Garage Shop in AZ

LeeG · Jan 1, 2013

This is my garage shop. I have about 3/4 of a 22 x 22 garage for my use. The ceilings are only 8', and with a 2 car garage door taking up one entire wall, wall space is at a premium. I mostly do woodworking, but I also do most of the household maintenance and a small amount of work on our vehicles. I normally keep it pretty clean between projects and I try to have a place for everything so that it can be put 'away'. I made almost all of the cabinetry in the shop, often to fit specific places and fulfill specific needs.

Here it is as seen from the driveway. The blue tarps cover my jointer and planer

Here is what I see when I walk out of my house each morning. My assembly table, Unisaw, and my 14" bandsaw.

Stepping a little farther in and looking to the left we can see my larger bandsaw, drill press, router table, and my Craftsman toolbox.

Stepping through and looking back to the left there is a better look at the router table with drawers below it to store bits and accessories, some lumber storage, and a grid a built in those shelves to hold various items.

One final look back shows my spindle sander, clamp storage, disc/belt sander, oxy/acetylene tanks (strapped to assembly table), and more tool storage.

I'll add some more details later if anyone is interested.

jvitez · Jan 1, 2013

Many thanks for your great first post and excellent pics. Welcome to Garage Journal and Happy New Year!

You have a lot of great woodworking tools, and it looks like you've spent a lot of time putting everything exactly where you want it considering the small space. I'm in the same boat in considering what to do in a basement wood shop. Your pics are very helpful!

BTW: oxy-acetylene in a wood shop? What do you use it for?

racingtadpole · Jan 1, 2013

I like the clamp cabinet, Any chance of a couple of closer pictures?

LeeG · Jan 1, 2013

jvitez said:
BTW: oxy-acetylene in a wood shop? What do you use it for?

It was one of the things I got from my Dad. I occasionally use it for brazing. Welding is one of the things I hope to be adding to my skill set this year.

racingtadpole said:
I like the clamp cabinet, Any chance of a couple of closer pictures?

Sure thing. It is actually two layers. I had quite a lot of clamps to store and not much wall space. The right side has permanent fixtures for holding my Jet parallel clamps. The left side and entire back are lined with French cleats and I made custom holders for each of the various clamp types.

Here is a closeup of the overall cabinet.

Here it is opened.

This is a close up of one of the French Cleat hangers

and just the hanger.

I made all of the cleats from 3/4" baltic birch plywood. The back cabinet is a sheet of 3/4" construction grade plywood with a 8/4 poplar frame. The 'doors' are 1/2" plywood with a (mostly) oak frame. The overall cabinet is about 7' high and 4' wide.

HSpencer · Jan 1, 2013

Super nice wood shop. I like the arrangements and the storage you devised. As another said, I have the same thing in a 20X20, and I struggle to keep it only half as neat and nice as yours is. Seems I clean it up well, but then here comes that project, and in the course of the project, it all goes "fruitbasket upset"!! Nice ideas you use. I hope to see more of your photos and keep the thread going!

Modifieddriver · Jan 1, 2013

I'm impressed with your organizational skills. Compact and a theme where tools go for a certain purpose.

That French cleat is a trick. Lesson learned here.

HSpencer · Jan 1, 2013

I used the same insulation on my garage doors. I glued pink foam to the metal, and then glued the foil bubble over that. It works like a charm and best of all it was inexpensive.
Made a huge difference in the garage temperature.

softailgarage · Jan 1, 2013

Nice shop, I wish I could be as organized as you. Look out Jack, might have some "organization" competition

GRN96WS6 · Jan 1, 2013

Nice!

Dan_inthewind · Jan 1, 2013

Your dust collection looks to be 4", am I right? Do you hook up a shop vac? Great job on organizing your space. I am in the same boat, 21X21and I like both mechanical and woodworking. I just clean up more but that is a hobby for me as well!

ODIS · Jan 1, 2013

Great shop! Like everything you have done. Lots of tips/tricks in here for me to use as well. Thanks for sharing and posting.

Ody.

pitterpat · Jan 1, 2013

Nice garage, welcome to the forum.

What part of Phoenix are you in, I lived there for a year about 3 years ago.

Glad to have you aboard.

LeeG · Jan 1, 2013

Here are some more 'detail' shots. These two cabinets were the first two I made when I really started wood working. The first (the one on the right) was a modification to a plan I saw in a booklet called “The Complete Small Shop”. I ended up making two of the projects from that book, so it was a good purchase.

Here are the two cabinets closed. I don't really like the look of pegboard, but I had such a shortage of wall space that I needed to make use of all of it that I could.

The right cabinet opens to show more pegboard.

One last door shows the rest of the pegboard and some shelves. I built this about 4" deeper than the original plan so I could put the shelves in.

The left cabinet is where I store most of my hand tools. I have a nice collection of Lie-Nielsen, Veritas, and older Stanley planes and chisels. The two back saws that are not in the till are recent acquisitions and still need to be cleaned and sharpened.

icecactus · Jan 4, 2013

LeeG said:
It was one of the things I got from my Dad. I occasionally use it for brazing. Welding is one of the things I hope to be adding to my skill set this year.

