Boat building shops

[djswan]

Hi all, I don't want to conceive a boat without a proper nest for it. What are some absolutes, must haves, nice to haves, avoidanses and the stay the heck away froms, regarding the place where you build your boat? thanks Derek

[pcford]

Hi all, I don't want to conceive a boat without a proper nest for it. What are some absolutes, must haves, nice to haves, avoidanses and the stay the heck away froms, regarding the place where you build your boat? thanks Derek

If I were building a dream shop...maybe the first thing would be plenty of natural light.

[mmd]

A minimum of four feet clear around all sides of the boat. Natural light. A sturdy workbench at least a dozen feet long. A wood floor. A desk with storage space for papers & drawings protected from shop dust. Exposed wooden rafters. A sturdy wood rack. A comfortable moaning chair.

[Wayne Jeffers]

A minimum of 4 feet clear space all around the largest hull you will build, plus room for your stationary power tools, including infeed/outfeed space.

A ceiling high enough to turn the hull over without moving it outside. Plus lots of large eye screws in the ceiling for attaching tackle for lifting and turning.

A door large enough for the completed hull to exit on its cradle.

Dry storage nearby for your materials.

A long, dead-flat workbench for glue-ups.

Good ventilation for ridding the place of fumes. I like a big exhaust fan.

Good insulation if you want to work in cold weather.

Wayne

[cs]

If I could build the perfect shop it would have more than 4' clear around the biggest boat, but that is because I would probably have more than one in there at a time. I would the table saw to be centrally located so as to have long runs fore and aft for long rips and plenty room to starboard for wide cuts. Also need a long wall mounted bench with cut off saw and router built in. I would want a seperate room for a paint booth. Also would want a loft area for storage. Plenty of cabinet space also. I would also look at running an "S" beam fore and aft for a hoist system. I would also want enough overhead space to raise a short mast.

Chad

[rbgarr]

If you search the Forum you'll find earlier threads on boat shop building experiences. Good information there.

[Hughman]

Woodstove for mistakes.

Refrigerator for beer.

Hammock.

Computer for access to WBF.

Camera for progress photos to same.

(This is why it takes so long to finish a boat...) :D

[Matt J.]

Our shop is going in, I hope, in 3 weeks' time. It's going to be 20x24x12 exterior dimensions... a foot less each direction inside horizontally, and 2 feet less in height.

That means I can build up to a 19' boat should I choose to. I don't plan on much bigger than 16-18 anyway. 10' clear vertically is 4 more feet than I have now, and I've built 3 boats in the current shed, and done a lot of work on a fourth (2-8' boats, a 12' rowboat, and a 17' kayak).

It'll have wood floors, lots of power, and lots of windows on the north, west, and east sides. I may put a window south, but the heat from the sun in the summer is beastly, so I'm less pressed about it. It's also sited to permit future installation of a solar panels on the roof. Since it's a small lot (not quite 1/2 acre), it's also sited to double as a garage if we choose to knock out the non-structural floor and sell the house.

Chuck, if you're reading... it's designed around general boatwork and fixing Rarus, as well as specifically for building a certain 16' design. The name sounds like "beer on shelve joint five". ;)

Oh, and Chad, you just described a warehouse - see Margo regarding Sarah's home.

[cs]

I've been in that shop and yep that is pretty close, except it has concrete floors. But yep that is what I would want.

Chad

[George Roberts]

A nice view out the door is important.

[djswan]

How 'bout some pretty or realy ugle pictures of some shops. Does anybody want to share some floor plans? Why "no" on the wood stove? What about lifting and moving the boat? If you had three phase power, what tools might you want to have? I have a 40 by 60 quanset hut with a concrete floor. I can understand the wood floor. Dropping my timberframing chistle has cost me at least an inch or more of length on it. The beer fridge is top priority. Then the computer. At that point I believe I have begun building or at least pretending to build a boat. Where does the hammock go? Should I hide this stuff from my wife? Derek

[Bruce Hooke]

A good bit depends on what size boat you are building. The shop requirements for a boat you can pick up and carry around are a bit different from the shop requirements for a 30' cruising sloop. Here is a picture of my shop. You'll see that I have far less than 4' of clearance around my boat, but I manage.

http://www.bghooke.com/brucehooke/Images/Low-Angle-View-Spring-2002.jpg

The essentials are basically enough room to fit the boat and allow it to be removed from the shop. A source of heat if you are in a cold climate unless this is a summer-only project. Good electrical service unless you want to do things the old way. Dry (power tools and water don't mix well). Space for your tools.

It is nice to have all sorts of other things like 10' or even 12' ceilings to make it easy to swing around big boards, lots of working room on all sides of the boat, a nice view, doors that open straight to the outdoors for ventilation and ease of access, wood floors, and so on, but lots of boats have been built without any of the above.

