Turning shed layout

[hereward]

Can anyone assist with laying out a turning shed. I have 4 x 8 metres, windows 2 sides, north and east. Are there any "rules'. I have good natural light and overhead lights and 2 other benches. If you have 2 lathes, is a side by side layout preferred to a church pew layout?

Secondly, I am thinking about a samll lathe to start with. Is the JET brand well regarded. I figured I would start with a 600 mm bed length model and do as much as I could on that before investing in a larger lathe.

Many thanks


Hereward

[Cliff Rogers]

One bit of advice I can give you is that if you can't put the lathe in a position that faces the door so you can see if anybody comes into the shed, put a big mirror on the wall that you face.
Having somebody 'sneak' up on you while you work can be a bit... unnerving. :rolleyes:

Before you bolt stuff down, try it out a bit so you can move it around.

Work out where most of your chips fly & don't put an open bench or flat surface there.

[jefferson]

Good advice, Cliff.

I also suggest that you do not put the lathe under the window - at least not if the sunlight comes in. Too many variables with light / shadows etc.

Good luck with it. The perfect turning space is yet to be found. :D

[Sawdust Maker]

c'mon
the perfect turning space is where you happen to be turnin at any given point in time :2tsup:

[Manuka Jock]

Hereward,
if you have the space , place the lathes so that you stand with your back to the wall ( give enough working room).
That way you can see the door , and seeing as most of the chips and shavings are going to head your way , do not position cupboards ,shelves , racks etc on that section of the wall . If you have a swivel head lathe , take that fallout area into consideration too.
Plain wall , plain floor easy to sweep up :2tsup:
Put double power points on the wall , at lathe height , at both ends of the lathe .
And maybe some of those ones that hang down from the rafters , out towards the center of the workshop.
Ya can't have too many power sockets in a shed :;

Welcome to the madhouse :D

Jock

[Grumpy John]

Plenty of advice and photo's here. (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f245/)

[issatree]

Hi hereward,
I agree at what Cliff & Jefferson have said. I have so many dents in the roof, because of people entering the Garage, & all of a sudden you see them. Bump.
Never put you lathe under a wall window, as the light comes in on the wrong side of your work, & it is sometimes hard to see what you are doing,
Yes, a Clean wall behind is a good idea, as the shavings are all in the one spot.
Don't forget to make a Duk Board with slots in it to allow the shaving to go through to the floor.
Mine is 100mm. off the floor, & I have never Fallen or Tripped off it either.
NO carpet, NO matting, but a wooden Duk Board.
NO Fluoro lighting to turn by either.
Incandescent only, as I have 2, 120Watters & a 60W on a double arm to turn by.

Regards,
issatree.
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[rsser]

That's a good sized space. You'll be chasing all over to sweep up the chips so consider putting a sliding shower curtain around the business end of each lathe.

Also consider where the dusty and pipes will run in relation to the lathes and the bandsaw that odds are you'll end up buying too (if not already).

I have no trouble with 2 32w fluoro's above the lathe and a tungsten globe in a desk lamp for close lighting (except with Blackwood sometimes which does psychedelic strobing).

[issatree]

Hi Ern,
It is a well known fact amongst Woodturners that you don't use Fluoro's for that very reason.
If you buy 120W Flood lights, & they don't cost that much to run, they are better for the Eyes, & a better light to see your work with.
I'm not to sure but they have a special rating on the box as to the using Watts eg. 80W.?
Regards,
issatree.
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[rsser]

In nearly 10 years of turning under fluoro's issatree I've had the strobe effect only twice and only with a particular chatoyant version of blackwood.

Edit: there was also tungsten on at the same time.

[Texian]

Hereward,
Jet lathes are well regarded in the U.S., especially the "mini" and the 1642. I have had the latter for about 4 years and like it well enough, would buy it again. Prices have gone up a lot since I bought mine.

[hughie]

Well my new shed layout will be without windows in the walls for a couple of reasons. One it saves wall space and its less costly. I will be having skylights, 4 in all. I prefer over head light for general lighting.
Running around the walls at around cornice level will be 100m [4''] PVC ducting with droppers for each of the three lathes and one for the band saw. Each dropper be about 1.5m and have a valve to shut off when not required. From 1-1.5m of flexible hose to the lathes etc.
The dusty will be outside under a large covered porch area using water proof shade cloth. This area also double as a storage area and with the shade cloth it will have good lighting during the day. With the dusty outside it gives me more room and less noise inside. But the downside is that it will also suck out any heating and cooling that I may have.
I plan to fit a floor level vent for ease of clean up for those rare moments of fanatical housekeeping:U
As Ern has mentioned screens to control the flow of chip etc around the workshop.I will have some screening,it will be down to about knee level so I can run that infrequent broom around with too much trouble. This will also allow for general dust extraction across the whole workshop. Some thing I will install after the screening set up is sorted out.
Lighting as mentioned else where, flouros above each lathe longitudinally and some spotlights at head and tail stocks etc.
Have not decided whether to run the lathes along the wall or have them out on an angle.On the angle does make it easier to shovel out the chips etc.
Rubbish removal needs to addressed even if we don't get around to it very often or do it as well as we should perhaps.No sense in making a distasteful chore harder by the lack of planning.

