Shop Question

[Hedley]

I'm about to endeavor to create a wwshop (Contractors TS, bench tools, and hand tools only) in the third bay of a 3 car garage, but I don't really want it to look like a shop (dusty tools everywhere, cords showing, scraps all over the place). I'm afraid the BOSS would have increased anxiety levels should the third bay look cluttered all the time, and I really don't need her any more anxious than she already is. I could deal with it, but let's just say I'd rather not. And I have to admit, not having to look at clutter as I pull into the garage when arriving home after a long day at the orifice has some appeal to me as well. Anal-retentive is not quite my (our) descriptor, but it's pretty darn close.

My idea, naive as it may be, is to have doors on everything, with upper and lower cabinets running the length of two walls to contain everything. No exposed peg board for hanging tools, no racks for clamps, no visible bench or hand tools, and no visible shelves. I'm even considering a hiding place for the TS. Yes, aesthetics over convenience, or Style over Substance. Foolish, yes, but I want to make the effort. And I'm not too concerned with taking the time to drag everything out when I'm on a project.

My idea is to build plywood cabinets (sanded pine from the BORG) with pine trim, and making a wheeled 8' bench with lower doors to nestle between the fixed cabinets. Flip-top lower cabinets for bench tools to hide them underneath for the time not in use. The inevitable scraps in the basement, where it sure to cluttered as hell anyway(out of sight, out of mind). And I'd like to have it all automated, with a remote control to retract all the doors... nah, just kidding about the remote part.

I can almost picture it in my head, and have Visio'ed a few designs, but I get this sinking feeling it's a bad idea. Has anyone done something similar? As in, could someone walk into your garage/basement/spare bedroom shop that has been "put away" and have a hard time recognizing it as such?

Thank you for your collective wisdom, and I've got thick skin, so call me stupid if you think it appropriate.

Hedley

--And let's please all remember to binge in moderation.

[Toller]

Sounds great, as long as you won't actually be using it.

[stoutman]

Cars live outside!!!!

When I bought our new home with a garage, the garage became a workshop. We have NO "garage".

[Hedley]

Did I mention the winters around Chicago? Demonic.

[amazed]

Are you sure you want to risk a broken finger nail? Stay with knitting and let your husband play in the garage. :-) Ed

[tom]

Good luck! Tom

[bridger]

not stoopid at all. stuff out in the open gathers dust. make lots of flat drawers for the small tools. make about twice as many drawers as you think you'll need.

think of it this way: the process of making your shop furniture will teach you a lot about how to do it, how to use the space you're in and what tools you need.

go for it.

[LRod]

Harrumph! I spent 26 adult years in Chicagoland. Cars are still waterproof. Moreover, I'd rather have a car in a garage in Florida, where we don't have huge chunks of salt laden hard pack falling off the car in the garage and accelarating corrosion, than leave it out in Illinois, where you do.

[John B]

A simple solution to a complex problem. Run a dividing wall between the "Shop" bay and the other 2. Keep the door shut, all's clean and neat. ;) regards John

[bob]

I actually want to do something similar, but not quite as anal retentive. My walkout basement shop must also share space with the lawn tractor, tiller, pressure washer, garden tools, and the like. I would like to hide all those things behind something to keep the dust down. I don't believe a half inch of saw dust on top of a tractor engine is good for it and it's a PITA to blow it off all the time with the air compressor. I am thinking of walling off a section of the basement and installing "sliding barn doors". What's behind the doors is out of sight, out of mind. In the shop itself, there will be lots of cabinets and drawers for hand and power tools, etc... Things like the grinder, drill press, and the like will stay out in the open. Basically, my shop will be "neat" when I need it to be, but I have no problem leaving it cluttered during the course of a project. I just started the construction recently and expect it to take a while.

Bob

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Only advice I have is to find a different hobby. My shop is cluttered. If looking at it when I got home from work upset me, I'd start doing needlepoint instead. My shop is a place I can do what I want, work or not work, tackle a big a project or sweep the dust instead. To me, the shop is an inviting place, not a cause of anxiety.

[jo4hn]

My definition between the shop and the cars is called a "garage door". No cars in the shop, no problem. That said, LOML's car is parked in part of the shop. blush, jo4hn

[Wayne K]

A countertop/worktop, with cabinets underneath. In the cabinets have a lot of drawers with labels. I find drawers with labels extremely valuable in my shop.