Sure thing. It is actually two layers. I had quite a lot of clamps to store and not much wall space. The right side has permanent fixtures for holding my Jet parallel clamps. The left side and entire back are lined with French cleats and I made custom holders for each of the various clamp types.

Great looking shop!

I just started to learn welding and some metal working about 2-3 months ago. I enjoy it as much as the wood. It really gives you a lot more options for projects and some unique opportunities to combine the two skills.

I am really digging your clamp racks...

countrytech · Jan 4, 2013

Very nice shop. I love the organization especially the layered tool storage to maximize space. Can you show pictures of what looks like vertical drawers mounted on the wall beside your clamp cabinet?

LeeG · Jan 5, 2013

CountryTech,

That cabinet was my one of my last, and my skills had improved somewhat from when I started. I got the idea from the slide out pantries I saw when looking at new kitchen ideas. I didn't want to spend the big money for the specialized slides used on those pantries (over $100 each), so I came up with this design using only standard full extension drawer slides that I got for $7 a pair. This cabinet solved my problem of small cans being lost in the back of a deep shelf.

This is what it looks like closed.

And here it is with the slides tiered out.

I made the two left slides wide enough to hold a gallon can or jug, and the three right ones wide enough for a quart can.
Here's a wide one

And here are two of the narrow ones:

I designed the entire thing in Sketchup, drawing out each board and putting it together so I could be sure my final dimensions were correct. You can get a better idea of how it is built looking at this image of the case skeleton.

I just used cheap ($7) full extension slides. Each upright is drilled for the adjustable shelf pegs.
Here is the sketchup file I made it from if you are interested in all the detail.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share?s=REWtz1RfTJQmg9epanZHKY&ref_=cd_share_link_copy_flash

racingtadpole · Jan 6, 2013

Thank you for the detail pictures, much appreciated.
I see a variation on your theme in my shed in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

55cadillacking · Jan 6, 2013

All hail the organizational king! Very impressive set up.

G20-Budo · Jul 2, 2013

Very nice.. and nice to see another Phoenix area garage posting here in GJ.

Backbay Fred · Dec 9, 2013

All I can say is "wow". So many great ideas that it makes my head spin. Thanks for posting such detailed information. I have the woodworking tools but don't have the imagination but not I have the the inspiration. Great winter project getting the garage organized.

Arps · Dec 9, 2013

Great job. I love to see that much organization.

sunsation288 · Dec 9, 2013

Wow wow , can't believe what i see there ! , great creation ...subscribed , and please keep the picture coming , i love this kind of stuff

1/2 Cup · Dec 9, 2013

Excellent set up and well organised. :thumbup:

LeeG · Dec 10, 2013

I picked up a parts cabinet from Zoro Tools on Cyber Monday. It fit just perfectly above my air compressor, and allowed me to free up 5 drawers I had holding various fasteners. It was a good deal, about $140 and free shipping.

Prior to getting this, I had been using the Harbor Freight storage bins stored in a drawer cabinet I made primarily to hold them. It worked well until I got tired of buying fasteners (Spax mostly) in small packages at Home Depot. I started buying 500 count boxes from McFeelys, and the HF boxes weren't big enough to hold that many.

Although they were not on sale, I picked up a few Systainers and started organizing some of my tools I take with me when I go out doing volunteer work. Mostly handyman type stuff. I'll be adding a few more of these as time and money permit, as well as several Festool tools. I have my eye on a track saw, MFT, dust collector, and a router to start, with a Domino coming soon thereafter.

Tom Foolery · Dec 11, 2013

Hello, welcome and thanks for sharing your shop!
May I ask about the vice's hanging and how you mount them to the bench top?
I like your idea

[/Quote]I'll add some more details later if anyone is interested.[/QUOTE]

arms1970 · Dec 11, 2013

LeeG said:
CountryTech,

That cabinet was my one of my last, and my skills had improved somewhat from when I started. I got the idea from the slide out pantries I saw when looking at new kitchen ideas. I didn't want to spend the big money for the specialized slides used on those pantries (over $100 each), so I came up with this design using only standard full extension drawer slides that I got for $7 a pair. This cabinet solved my problem of small cans being lost in the back of a deep shelf.

This is what it looks like closed.

And here it is with the slides tiered out.

I made the two left slides wide enough to hold a gallon can or jug, and the three right ones wide enough for a quart can.
Here's a wide one

And here are two of the narrow ones:

I designed the entire thing in Sketchup, drawing out each board and putting it together so I could be sure my final dimensions were correct. You can get a better idea of how it is built looking at this image of the case skeleton.

I just used cheap ($7) full extension slides. Each upright is drilled for the adjustable shelf pegs.
Here is the sketchup file I made it from if you are interested in all the detail.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share?s=REWtz1RfTJQmg9epanZHKY

LeeG · Dec 11, 2013

Tom Foolery said:
Hello, welcome and thanks for sharing your shop!
May I ask about the vice's hanging and how you mount them to the bench top?
I like your idea

I have bench dog holes drilled the length of that small bench. To use one of the other vises, I clamp it between my end vise and a bench dog. If I need to use one on another bench, I just clamp it down with c clamps.

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