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Lets see your work shop

218KR

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Hopefully a future builder someday soon. I'm planning on building an RV8, but not starting for a couple more years honestly. Gotta get everything all squared away before I take the plunge. First thing that needs to happen is to build a garage/shed/workshop. I have the advantage of designing/building this thing from scratch so I want to do it up right so that I can enjoy the build phase. Ideally, I'd like to have plenty of room, a small area for the fam and friends to hangout and obviously a functional workshop that is comfortable and enjoyable. If the work area is miserable, then I think that would make it that much easier to just not wanna go out and work. So, all of that being said, how would you design yours? How would you set it up as far as functionality to be efficient with tool placement etc? Lets see what ya got! I'm thinking 32'x42ish give or take for the entire building. The work area for the RV would be about 24'x32 with the current napkin sketch that I have now. Lets see some shop pics and of course, opinions/advice is welcomed!
 
Shop

A photo of my shop wouldn't help much. Only one bench stays put. It has the electric tools mounted. The other two EAA benches and airplane parts move as the job requires. That said, I agree with the others. No shop is too big. Build what you want for the way you like to work. I've seen airplanes built in huge hangars with mini bar areas and one in a Conex conainer. Both smile the same.
 
Thanks guys. Yes, I'm already making it bigger than originally planned just to have more room for the unanticipated things. It's not terribly expensive to make it a little bigger here and there right now, and that will pay off later I think. Just to clarify, this is NOT a "show me how nice your shop is" contest. This post is to see what ideas are out there. I don't care how nice your shop is, I just want to see the efficiency of it. What works well and what doesn't. Thanks gents.
 
Just me

I have three car garage and it is barely big enough. The trouble with building at home is that the garage is never just for the plane. My space saver was to put the drill press, grinder and belt sander on a lazy susan; this worked out well. My dilemma is now where to store all the big parts in the finishing kit, like canopy, cowling, etc. so think about storage space
 
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Size isn?t everything

From your post, I see you?re in central IL, not quite the cold climate of western Wi, but I?d imagine the cold days are plentiful this time of year. I?ve been building on and off for 6 years, on most of the time, off as in a few trips overseas as an expat to help pay for this hobby. In the 6 years of the build, it was getting time to move from a garage into a hangar, and luck and life circumstances allowed me to purchase a hangar this past year. While in winters past I would transition into anything I could do inside, such as deburring any part Van?s sent (first winter?s inside project in the basement), or building FlyLED boards (2 winters ago), my garage wasn?t very well insulated so heating was ineffective at best. Now that I have a heated hangar, the work doesn?t have to slow down even if the temperatures dip below zero (yes we?ve had some of those already this year), and it seems, at least to me, that I?m knocking things off the list at a fevered pace. So size aside, make sure your shop is a comfortable place to work.

If you are close to an airport (I?m a 5 minute drive), I?d consider that too. More than once I?ve borrowed tools/ or grabbed supplies from others right at the airport while waiting for an ACS order to come in. Also, when I?m at the hangar, I tend to work with more focus than I did when at the house, as there?s less distractions than at home.

As for size, my hangar is 32x42x12 and the RV-8 shares space with an N3 pup ultralight with plenty of room. It has a loft/apartment above and in back, but I mostly use that for storing parts. I think that is big enough, but take that all with a grain of salt, since it may not be someday when I finish this plane and build a RV-18 or whatever the plane of my fancy is at that time. Also keep in mind what kind of person you are, as for me, I?m not interested in boats, tractors, campers, (well, I am, but I realize that having a bunch of half-assed hobbies is more work than it?s worth) and all of that other stuff that seems to end up in hangars throughout the land, if you are, take that into account when you size it. Even draw it in CAD, with birds eye view drawings of everything you want in there and see how it nests.
 
Your size estimates will work. Strongly recommend white painted drywall, and a lot of insulation, wall and ceiling. Install enough lights to blind the unwary.

Climate control is huge. Upsize the ducting and heat/AC system so it will quickly raise or drop shop temperature. It's not just for your comfort. It allows working on anything at any time. For example, you really need 70F or more (75 is better) for epoxy, or working with plexiglass.

