The Shop Organization Thread

12,360 Views | 74 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by AggieFactor
BenTheGoodAg
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I'm always looking for new ways to optimize the storage in my garage. Interested in what others have to share.

The latest for me was to tackle my scrap wood & metal piles. Found these storage racks on Amazon - Link. Overall very pleased with them for a few reasons. First of all, I've never been as good at using my scrap pile as I'd like to be - anything in the middle or the bottom was not worth digging through. These racks really help see what I have and make it easy to get to. I also want to keep as much stuff off the floor as I can, which helps me keep the floor cleaner and cuts down on mice. And finally, I wanted to be able to access the door to my truck (which I back in) on the passenger side, so this helped me manage that by eliminating my piles of scrap on the ground.



Couple of other recent ones to share:

Shoe holders:


Caulk tube holders - I used to have drawers full of caulk. So a drawer saved for something else, and like my scrap pile, has helped me see and use what I have on hand better. This is on the underside of a shelf, and I've probably got 20 or so holders:


Also on the underside of the shelf is my blade storage. I've got several of these knife magnets for my various cutting tools:


What else you got, HI board?
tgivaughn
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Good stuff, a dream come true for many
Especially like the low cost items that do so much work
I also like the ones that paint outlines/other of the tools on pegboard/etc. to a) know something got borrowed or misplaced + b) reminder what tool goes in that spot

Not me:
I have a storage shed in need of a maid & then organizer - some other year
but I can offer photos of my son's tool box organizer project and how he saved money over this typical purchase, if given enough time and interest in it

There's also a high dollar storage lift to ceiling link I can dig up from an ex-client's wish list if desired but the garage ceiling joists must be designed for the loads. Not something for typical garage joists, plug & play item.

IMHO and am sticking to it
jtp01
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Following! I've got 4000 square feet of insulated shop and after hosting a graduation party, I can't find anything. My winter project will be to go through everything and get it sorted out.
BenTheGoodAg
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I'm a big fan of pegboard - I think I've got like 9 sheets on the wall full of tools, but I was never a fan of the tool outlines. I understand why people like it, though. I think I reconfigure some areas too much. White pegboard is awesome because it brightens the space. I'm not going to use a mechanized lift, but someone might.

4000 sqft sounds awesome. It'd be fun to configure.

I've got a ton of toolbox storage - I think going through with Kaizen foam would be awesome, but dang it gets pricey quickly.
UnderoosAg
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Grabbed one of these guys for $29. It's going to become a toolbox. Drawers are deep and have ball bearing slides. The door area will probably get a homemade rack for nail guns and air tools. Pancake compressor probably fits in there as well.

BenTheGoodAg
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Nice! I've found that filing cabinets are a good option for similar storage. The drawers typically can handle a lot of weight, they are good for oddly shaped items, and they're plentiful/cheap used. That's where I store my nailers, and I use file hangers for my sandpaper (which has been a great way to sort it).

But I've never figured out a great way to effectively sort the nail strips. I've looked for a small parts organizer (I use several of these - Link), but not found a good one to sort the shape of the nail strips. Any luck there?
aggiec05
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Love this as my better half wants the garage cleaned up, and I want to find all my tools after moving into our new to us home. Love to see your peg board and shelf setup Ben can you share a pic of it? What is The boards thoughts on the metal peg boards?
BenTheGoodAg
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AG
You bet. I've shared a version of this picture before on this board. The shelves at the top wrap around the whole room and are mostly sized tote storage, with some exceptions, like cubbies in the corners.

Personally, I don't think the metal pegboard is worth the price (nearly 10x the cost per sqft) and the regular stuff is way easier to configure.





ETA - fix broken link on 2nd picture
Rexter
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Pegboard is awesome!



BenTheGoodAg
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Yes! Nice!
BCOBQ98
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Rexter, What brand are those socket holders?

100% agree on pegboard. All my tools are on pegboard.
The Dog Lord
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Where do y'all get pegboard? Looking to add a decent amount, and some are pricey,
BrazosDog02
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The Dog Lord said:

Where do y'all get pegboard? Looking to add a decent amount, and some are pricey,
Go to home depot. Find the pegboard, then find the pegboard that some yahoo has damage a corner on and ask for 50% off. I paid half for all of mine.
Marvin_Zindler
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BrazosDog02 said:

The Dog Lord said:

Where do y'all get pegboard? Looking to add a decent amount, and some are pricey,
Go to home depot. Find the pegboard, then find the pegboard that some yahoo has damage a corner on and ask for 50% off. I paid half for all of mine.
In my view, there really is no better means of organizing stuff on a wall than pegboard. The options for hooks/bins/holders is basically endless and most of them are affordable, if not ridiculously cheap at HD or Amazon.
Flashdiaz
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Rexter said:

Pegboard is awesome!




Looks like a nicely stocked hardware store. You should put prices above the tools
UnderoosAg
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If you're in the SA area the furniture place has those hotel dressers for $20 now.
BrokeAssAggie
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I need to reorganize and improve my area.
txag2008
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Next time you're at Home Depot and are about to buy baby blue spray paint.....don't.....you've got plenty.
bco2003
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BrokeAssAggie
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haha. that would be my lovely bride and all her DIY projects.
BenTheGoodAg
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AG
Sweet lord!
BrokeAssAggie
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BenTheGoodAg said:

Sweet lord!