[cs]

Yep, lots of room is nice. What I listed above is my fantasy shop. In reality I have much less than that. Here is a shot of the shop I used to have.

http://img.clubphoto.com/ocelot/album/item/view?id=654655;position=11;size=600;jive=

and here is a shot of what I have now.

http://img.clubphoto.com/ocelot/album/item/view?id=4408510;position=15;size=600;jive=

Chad

[Bruce Hooke]

If you had three phase power, what tools might you want to have?

Three phase mostly makes sense for big power tools like tablesaws, thickness planers, jointers and big bandsaws. However, for most of us the biggest advantage of three phase is probably that it gives you a bigger selection of used tools to choose from. One issue to keep in mind, however, is whether you might at some point in the future want to move your shop to a place where you do not have three phase power.

Then the computer.

Computers and dust do not get along that well so it would be better to keep the computer somewhat separated from the workshop. If that place is simply an office seperated from the workshop by a door, do what you can to keep dust from getting into the office. Weather-stripping the door would be a start. I might look into some sort of small duct fan blowing into the office through a good filter to create positive air pressure in the office. Even so, you should plan to blow out the computer regularly. If your workshop has a really good dust control system these issues will be reduced, of course.

[Matt J.]

Chad,
you're current shop, with only 6' headroom and a rotting roof, walls and door (yeah, the whole thing) is my current shop... At 6'-4", I can duck the beams, but the lightbulbs break at a rate of about 1/month... highly irritating. I've got one bulb (mini-flouro) that I have to push up into the socket every time i go out, because everytime I go out, I bump it (stupid).

Headroom is now a crucial point for me. Going from 6' to 10' clear is going to be amazing...

[Paul Girouard]

Hey Chad who wired this baby? :eek: :eek: :eek:
http://img.clubphoto.com/ocelot/album/item/view?id=654655;position=11;size=600;jive=
Holy smokes :eek: it's a wonder it isn't smoked :D
Paul

[pcford]

Height is often overlooked. Eight foot ceiling is way too low. I'd say 12 is a minimum.

[Lew Barrett]

I think the basic shop's been covered well. As a luxury, I'd like a big cyclone outside with ductwork for the major tools, and air available around the place. While we're at it, I'd like a seperate area for metal and machine work.
Lew

[Ken Hutchins]

The primary shop floor should be within 1 step height of the deck to minimize climbing. The ideal would be a lift system to raise and lower the floor or the boat for various phases of construction. All the climbing, bending over, squatting is real tough on this old body.

[cs]

Paul it ain't as bad as it looks. The house was built in the early 40's and this is the basement. In the first few years that I owned the house I had the fuse box pulled out and repleaced with an honest to goodness breaker box and a new service entrance pulled. A lot of the existing wire was attached to the bottom of the floor joist.

The lights I added myself. I tried to run the wiring through the floor joist, but like I said that house was built in the 40's and the floor joist were tougher than any drill bit I had. The lights are all wired to code and were probably some of the best wiring in the house. No danger from those lights.

I repleaced and re-wired a lot of the house over time. Trust me that photo looks worse than it was.

Chad

[Bruce Hooke]

Height is often overlooked. Eight foot ceiling is way too low. I'd say 12 is a minimum.

12' is certainly nice (if harder to heat), but to call it a "minimum" is going a bit too far in my opinion. If you are building a cruising sailboat or something similar then 12' might well be necessary, but for small boats it is certainly possible to get by with a whole lot less than 12'. Plenty of small boats have been built in shops with a 7' ceiling. No it is not ideal, but it works. If you are trying to make a living building boats then more clearance is a good idea because being a bit more efficient in your work is more important if this is your living than it is if you are just doing it for fun.

[paladin]

keerist....all these fancy shops.....I built my 31 foot tri in the middle room of a three room plus bathroom house with a skil saw,sabresaw, wen power plane, belt sander, battery drill and a few hand tools....built all the frames etc during the winter and come spring moved to strongback outside and finished it....taped clear plastic to door area between bedroom and bathroom and kitchen to living room....youse guys live in luxery......:D

[Tom Robb]

Paladin, You must have been either single or headed for divorce:D

[chuckm]

buid with the space you have. It's just tin so I can remove wall's during planking; but high ceilings and wood floor has been greathttp://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid210/pf1da3a3b35ee4da97ee64c7a88e79066/edd50850.jpghttp://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid210/pf4c912a5a8446b795f91496f4d4a4fd6/edd50a46.jpg

[pcford]

The primary shop floor should be within 1 step height of the deck to minimize climbing. The ideal would be a lift system to raise and lower the floor or the boat for various phases of construction. All the climbing, bending over, squatting is real tough on this old body.

Yep. I've thought that a good way to charge people would be a nickel a trip in and out of boat.

