I am laying out a new shop and I need some recommendations on how to lay the machines out most efficient. I made a .dxf drawing showing the machines and dimensions.. can somebody take a look and recommend changes or if it's easier you can just change my .dxf file.

Go to this link to find the drawing...
http://jkevin.com/_MISC/CAD/Shop_Layout.zip

Looks kinda busy, but..... It's really kind of hard to make recommendations unless we know what operations are being run through the shop. If you are doing production work you would want to layout cells that would keep all the equipment needed to produce your parts complete without running them all over the shop. If a part has multiple operations you want to set up equipment so it will "flow" through the shop in an inline progression.

If you are not doing production work, it becomes a personal preference and what ever blows your skirt up will work just fine.

one thing that takes the pressure off of having to do this perfectly is to make everything easy to move so you can rearrange and adjust as needed. Plugged power and spacers under the machines so you can pick them up easily.

The plugged power is a great idea. I have done this at 2 shops. Don't think you will nail the layout the first time. With pigtails at the machines you can hardwire the 3phase receptacles at different areas and still rearrange as you wish. Often you will find just moving a machine a couple feet can greatly increase your efficiency.

If you can find surplus buss duct cheap that's even better.


My first impression is that you are placing everything way too parallel to the walls, it looks like a kitchen, not a shop. My shop work area is very crowded, about 4000 ft sq., and almost nothing is aligned to the walls or to other machines, except for 3 of the 4 CNC machines and that's because it worked best for them. The 2 bridgports turned slightly is a good start, now look at the saws and lathes, and see how they can be placed to be more accessible, for example my 2 engine lathes are back to back with a space between them where I put trash cans and etc which can be removed to get access to the backs of the machines if necessary. Plus back to back keeps one operator from being showered with chips from the machine behind him. Make the cutoff saw moveable, wheels if necessary, I put mine on a frame that I pick up and move with a pallet jack for when I cut extra long stock that must be moved with a forklift. I put 3 mills in a circle with the backs facing inward. My vertical bandsaw is next to a vidmar cabinet and the table gets used for a sorting table. some of your machines are only 1' apart and the VMC is 1' away from the walls, 1' is not enough room to squeeze into unless you are 98lbs. Move the VMC into the middle and put a workbench/drillpress/etc against the back of it, something that can be moved if needed to access the machine for maintenance.

It's a cliche anymore, but think outside the box.

+1 on the plugged power.. ALL my equipment is like that except central air.

Whatever is practical, I put on wheels.

I would take the time to accurately represent your machine measurements. For instance, your Bridgeport mills are a 3x3' square, but in reality they should look somewhat like a "T". You'd be amazed how much space you "free up" using this method. In reality, that 1' space between your Atrump and Bridgeport really isn't 1'.

Also, I would recommend you not place your surface grinder next to 2 Bridgeports. You need to try and isolate the grinder in a "dirty" area, say next to your saws or something. You don't want the nastiness from the grinder settling on your mills/lathes as it will eventually cause damage. Once you find a suitable place for it, angle it so that the grinding mess is thrown towards a wall.

In order to comply with NEC and OSHA, you need 36" of clear area directly in front of any electrical cabinet. This includes any machine electrical cabinets, breaker boxes, etc. Any electrical cabinet door must have enough clearance that it can be opened 90°. For example, if the cabinet door is 24", 36" clearance is the minimum, BUT, if the door is 48", then 49" (or whatever is required to allow the door to open 90°) is the minimum clearance.

Always an interesting subject.

I can't open DXF files here,............ please could someone put it up as a pic of some description?

Thanks.

Sami

X2, I have Mac.

I would angle all the mills along one wall and all the lathes on the other wall. Put tooling storage and the benches down the center of the shop so whichever machine your working on you don't have to walk far. It dosen't sound to important but adds up to a lot of time in the long run.

X3 Thats why I always save stuff like this into a pdf, everyone can open a pdf.

I would place the cutoff saw near a doorway, or near a wall where a hole could be made to feed stock through to the saw.

I would also agree with more concise outlines of each machine. Mills need a T shaped space as long as the max table travel in both directions plus a couple of feet of clearance at those positions. There may be important space going to waste behind the overarm of the vertical mills. Back to back vertical mill arrangements may make better use of otherwise dead space.

Consider placing your lathes in a squared arrangement where all the operators work inside the enclosed square space. Ideally, 3 lathes around 3 sides of the square, and the 4th side left open for easy access. You might angle them slightly as well, to try to alleviate the direction of chips flying out of the chuck or back of the spindle. But plan on putting up some chip guards. A workbench can be rolled in or out of this lathe area through the open side of the arrangement.

If the lathes have taper attachements, leave some room to get behind them.

I like the cheap 18 x 27" six or eight drawer metal toolchest (on wheels) for a toolbench at each machine. So a bunch of those spread around the shop need to be modelled in as well. It is possible to build hutches for such toolboxes, with a pegboard back fastened to the back of the tool box for hanging up whatever can be hung.

I don't have large work benches in my shop, because they tend to get piled high with junk. Fight junk by hanging stuff up on pegboard. In fact the largest table I have is the welding table which is 3 feet by 6 feet. You might be doing a lot of assembly work, but if that is sporadic, then make your workbenches modular, like 4 small benches that can be rolled together to make a larger bench when necessary. But small workbenches to hold a heavy part are nice when you have to wheel it over to the lathe area or something. But don't plan on using the toolbenches for workbenches, because machinists need room for their hand tools when working. Let the portable workbenches hold the parts.

How many do you plan that should be able to work in that shop?
I would try to screen the surface grinder from the other machines, the grinding swarf and dust tend to wear a lot on other machines.

I agree. Those are nice for tooling at each machine.

Best regards
Thomas.

Most of the comment made already covers it as I see it. Definitely get that surface grinder segregated, maybe grouped in same area as saws if you can't give it its own little enclosed area. Also consider where doors are located (or are to be located, if this is new construction), for both machine/material access and human traffic that may interfere with operator activity. It's a guessing game for outside observers without knowing what kind of work you do, though. Buss duct is a fabulous way to go if your budget works, but in any case, put everything on plugged cords that you can.

Screen print: (click to enlarge)

That attachment is just too small. Here is one you may be able to read:



Then again maybe not.