If you are in the Austin area come over one weekend and show me how to best organize it. I will buy you a nice bottle of whiskey.
BenTheGoodAg
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AG
Haha. If I was even close, I would.
BrokeAssAggie
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All right. You guys have inspired me. Going to get this place organized!

SoulSlaveAG2005
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Seriously. If you are ever in ETX. I'll pay your room/board and time to organize my area.
BenTheGoodAg
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Quite the project in front of you. If I could make one suggestion to start, it's this (Top right shelving):



These are intentionally shallow shelves that use the space between my garage door rails and the wall. IMO, it's typically underutilized space. I used to hang all my garden tools (shovels, rakes, brooms, etc) underneath. It worked really well, but they moved out when I built my shed.

These are 7" deep, just wide enough for a single gallon paint can. Don't under-estimate the value of shallow storage. When you have a lot of small items (like spray cans), they can easily get lost in deep shelves and cabinets. Almost all of my chemicals are on these shelves, and since they're small, easy to grab with a step ladder (also keeps our young kids out of the chemicals)

It can make a pretty big difference when you have these small items up, out of the way, and easy to spot. And, probably some of the cheapest storage you can build - just a single sheet of plywood can go a long way.
Rexter
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BCOBQ98 said:

Rexter, What brand are those socket holders?

100% agree on pegboard. All my tools are on pegboard.


Sorry for the delay….work gets in the way occasionally.

Those are Craftsman socket holders…part number 9-41849.
baumenhammer
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AG
Ben - I have that same table saw! $250 on Craigslist a decade ago. The adjustment wheels are starting to crack on me though.

Two nice after market adds for me we're a router table extension wing and a dust collection bag that snaps onto the bottom of the cabinet.

I'm too cheap for real dust collection, so I started to just go to catch it at each tool and manage it that way. Definitely made and improvement.

I'm in the midst of a major shop setup…

We just bought a place on 2.7 ac, with a old ramshackle horse barn that in converting into my shop… it's nothing much to look at at the moment, but I just spent the day swinging a pickax and shoveling dirt with my kids to help level out sloped stall, so that I can build out a level deck on the floor.

The barn is 24x60. I intend to use one third as wood shop, one third for the riding mower and basic car maint (need to add a roll up door, but the middle is concrete slab and has a steel frame I already put a hoist on), and the last third as open barn / work shop.

Wish I could do a concrete floor for the wood shop side, but it's already 2/3 decked with 2x4s in 3 tiers. Will be laying some plywood subfloor and then some salvaged oak flooring that I came by for free.

Eventually, I plan to frame, insulate, and wall in the sides (currently just Metal walls). At that time, I'll be looking to fold in some of the shop organization you've shown… but it seems so far off!
BenTheGoodAg
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Nice! I really like that saw - I've only had it for 6 months. A friend's dad passed away and he gave it to me since he never used it. It looks like his dad rarely did either. I made my first cut with it, and it was 3" off because they hadn't even configured the ruler for the upgraded fence. It also came with the router table extension. I installed the wing, which is great to help upgrade the cutting capacity, but I haven't put a router on it. The Shop Fox mobile base I put on it has been great for moving it around - you should consider it if you don't have a good base on yours.

Dust collection is animal I haven't tackled, but I've kicked around several options. As you said, I'm too cheap to drop the coin on it yet. Currently, my plan is to buy the smallest profile, highest horsepower vacuum I can, couple it with a cyclone separator, install it under my bench, and route plumbing for all my bench-top tools.

As for my tools that roll or move easily (band saw, table saw, planer, jointer), I roll them to an open area or to the driveway and use them there to manage the dust. At one point, I dreamed of parking a large collector in my shed and plumbing over to my garage, but not a good option for a lot of reasons. Maybe I should look at collection bags for these tools, too.

Looks like you've got a great project ahead of you, good luck! Share some photos on the board when you can.
baumenhammer
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Ben - I definitely recommend the tablesaw dust bag… it's like $15 on Amazon.

Make a zero clearance insert, and then most of your tablesaw mess will be taken care of.

I wish this saw had a riving knife…. And I need to replace a lot of the rubber slides on the fence because it's not very square at the moment.

After getting the barn converted, I may drop some money on an upgrade… knowing a guy who lost a finger on a table saw has me thinking about a sawstop eventually… the best argument I've heard is, it easily offsets the medical bill. But it's still waaay more coin then I tend to spend on tools.
BrokeAssAggie
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Paint sale!
BrokeAssAggie
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Tool organization coming together nicely
BenTheGoodAg
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AG
Lookin' good
Aggietaco
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I'm on the fence with pegboard. I agree that it's nice to see a lot of stuff out and easily accessible, but there is always a fair amount of dust floating around my garage and I feel like having dust all over my tools would bug the **** out of me. I keep all of my tools in the rolling chest, soft bags, hard shells, or totes.

Do y'all just keep your shop cleaner than mine?
UnderoosAg
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Ditto. Everything of value in the garage is in a cabinet, tool chest, or has a cover. But there is a bunch of wood cutting and sanding going on. I like being able to take the blower to everything and getting the dust out.
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