I installed two explosion proof exhaust fans at one end, with exterior automatic louvers. Air source is either through the attic and down into the shop via an open access ladder panel, or via the shop walk door. The attic path warms the air on a sunny (but otherwise cool) day. I love the fans. Any work which generates dust (woodworking and fiberglass mostly) is conducted in front of one of the fans, back to the airflow, and is thus relatively clean for both the shop and myself.

Install the compressor in a separate enclosure, not in the shop. Run shop air using long runs of iron pipe and drops so the far end always supplies dry air.
 
Every house I have occupied since 1985 has had "the space". I never knew when a build would occur but I was pretty sure it would sometime. Most of the time these have been raised ranch format with garage door entry to the downstairs shop. I like this format because one can work in jammies if you want. :)

I started my standard build in a raised ranch in PA. Relocated to a rental one in Asheville NC a year after start and 1000 hrs into the build. Wife put down the law. No plane until we were into our own house. So.....While I designed the new house, the RV7 3-view from Vans formed the basis for my current downstairs shop design. We joke about it when we talk to visitors. The stairway was positioned so that I could fully assemble before breaking down and moving to the airport.
 
...and

Lighting is paramount. There are several online calculator for lighting and they work exceptionally well.

I did drywall...and I would NOT do it again. There are numerous other products that will work and give you the ability to mount things to the wall without hollow wall fasteners or only where studs are located. These products yield far more utility than drywall...however...local codes may prevent you from using some of them as drywall is a fire break and some of the other products are not...

Whatever you use, white is a great color...
 
Light, temp, humidity, proximity

I've built in three different spaces. Key things I would focus on are:

  1. light - as Dan said, can't have too much. Seriously. Lots of light. Paint the walls, floor, and ceiling white.
  2. temperature and humidity - both good for you and the stack of parts
  3. close to the house or have a toilet in there - sometimes ya gotta go
  4. lots of horizontal spaces - shelves, tables, workbenches are great

Other things that I like - some music, rolling toolboxes, more horizontal spaces that I can position near whatever I'm working on.

I would not waste years preparing, just dive in. Start in your living room if you need to. There will be gaps in the project where you can work on the workshop.
 
Ahh, good times!

The things we are still loving:
- Insulation out the wazoo! The hvac doesn't have to work hard at all.
- 1.5ton hvac, always on, non-programmable, the space is always the same temp and we barely see it in the utility bill. (Thanks Mark!)
- full height pallet rack. Yes it takes up some sqft, but it is well worth it. One people height shelf acts as a whole workstation.
- 12' ceiling.
- Light. Some of the lighting calculators struggle with what we're looking for in this space. Some of the engineering said I had overkill to begin with. It was not enough and I doubled the light later. Now it is about right.
- The porch space gets a lot of use.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=138736
 
I will add on to the points about climate control. My exterior garage is not insulated and does not have climate control. I'm using 1-2 space heaters to take the edge off but it's pretty cold in there in the winter which both inhibits me and some of the materials I need to work with.
 
Further to last.

I just swapped my fluorescents for LED tubes.

I have 12 florries in 6 doubles. They were 36w each. I changed to Philips 16w cool white 4000k LEDS.

More lumens, half the power, great swap.

No strobing, instant start, no downsides.
 
I wish

I wish I could find replacement LEDs for my HO fluorescents...

Anyone know of a supplier for LEDs equivalent to T1296 HO fluorescents?

They are 110W each and about 9000+ lumens...
 
If you want to build an airplane, build an airplane. If you want to build a shop, build a shop. The point is, building an airplane takes a LOT of time, so find a little working space and get started, or you're a decade away from having an airplane.

I've built two airplanes (OK, 1.95) in a two car attached garage. In general, you only need one bay of the garage to do 90% or more of the building, plus storage space for completed assemblies. Other than the fuselage, every part of an RV easily fits in and out of a 30" basement door, which makes starting the project in a basement doable in an existing space, assuming you have that space.
 
