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Thread: Storage Ideas

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    FL
    Posts
    64

    Storage Ideas

    Hey guys. I am at wit's end and could use your thoughts. We just moved to Florida and I want to organize my new shop to a far greater degree than I've been able to do in the past. I formerly had a basement shop that had a good amount of space but I had to work around support columns, furnaces, water heaters, sump pumps, etc. This new one is an unencumbered square box that measures 27 feet by 28 feet with another adjoining shop of roughly half again that size.

    All my tools are currently in boxes and before I unload them I need suggestions for what to either build or buy for storage and organization. I had shelves in the past that were too deep and too high which resulted in my loosing stuff I couldn't see and re-buying what I already had as a result.

    I wonder whether drawers would be a better solution vs. shelves which are a pain at both high and low levels. I am coming around to thinking that a combination of drawers below with shelves above might work well. This would also give me an opportunity to have tons of wooden shop bench space. I am game to build a solution but am also open to kits that are economically priced. I am likely to dedicate the majority of one 28 foot wall to the storage solution rather than trying to wrap storage around the room.

    I look forward to hearing what has worked well for you guys.

    Thanks for your help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    NE OH
    Posts
    2,615
    I have a few comments. I like to have some storage below or next to every machine to keep accessories, tooling, blades/bits, fixtures, tools, etc

    For deep cabinets, I prefer drawers or at least pull out shelves to avoid losing things in the back or having to keep moving things around to get to things in the back. For storage above waist level, shallow cabinets or shelves work best.

    I suggest you resist the temptation to have lots of extra flat counter work spaces. First, unless you are diligent to the point of compulsion, they will instantly collect stuff and thus serve as disorganized storage rather than workspace. Second, if you do manage to use them as workspace, you will end up with tools spread all over the shop and you will spend a lot of time and effort walking to get tools, and then walking around looking for where you left tools.

    I find it is much more efficient to have a main workspace/workbench, with all commonly used tools stored in easy reach. Then, if you must, have some storage area where you can move in-progress items off the main workspace in order to work on something else. I use one of those 24 deep by 48 wide steel shelving units with 3 or 4 shelves for that secondary storage. It's space efficient and allows easy switching between projects or parts of projects. Of course, a lot depends on what type of projects you do and your work style. Now granted, I still lose tools, but 99% of the time, they are within a step or two of the main bench, not all the way across the room.

    Good luck and have fun setting up your new shop!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    NE Connecticut
    Posts
    695
    I think drawers are definitely better than shelves for organization so your plan for drawers on the bottom and shelves on top is the way to go. 28 feet of cabinets and shelves will provide a LOT of storage. I put 8 feet of Ikea cabinets - the cheapest ones available - in my laundry room and am really impressed with them. I would definitely consider buying Ikea base cabinets for shop storage since they are melamine and steel, predrilled for legs, hinges, and shelves, and already edge-banded. You can still make your own tops, drawers, drawer fronts, doors, etc. but I doubt you can build cabinet boxes as cheap as you can buy them from Ikea. Shelving I would make out of ply because you can make the shelves thicker or put face frames on to stiffen shelves.

    Not really storage related but if I were starting from scratch, I would steal some of the "System Workshop" ideas from this guy: https://youtu.be/dptR4LRYxOo

    Have fun designing your new space!


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,685
    Just like in kitchens, drawers are quite often the better choice for "base cabinet" type storage situations and with reasonably priced, heavy duty full extension slides available, very doable in a workshop with heavier things like tools in mind.

    I advise you consider setting up your tools first so you can play with the workflow arrangement a little before you settle on position and type of storage, especially since you literally have a "blank canvas" to work with that's generous in size. (we should all be so lucky... ) You have the ability now to separate machining from assembly/hand tool work from finishing, etc., so take advantage of that as you set up your new shop. And if you can use that adjacent space for materials storage, that provide you with even more flexibility for arranging the "business end" of your new shop.

