I watched Aprils shop build as well.  It may look fine even with the lower grad ply after she paints it.  That's a big shop for her!

I built a 75x50 farm shop a couple of years ago and lined the interior with 16" on-center studs followed by 3/4" sanded plywood that I painted.  Sheeting was placed up to 7' high around the perimeter.   Definitely more expensive than drywall!

Now this is on a farm shop, so I was more concerned with durability where I would not be everyday with tenants in the building for storage and maintenance tasks.  But I'm glad I went with 1) a darker color on the wainscoting and 2) plywood for durability and flexibility on where I hang things.  I did choose to do the wiring and piping for air around the shop on the SURFACE of the finished walls to make it easy to either add new drops / outlets or easily repair.

In your case where it's a woodworking shop, you could go with drywall everywhere.  Or you could choose to go with ply on one wall.  Or go to a french cleat system for hanging things around the shop.  The advantage of drywall is it's cheap.  But with 24" on center studs, you may find you want more surface area for hanging things.  In my home shop, it's all drywall with studs on 16" center and it's served me well for 20 years. 

I'd definitely insulate before siding as it will help with climate control and does not cost that much.  Should also help with sound attenuation if you are in a residential neighborhood with potential concern on noise.

As for finding studs, if you put the plywood up with a nail gun as I did, you won't have any problem finding a stud later on.  No need to fill the holes.  They give you plenty of evidence where the studs are.  But 24" OC with 1/2" drywall doesn't give you much flexibility on where you hang things.

I was in a retail store a few weeks back and they had the perimeter sided with baltic birch, but they drilled holes similar to an MFT top every 1' on a grid around the perimeter.  Very cool look and it gave them a lot of flexibility for shelving and racks.  So another idea for you that I thought was unique.  Unfortunately, I did not take photos.

Studs were actually built in sections and set in place behind the perlins before the exterior insulation and side walls were installed.



Once building was in place, interior sheeting was applied.  I painted the sections behind the posts before installation, then did the rest of the install and painted the rest.  I used an exterior grade paint / primer from HD and it's held up really well with 1 coat and a little touch up - all rolled on.

How about T1-11 siding?

I built a 75x50 farm shop a couple of years ago and lined the interior with 16" on-center studs followed by 3/4" sanded plywood that I painted.  Sheeting was placed up to 7' high around the perimeter.   

Hey @neilc , the extra stud wall with a plywood surface is a real nice solution to the metal building problem.     

I used to rent motorcycle fabrication space in a building like that and the walls were pretty much off limits for anything. It was even tough to run some simple air lines on the walls.   Electrical cords were just laid on the floor and were always a trip hazard.

I think I'd still go with a wood-based product over drywall, just because it resists impact better.  Half-inch plywood comes to mind.  A French cleat system over the plywood, then painted (plywood and cleats) will give tremendous flexibility in relocating cabinets in the future.  Just be sure to use consistent spacing between the cleats.  My cleat system design has cleats at 12" AFF, then every 18" thereafter (30", 48", 66" and 84" AFF).  So long as any cabinet has a minimum of two cleats, it can be hung at any height, so long as two movable cleats are in contact with two stationary cleats.  Taller cabinets get more cleats to better handle the load anticipated.  Base cabinets get Ikea Capita legs at the front for strength as well as to make cleaning under them much easier. 

Unfinished wood is great for a small shop as it helps mitigate swings in humidity. The more wood the better, but it wouldn’t make much difference in a huge shop like Ryan’s new building.

I put 3/4 ply G2S all around my shop. Why G2S because it was cheaper then any 3/4 ply
...

I have to ask, why did you use 3/4-inch (19mm) plywood?

My thought is 1/2-inch (12mm) plywood, the same as typical drywall.

Quote from: Mario Turcot on May 14, 2018, 01:22 PM

I put 3/4 ply G2S all around my shop. Why G2S because it was cheaper then any 3/4 ply
...

I have to ask, why did you use 3/4-inch (19mm) plywood?

My thought is 1/2-inch (12mm) plywood, the same as typical drywall.

The G1S 1/2 was 67$ and 3/4 was 79$. I found that 3/4 G2S for 45$ a piece, that was a no brainer. Chinese ply by the way with some voids but not more then any home depot ply. The walls are 9' so I push the sheets tight to the ceiling leaving a 12" down (look at the picture). If ever I have some water problem I can simply remove that part and not the whole thing.

@rusty Sorry I haven't address your question. Why 3/4?

I feel I can hang anything anywhere with 3/4 ply. So far so good, I have some clamp racks (shown on the picture above) that weight around 150lbs and there is no visible flex.

I used poplar for the French cleats, also because it's the cheaper semi-hardwood I could find. I did cut a 6" board at 45 degree making it a two identical parts. I broke the sharp edge with the hand block plane and voila! I plan to add a French cleat at 24" from the ceiling with L brackets to hold long boards.

@Sparktrician Thank you, I have some good friends that ARE smart

I just used OSB.

T1-11 is what Im going to use. I like it cuz its structural. You can nail things dirrctly to it (with in reason) wo  having to locate studs.
If you need it brighter just paint it white

My alternative to drywall is patches of Baltic Birch plywood over Sheetrock as needed. My oversized two car garage (no longer a garage) shop was already sheetrocked, taped floated and painted white when we bought the house. Whenever I have something substantial to mount, I cut a piece of good plywood large enough to span more studs than I need. I rout the edges, sand, prime and paint to match the walls before mounting. It works great, looks fine and is inexpensive. Used in this manner one or two sheets will go a long way. I can do it spot by spot for specific items or I can cut long strips and mount them at a designated height to create a flexible mounting surface.

I used 7/16 OSB, the stuff sold for roofs, skim coated with joint compound and painted white.  A quick glance and you think it's wallboard.  But I can hang tools anywhere I want.  Moved my battery chargers just today.  Plenty of strength and cost pretty close to drywall.

The skim coating helps the appearance and saves paint.

@JimD What did you use for the skim coat?

I skimmed the OSB with joint compound.  I only did one coat so it isn't totally smooth.  But one coat filled in the holes well enough that it painted much better.  And joint compound is cheap.  I also filled in the joints between the sheets so they are less apparent too.  I don't think I used it but if you want more water resistance you could use setting compound.  It goes on as easily and dries much faster but you have to mess with mixing it with water.

I did not know what T1-11 is.  So I used Google to look it up.  Its exterior house siding for those others who don't know.  But the funny part is both Home Depot and Lowes sell the 19/32" x 4' x 8' sheets for exactly $34.12.  Both the exact same price down to the penny.  Apparently Festool is not the only one who uses price fixing for its vendors.