What would you include in the perfect Austin Seven workshop?

[Alan]

Mine is older than my Sevens

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Wheatley and Morgan nailed it for everyone over 50 years ago, except possibly Stuart Giles who clearly has American sized ambitions.
Their first volume has the layout below and the second volume (the difficult second album?) has some pictures that glimpse heaven. 
Whilst the layout is still a dream for most of us their machine tools look "elderly", which is understandable. Their book was published in the same year that my lathe was made, and that type of quality machine tool was never envisaged in a home workshop (which is a very polite paraphrasing of what my wife said when I brought it home)



Charles

Charles,

can you share more of this, here or on line? Perhaps it is a lot and I should find a copy to buy?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Scrub that - I do have a copy!

[Charles P]

Scrub that - I do have a copy!

You made me splutter my tea at the thought you'd didn't!

For those that don't here's a link
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookD...1-_-title1

c

[dickie65]

I only need the willpower to go out and do something. ( maybe better after the clocks change )

I would never have a pit in my garage !

My playpen is already 5.5 x 10 Metres with patio doors into the garden very well lit with 6 x 2m long Led striplights.
Harrison M300 Lathe, Decent compressor, bench grinder pillar drill, Toilet bucket empties into the compost bin.
Dehumidifer, Ring main with about 10 double sockets.
I have a huge floor jack that will lift to 800 mm with matching axle stands.
I had plenty of space till my wife took over 1/4 of the garage to park her car in. ( I manage to keep her out for over six years mind you )
And the garden shed that is big enough to park a seven in.
The only things I would add would be a parts washer and a small blast cabinet but they would be put into a lean too on the back of the garage.

[Bryan]

Or something like this

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Where is that from please Bryan?

Sorry about the wasted tea Charles...

[Stuart Giles]

Wheatley and Morgan nailed it for everyone over 50 years ago, except possibly Stuart Giles who clearly has American sized ambitions.

Well, someone earlier in this thread did mention the car enthusiast fact that stuff expands to fill the space available. I have two garages and two workshops here now. This is a pic of part my 'new' garage (meant to solve the previous overcrowding problem) when I was just finishing it 2014.



And this is what it looked like a couple of months ago.



This is a pic of one of my workshops taken a couple of years ago.



Since when I have added several 'new to me' machines; getting the last of them installed will involve some 3D workshop Tetris .

So, it would hopefully take some time for me to fill my dreamed of couple of 200 sq m workshops and a 300 sq m garage; especially as a limiting factor is that I will need to live to be 120 or so years old to finish the projects I have in hand already

BTW, I borrowed and read the first Wheatley & Morgan book from one of my brothers just after I bought my Special in 1971. The suggested workshop equipment etc. seemed pretty much fantasy as a home workshop to me as an engineering apprentice earning the princely sum of £7.50 (before stoppages) per week. Our home garage then had a Victorian/maybe Edwardian 'Britannia' lathe and a hand operated pillar drill; at the time I thought that was pretty well equipped, although some bits I made/modded back then were 'homers' produced at work.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

This is very interesting Stuart, thank you.

I think I will also need other garages to store the cars. Is having a workshop that remains just for work fanciful?

[Charles P]

Wheatley and Morgan nailed it for everyone over 50 years ago, except possibly Stuart Giles who clearly has American sized ambitions.

BTW, I borrowed and read the first Wheatley & Morgan book from one of my brothers just after I bought my Special in 1971. The suggested workshop equipment etc. seemed pretty much fantasy as a home workshop to me as an engineering apprentice earning the princely sum of £7.50 (before stoppages) per week. Our home garage then had a Victorian/maybe Edwardian 'Britannia' lathe and a hand operated pillar drill; at the time I thought that was pretty well equipped, although some bits I made/modded back then were 'homers' produced at work.

My father had a screwdriver (for mixing paint) and a mole wrench so the discovery of proper workshops at school was a revelation!
I now have a Maho and consider a "Deckel-ish" style mill as the home workshop ideal. 

Charles