Shop Layout questions

Hi Ladies, Happy Easter (early)- for those of you that celebrate Easter!

Please advise me how much clearance I should leave between the back of the presses and the wall? And, how much space should there be between presses? Both are 10 x 15’s.

 

Should I consider a drip pan under each press?

 

The floor is concrete, should I seal it with a commercial epoxy to be able to clean the oil?

 

How big should a work surface (table top/counter top) be ideally?

 

I plan to have shelving…how much? I will also have a sink.

 

What am I forgetting? What should I have that I’m not thinking of at the moment?

 

Please share pictures if possible.

Thanking you in advance,

D

 

 

 

Yes, on the drip pans. Sealing the floor is a good idea. You should leave at least two feet behind and between the presses, so you can oil the presses and other maintenance…personally I like enough room to allow for a 40 inch skid. Work surface should be minimum the size of your chase for lock up….bigger is better. Shelving as much as you can put in. Sink…got to have one to wash your hands….I used to think I washed my hands a lot when I was a waitress. Use graph paper to arrange your shop to it’s best purpose. Leave room for the other letterpress goodies that you won’t be able to live without in the future.. a paper cutter, pallet jack, type and cases, shipping and receiving area, office space, etc. I will post pictures later.

Camille, thank you for replying. Leaving room for a pallet jack I would have overlooked.

D

Here is a picture to give you an idea on room for your presses.

The visual definitely helps. Thank you Camille!

Is there a disadvantage in having the press on coasters? I was contemplating them secured on the skid? I thought when they’re bringing the presses in, it would be the best, if not only, time to convince the strong backs to help. Opinions, anyone?

D

Check out this thread about that, http://www.briarpress.org/25804#comment-26567

If you search around on Briar you can find a lot of useful information. Here is another very useful site with many links, http://www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm

 

I had searched briarpress and found a thread. Hopefully someone will reply with dimensions for a drip tray. I hadn’t looked at fiveroses recently. Their site is so overwhelming I get off track every time I visit the site :o) I will search for coaster/wheel use in both places. Thank you.

D

Well …

We have a 10X15 and no drip pan – never been a real problem (we have an epoxy covered cement floor)

 

We have a table that is about 6′ x 3′. small – but it has worked well for us. we can have 2 computer or several clients.

 

we have cabinets for paper, etc about 4 feet wide, quite deep and going up about 7 feet. We need more and we are a very small business. We have some smaller shelves also for ink, books, samples, boxes of printed card inventory, etc. again not enough.  Cannot emphasize enough the need for storage!

Thank god you will have a sink!  Best thing we did.

 

Make SURE your light is good! and that you have access to your press on all sides.

This are some pics – before and after and the move. Hope the link works – sometimes Flickr and I have a problem.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hazelandvioletink/collections/72157623872179685/

Nancy, your pictures are great! Love the cabinets! I’ll only have shelves :0( A funny thing happened after looking at your pictures…I went back and on graph paper put everything in place with its perspective size. Within 5 minutes I announced that we didn’t have enough room and we are adding additional space…before we ever started. Strangely enough, well not really,  my husband wasn’t surprised.

Thank you too for helping.

D

I don’t have a drip pan either but bought a roll of linoleum from Home Depot and taped that down under the press- cleans up easily and looks nice too! It’s a less permanent solution than sealing the floor.

-v-

Here are two more pictures to help give you an idea of space needed.

My husband has some sheet metal in his shop and said he’d cut out the liners. Linoleum would solve the issue of sharp edges. What a great idea. Thanks Val

Wow, love the storage for the rollers! If my husband is still talking to me when all is finished maybe he’ll make me one!

 

BTW, Happy Mother’s Day for any of our L of L moms out there.

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