38 Replies

hey jim iam happy with my shop rite now but as soon you get rid of some things then it will come up you needed what you cleared out hard to get rid of things in a shop

Some cool ideas there. I noticed a cabinet for fasteners with little plastic bins inside and on the doors. The rows were staggered so the door would close. Nifty.

I consider my shop half organized. One thing the guy said that I try to follow is have a place for everything. That way you know at a glance if something is missing.

Your write Jim ,when we get serious about cleaning up the items many times the items you blew out are just what you need,sometimes you can’t when for losing.
I agree Brian he has tons of good ideas and some outstanding equipment.I noticed those plastic bins too . Even though I don’t have things perfect in my shop I usually have things where I can find them,except when they’re in plain sight LOL

me to jim I know where mu tools and things are but when go to use them cant locate them rite off

I guess the key point is that you find them sooner or later Jim sometimes it’s much later for me.

I am never happy with my shop. The day it quadruple in size I will be happy:)
some good ideas.
I saw one that I will borrow.

Thanks Jim!

Unfortunately, even with all the great ideas in the video, membership is set up much differently. With my tiny little shop I have to work with space provided. I consider myself as an organizer but, something’s are just what they are. The size of the shop in the video, anyone could be better organized. Since money is tight for most, this video is great for ideas but, impractical without a bank roll to go with it. Great ideas though.

that’s true james I have a small shop to you do what you have to do

your welcome Lanwater shops are like storage no matter what their size we always seem to fill them.

James
I guess looking at videos like the ultimate workshop can either make us dream of a shop like that or can be a bit aggravating knowing we will never be able to afford such a setup. You have made some great projects with the size shop you have now.

No matter how hard I try the “Law of Horizontal Surfaces” wins.

My brother has a habit of exiting his house through his attached garage shop, picking up 2-3 things and putting them up on his way out. His shop is always neat.

a1jim
You are so right. I try and keep an optimistic view of the spaces in the video but, reality is a dream is as close as I will get to them. I keep the hope so, you never know.

Boy Mark I fight the horizontal surface thing all the time.

Hang in the James keeping optimistic is always good.

Being able to weld and fabricate I made a stand that holds 4 tools . They rotate to the top and then I tighten with a jam bolt .

I don’t ues these all the time , so when I need one I just bring it to the top. The roller lines up with my table saw and work bench.

That’s quite a space saver. Very well thought out. Pretty creative.

That guy has some sweet ideas, I love that miter saw setup. Since i recently bought a new table saw, my current setup is not working so great i have been throwing around ideas to see what i can do to revamp my shop. I have cleared out some items and so made some room. Since becoming more serious about my wood working, i have learned to be more organized, i am always trying to find quick go to spots for tools.

Jim….my wife just told me that she put a reserve on the book you suggested a few weeks back (I don’t keep track of her book list) and it’s in at the library. Is your wife a quilter by any chance or is this kismet? Mine heard about the book on a quilting blog.

Wow Bruce that’s one amazing stand.

whitacrebspoke sometimes we all need to sack our owners for the same reason :))

It’s a never ending challenge Tony to organize and reorganize our shops.

Thanks a1Jim and every one else

To be very honest i would love to empty my shop completely. Repaint, epoxy the floor, add a larger fuse panel,add more outlets and build an outside shed for the large dust collector and air compressor. Then shift ccbinets and do a new floor layout.

Wow that sounds cool Jeff as long as I don’t have to do it LOL I think it would take me a year just to move my stuff out :))

Jeff Vandenberg – after a fire gutted my office , that’s pretty much what I did . Wired the whole garage using conduit and steel boxes . Put 4×4 boxes with 4 outlets in each one . I put all the out lets about 4’ off the floor , no more bending over . I have a Main panel in the new office and a sub panel for each bay . I installed some outlets in the ceiling to avoid cords running across the floor . Each piece of equipment has its own outlet . In the end it was one of the best upgrades to my shop. ( it was an electrical fire , mice had chewed on the wires and they shorted out )

Dang Bruce. That sounds really cool. Very organized. I think jim it would take a week to roll and carry my stuff out then a week to wash walls and paint. The epoxy floor might take longer. I would hate to roll them back in and mess up the floor. So id need curing time. So i bet a month to 6 weeks. Now thats with a plan to follow. Lol

I’m definitely not happy with my shop, as it currently resides in one corner of my 30 by 40 hangar. I’m a collector, too, and have way too much stuff in there. Two Chevy pick up projects, two airplane projects, one running ‘31 Model A roadster pick up, a 4’ by 16’ table, plus shelves, equipment, wood, etc.

I need to get busy, and clear out the airplane stuff, and down size the table to 4’ by 8’. A good wood storage system would really be a “boon,” too.

The shop “corner” is kind of organized. I have a system for tools and equipment, measuring devices, etc., but not for wood, paint and finishing supplies.

Interesting, Shin, love to see pictures of some of your “projects”.

I would really like to see shin

I agree I would like to see it too Keith.

Bruce, that’s cheating!

I went from a 325sqft shop to a 550sqft to an 1100sf shop. As my shop size has grown, I’ve become less creative with the space. I find that although my current shop is organized, eg. sorted fasteners in label bins, proper shelves for all my tools, there is a lot of wasted space, ie. the overall design and layout of my shop could be a lot more organized. Also, the larger the shop, the more room you have to collect clutter and avoid cleaning….

The bigger the shop the more cleaning, that’s for sure.

Well I just posted this on my profile seems fitting for this topic.

Just scroll down to my comments.

https://woodworkingweb.com/Blackie_

Thanks for the input picklehead,manitario.Brian and Randy

That’s quite a detailed photo work up of your shop addition Randy.

AC I desperately need AC! My shop is 30×50 w 12’ side walls. I had to take a break for a while as the heat and humidity was unbearable! Thinking of replacing the house unit with a more efficient unit and moving the old one down to the shop.

I don’t think my shop has ever really been organized. Over the last several years we have rented our places so it’s always been make do and not make any lasting changes to the space.

Now I have my own place, but have come to the realization that
1) I need electrical upgrade
2) Insulation so I can heat and cool the place to make it more comfortable through out the year
3) Need to figure out how to make it work better with more organization, etc.

So with that said, need to get 1 and 2 done so I can work more on number 3.

Dave, you’re list is out of order. Make a plan before your electrical upgrade so new outlets are in a good location.

Scfuntimez
AC is something I’ve thought of too but I’ve never made that investment,forcanatly the area I’m in does not have High humidity.
Dave
I think that many times when we get our shops up and running we get the basics handled so we can get working in the shop and think I’ll add this item later or find a place to put this item in the future. After 15 years of being in my present shop there are still tools I’ve stuck in corners just to get them out of the way that have turned out to be their permanent location when ever I’m looking for them.

The shop is cramped I’ve wanted to move out 5 years ago (been there 9). I keep adding things and somehow make it work.

I think my shop is pretty well organized,but far from perfect. The real problem for me is that i do a lot of different types of projects. It is much easier to organize a shop if your projects are all similar, just as it is easier to build multiples with streamlined production methods.

I liked the video, thanks for that.
I have a one man shop, I build cabinet doors for cabinet companies, over the last several years I have added and upgraded many machines and work stations, I’ve had to get a machine for each single step of the process and like the video mentioned have every single station equipped with tooling and dust collection.

I have put up a lot of wall cabinets and lower cabinets, so everything I need has a place, the shop generally stays organized.

I also put in a 20" tube fan that shoots all the dust outside… Keeps the shop dust free.
The shop has to be run as time efficient
as possible.
The one thing I would like to change is the square footage of the shop.