Premises ideas?

dnme

I would like to get back into woodworking. Small to medium size items such as games, puzzles, small furniture pieces etc. I live in rented accommodation and have no proper shed.

So I'm wondering what you would think of a portacabin as a solution? I have a paddock here beside me and landlord would allow me to site it there. Would a portacabin be ok for woodworking?

Many thanks for any input.

Fingalian

I think it would be quite nice to work in,plenty of light,clean and dry. You might have to beef up the floor with a few sheets of OSB as most of the ones I've been in have had kinda bouncy floors.

dnme

Fingalian wrote: »

I think it would be quite nice to work in,plenty of light,clean and dry. You might have to beef up the floor with a few sheets of OSB as most of the ones I've been in have had kinda bouncy floors.

Yeah I was thinking that alright. I might run a few beams underneath floor and maybe a layer of 18mm ply on top. So you reckon a portacabin might be ok then? good to know.

Valdes

ALso of course you need to make sure that it is as secure as possible. As you go on you will build up more and more tools and these tend to walk if given half a chance unfortunately.

slowburner

dnme wrote: »

I would like to get back into woodworking. Small to medium size items such as games, puzzles, small furniture pieces etc. I live in rented accommodation and have no proper shed.

So I'm wondering what you would think of a portacabin as a solution? I have a paddock here beside me and landlord would allow me to site it there. Would a portacabin be ok for woodworking?

Many thanks for any input.

How much would a portacabin run you?
It might be worthwhile working out the costs of building a timber shed from scratch to your own spec. and comparing the two, especially if you're going to have to beef up the floor of the portacabin. You could build the shed in such a way as it could be moved (panel construction?) if you needed to move.
One thing I know, both from experience and talking to others about workshops for wood, is that long and narrow just does not work. If you need to rip a sheet of 8' x 4' - you will need a minimum working space width 7' to one side of the saw table and you will need a minimum of 3' on the other side. That's 10' + the width of the saw table = roughly 12' or so. For length, you'll need twice the length of a sheet + the saw table + standing room x 2. Overall, that works out about 25' x 12'. My own workshop is about 13' x 22' and it just doesn't work. If I was rebuilding (someday :rolleyes:) I'd make it 20' x 25'. Of course, that's if you will be using a bench saw/table saw which imo is the heart of a timber workshop.
I'm sure there's loads of people here who have come up with ingenious ways to cope with inadequate space. But if you have the greenfield space why not avoid the workshop space problems from the outset?

dnme

slowburner wrote: »

How much would a portacabin run you?
It might be worthwhile working out the costs of building a timber shed from scratch to your own spec. and comparing the two, especially if you're going to have to beef up the floor of the portacabin. You could build the shed in such a way as it could be moved (panel construction?) if you needed to move.
One thing I know, both from experience and talking to others about workshops for wood, is that long and narrow just does not work. If you need to rip a sheet of 8' x 4' - you will need a minimum working space width 7' to one side of the saw table and you will need a minimum of 3' on the other side. That's 10' + the width of the saw table = roughly 12' or so. For length, you'll need twice the length of a sheet + the saw table + standing room x 2. Overall, that works out about 25' x 12'. My own workshop is about 13' x 22' and it just doesn't work. If I was rebuilding (someday :rolleyes:) I'd make it 20' x 25'. Of course, that's if you will be using a bench saw/table saw which imo is the heart of a timber workshop.
I'm sure there's loads of people here who have come up with ingenious ways to cope with inadequate space. But if you have the greenfield space why not avoid the workshop space problems from the outset?

Hi slowburner,

If I'm crosscutting an 8x4, surely all I need is a little more than 8, because rather than adding the saw width, would the saw not sit somewhere within the 8? If worst came to worst, I can always rough cut it outside with a circular saw.

Regardless, you do raise a good point. I am seeing portacabins on donedeal for 1-2k. I doubt I could build a shed for that or could I? Bear in mind the portacabins are complete as in walls, ceiling, floor, insulation, jacklegs, windows (often double glazed), electrical wiring etc.

What do you think?

slowburner

dnme wrote: »

Hi slowburner,

If I'm crosscutting an 8x4, surely all I need is a little more than 8, because rather than adding the saw width, would the saw not sit somewhere within the 8? If worst came to worst, I can always rough cut it outside with a circular saw.

Regardless, you do raise a good point. I am seeing portacabins on donedeal for 1-2k. I doubt I could build a shed for that or could I? Bear in mind the portacabins are complete as in walls, ceiling, floor, insulation, jacklegs, windows (often double glazed), electrical wiring etc.

What do you think?

In my experience you need a lot more than the width of the material to be cut - you kind of need to walk along with it, and you need to do it without bumping into things - if you know what I mean.
Just off the top of my head - I'd say you could build a pretty nice shed for less than you would be paying for a p.c.
My workshack cost me about €600 to build about 10 years ago. The cost break down you need to work out should take account of these; timber framing materials, floor sheeting, exterior cladding, roofing materials, wiring and insulation. It all depends really.

Paul.C

I would think a decent size would be 30ft by at least 12ft with a door either end. But It really depends on what your doing with it. If you have lenghts that are 16ft you may be precutting outside

slowburner

12' wide is less than I have now in my humble shack, and as I said above, it's just not enough. I would think a minimum width would be about 17'.

slowburner

On reflection, how's about a 24' square shed, using ply sheets as a factor i.e. 6 no., 4' wide sheets upright?
I built my shack from wany edged Cypress boards for cladding, 4 x 4 Oak for the corner posts, and whatever I could scrounge from the local sawmill. I really wish I had made it modular to standard dimensions/centres from ply.

