I am putting together my shop. It's all a jumble right now, so the first thing I figure I have to do is organize all the scrap pieces.
I have a 40' container.
What kinds of storage techniques do you use for full sheets of plywood, partial sheets, two by's, strips that you save for making small trim, dowels, etc? I'm thinking of making horizontal racks along the walls with projections about a foot long, and some vertical bins using a checkerboard separator for the strips.
Ideas and sites with pictures would be appreciated.
I can't do anything until I can make some room by getting all this organized.
This may be sacrilege, but what about being diligent about purchasing what you need for a project and not keeping a pile of inventory on- hand? I'm really two-thirds serious at this point. Obviously you'll need a supply of material for jigs and what-not, but wood just seems to accumulate and makes it hard to stay organized. In DreamShop I'll have a very strict limit on what and where it can be kept. Where I work now it's way out of control, and costs us real $$ trying to keep up with it. Penny-wise and pound-foolish, IMNSHO. JP
It's all 1/2" plywood except the bottom and top horizontals, which are 3/4" plywood. Dadoes and Titebond II for every joint makes it very strong. It's been fully loaded for years and there is no significant sagging anywhere.
Good luck with that. You will always have something left over, and you either need to throw it out or have a place to put it. The two cabinets shown in my pictures serve that need quite nicely. Countless times a new project comes along where I need that certain special board, and I usually have pretty good luck finding something in my stash to fit the bill. I make every effort to use what I have on-hand, and that helps keep the cabinets from overflowing.
I have scrap that accumulates, also. I go through it about once every
3 months. If there's something I'll be using soon, I keep it. If there's no pending project for it, it's tossed. The only exception is with some expensive or exotic/rare piece(s).
Is the 40' container for storage, only, or does it serve as your shop, as well? I assume for storage, only. Is access, into it, only from the ends (or from one end) or is there access from its center (side doors)? Its configuration, for access, would facilitate which/what might be the best way to plan any layout.
This may be sacrilege, but what about being diligent about purchasing what you need for a project and not keeping a pile of inventory on- hand? I'm really two-thirds serious at this point. Obviously you'll need a supply of material for jigs and what-not, but wood just seems to accumulate and makes it hard to stay organized. In DreamShop I'll have a very strict limit on what and where it can be kept. Where I work now it's way out of control, and costs us real $$ trying to keep up with it. Penny-wise and pound-foolish, IMNSHO. JP
As a picker and packrat, let me answer that just for me.
Yes, I do buy materials for projects. I do live 6 miles from Ace, and 30 from Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. Whenever I buy, I buy more than I need, as you can expect the unexpected. We've been remodeling this house since we bought it five years ago, spending about $50,000 in the process. That's a lot of "stuff"
And, as with any "stuff", if you throw it away, you will need it within one week. I live on country acreage. I don't have unmanaged piles of "stuff", but I do have managed piles. I weld, and hardly throw away steel, just keep putting it in shorter bins. And many a time, I can go out and find just the piece I need without driving sixty miles, and having to buy 20' of something when I need one foot.
I just went to an auction of Pace American Trailers. Myron Browning Auctions auctioned four locations throughout the US. About 80,000 sf of manufacturing stuff under roof at my location. Made a decent enclosed trailer from metal stock, wood, alum plate, etc. The place and most equipment was an absolute wreck from the employees abuse. It was disheartening. It was probably a contributing factor in its failure. If the sabotage and intentional damage was that bad back in the shop, it was probably just as bad up in purchasing.
I have two parallel containers. 16' apart, steel joisted steel roof over both. One has a 7' wide door to the middle, and I will put the other one in soon as I lay out the equipment. They both have doors on the same ends the way they were laid out.
I tend not to keep wood nearly as long as metal, as once it starts to go south, I'll toss it. Most projects that take full sheets or lengths of wood are completed before the wood starts to age. I'm just saving some scraps now for some yard projects and things.
Don't know if this will work for you but in my unfinished garage I cut some angled half-laps (5deg) on short pieces of 2x2. Screwed them to every stud at shelf height and store lumber there. Cheap, strong and effective.
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