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Firewalker

Shop Design - Blank Canvas - Opinions Please?

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Hello there brothers and sisters.  I hope you are doing well.  After working in a 15 square foot space for a year I think I am going to be at this a while and I am having a 8.5' x 24' Cargo trailer built that will be my workshop.  I am looking for ideas regarding recommended benches, tables, and storage ideas you might have.  I have built a 40 x 40 wood shop and I was able to lay that out where I could create efficiently but I am a bit lost on setting up a proper leather shop.  I travel for work so when stationary it will be 100% leather shop.  When I am going to a new location the trailer will be used to haul a corvette in addition to my shop.  As a result I will need to be able to move the cabinets to the front of the trailer.  I am planning on some residential base cabinets on a base with casters which will lock into the E track. 

I am having a laser cutter made and it will be delivered in a few weeks so there will be a dedicated rolling cabinet for that.  I will build a dedicated glue table with ventilation to the outside after seeing a friends version of one.  Stole the idea fair and square.   Any must have design elements you would suggest other than good lighting?  I am wanting to have dedicated areas for staining, airbrush, a large cutting table with self healing mats and another area for the drill press and belt sander.   

I am sure of the many people here there are some good "I wish I would have done this" stories to be shared.  I would sure enjoy hearing your input.   

Thanks in advance for the interest.

Scott

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Sounds like champagne problems to me....;)

Sorry, I don't have much advice on this, but a laser bouncing around in a trailer sounds bad. You may want to keep it dedicated to the permanent shop.

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You'll need ALOT of ventilation in a cargo trailer, for more than just the glue station.  The laser cutter requires it, the airbrush station, etc...upper and lower ventilation ducts and i'd consider if you're going to have power in it, an exhaust fan of some sort.  I'd also consider a station with a wall mounted or under cabinet shop vac for dust collection near the sander/cutting area.  Lighting is going to be important as well, I like the long desk lamps for spot work, i got a couple of the type that swivel and extend so i can use the same one for two stations.  Overhead natural light is nice to have when doing detail work and painting/staining to get a good look at color.  LED and florescent really skew the color of dyed/buffed leather.   That's just a couple of ideas off the top of my head, i like the etrack idea, i put some in my enclosed motorcycle trailer and it really helps with flexibility.  Try to keep your bases with-in the range that will afford swapping and reconfiguring, not matter how much time and thought you put in initially, you'll probably realized you prefer x station where y station because of z etc...

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The first thing I'd do is figure out exactly how much space you need for the car.  Then you can plan around that and put items that need to be pretty much permanently mounted in front of that - things like tooling surface, drill press, belt sander, cabinets, laser, compressor and such (like maybe a sewing machine if you have one or plan on one).  You may even want to consider a smallish utility sink and water tank - useful for cleanup but also for laser cooling.  You might even consider water and drain hookups if it's going to be mostly stationary.  Leather storage can be overhead in racks - either open or rolled up in PVC sewer pipe.  

I'm not sure how the laser will cope with being mobile, but I'd mount it as near the center as car placement will allow and also put it on shock mounts to help minimize bouncing around in transit.  Laser and mirror alignment are critical, so bouncing may not be a good thing!  You may have to re-align things every time you move the trailer/shop.

Your cutting, gluing, and spray booth/dying area don't need to be all that heavy duty - just sturdy enough.  I'd consider mounting the tables to the wall with hinges and hinged front legs and some way to lock them in place up or down,  so that you can simply fold them up against the wall when not needed.  I'd think that your ventilation solution won't be terribly thick and can probably live behind the tables when folded, although could require that you hinge the benches a bit offset from the walls.   You can probably even work out a way to make collapsible sides for the stinky stations to make a sort of paint booth.  Storage for dye and glue supplies need not be terribly deep and can probably go in shallow cabinets near those stations and high enough up to not interfere with the car.  

You'll also want electricity, some heating and / or cooling.  Most of your electrical needs would be near the front where the power tools are, but you could also run some long power strips further back for miscellaneous needs.   For heating / cooling, I'd consider the sort of units that you sometimes see on top of campers.  

Agreed with above that natural light is best, and you might be able to put in windows or skylights, but if that's not an option choose daylight balanced lighting.

Just a few thoughts - hope they're helpful

- Bil

Edited by billybopp

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2 hours ago, koreric75 said:

You'll need ALOT of ventilation in a cargo trailer, for more than just the glue station.  The laser cutter requires it, the airbrush station, etc...upper and lower ventilation ducts and i'd consider if you're going to have power in it, an exhaust fan of some sort.  I'd also consider a station with a wall mounted or under cabinet shop vac for dust collection near the sander/cutting area.  Lighting is going to be important as well, I like the long desk lamps for spot work, i got a couple of the type that swivel and extend so i can use the same one for two stations.  Overhead natural light is nice to have when doing detail work and painting/staining to get a good look at color.  LED and florescent really skew the color of dyed/buffed leather.   That's just a couple of ideas off the top of my head, i like the etrack idea, i put some in my enclosed motorcycle trailer and it really helps with flexibility.  Try to keep your bases with-in the range that will afford swapping and reconfiguring, not matter how much time and thought you put in initially, you'll probably realized you prefer x station where y station because of z etc...

