Shopsmith Forums

Ok, guys. I am in the process of a shop rehab. I am going to make a cutting room of sorts during this and trying to figure out how much space I should allow for this room.

How much room do you guys feel is adequate for a shopsmith during use? I don't cut a lot of 4x8 material with the table saw, but I do occasionally.

I am also going to have a second shopsmith set up as a semi permanent belt sander and drill press/plunge router.

A area for pattern routing, and a area for the scroll saw.

Part 2 of this question. I want to quit getting extension cords caught in my feet! Do you guys run some outlets in your work tables to minimize cords or just have enough outlets on the walls.

I'd like to do it right the first time. Kind of like the saying, measure twice, cut once!

Thanks in advance!

You need as room enough to cut the longest board you will cross cut and rip.

I place my saw so I can stick extra long boards out windows or door.

I think it is fairly common to rip 8 ft long boards so you would need 8 ft in front of the SS and 8 ft behind it. Likewise about the longest board I cross cut on the SS is 6 ft so I would make sure I had 6ft to the right and to the left.

In my case I crosscut longer boards on my RAS and I can open the door and stick the board out so the length of board is almost limitless. Likewise when I rip on the SS I can open another door and run the board out.

If I was making a limited area I would make it so I could rip at least 8 ft and crosscut 8 feet. Something like 16 ft square. If you work smaller boards make it the size of your average board.

As to electrical power. I use overhead drops. I hang them from ceiling and I can plug in and not have cords on the floor at all. You don't need a lot, one for the SS one for your dust system and one or two over your work area for hand tools. Over my work bench I have plug strip that works for me. It is attached to the overhead cabinet so the cords all hang down and are no trip hazzard. One strip works since you only use one tool at a time.

I also have a plug near the door so I can wheel the SS outside and have power close.

Ed in Tampa wrote:You need as room enough to cut the longest board you will cross cut and rip.

I place my saw so I can stick extra long boards out windows or door.

I think it is fairly common to rip 8 ft long boards so you would need 8 ft in front of the SS and 8 ft behind it. Likewise about the longest board I cross cut on the SS is 6 ft so I would make sure I had 6ft to the right and to the left.

In my case I crosscut longer boards on my RAS and I can open the door and stick the board out so the length of board is almost limitless. Likewise when I rip on the SS I can open another door and run the board out.

If I was making a limited area I would make it so I could rip at least 8 ft and crosscut 8 feet. Something like 16 ft square. If you work smaller boards make it the size of your average board.

As to electrical power. I use overhead drops. I hang them from ceiling and I can plug in and not have cords on the floor at all. You don't need a lot, one for the SS one for your dust system and one or two over your work area for hand tools. Over my work bench I have plug strip that works for me. It is attached to the overhead cabinet so the cords all hang down and are no trip hazzard. One strip works since you only use one tool at a time.

I also have a plug near the door so I can wheel the SS outside and have power close.

I agree with the concept, Ed. I do the same by having my Mark V sitting just inside the overhead door. When it is open I have all sorts of room.

But, you have gotten me curious. If you have done all that 8' ripping, how do those pieces get down to <6' for cross cutting.

dusty wrote:

Ed in Tampa wrote:You need as room enough to cut the longest board you will cross cut and rip.

I place my saw so I can stick extra long boards out windows or door.

I think it is fairly common to rip 8 ft long boards so you would need 8 ft in front of the SS and 8 ft behind it. Likewise about the longest board I cross cut on the SS is 6 ft so I would make sure I had 6ft to the right and to the left.

In my case I crosscut longer boards on my RAS and I can open the door and stick the board out so the length of board is almost limitless. Likewise when I rip on the SS I can open another door and run the board out.

If I was making a limited area I would make it so I could rip at least 8 ft and crosscut 8 feet. Something like 16 ft square. If you work smaller boards make it the size of your average board.

As to electrical power. I use overhead drops. I hang them from ceiling and I can plug in and not have cords on the floor at all. You don't need a lot, one for the SS one for your dust system and one or two over your work area for hand tools. Over my work bench I have plug strip that works for me. It is attached to the overhead cabinet so the cords all hang down and are no trip hazzard. One strip works since you only use one tool at a time.

I also have a plug near the door so I can wheel the SS outside and have power close.

I agree with the concept, Ed. I do the same by having my Mark V sitting just inside the overhead door. When it is open I have all sorts of room.

But, you have gotten me curious. If you have done all that 8' ripping, how do those pieces get down to <6' for cross cutting.

I either don't cross cut them and use the 8 ft length or I cross cut them on the my RAS

Ed,
You make a good point about the SS being portable for the time when you need a bit more room. I don't know that I want to tie up 20 feet of space for that twice a year type job. I can wheel the SS out to a different area, and have all the space that I want.

I like the idea of the overhead plug ins.

Thank you.

my shop is 16x20, but all the stuff that also resides in there makes free space a premium.

When space for ripping is challenged (and this happens often) I rotate the Shopsmith 90 degrees. This allows infeed and outfeed room, but first there needs to be free space surrounding the MarkV.

I'm going to second the idea about planning for the most common work rather than the worst case and moving the SS for the occasional long rip. I normally have about 5' for ripping, but by rotating the SS 90 degrees, I've got room for 10'-12'. I wouldn't want to leave the SS in this position because it's in the way and blocks access to the rest of the shop, but for the few minutes it takes for the rare long rip, I can just move it and then move it back.

charlese wrote:my shop is 16x20, but all the stuff that also resides in there makes free space a premium.

When space for ripping is challenged (and this happens often) I rotate the Shopsmith 90 degrees. This allows infeed and outfeed room, but first there needs to be free space surrounding the MarkV.

Fortunately for me, this is going to be a "machinist/wood" room of sorts. Not a lot of extra tools or storage are planned. Other work/storage will be done elsewhere. It will probably have to be longer than wider as doing the math the 1000 ft addition is getting small fast.... I am also putting up a paint booth. But longer may tend to be a benefit?