Because of the number of lathes and the shape of the shed, which is governed by its location. I wont be able to have each lathe facing the door. But thats life.:U

[Texian]

hughie,
If the dusty is going to be outside, will you be having a return air vent or duct to allow fresh air in from the outside to replace the air evacuated by the dusty?

[Harry72]

Id be inclined to build a wall to halve the work space, lathe in the center of one and storage in the other... be cheaper to heat and cool too.

You could put double or concertina doors in the wall to allow a bit more space for other shed activity's.

[Ross]

At the moment I am trialing two of my lathes back to back with a cover over the one I am not using. This means I am using one power point and one dust inlet for both and one area to clean.

The dust shute is mounted on the pedestal from an old fan so it is easy to position to suit which ever lathe I want to use.

Ross

[Big Shed]

Well my new shed layout will be without windows in the walls for a couple of reasons. One it saves wall space and its less costly. I will be having skylights, 4 in all. I prefer over head light for general lighting.


Hughie, my shed has 4 bays and each bay has 2 skylights, one per bay facing west and one per bay facing east. I have had to block out 2 of the west facing ones where I work as the glare (and heat) in summer is enormous.

I agree that overhead daylight is great, but it can also be a PITA when not correctly positioned, so keep in mind the orientation of your skylights.

In my case, the length of the shed runs Nth-Sth so I didn't have much choice. I used opal skylights, would hate to think what clear would have been like:o

[RETIRED]

When I had my shed built I had a hell of an argument with the builders when I asked for no skylights to be fitted.

After having a Blackwood table that was ready for delivery destroyed by sun through skylights I would never fit them again.

[rsser]

Yeah, I've got two runs of clear polycarb which work well in the winter but the first summer I fried under them. Now lay some boards across them and then some old sheets of corro fibreglass weighted down with bricks.

[rsser]

The suggestion to divide the shed is worth considering. It's what I did with a 2 car garage (end-on) that I put a stud wall in. That gives me a workshop of 5x5m that I can heat and cool. I insulated everything possible and run a box type reverse cycle A/C. Otherwise it'd get to 40C in the summer and 5C some winter nights. Frankly, without that kind of comfort I'd spend far less time there. OK, I'm getting soft in my old age but when I'm happy in there the missus is happy too.

[hughie]

I might be in a better position than most. My house faces north and the shed is rectangular and runs east west. Its tucked up close to the southern side of a storey house, bounded on the eastern side by a pergola with a high [ 2.4m ] wall to isolate the shed from the pergola. On the western side just over the fence stands a large neighbours house. It over shadows my shed slab until about 3pm or so in the afternoon.
The whole area is pretty well shaded all day, I think it will most likely be a cold shed rather than a hot one. I agree if it was sitting out in the middle of the yard roof sky lights would be a major problem.

[rsser]

Well, whatever works.

Only other comment I can add and it's a bit off topic, but if you can with a shed, look to get some natural venting happening if you can. Find out where the dominant wind flow comes from and install some gable vents or rotary ventilators. Both can be blocked off in the winter.

[Pat]

Weeeellllllll . . . (sorry Ted E Bear got hold of the keyboard:U) When I got the Tajmashed built I had 2 skylights placed on the eastern half of the roof and 1 window in the North East corner and 1 in the South west to get the prevaling winds in summer. I used the aircell insulation all over (roof + walls + floor) and then batt insulation on the western wall. It is sheathed in 16mm White Melamine and even in the middle of winter don't need to turn on the lights till after 1600.

Dust is problem, I am still to built the outside enclosure for the dusty, so I haven't been using it because of the noise and chips . . . well the shovel got utilised today, then the broom, then the vacuum cleaner. There is red dust from Jarrah and Redgum and an chocolate brown from today's bit of Beefwood.
One day I am going to enclose all the under bench space, either with drawer units or cupboards as cleaning amongst the detritus under both my benches is challenging.

My lathe is situated that people can see me turning from the door and I can safely see them and turn the lathe off without getting into the firing line.

One thing from my experience is that if you are to put particle board flooring and seal with epoxy sealant, grip is a consideration. Turning dust is down right slippery. I have rectified this problem with grip tape in the main walkway into the shed and between the lathe and the twin benches.

[rsser]

Another issue with polycarb sheets down here anyway is condensation.

Often enough it forms droplets that come down on whatever's underneath. Can be aggravating to find black spots on your recently finished pride and joy.