List the major tools you plan to install in your workshop, using the footprint and user space required for each. Here are examples:[1] X Research source Table saws are about four feet by four feet, and require room to stand and feed material from at the front, and room to allow material to discharge after it has been cut. This means you need an area over six feet wide, and at least ten feet long for this one machine. Miter saws are generally smaller machines, as small as two feet wide and two feet deep, and the lumber is put in front of the saw to be cut, so you need at least six feet of width, and two feet of depth for this machine. Band saws and scroll saws are fairly small machines as well, and for cutting small items, they can be operated in a space of about three feet by five feet when they are set up on an independent stand built for them. Table mounted routers, planers and shapers are another machine that usually has material fed through, and although they are fairly narrow machines, they require room on their front for material to be fed from, and at the rear for the material to be removed after the work is complete, so again, a space of about ten feet is needed for any significant work. Look at bench and table space you will need for assembling projects and mounting bench top machines. A workbench about three feet deep and six feet long will do for many ordinary projects, but most woodworkers would rather have too much space than to be crowded with too little. Consider how you will store material if you plan on storing more than just what you will use on individual projects, and remember, it is often less expensive to buy in larger quantities, and having spare material in the event of a mistake can keep a project going, rather than taking a trip to the local lumberyard.
