New Bow Shop

[Roy from Pa]

I will be building a new Bow Shop this summer. It will be 26 X 13. If you were building a new Bow Shop, what plans would you have for it? Anything special you would do? Thanks, Roy

[onemississipp]

Roy,
 I would have to have a solar kiln on the side and a place to store wood for seasoning.

Here is one link
http://www.allwoodwork.com/article/woodwork/solarkiln.htm

Google will turn up more.

A shooting lane in the shop would be nice also.

[bowmaker07]

I will 2nd the shooting lane.You have to break-in that "just-finished" bow even if it's raining out.

[Pat B.]

Make it bigger, much bigger and add a shooting lane..

[Coop]

Roy uses his basement for a shooting lane, that or he hand places his arrows in the 10 ring and sends all his buddies pictures   .

Seriously, congrats Roy. You have been making a lot of bows and since I heard about your plans for the SS shoot sounds like you need the room. I always seem to run out of room doing glue ups so a good layout area is a must.

Also consider large windows or a skylight even, I find natural light is superior to fluorescent when working on selfbows.

[Eric Krewson]

Here are some things I did in mine. I built a 28X30 building partitioned down the middle with half designated for tractor, mowers, garden tools and such. The other half was for my shop.

I insulated all the walls and ceiling to the max and put an 18K BTU air conditioner that cools and has heat strips as well. I put 2 very large windows on the sunny side and a roll up, insulated garage door on the front. I have a Lincoln welder and air compressor not shown in the picture.

From the outside looking in.

 

The bow making area. The lay out, glue up table in the middle is the handiest thing I ever built for bow making.



I have a 220V dust collection system with the unit located on the other side of the insulated wall in the lawn mower area. This keeps the noise level way down in my shop. With out the dust collector my shop would be knee deep in dust in a few days. I am slightly allergic to osage dust so the dust collector is a must.

I like Grizzly tools so I have plenty. The most used are the bandsaw and belt sander. I seldom use the jointer and only play around with the lathe. The drill press comes in handy often but not for bow making. A real sturdy work bench is an absolute must, mine probably weighs 500lbs with everything on it.

My shop stays a mess most of the time because of my pack rat nature but I find great peace and contentment there.

[BMN]

I'm with Eric on the dust collection system. When it comes time to build my shop it will have the best dust collection system I can afford.

[Gatekeeper]

Look into passive solar heating, radiant floor heating and infrared heat.
Make as many objects (power tools, work tables etc.) mobile as possible.
Refer to as many small shop plans, books and magazines as you can find for space saving ideas.
If it is possible, put your wood storage overhead.

Show us pictures when you get it built.

Good luck.

[Roy from Pa]

You guys are the best. Eric, that is quite a shop my friend. Here are my plans so far. I have been thinking about this for a month, and my ideas keep changing for the better.

I already thought about putting the workbench in the middle for 360 access. I want to make it out of 2 X 4's on edge, gonna glue and screw each 2 X 4 X 8' together. Gonna plane the top and sides of each one for a square flat fit before I glue them all together. Prolly make it about 30 inches wide. Might even make two and stack em end to end. Then mount a vice on each end. Then I'm gonna anchor them to the concrete floor with bolts. I plan on having all the power tools on the outside wall with a central dust collection system mounted outside which I will build out of a squirrel cage fan, driven by a motor with pulleys to speed it up, and have hoses running to each tool. I plan on about 12, 4 foot fluorescent lights spaced down the center of the ceiling. Even gonna put in a sink for washing up the urac mess, gonna insulate the crap out of it and do the walls inside and ceiling with tongue and groove 3/4 thick poplar.. 2500 watt, 220 volt Electric baseboard heat.. 4 X 4 window on the 26 foot outside wall and a 36 inch door on the end.. I am pumped

[northener]

+ do a scaled layout first, noting locations of major tools.
+In floor radiant heat.
+Plenty of windows, especially on the south for natural lighting. Remember cross ventilation in the summer though.
+Plenty of artificial lighting for night and cloudy days.
+At least 3- 20 amp circuits with 3 to 4 duplex outlets per circuit just for portable hand tools. Mount these 48" high so not to have to bend over.All stationary tools on own circuit.Here's a good time to ask your electrical inspector questions, it will save you some headaches down the road. These guy's can be brutal at times, so get their input first!
+Dust control capabilities. If not make shelves with plexiglass fronts to keep dust off and to easily see tools
+ someone else mentioned keeping stationary tools portable, very good idea, especially tools that do not get much use.
+ lots of good ideas on the web for compact shops, search'em out.


I have a shop 12 x 28 and make cabinets from time to time, yeah, it gets crowded at times but it's very efficient. Layout is critical, and you have to be organized!!!


Good luck and have fun with it.

[northener]

2 layers of 3/4" High density fiberboard with a 2x4 edge makes for a nice stout bench top, screwed from below through 2x4's placed flat every 16 inches. Bench dogs can be placed for hold downs and blocks placed for the vices.

Place lighting so you do not shadow you work. I like lighting along the outside walls as well as down the center.

[Roy from Pa]

I am taking in all of your suggestions. I also would like to make seperate, 4 X 4 lumber stand for mounting a vice too, like Wingnut displayed in his bow blank video, and bolt that to the floor. That would give a 360 radius around the stave. I have all summer to design and build this Bow Shop, I can not wait to start it. Thanks Guys. Roy

[leftyfred]

Roy,
One thing I did for my shop was scavange excess building materials from job sites for two years prior to beginning construction.  I always had cash on hand and a quick way to haul.  Most excess building materials left over from a job are pitched into dumpsters.  Don't hesitate to ask if a builder needs a free cleanup.  Have fun.  LF

[Chuck_Delsandro]

A tap system would be nice!

Let me know if you need some help!

Chuck

[Roy from Pa]

LOL Chuck, thars an idear:) Don't worry, there is a plan for a beer/soda fridge! I'll call ya if I need help.

[Forester]

Sounds like a great project Roy.  You'll have almost as much fun building it as you will building bows in it.

I have always wondered if ventilation fans at the roof peak and ventilation fans at the floor level would be best for removing fumes and keeping the air fresh when needed.  Some vapors go up and some go down, some are flammable and none are good to breathe.  I would like to have screened and closable vent fans both high and low.

[Jon Stewart]

I have a small 12" TV with a built-in VCR in my work shop.  Use it to watch kanpping videos while I make big piles of gravel out of flint.  I'll getit right someday!!!

[dino]

Lighting in really esstential too.  I think my shop is 30x25 and I have  7 HO 8'x2 units plus 8 SO 8'x2 units.  Large layout table center in the shop that has 220 and 120 outlets that were piped thru the floor to the center of the shop so I don't have electric cords hanging from the ceiling or under foot.  I kept most of my tools that require dust collection along the one wall to make it easier to pipe to each.  Definately put out dust collector outside the shop.

[Roy from Pa]

Very nice shop Dino. Thanks

[fireflybow]

I built a filtered clean room, 8'x10' in my shop strickly for spraying bows. Also an exhaust system to pull the fumes outside. I built an insulated drying closet in the clean room. I spray a bow and hang it in the heated closet. Two 60 watt light bulbs keeps it 90 degrees in the winter and 110 in the summer.