Beginner question - Options for flexibility / transitional vehicle garage workspace?

[Doug Marthaler]

I believe you said you have lots of height in your garage. That gives you the option of using a kayak/canoe hoist for lighter machines or make a stronger version with a small boat winch for heavy tools.
kayak/canoe hoist

I thought about doing something like this but with a couple vertical tracks going up a sidewall, similar to the motorcycle storage platforms that you can park underneath.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Welcome. Sell Mustang, buy tools and materials.

What a great idea!

[Doug Marthaler]

Welcome. Sell Mustang, buy tools and materials.

Selling the Mustang would be like selling my left...well, you know. That's my primary method of tension release (tinkering, driving, racing, etc)

However, I am considering other options such as a storage hoist (parking it above my wife's car) or offsite storage, but that can get expensive.

[Michael Yadfar]

I work out of a 15x9 shed so I don’t have the same issue, but there’s still a big need for conserving space. My shed is tall, and I take advantage of that by making plenty of shelving for small tools and supplies. All my tools are on movable stands, so you can just push them against the wall when you’re done. I don’t have enough room for a table saw, so I bought a ridgid portable saw at Home Depot that folds up. If you want a portable saw, I’d highly recommend that one. Ive had it for 5 years and it still works. It takes a little more fiddling then a permanent saw, but it’s actually really accurate too. I just made 40 tenons with it last night.

[glenn bradley]

Selling the Mustang would be like selling my left...well, you know. That's my primary method of tension release (tinkering, driving, racing, etc)

However, I am considering other options such as a storage hoist (parking it above my wife's car) or offsite storage, but that can get expensive.

The over under idea is quite appealing.

[Doug Marthaler]

... I bought a ridgid portable saw at Home Depot that folds up. If you want a portable saw, I’d highly recommend that one. ....

Is this the one you have...?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-1...4513/100090444

[Nathan Callender]

Maybe not the most traditional response, but if I were in your shoes, I would forgo the table saw and get a small steel frame band saw instead along with a track saw and mft table that folds up. You can put a router insert into the mft and then get a bench top planer if you need it. That wild let you do an awful lot and still be able to basically store everything up against the walls it of your way.

[Nathan Johnson]

Leave everything in the garage and work in the shed.

[Frankie Hunt]

Get a full size table saw and one of these.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...4777_200354777
Auto lift.JPG

[Bob Faris]

Have you considered putting a small bump-out addition on the back or side of your garage? I put a 5' x 14' bump-out on the back of my garage. The left half is a laundry area closed off from the garage with bi-fold doors and the right half is open to the garage. It's amazing how much difference a small addition can make. Here are some ideas from Google Images.

garage bump-out addition

[Doug Marthaler]

Have you considered putting a small bump-out addition on the back or side of your garage?

Yes, but I would have to a get waiver from the city even for a bump out. Still exploring that option too.

[Jim Dwight]

It always depends on what you want to do but Ron Paulk has several portable workbench designs. For your situation, the total station seems like it might help. It is 3x6 foot and can be folded up and stored against a wall. You can use it as a cutting station for the tracksaw, hang a portable table saw off it, have a router table in it, and use it as a general workbench. I didn't build exactly that but used the double top idea in my mobile workbench/outfeed support and made another work surface more like the older workbench that houses flip stops for my RAS/CMS workstation. I like his ideas, they are always relatively inexpensive and very usable. Ron is a builder/carpenter.

[Dan Hulbert]

Forget the table saw and go with a band saw and hand tools.