[Skip the preamble] to go directly to the download links.

Latest update. Version 1.2 (released April 2005) has the following new objects: dust collector, tablesaw with extensions and router table, sanding station, air compressor, clamp rack, corner counter, OSS, pegboard, radial arm saw, sawhorse, shaper, ShopSmith Mark V, scroll saw, and tool cabinet.

Coming up in next release. I've received requests for the following objects: sharpening station, outfeed table, and more dust collection components.

An alternative to Visio. I've received many emails from people who are looking for tools like this, but don't want to pay for a copy of Visio. There's a more affordable alternative that I've started playing with, called SmartDraw. (You can see a comparison of it with Visio.) There's a free download trial available - worth checking out.

Background. In designing an improved woodworking shop for my attached garage, I experimented with potential layouts using paper cut-outs and graph paper. After going through several iterations and re-do's, I decided to design the shop using Microsoft Visio.

To my surprise, I was unable to find decent Visio stencils for laying out a woodworking shop. I checked out popular woodworking sites and boards, such as Wood Magazine's woodworking forum and the rec.woodworking discussion group. I also googled extensively and unsuccessfully - - despite finding some good sites like www.mvps.org/visio with freely available Visio stencils for other applications.

So I developed a stencil of woodworking objects and figured I'd make them available here for other home woodworkers. If you are considering using Visio to design your shop, these might be useful to you.

The stencil consists of woodworking equipment (tablesaw, bandsaw, drill press, etc.), and other woodwork-related items (workbench, counter, cut-off bins, lumber racks, etc.). I also made objects for commonly-found garage items that you may have to work around in your planning (furnace, hot water heater, ladders, sinks, etc.).

Some sample objects from the stencil are below.

Contents: shop tools, storage, accessories, etc.

Air Compressor Bandsaw Cabinet Clamp Rack Counter Corner Counter Cut-off Bin Cut-off Bucket Drill Press

Dust Collector Jointer Lathe Lumber Rack Mitersaw OSS Pegboard Planer Radial Arm Saw Router Table

Sanding Station Sawhorse Scroll Saw Shaper ShopSmith Mark V Shop Vac Tablesaw Tablesaw/Router Tool Cabinet Workbench

Contents: other items

Bike (adult) Bike (child) Door Freezer Furnace Garbage Bin Hot Water Heater Ladder Recycle Bin

Room Sink Space Stool Wagon Wall Weight Bench Window

Vehicle (SUV) Vehicle (minivan) Lawn Tractor Dimension Line Callout

Each of the items is to scale, based on actual dimensions for the equipment that I own- - and based on close approximations for equipment that I hope to own someday! Each item can be stretched or squeezed as necessary to match the dimensions you're working with.

The template is just a blank Visio page that contains default values and a scale useful for woodshop layout. If you don't download the template, you can use the "Office Layouts" template in Visio, which is what this template is based on.

How to use the template and stencil. First, download the template using the link below. Save the template on your drive (you can save it in any folder).

Then, download the stencil and save it (again, to any folder).

Now, in Visio you can open the template by using the pull-down menu commands File - New - Choose Drawing Type - Browse Templates. Find the folder where you stored the workshop template, and select it.

A new blank drawing will open. To see the workshop stencil, select File - Stencils - Open Stencil. Navigate to the folder where you saved the workshop stencil and select it.

From this point it's pretty standard Visio play. Use the Wall icon to map out the walls of your available space. (You can easily measure lengths and distances with the "dimension line" on the stencil). Drag and drop your woodworking equipment and other objects where you want. Enjoy!

This is not a Visio tutorial, but if you want to know more the software you can Google Visio for more information.

Download links are below. Choose the template and stencil closest to your release of Visio. (Visio file formats are not compatible across all versions.) Please let me know if you have problems with the stencils or templates, or have suggestions for improvements.

I know I have not included all possible woodworking equipment by any means. If there's enough interest in adding new objects to the stencils, I will do so and post updates. You can check for updates by noting the release number that is part of each downloaded file's name.

Thank you to those of you who have already used these stencils and sent me Visio files of your shop layouts. I have posted sample shop layouts to share those shop design ideas with other woodworkers.