    BTW...where in Florida?
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Milwaukee WI
    Posts
    30
    I led the effort to design a "makerspace" for the school where I used to work. It was, more than anything, a woodshop. From my research and experience, I have a couple design considerations to share for your consideration:

    1. I would limit the number of drawers, cabinets etc that keep you from being able to see the stored items. Of course you need some of these, but if you have too many, it can end up like an attic. Over time, the drawers and cabinets will clutter up and you will forget what you have.

    2. Instead of closed storage, consider Gridwall. The product is really intended for stores, but I find the hooks, shelves and baskets to be incredibly versatile and modular. And again, you can see exactly what you have just by looking at the wall. I couldn't find a really good picture from the school's makerspace, but this gives you the idea.

    Good luck!

    IMG_4074.jpg

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh, Australia
    Posts
    2,700
    So many ideas and we are all individuals when it comes down to it. Rule 0ne in my book, keep flat benches and surfaces to the minimum you will need, I built benches and to defeat the clutter that they can create I kept cutting them down. if I am looking for ideas now I put the question to Google and then search images, this invariably brings up thousands of photos and some will lead you to Pinterest which has thousands more. The french cleat is for me the single best system to use in a workshop but that is after the drawers are filled and all drawers should be on full extension slides. Explore Google and Pinterest, there are thousands of outstanding ideas there to the point of overload.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Northern UT
    Posts
    762
    A friend moved to a new shop and in setting things up he built several banks of thin drawers. Almost pullout shelves. The drawers were about an inch deep, including the bottom. He laid out all his small tools, with them grouped by type in them. That allowed him to open and see everything at a glance. The drawers were too shallow to just pile things in them. Seemed to work pretty good.
    I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love.... It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur....the mountains are the kind I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda. Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans. Montana has a spell on me. It is grandeur and warmth. Of all the states it is my favorite and my love.

    John Steinbeck


  8. #8
    I built my shop from scratch and the best "design" element I did was make all the interior walls of OSB instead of drywall. The panels are all screwed into place on the studs so I can easily access any bay I may need to reach for whatever reason. Additionally, I can hang anything, anywhere. The studs are easy to find because of the exposed lines of screws and small items hang on hooks in the OSB. I do not use French cleats, but they would be easy as pie to install if I chose to go that route. i painted the walls an off white with paint I had lying around to improve lighting. It's the best decision I made when building my shop.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bloomington, IL
    Posts
    6,009
    My new shed walls are this design - DIY slatwall:

    Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    New Westminster BC
    Posts
    2,981
    Similar to a suggestion above, I would search shop tours on Youtube and look at what others have done for ideas.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    FL
    Posts
    64
    Thanks for the ideas guys. That's a ton of great insight to get me started.

    As to the location question - I am on the West Coast, north of Fort Myers.

    Now if only I had known how much room this bad boy was going to take up...

    IMG_0522.jpg

    Last edited by Jeff Geltz; 10-04-2017 at 6:09 PM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bloomington, IL
    Posts
    6,009
    Sweet saw. I know how big they are and have sized my shed appropriately!
    Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.

  13. #13
    That's great that you have open space to work with, For me the design is the most fun part. I would look around on the web for ideas, look on Youtube or google images as well. For me every tool must be mobile. I'm always moving stuff around and i've been doing this a long time. I've had small and large shops from 200sf to 18,000sf20170610_202521.jpg20170610_124649.jpg. Having lots of room is nice until you no longer have it, then you must get really creative. For me now, a combination of drawers and doors works well. I don't like a lot of stuff hanging on the walls and don't have much wall space now anyway. I bought some of these cabinets from Sears that have both shelves and drawers and they help by keeping control of dust.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Marina del Rey, Ca
    Posts
    1,934
    In my shop I have utilized a bunch of rollaway tool chests, with the caster removed, to provide under-bench storage. Also top-chests located elsewhere. Plus some garage sale kitchen, re-purposed, kitchen cabinets. And other cabinets I've picked up cheap.



    "Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,879
    I can use file cabinets for storing big tools but small stuff gets buried deep. get the five drawer unit for the same size as the four drawer.
    Bill D.

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