Paul.C

that would be very cost effective for me, the only flaw is brick and steel is the only way to keep tools safe around my area:mad:

dnme

slowburner wrote: »

On reflection, how's about a 24' square shed, using ply sheets as a factor i.e. 6 no., 4' wide sheets upright?
I built my shack from wany edged Cypress boards for cladding, 4 x 4 Oak for the corner posts, and whatever I could scrounge from the local sawmill. I really wish I had made it modular to standard dimensions/centres from ply.

Roughly speaking how would you go about this?
I take it you build your frame first on top of floor beams and cross members. Then uprights every so often, then your outer skin, then your insulation and inner skin etc

Is this what you envisage?
How about the roof?

Paul.C

The handiest way to build from timber would be, dig and fill foundation. Use block to build as high as your dpm. Fill subfloor and lay your damp barrier. Pour your floor and fix a soul plate around the perimeter on top of the block.

From this point really its up to yourself. The hard parts done and all that's left is to frame it and bang a roof on etc.

I think The chap above is talking about setting 4 post well grounded in concrete and going from there. This I presume would mean only 4 big holes are needed instead of a foundation.

I may have this all wrong:o but I think thats it...... too early for any kind of articulation, I need a coffee

dnme

I am in rented accommodation, as per my op. Digging and pouring foundations is out unfortunately.

Paul.C

you may be able to build a subframe that sits on the ground without digging and as long as you put a dpc between the subframe and soal plate you should be ok. This would give you like an oversized shed. You would have to make sure the ground is solid enough and the frame is properly supported.

What is the ground type? Grass, or concrete?

slowburner

I was in the process of writing this when Paul.C replied.

I built my shack as a temporary structure - just to see what sort of space and layout I would need by actually working in the space. That was 10 years ago when the winters were milder!
Being 'temporary' - I didn't pour foundations. The ground was fairly level, so I scraped off a bit of topsoil, where necessary and dropped in concrete blocks onto which the floor joists were laid with shims and wedges as required. Then I put up 4 corner posts and 4 intermediate posts. I won't go into the details, unless you want me to - I just constructed a basic frame. I used 18mm shuttering ply for the floor with heavy duty plastic between the ply and the joists. Then I nailed on the wany edged Cypress cladding (and gave it a good spray of preservative).
Then I stuck on galvanised corrugated sheets with clear plastic sheets every so often as skylights. That was great (especially the light) until the first winter came. The machines would have been better off outside with all the drips from condensation.
Off came that roof, on went a breathable membrane and insulation and new sheets - no skylights this time so I had to make up and stick in a couple of windows. It's a big mess, really, a bit like it was built by a committee who were having a row! I'd post a picture, but it's a bit embarrassing. Having said that, it's still standing and I can work in it. The addition of a homemade stove made the last 2 winters bearable, even quite pleasant.
I would do it all differently if I was to do it again - except for the floor on blocks - that worked out fine. If you would like me to describe how I would do it again - let me know

1chippy

i Know a kitchen maker who originally worked out of a portacabin. it was tight but if your inventive you can make things work. in woodworking i find it doesnt matter what size your shed is you will always need bigger. i put up a 60' by 40' and i could still do with it being bigger. another mate in galway put up a shed 20' by10' and has all his tools set in such a way that everything seems to work. it took him a while to be able to organise things in such a way. if your only making small items a portacabin i thinnk is a good option and the insulated part is a bonus.

slowburner

1chippy wrote: »

i put up a 60' by 40' and i could still do with it being bigger.

What on earth do you make ?

1chippy

anything in wood

slowburner

1chippy wrote: »

i Know a kitchen maker who originally worked out of a portacabin. it was tight but if your inventive you can make things work. in woodworking i find it doesnt matter what size your shed is you will always need bigger. i put up a 60' by 40' and i could still do with it being bigger. another mate in galway put up a shed 20' by10' and has all his tools set in such a way that everything seems to work. it took him a while to be able to organise things in such a way. if your only making small items a portacabin i thinnk is a good option and the insulated part is a bonus.

How did the kitchen maker assemble stuff? 20' x 10', + machines doesn't leave much floor space.

I know a lot of woodworkers work out of tiny spaces and are terribly clever and inventive with all sorts of fold out/down thingymajigs with wheels an whatnot. But if the opportunity is there to avoid those kind of problems, why not grasp it?
You really can't escape the fact that the workspace available pretty much determines the kind of work you do.

Oops, I've just re-read dnme's op. He only wants to work on small scale pieces so the portacabin would be great.
I still think it would be worthwhile dnme, to cost up a new build versus buying a pc and compare

zanfona

Hello all,
With apologies for the shameless advert, I'm sharing since I myself was checking this thread in search of premises, and ended up getting a 10x10 portacabin which served me nicely as a small shop space for a few months. However, we've since moved house and I have the distinct good fortune of having a space in the new place, so the portacabin-cum-workshop is now redundant. I hope it might find a new home, and have posted it up at:

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/storage/2748783

If you mention you saw my message here on the woodcraft board, I'm happy to do you a better deal, from one woodworker to another.

Best regards,
Vlad