You have a typical garage floor, sloped 1/4" per foot to allow drainage
toward the door. My shop is the same way, and to tell you the truth, I
don't even notice it The outfeed tables slope the same as the table saw
table, so it's still flat, just not level. None of the other machines move
around due to the slope. The only thing I did level was my workbench, so i
have one level flat surface to reference things off of. --dave


"Dave Hall" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 12:43:07 -0500, Matt Stachoni
wrote:

Hi!

I'm getting ready to set up a "real" woodshop in the garage, and have
a fairly steep sloping floor to contend with. I measured about a 5"
drop over 25'. In fact if I release the parking brake, my car will
roll out into the street by itself.

Luckily, that;'s not going to be a problem anymore

My question is, how does one deal effectively with this with setting
up outfeed tables, workbenches and counters?

Since I only have one skinny bay to work with (about 11'x25'), my
current plan calls for a fixed countertop along the long side wall,
with hand built rolling shop cabinets below for storage and
convenience. I figure I'll put the counter in at 36" AFF on plywood
brackets and cleats, then store cabinetry and possibly a router table
underneath in their "garages," but move them around for project
convenience. My problem is that I have to design for the highest floor
spot, so a 36" counter would be almost 40" high nearest to the garage
door. Plus my rolling cabinets would look dopey with a larger gap to
the counter....

I'd also like to have the major machinery on rolling stands as well. I
guess I don't know if having a sloped floor will cause issues with the
table saw in/outfeed or general movement of heavy machinery. I would
hate to be using a jointer and have the thing decide it would rather
be in the neighbor's yard....

I guess I always have the option of building sloped sleepers and
covering the whole thing with 3/4" plywood (which would have other
benefits as well), but that's a bit extreme right now...

TIA,
- Matt


I would think a lot would depend on whether it is a consistent slope
or some sections slope more than others. Also, does it only slope back
to front or does it also slope from the sides to the middle?

If it is a consistent slope fron back to front, I really wouldn't
worry about it. Yeah, the cabinets under the counter will look a
little strange, but it's a shop. You might try splitting the
difference on the counter (i.e. start at 33.5" and end at 38.5" with
the middle (and the average) being 36" then cabinets that fit under
sections of it. (i.e. 8' of cabinets at 33", 8' at 35" and 8' at 36")
and mix & match within the 8" sections. With a consistent slope the
outfeed table shouldn't be impacted, but you will be pushing your wood
either uphill or downhill on the saw, jointer, etc.