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With good insulation, my attached garage always stays within 40 to 80 F, without any help. It's wired for 220 V, which lets me run a decent compressor and electric radiant overhead heat. I've also got 110 V outlets, several on each wall, positioned at a convenient level above the tables.

The heaters are 3 kw each and there are four of them. They are on two separate thermostats. They'll warm the place in ten minutes.

Cooling is harder. Here in this arid climate, swamp coolers work well and the house has one. I can open the connecting door between the kitchen and the garage and use a fan to blow cool air out there. With some judicious care in the selection of open windows, a surprising amount of cool air is available.

The garage has south-facing windows which really open it up to the sun. There are also a bunch of four foot light fixtures which are almost sufficient.

So -

Insulation,
Light,
Heat,
Cool,
Power.

Dave
 
If you want to build an airplane, build an airplane. If you want to build a shop, build a shop. The point is, building an airplane takes a LOT of time, so find a little working space and get started, or you're a decade away from having an airplane.

I've built two airplane (OK, 1.95) in a two car attached garage. In general, you only need one bay of the garage to do 90% or more of the building, plus storage space for completed assemblies. Other than the fuselage, every part of an RV easily fits in and out of a 30" basement door, which makes starting the project in a basement build doable in an existing space, assuming you have that space.

This is exactly how I got my build going. My unfinished basement makes a great workspace because its here at home and climate controlled. I'm about to start my fuselage here soon and even some of the sub assemblies can be built down there. Only when those things come together will I need to free up some garage space. It will be then I'll need to figure out a way to make the garage comfortable to work.

My recommended order of importance would be environmental comfort, lighting, storage, organization, size. You could have a full hangar but if its hot or cold, you'll never go out there.
 
Well

The electricity isn?t a factor... the power company charges a minimum monthly premium just to have service and I rarely get above that threshold unless I am woodworking...those five and seven hp motors make the meter spin.

The main detractor is the lack of lumens...9600 is a lot more than 7800, and I like working with no shadows...
 
I step over boxes of Christmas ornaments and old photo albums to move around my single car garage filled with all my tools and my 80-gallon two-stage compressor...great workout!
 
There is a really good thread on the garagejournal forums about lighting, with links to fixtures for new construction / retrofit as well as LED replacement bulbs.

I replaced all the 4' T8 bulbs in my shop a couple years ago and have been very happy with the new LED lights (based on the recommendations in that thread).

edit: here is the thread

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278420

It is frequently updated (in post #1) with new recs based on new technology.
 
Shop

The number 1 thing I would have is floor heat . I have a electric 9 kw mini boiler that I installed myself for less than $1500. In materials. Just make sure you insulate under the concrete floor and all sides. I heat my 800 sq ft shop for about $125 a month on average and that?s for some months at below zero. 2nd as stated is light, you can never have to much. The more comfortable you are the more you?ll enjoy working on the project.
 
Just for hard reference, all of our overhead lights are: ZL1N-L48-7000LM-FST-MVOLT-40K QTY 27. That is just barely enough with the 12' ceilings (1200sqft) with everything painted white.
 
Floor heat

The number 1 thing I would have is floor heat ...
Oh yes, if you can pull that off you will be much more comfortable. As motivated as we all are to get our projects flying, we're only human. If we get cold, our productivity will diminish. Probably due to my childhood in Texas, but I'm fine working in sweltering heat if I have a small fan, but anything much below room temperature, I need a hat, gloves, and several layers of long underwear.
 
I have 9 of these in a 2000sqft hangar. Have the 18000 lumen (yes 18000) version. Can get them cheaper at greenlightingwholesale by requesting quote. Perfect light!!!!

https://www.beeslighting.com/IBG-24L-MVOLT?keyword={bkeyword}&creative={bcreative}&gclid=Cj0KCQiArozwBRDOARIsAHo2s7v-hQHByky39W2EjFn2-0T6jccB6cCdatjKQdPOo4wy7V0NljhdYcYaArZ3EALw_wcB
 
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