95% of my tools and assorted hardware have a dedicated place to be stored. I can put everything away in less than 5 minutes after a project, and sometimes do during a project just to get myself reorganized. I go right to the tools I need when I need them. Drawers-would not be with-out them. Wayne, Columbia MD

[Morris Dovey]

| I can almost picture it in my head, and have Visio'ed a few | designs, but I get this sinking feeling it's a bad idea. Has | anyone done something similar? As in, could someone walk into your | garage/basement/spare bedroom shop that has been "put away" and | have a hard time recognizing it as such?

Make concealed storage for the smaller stuff - perhaps even the benchtop tools, but plan on leaving the larger tools where you use 'em because that's where they'll end up anyway - and if you force yourself to move them whenever you need them, it'll become so much of a hassle that you'll use 'em less and less often until they don't get used at all...

It's difficult to suggest more without knowing what kind of stuff you plan to do in your shop.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[John B]

The (Garage) shed, is my domain, my shit and spread where ever I want it. Most of the time not where I can find it. :) My old ute and the other half's sedan live in carports. Couldn't, get a car in the shed if I wanted to. ;) regards John

[Sergey Kubushin]

That's exactly what I did. 1 car part is separated from the 2 car one with a real wall and airconditioned. It hosts my metallworking shop (vertical mill, lathe and lot of other stuff.)

Unfortunately enough my woodworking stuff does not fit there so now it takes the rest -- that 2 car partition. Temporarily, until we have that house remodelling finished. That's what my wife's thinking :)) I doubt that all those nice machines (jointer, planer, TS, router table, dust collector etc.) would leave any space for cars... And it also looks like my family is no longer all that sure that cars do belong in the garage :))

[Roy]

1. Buy a lathe
2. Load extra large chunk of firewood into lathe
3. Turn until it resembles a stick
4. Beat some sense into SWMBO
5. When she comes to her senses, hand her the stick and have her beat you senseless, TWICE.
6. In a year or two, when you can't find the lathe for the shavings, shovel them out until you can see the top of it like the rest of us do.

Geez, I finally agree with Frito. We need a moderator. The Wreck has to have some standards. Imagine! Parking cars inside the shop! You and your wife definitely have something wrong with you, "Hedley". Threads like this just simply cannot be tolerated.

(BTW-I think I was just reading one of your other archived posts on a certain WW web archive site a couple of nights ago. Nice job.)

Regards, Roy

[Leuf]

Have a look at:

need not cram everything in as much as that, the main thing is that when it's closed everything is hidden, when it's open everything is as accessible as if it were on peg board.

Now you're just being silly. How big is this garage that you can throw away that much space?

No. Bad idea. This assures that when you might actually use some they will be a flight of stairs away from you. You'll just cut a bigger piece instead. Thus the scrap pile will only grow until it consumes the entire basement and any pets/small children that come near it. How bout taking the space for the 'TS garage' and using that to hide the scraps.

We have two long workbenchs that have all drawers/doors under them. In one lives most of the power tools. Behind the doors are the larger less often used tools that have cases. In some ways the drawers work great. There's one drawer where all the drills/bits etc live. One for the ROS and its discs. It's nice to have a place where all the related stuff is together and when you're done you can just shove everything back in and not have to worry about the cord getting tangled up with other stuff. But on the other hand it often takes longer to take out and put back the stuff than it does to use it, and as a result in the middle of a project it doesn't go back in. And I'm always in the middle of a project...

Some people mentioned putting up a wall, a curtain is another option. I have a couple hooks that I can hang two shower curtains up with to split the shop in two when I'm working on gifts for the family. They let the light through but everything is just a blur. Unless you can complete all your projects in one day, at some points you're not going to be able to put everything away.

-Leuf

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 20:46:23 -0500, "Hedley" scribbled:

How about the winters around Whitehorse? But we have been having an unusual October, no snow fall yet this year. Cars belong outside, that's why they're painted so well, like Charlie Self says.

Luigi Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

[Charlie Self]

With a proviso: I've been shooting a lot of antique/vintage cars for articles these days, and you do NOT park those babies outside. That $445 Model A in top notch restored condition may be worth 30K today, but only if the paint is in perfect AACA Grand National Award condition, while that $150,000 Cord will lose value as well as luster if left outdoors, as will the '34 Jag SS1 (museum condition, first year of first model with Jaguar nameplate. Value? You guess, cause I'm afraid to).