2k (Nov 11, 2020)

mickri said:


> Just noticed that you are brand new to the forum.  Welcome aboard.  Lots of knowledgeable people on here who will help you out.



Thanks! I have lurked on here for a while as I get my head around taking up machining as a hobby to compliment my other... umm.. hobbies



ThinWoodsman said:


> bigger lathe + tailstock removed + military cot clamped to ways = guest bedroom!



Ha, sounds like I need a few cranes to get that lathe into the room



rwm said:


> My bedroom shop is 15 x 12. No matter what the room size is, it is too small.
> Robert



I agree but living in the city constrains my space. I will be happy to have a bit more space and a real two car garage (20x22).


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## Just for fun (Jan 3, 2021)

How's the bedroom shop coming along?


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## fsts2k (Mar 1, 2021)

Slowly coming, starting to align on a few things. I tried to use sketch up but failed so this is my current somewhat to scale drawing. Thinking 2 foot deep workbench around most of outer walls. I have drawn in a PM-1228vf and a PM-728vt for a lathe and mill. I moved the lathe to the far left wall to enable room on either side although I am not convinced this is the best layout. I also wonder if the lathe is too big for the space. I still want a bench top bandsaw and room for model assembly. I have not drawn in an assembly table but I think I could make it work.
The house is about a month behind on schedule so I have not spent too much time finalizing my thinking.


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## Alcap (Mar 2, 2021)

Looking at your thread ,keeping an eye on how your laying it out because my work area in my garage is very similar in size U shaped with the center open for the tractor . How are you dealing with the corners ? Right now mine is a old wooden bench a toolbox on top but piled with stock on the shelf and floor . Heres a picture before it got out of hand


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## Weldingrod1 (Mar 2, 2021)

You can put a machinists toolbox over the lathe, especially the headstock. Shallow shelves behind and above the lathe work too. They do pick up some chips, of course. Not too badly, though. Keep them well past the lathe centerline.
Sorry, this is the best picture I could find. You can see that the tool holder shelves are well outside the swing but still really quick to access. This wouldn't work well on a BIG lathe, but then i dont want one of those ;-)
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## fsts2k (Mar 3, 2021)

Thanks, great ideas. I think right now I am mostly challenged trying to get base layout figured and where I am going to build workbenches. In the drawing I did a 24" counter, that is going to be too narrow. I am thinking a 32" workbench for the lathe and mill, then I might make the bottom counter a bit narrower. 

Currently thinking doing the "steevo" workbench like what is shown on Garage Journal which are 2" steel tubes with angle iron tying them together and a top mounted. 

If needed I can ask this question in other parts of the forum but is my thinking on the PM mill and lathe right in terms of the model? I don't want something huge but I want it somewhat flexible for future work. The lathe is the Chinese version vs the Taiwanese mill but I don't think I can step up to the size of the larger mill. 

I also need to do some type of tubing to create light suction at specific points to air out when airbrushing, soldering, glueing, etc. 

Anyway, any other ideas you all have would be great.


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## mickri (Mar 3, 2021)

The bench my lathe sits on is 30" deep.  It is so deep that it collects stuff that never seems to get moved along the back edge.  My bench top could easily be 24" deep with no problems in use.  My lathe came with the 30" deep bench top and it was easier to keep it than to make it narrower.

I looked at the specs for your lathe.  The foot print is 60" wide x 21" deep. You are going to want the back splash up against the wall.  The space behind the back splash will be useless and will collect whatever happens to fall behind the back splash.  From my limited experience you don't want the handles to be over the bench top.  So a 24" deep counter will work just fine for your lathe.

I would not permanently mount the mill.  I would have it on wheels.  In fact I would have all of your machines on wheels stored against a wall.  Some like the bench grinder, drill press and belt sander will typically not need to be pulled out to be used whereas the mill and band saw would need to be pulled out.  The assembly table should be on wheels too with a top that folds down for storage like the top on small dinning tables.

I think that you will find having corner cabinets to be a problem.  Think about the corner cabinets in a kitchen and how awkward they are to use.

Your lathe only weighs 490 lbs.  Standard kitchen cabinets with two layers of 3/4 plywood for the top would be more than strong enough to support the lathe.  Think of all of the storage space that you would have by using kitchen cabinets.

Did a 3d sketch for you to give a visual on the layout based on your latest floor plan.  Lathe and cabinets along the 12' wall with the mill on the adjacent wall.  The assembly table is under the window.  Spray booth and all of your other machines along the wall opposite the lathe.


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