Should I add a wall to enclose garage shop?

[Jim Neeley]

Mark,

It was loosely based upon a plan for a "Tools and Lumber Cart" in Fine woodworking. That design had cabinets / workbench on one side with sheet good storage behind. I've included only one page from the PDF because the document is copyrighted however it shows the basic framing technique.

Pages from Tool -n- Lumber Storage Cart.pdf

My structure is 8' long, to accomodate a 4'x8' sheet of plywood. You will note the framing plan shows a "shelf" above the sheet goods rack and below the top to add rigidity to the structure. I sized mine to put the horizontal support for that shelf 62" above the "floor" of the structure to permit me to store 5'x5' pieces of baltic birch. I sized the shelf area to give me about 3" or so of storage space there. That provides me a place to store my 4' level, long straightedge, 4' T-square, circular saw guides and a few long small scraps of wood.

In an effort to balance overall width vs. board storage, I used 10.5" KV 82/182 shelf supports / standards from WWS which give me full-height shelf adjustability in about 1" increments. I used 7 supports per shelf, mounted 16" on center, including both ends. Each shelf is only rated to about 300# however with the load fairly evenly distributed across 7 supports, each shelf is heck-for-stout. I decided to make the overall structure 40" wide, leaving about 12" width for sheet goods after framing.

If I were to do it again, I would treat the casters differently. I installed a total of 10 small (~2") locking / footed casters (zoom in on picture), with 6 under the load (under the shelf standard) plus one under each corner to prevent tipping (we can get earthquakes in Alaska). With those small wheels it doesn't take much to block the rolling and one of the 10 is always finding something, lest I use my compressor to blow the floor clean before moving. I then mounted a long power strip on the front end (~24" and ~12 outlets). I use this for my batttery chargers, the lights on top, and the occasional dremel, sawzall or other convenience tool.

Jim in Alaska

[Mark Felton]

What issue is that from Jim? Since I'm a premium FWW member I was able to get to the article but I did not see a PDF of the layout. I also recently bought all of the FWW back issues on DVD. Is there an issue you can point me to?

Thanks!

Mark

[Jim Neeley]

I created the PDF from the web page using a windows printer driver to PDFs like CutePDF or the one that comes with the full version of Adobe Acrobat. For a hard-copy you could just print it to your printer.

[steve joly]

Another take on it... In my garage design I have a dedicated wood shop and a dedicated metal/automotive shop. With space being a concern for both and the desire to have at least one large door into my wood shop I decided on using a pocket door system. I am planning on a fixed wall approximately 6 feet long with 3 interlocking panels that when closed will be a 20 foot wall, when open will be a 14 foot opening. I will have no ceiling obstructions and I do not have to worry about door swing. This can all be made relatively easily and reasonably priced.

This may be a way that you can close off an area and have the ability to open it up when needs or desires change.

[Thomas Canfield]

A 10' wide shop is pretty limiting for layout and work room. The suggestion to use plastic to drape off the area allows easy expansion into the garage area when the extra space is needed, especially if the tools are on casters or movable bases (you can use a hand truck to move some items instead of rolling bases). I have found oversize shower curtains work well around my lathes in the shop to drop shavings in my little 16x24 shop and make cleanup a lot easier to clean up a 6x12 turning area.

[Michael Dunn]

While it does seem like a good idea I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Mainly due to the fact that you'll soon be occupying the entire 3 bays and the. You'd have to tear down that nice new wall.

One thing I've learned... I never take a step back and say "I wish I had less space." Or, "this is just too many tools."

[Douglas Losey]

This is my old shop where I partitioned off a single bay of a 3 car garage, it was a "cozy" but enjoyable space.

dlosey shop 1a.jpgdlosey shop 2a.jpgdlosey shop 3a.jpgdlosey shop 4a.jpg

[Mark Felton]

Hmmm, Douglas. Now you've got me thinking again! This is pretty much what I had envisioned. Did you ever have any regrets for enclosing the space?