Hello there, Thanks for the reply.  I agree with the ventilation suggestions and plan on connecting the Laser and Glue station to be vented via flex hose.  Each will have a blower for this reason and I am thinking something like a nicer version of a dryer vent will be how it will connect.  For general ventilation I am having an additional roof vent installed so I can use a "fantastic fan"  to keep the air fresh and to avoid having to use the AC when it is mild outside.  

I will have to look into the lights like you mention because I agree on how florescent and LED can lead you astray.  I initially asked for the E track to be installed half way up the wall which will be 4'.  I think this is going to be too high to be practical with the cabinets height being 36-38 finished.  I like the idea of having some of the benches modular so I can move x,y,x or move xy back to back and use the eye bolts and straps to attach them to make one big table in the middle of the room.

These replies are exactly what I am needing.  Thank you!

Scott

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3 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

Sounds like champagne problems to me....;)

Sorry, I don't have much advice on this, but a laser bouncing around in a trailer sounds bad. You may want to keep it dedicated to the permanent shop.

Haha Mutt, It is a problem I am happy to have.  I did think about the laser bouncing while traveling and how to minimize the shock to it.  I opted for torsion axels vs leaf springs which hopefully will help a bit.  I am planning on building some sort of top for the laser table that would serve as a "crate" that is easy to attach.  The table will be attached to the wall and the crate will sandwich the machine pretty tightly.  Hopefully this will work but I am not sure.  I had given some thought to making a "anti shock" table if that even exists but it would be nice if the table would absorb the shock of moving around.  Maybe the 1988 portable CD player technology will come to the rescue?  Hahaha:lol:

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1 hour ago, billybopp said:

The first thing I'd do is figure out exactly how much space you need for the car.  Then you can plan around that and put items that need to be pretty much permanently mounted in front of that - things like tooling surface, drill press, belt sander, cabinets, laser, compressor and such (like maybe a sewing machine if you have one or plan on one).  You may even want to consider a smallish utility sink and water tank - useful for cleanup but also for laser cooling.  You might even consider water and drain hookups if it's going to be mostly stationary.  Leather storage can be overhead in racks - either open or rolled up in PVC sewer pipe.  

I'm not sure how the laser will cope with being mobile, but I'd mount it as near the center as car placement will allow and also put it on shock mounts to help minimize bouncing around in transit.  Laser and mirror alignment are critical, so bouncing may not be a good thing!  You may have to re-align things every time you move the trailer/shop.

Your cutting, gluing, and spray booth/dying area don't need to be all that heavy duty - just sturdy enough.  I'd consider mounting the tables to the wall with hinges and hinged front legs and some way to lock them in place up or down,  so that you can simply fold them up against the wall when not needed.  I'd think that your ventilation solution won't be terribly thick and can probably live behind the tables when folded, although could require that you hinge the benches a bit offset from the walls.   You can probably even work out a way to make collapsible sides for the stinky stations to make a sort of paint booth.  Storage for dye and glue supplies need not be terribly deep and can probably go in shallow cabinets near those stations and high enough up to not interfere with the car.  

You'll also want electricity, some heating and / or cooling.  Most of your electrical needs would be near the front where the power tools are, but you could also run some long power strips further back for miscellaneous needs.   For heating / cooling, I'd consider the sort of units that you sometimes see on top of campers.  

Agreed with above that natural light is best, and you might be able to put in windows or skylights, but if that's not an option choose daylight balanced lighting.

Just a few thoughts - hope they're helpful

- Bil

Excellent ideas.  We full time in a 5th wheel trailer and rent our homes out so the RV systems are a daily routine for us since 2008.  We are going to spray foam for insulation and the AC will be a 15k rooftop towards the nose of the trailer.  The only natural light that will come in will be through the fantastic fan opening which won't be much.  I think the balanced bulbs will have to solve that issue for me.  

I tend to work in the same place for 3-6 months if not close to a year so it won't go down the road very often.  Since we stay in campgrounds I planned on rigging with a 50 amp service panel with 6-8 drops for 120.  I am considering using 12 volt for the basic lighting and to operate the overhead fan.  When I can't plug in, running two of the quiet Honda generators in parallel will be the choice to keep me productive.  Some places I move to have enough vacancy that paying for an additional spot isn't a bad idea but it is not always the case.  

They are good suggestions and I thank you for the reply.  I will post up some progress pictures of the build if anyone would like to watch it unfold.

Have a great one!

Scott

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4 hours ago, Firewalker said:

They are good suggestions and I thank you for the reply.  I will post up some progress pictures of the build if anyone would like to watch it unfold.

Yes please! Love this idea, looking forward to watching it come together.

Edited by Retswerb

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