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Thread: Those with garage shops there must be a better way...help

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Yorktown, VA
    Posts
    422
    When I had a one car garage to work out of, I wall mounted my dust collector high up on the wall, to clear some floor space.

    Rob
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  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Lubbock Texas
    Posts
    931
    "(the shop is in the "third car" section of our three car garage). I've added a bench, jointer and belt sander to the mix, so I have to figure out how to incorporate those into the band saw, table saw, drill press and planer I already have. " ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I have a workshop in the third stall of a three car garage also. I built a wall to seperate it and mounted lumber storage to the outside of this wall. All the benches in this scetch are wall mounted so the floor is pretty clear. I installed elect. outlets evey four feet on all three walls using elect. conduit mounted outside the wall. I use shop vacs for dust control. I make small items mostly and all the equipment in this scetch is table top type except the table saw which rolls out when needed. Shelves on the full length of three walls above benches. All benches, walls, and shelves are assembled using screws and is 100% demountable for when I again move. Works well for me.
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    No PHD, but I have a DD 214

  3. #18
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    63
    Thanks for the ideas everyone. Sometimes I need to see different configurations in order to get ideas and a sense of hope back into the shop as there is literally nobody else I can consult that can intelligently comment about this kind of thing. Well my wife comments about it but her suggestion is always to sell all the tools and buy furniture like normal people. That's not going to happen. So again thanks for the ideas.

    As a result of your comments I have three different configurations that I want to try out this weekend, so I'll post those and report back to what worked the best over the weekend.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    League City, Texas
    Posts
    1,643
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Smith3 View Post
    ...my wife comments about it but her suggestion is always to sell all the tools and buy furniture like normal people.
    My ex was a "buy the furniture at Wal Mart" type... She never would have understood making things for the home...

    LOML has a distinctly different take on things... She understands two very important driving factors.

    #1. 99% of the furniture on the market today is utter junk and likely to fall apart within 10 years.
    #2. Hand crafted furniture and fixtures are items we can hand down to our children, and grandchildren.
    #3. There is a VERY strong family tradition on both sides of the family of fine craftsmanship. (My brothers in law are custom car builders.)
    #4. It's about a LOT more than building stuff. It's about a place where a guy can be a guy and not worry about things like doilies, or fine china, unless of course I am building a china hutch... I can play my Hank Williams Jr. MP3s as loud as I want and even try to sing to them as I finish up this or that project with utter impunity...
    #5. As I build stuff, I get to excersize the creative, and problem solving bits in my brain... This in turn leads to end products that add value and beauty to our home, and occasionally to gifts for friends and family.
    Trying to follow the example of the master...

  5. #20
    I feel your pain, My old house had a 2 and 1/2 garage and now I am in a standard 2 car (20 x 20) and i really miss that extra space so while not on the same scale I feel your pain.

    There are certain aspects of my shop that are permanent and cannot be changed, The Oneida, Miter Bench, etc. Everything else is on Mobile bases and I could not see it any other way. Depending on the stage of a project dictates what machines are center stage and what ones are off to the side. Not the most effective but it is what it is.

    While I am able to use the whole garage area there are times of the year that the Odyssey goes in the garage, Snow and very cold, mid summer when it's extremely hot, it just makes life easier on the kids and LOML.

    I also use an over head Cord reel and I like it and have not had it be in the way as of yet. The pics I have are old and I will post some new ones later and maybe they will help.

  6. #21
    I've been constantly tweaking my garage shop layout for the last 8 years, and I just about got everything the way I wanted it 2 months ago. Then we moved last month! LOL

    I never tried to store my car in the garage, but I have a motorcycle, and do my own maintenance on it and the cars so having that space available was always a must.

    The garage was only a 1 and 1/2 car, so space was definitely an issue.

    I was able to make semi stationary spots for almost all of my tools along the walls, even if this meant the tool did not have room for handling long pieces. For example....jointing anything over say 3' required me pulling it out from the wall. This just doesn't happen that often for me so I wasn't that concerned.

    I worked the miter saw into a spot along the wall where the lumber storage was, which was convenient and allowed it room to handle long stock.

    The table saw moved the most. I would roll in and out of the "car space".

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    central, Wisconsin
    Posts
    810
    My 2 car garage(24x24) started out as a single stall and workshop area about 15 years ago. As my tool addiction grew so did the shop area so when I downsized to a Jeep it still wasn't bad. The Jeep got traded back in '97 and my shop hasn't seen a car since. Still every couple years I have to move things around to make it easier to work as I get more stuff.

    Doing that yet again this year, only now I made a corner work area with floor cabinets and counter running 8' on each wall and then my bench sits at angle across the corner. That work area is a triangle and so far seems to work out better than the way it was before. Thats where i assemble and my hand tool work is done. On the other side of the shop is where the power tools sit in 2 rows. Along the wall is the bandsaw, shopsmith, shaper, RAS, and drill press and then in a row parallel to the wall of tools are the tablesaw/router table, jointer, and planer. This layout still leaves me enough floor space to set up saw horses if needed for working with sheet goods.
    "If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy" -Red Green

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Fallbrook, California
    Posts
    3,562
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Smith3 View Post
    ...Well my wife comments about it but her suggestion is always to sell all the tools and buy furniture like normal people. That's not going to happen. So again thanks for the ideas....
    Brian, in my 37 years of marriage I have learned to never say that something is not going to happen. My wife has surprised me many times by changing her mind on things.