[djswan]

I have a metal smith who has set up shop with us. He is interested in what he could forge on boats. We started playing around with some brass the other day. He's good. How do you incorporate this asset into boats? Derek

[Lew Barrett]

Chuck,
Nobody outside of Jensen or Delta Marine actually has the shop we're talking about. ;)
Lew


keerist....all these fancy shops.....I built my 31 foot tri in the middle room of a three room plus bathroom house with a skil saw,sabresaw, wen power plane, belt sander, battery drill and a few hand tools....built all the frames etc during the winter and come spring moved to strongback outside and finished it....taped clear plastic to door area between bedroom and bathroom and kitchen to living room....youse guys live in luxery......:D

[warthog5]

Yep. I've thought that a good way to charge people would be a nickel a trip in and out of boat.


Amen! I tell people I wish I "Had" a nickle for every time I climbed in and out of my boat.

The concrete block part is 24 X 36. The newer steel part is 30X30 X 14. The door on it is 14 W X 12 T.

Best money I ever spent, but I don't have children to pay for.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Warthog5/fb039afb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Warthog5/fb039afe.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Warthog5/Boatshep1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Warthog5/P1010011.jpg

[paladin]

yup...wuz single...how else would I get away with it....:D

[PaulC]

...and a shelf for a Zenith TransOceanic.

[paladin]

watch the Zenith or it will walk off like mine...

[RodB]

The following thread shows a shop built by a pro who has built several large boats. Its built in cedar... 2X6 tongue and groove flooring, large beams in the ceiling to lift boats, large sliding door to allow for boat to leave the shop, one side of shop set up for all tools, and a loft above for misc storage etc.

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/www/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=11087

I think most on the forum were more impressed with the shop than the boat being built. The exterior of the shop is shown at the end of the thread.

RB

[ssor]

What you guys need is an old gothic church.

[katiedobe]

Here is a link to the answers I got when I asked the same questions. Good info here and there. I especially like the "oil change pit idea". Good for maint on my truck and for getting to the boat's interior when it is upside down on the forms.
http://www.woodenboatvb.com/www/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=50525&highlight=dream+shop

I second the idea of a really long workbench and fixed positions for all machines, even the small portable planer and disc/belt sanders. Much easier to use tools that you don't need to pull out from under the work bench and then connect dust collection to then secure to the bench (clamps or screws) then turn on and go.
My shop now is 20 wide by 35 long by 14' tall and is too small form my tools and my boat project. I kept having to put tools down out of the way at the end of the shop and I still did not have enough space. Have a tool room area and then an area that is open floor space for building projects on (furniture or boats).

[djswan]

Wow, now I am thinking about turning my house into the shop and living in the quanset hut. I could feel the chi flow in those pics. I'll start a new thread regarding the metal smithing. When my wife gets back from visiting her mother with pancreatic cancer, she will help me post some pics of our shop. Thanks Derek

[Charles Burgess]

You'll find some suggestions at http://burgessltd.com/boatbuilding_manual-start-05.html

[Don Z.]

What you guys need is an old gothic church.
Her: Honey... why do you want to live in an old fire station?

Me: Hm... Space to park a truck that is over 40 feet long, 8 feet wide, ten high... maintenance area. Garaging for more vehicles... living area upstairs... and a pole to slide down... sounds like a great boat shop to me!

[Charles Burgess]

Her: Honey... why do you want to live in an old fire station?

Me: Hm... Space to park a truck that is over 40 feet long, 8 feet wide, ten high... maintenance area. Garaging for more vehicles... living area upstairs... and a pole to slide down... sounds like a great boat shop to me!

Not a bad idea! I have never thought of using a fire station as a model. Hurricane Ivan destroyed my shop, and as soon as I find a good place to build a new one I'll take a good look at some floor plans of fire stations.

[StevenBauer]

I lived in an apartment in an old firehouse in Hoboken. I built a bookcase in the base of the old hose drying tower. That's why old firehouses had towers - they had to hang the cotten hoses to dry or they'd rot. If my scanner were still working I'd show some pictures.

Steven

[PeterSibley]

Some good shops out there .

I've built a 60 x35 shed, all poles and tin on the walls .Very Australian...we have mild climate ,except for the summer.:D Shed building is easy in Australia ...minimal walls ...3 sides are OK .I have a secure lockable tool store room for easily stealable things .

I'm building (very ,very slowly ),a 34 foot cutter .So the 35 foot width comes down to 25 with 10 foot of timber racks on one side , then take off another 5 foot for a stack of 30' planking on the other side.Leaves 20' in the middle , but it will grow as the planking is used .
There is a 35x18 section at one end that is used for general shop work , the loftings are on the floor covered up with waste sheets of 3/16" MDF packaging ....lift it as needed.

The walls are 13' poles so there will be some height above the finished boat for working on the deck...but not enough.I should have built scissor trusses instead of normal ones.

There is a 28 x 18 leanto on the side that houses a bandsaw,bench,drill press and few other things and a metal working room with a lathe and mill drill.Its actually got a door on it to keep the saw dust off the metal machines .

A separate shed, 30x10 ,about 20 feet away with a small bronze foundry .

And a pleasant view from the front door.:):)