Re: Small shops

> ........ I have a little 600 sq.ft. shop (AC!) behind the garage
> (shares the rear wall thereof, and is "structurally" an integral part of
> whole "garage building" out behind the house. Not a "free-standing" shack.).
>
>
> But if one only wants to "tinker", a 7x10 should be adequate! And a
> "drill-mill", although I have NO clue who (if anyone!) builds a "decent" one
> of those!

I think one of the fascinating things about this list is the diversity of
people, equipment and pursuits represented here. My shop consists of the
back 1/3 of 1/2 of a two car garage (10' x 24' in the warm months and
10' x 10' in the cold months ... can't convince the wife to keep her
car outside in the winter). I have a ShopSmith clone, a Taig mini-lathe,
and a Grizzly 1126 Gearhead mill/drill along with a homebrew router table
small planer, small joiner, and a bench grinder. Total investment in all
this is around $6000 give or take. It is a rather complete shop and
extremely compact. Having limited space makes you VERY efficient in
with storage issues and methods of work. Except for the occasional
"big thing" that won't fit one of may machines (or some creative set-up
designed to defeat the manufacturers recommended usage parameters so
it will fit) I am able to fabricate just about anything I want out of
whatever material metal, wood, or plastic. Combining a wood and metal
shop in a small area means I constantly have to protect the metal working
equipment from the woodworking dust but that forces me to be "tidy" and
keep machines clean and maintained. I hang a heavy plastic tarp in front
of the lathe and mill/drill when woodworking to keep the bulk of the
sawdust off the metal machines. All in all with the type of combination
machines available today and if you're willing to compromise a bit on
"quality" (where would I be without the Chinese?) you can put together
a very adequate shop in a very small space for relatively little money.