Doing a layout is helpful, but not as helpful as trying a layout for a year
and thinking about what worked and what didn't. Here are some tips:

1. Don't put the headstock of your lathe against a wall. If an end has to go
into a wall, let it be the tailstock end, set just far enough out from the
wall so you can get the tailstock off. That way you can get at the headstock,
put long things through the spindle, etc.

2. You may have to handle longish pieces of stock. Think about if you get
a piece of stock eight feet long, how you would bring it in and manipulate
it so you can cut it down.

3. The mill throws chips when you're flycutting. These don't work well on
car finishes. Think about hanging a curtain or something around your mill.

4. Things can be pretty close to a drill press, but a mill has to be able
to move the table all the way around. Bridgeport recommends a 7x7' footprint
for their mills.

You didn't mention a bench! Where are you going to mount your grinder? How
about your toolboxes? Air compressor? Extension cords? Lighting? Storage?

Think specific questions, like "Where will I keep my pipe wrench?" or "Where
will I keep my thread file?" or "How hard will it be to fill a tire?" Only
you know what you'll be doing.

Good luck, and be patient!

Grant Erwin


jtaylor wrote:
At this point I am moving 4 little pieces of paper around on top of another
sheet of paper with squares drawn on it.

The floor is about 12'x22'. Footprints for the four things a

Car 13'x6'
Lathe 3 1/2' x 5 1/2'
Mill 3' x 4'
Drill 2'x2'

What sort of space should there be between the various tools so I can do
work without having to remember exactly where I am all the time?

Are there any real advantages to having access to all sides of the lathe -
this asked because right now the bench is by itself in the middle of a floor
and it's kind of nice to be able to walk around it.