The first problem you will have to face, when setting up shop, is location. Some people have plenty room, others face the problem, that space comes at a premium. Whatever the case may be, be assured, that you will need space, the more the better.

Every workshop, once it is ready for operation, will be classed as "too small" by its owner. This seems to be a cast iron rule...

Once you have determined where the workshop is going to come, you second item on the agenda is:power supply.

In more built up areas, this will be less of a problem, as there will be less distance between the house and the shop.

In more rural areas, huge lengths of cable,to connect the domestic supply with the shop, might be prohibitive.

All depends on the class of machinery you intend to "liberate",buy or acquire .

If you are going to include ex-production machines,like I did, it might be well to consider a 3 phase supply.

Your local electricity board, will charge you a lot of money for this,if they are prepared to give it to you in the first place!

So, a diesel generator might be an option.

If on the other hand, you are going to keep things to a more manageable size,a simple extension,of the mono phase domestic supply will do just nicely. Count on a minimum of 3000 watts, if no heavy ex-industrial machines are included.

It is highly unlikely, that you would have all the machines running at the same time.

Another,important issue, to contemplate, is heating. All will depend on your location, but in most cases some form of heating would be advisable. I try to combine the production of electricity from a diesel generator, with the production of heat, produced by the same generator as waste heat.

If you are close to the house, and you can put in an extra radiator, taken of the main central heating, your are a lucky person!

If you have to build from scratch, then first of all, invest some money in a couple of books on workshop construction.

It is always better to get these small pointer by reading about them, then by having to redo things. The bill of the latter, usually is a  lot higher then that of the  former option.

The "workshop practice series" has two books about this subject, and these little books can be had for about £8,from a variety of sources

The same series, incidentally, carries a book on workshop electrics, which is also not a bad investment, if you don't have too much experience in the "spark" department.

Once the heating is sorted out, and you have an electricity supply, you're rolling! The only thing you need now, is money! Money for machinery...

As said before, it doesn't have to break the bank. If you can get your hands on second hand machinery from a school or a business that closed down or renewed their machine park, you might be in luck!

Your workshop will have to be bigger though, as industrial machinery is usually bulkier and a lot heavier then the smaller bench mounted machines we usually go for.

You will also need concrete flooring, as these heavier machines need to be bolted down firmly.

If you never worked in industry, it might not be the very best option,but that doesn't mean that you should let a good deal go! 

In my own shop, I have one big lathe, that weighs over half a ton, and is over two and a half meters long.

All the rest of the machines are bought new, and are of a smaller caliber.

It all depends, what you can get, what your budgets are, and how the "Domestic Authorities" favor the "import" of huge chunks of cast iron!

On the machinery page, you will find a selection of the machines I gathered. One piece of very sound advise though: get as good as you can afford.

Take the ,projected, usage of the machine in with your estimate and make your decision on more then just cost.

In the world of machinery goes (most of the time) you get what you pay for.

You will see on the other hand, that the same machine from different sources can be sometimes 50% more expensive!