    That sure sounds familiar. When we moved into our present home 24 years ago my wife insisted on parking two vehicles in the garage. My "shop" went from a full two car garage to the back wall of one. For at least twenty years thats what we did, parked two vehicles in the garage every night, and for several years the two vehicles were vans. Believe me, there was little room in our two car garage for any tools, but I did manage to cram a table saw and ShopSmith into the garage. When the two vans had to be in the garage the ShopSmith was given to a friend to make room for them.

    As I neared retirement my wife fell in love with a dining room table and chairs made from solid cherry. I relented by letting her buy it and dismantled the dining table that I had made many years ago. That purchase, however, rekindled her desire for "fine" furniture and my desire to make things from wood. She let me start buying some woodworking equipment and soon realized that her car would no linger fit in the garage. Surprisingly, she made that decision. Now, we have purchased a new home for our retirement and the LOML has allowed me to have a large, 24' x 40', shop/garage built next to the new house.
    Don Bullock
    Woebgon Bassets
    AKC Championss

    The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
    -- Edward John Phelps

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    League City, Texas
    Posts
    1,643
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim FInn View Post
    "(the shop is in the "third car" section of our three car garage). I've added a bench, jointer and belt sander to the mix, so I have to figure out how to incorporate those into the band saw, table saw, drill press and planer I already have. " ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I have a workshop in the third stall of a three car garage also. I built a wall to seperate it and mounted lumber storage to the outside of this wall. All the benches in this scetch are wall mounted so the floor is pretty clear. I installed elect. outlets evey four feet on all three walls using elect. conduit mounted outside the wall. I use shop vacs for dust control. I make small items mostly and all the equipment in this scetch is table top type except the table saw which rolls out when needed. Shelves on the full length of three walls above benches. All benches, walls, and shelves are assembled using screws and is 100% demountable for when I again move. Works well for me.
    Check out Wood Magazine's Best Home Workshop ideas. It's still on the shelves... I am wanting to build one of these...

    Trying to follow the example of the master...

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Northern Oregon
    Posts
    1,820
    Quote Originally Posted by Don Bullock View Post


    Now, we have purchased a new home for our retirement and the LOML has allowed me to have a large, 24' x 40', shop/garage built next to the new house.
    I love your story Don. Sometimes patients pays!

  11. #26
    Underground wiring with 4-6 floor outlets that will be flush with with your floor in the cover plates are in placed in position for safety. In a government shop I have seen such a unit. You may have to check with your local electrical contractor to find which product meets or exceeds code.
    Overhead is the cheapest and fastest for dust collection. Have you considered building a weather proof anex to your garage. It would not have to be large, just enough to accomodate the dust collector, there by isolating the sound of the unit.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    63
    Well I made some changes over the weekend, and it's definitely a step in the right direction, maybe not perfect, but better. The key for me this weekend was the squaring away the DC.

    I decided to give up rolling the DC around and I went to my local pipe supplier and got some 6" PVC with fittings. I got rid of the 4" wye and put in a 6" flexible elbow at the inlet and attached the PVC to the wall. This also allowed me to run the electrical along the same routes as the DC (the sub panel is just next to the DC) and that cleaned things up. Finally I ran 4" up the wall and overhead for my hand tools which allowed me to get rid of the shop vac for that (so that hose and cord are not on the floor anymore), and installed an extension cord reel on the beam that my garage opener is attached.

    I finished a dresser for my son this weekend and it was a big improvement to be sure. I still will need to decide on a proper router table or if it will go in the wing, then decide how to bring in the band saw, but for now it's working much better. If only I could fit in my DJ-20.... Anyway thanks for the input everyone, it really helped me out.

    I'll add some sketches a bit later.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Mustang, OK
    Posts
    246
    Quote Originally Posted by David Hostetler View Post
    My ex was a "buy the furniture at Wal Mart" type... She never would have understood making things for the home...

    LOML has a distinctly different take on things... She understands two very important driving factors.

    #1. 99% of the furniture on the market today is utter junk and likely to fall apart within 10 years.
    #2. Hand crafted furniture and fixtures are items we can hand down to our children, and grandchildren.
    #3. There is a VERY strong family tradition on both sides of the family of fine craftsmanship. (My brothers in law are custom car builders.)
    #4. It's about a LOT more than building stuff. It's about a place where a guy can be a guy and not worry about things like doilies, or fine china, unless of course I am building a china hutch... I can play my Hank Williams Jr. MP3s as loud as I want and even try to sing to them as I finish up this or that project with utter impunity...
    #5. As I build stuff, I get to excersize the creative, and problem solving bits in my brain... This in turn leads to end products that add value and beauty to our home, and occasionally to gifts for friends and family.
    My wife has the exact same feelings. i am very lucky to have someone as understanding as her. We have a two car garage and I have both sides. The cars stay outside and she never complains.

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