We recently bought an acre of land and will be building a house on it after the first of the year.  I want to build a real dream shop - 25x50 of which about 12' off of one end will be walled off for my home office.  That's going to leave a lot of space for some fun. Grizzly doesn't offer their layout software anymore as they are working on a replacement. Anyone else offering something like that? I'd like to be able to layout my big iron as well as where my sysports, etc need to go.  Also, would be a good idea to build a small area on the outside to hold my full size DC and then run the pipe through the wall?  It's a Felder AF14 and it's pretty loud.  Would love to see some pics of what others have done.  What worked, what would you do different.

I did a complete thread, on moving my shop from Calif to Az and had a shop built from the ground up. Do a search it covers everything from getting the architect contractor , issues during the build (it was during the pandemic) and other things including building cabinets and setting it up.  Basically womb to tomb from moving building and setting my shop up.

https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/workshops-and-mobile-vehicle-based-shops/whats-a-good-shop-size/

If you know a little SketchUp maybe this series will help.

I used SketchUp Make 2017 (the free version) to model my shop a few years ago.  I had a good idea of what I wanted to put in the shop, but was not sure if everything would fit.  The Trimble 3D Warehouse had files for some of the equipment I had, or versions that was close enough.  I had to create a model for my Minimax SC2C saw, the dust collection ducting, and the filter plenum for the DC system.  I found the 3D SketchUp files for the DeWalt DWS780 miter saw, Jet JSG-96 sander, Sjöbergs work bench, as well as generic table top drill press, compressor, band saw, and a jointer/planer.  I imported my mitersaw workstation file to complete the shop layout.

I put my DC and compressor in a closet, but could have made the closet a bit larger.  This is a rendering of the fitted out shop with some of the ducting and overhead obstructions removed for clarity.




Being able to model the shop first was a great help, and it was easy enough to do in SketchUp.

Since the design and build, I made some changes to the ducting and mitersaw station, added a Record Power AC400 air filter, and replaced the DWS780 with a Kapex 120.  This is what my shop looked like before I expanded into the adjacent room.  I moved the Sjöbergs bench, drill press, and tool wall into the other room.  Aside from the Kapex, which is connected to a dedicated CTL-36, only the equipment that needs to be connected to the large DC system is in this room.

- Another vote for SketchUp here. Modeling my shop was a great way to become more proficient in using the software. There’s a ton of videos online to help you with SketchUp.
- As others here have mentioned, SketchUp 3D-Warehouse has many prebuilt objects you can drop into your model.  I found most of my woodworking machines (or close dimensions to) already built in 3D-Warehouse.
- @smorgasbord and others make a great point:  also model your workflow, sheet goods movement , etc.
- Once you get comfortable with modeling software, you’ll likely use it for lots of things.  I am currently helping some family members design a bathroom remodel, again with generic components from 3D-Warehouse.
- Keep in mind future changes.  If your equipment is on mobile bases, work tables on casters, etc., it will make the inevitable ‘shop redesign’ so much easier.
Good luck with your shop.    Rich M. in Denver.