a better way to layout your workshop
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With the same "do I use it" process you could take a long hard look at say... your dining room, living room, etc. Move those to the small area in the basement and expand your shop in their place. Rethink "bedroom" as a Murphy bed in your shop.
this absolutely has to get pinned to the top!!!
Totally agree, the bedroom has a bed and nightstands and a chair. Lucky to have big closets, so that's it.
The prerequisite for that is “do I use it” to your wife, and the “do i keep it” after the divorce
Take the longest hard look at 'Kids'. There's a small chance you actually need them and it would save you tons of space and lots of money (that you could spend on tools and... holidays!).
One of the downstairs bedrooms is my metalwork shop, it's nice welding with aircon :)
I told my grandma, she says you're very cute and organised, and has subscribed.
Lighting! Yes. I used to have 3 40 watt bulbs in my garage shop. Having replaced them a few years back with LEDs, I can testify that cuts and measurements are more accurate when you can see what you are doing.
Amen....i upgraded my lighting and its made a world of difference
Several suggestions. 1) Have a place for overflow consumables like sandpaper. Have easy access to several sheets/discs of the grits you use in the shop and have a “shop pantry” somewhere. With any luck, outside the shop mabye a cabinet in your garden shed or basement (depending on dampness), under the stairs... Easy to get to the reserves but not clogging up valuable small shop space. 2) Like cleaning, sharpening is quick and easy on chisels and hand planes if you stay on top of it. So do it as you are putting it away. (see Rob Cosman 32 sec to sharp if needed) 3) I work with a 9x12x2 drawer carcass that was disgarded forever ago (anything of that size will do) on my work bench as a tray. I put the things like small tools, glue, tape… in there as I am working. At the end of the day I put everything away in 1 lap around the shop emptying the tray as I go. 4) I have several 5 gallon buckets around the shop for trash. I find keeping the trash, cutoffs, shavings… off the benchtop and floor makes the shop more spacious while working. Size of the container can vary depending on preferences and projects. 5) For the french cleat crowd make the holders for things like bits, tape, glue, marking tools… so they standup off the wall for those times you need several of them during the project and just put it on the workbench. Less travel time and so easy to keep things organized while the project is in progress.
Agreed. Housekeeping during a job in particular can both make a job go quicker, and reduce the odds of damaging the piece or causing injury to yourself. I can't count the number of times I watched someone trip over something they pushed out of their way or tossed aside just moments before.
An old expert tradesman once flipped out on me (in a nice way) for being a cluttered person. He hammered it into my head thst you put your stuff away and clean up after each section. It might annoy you when you have to go back downstairs and grab your stuff again, but it's going to save your sanity in the long run when you're not furious with a mess. I'm still struggling to follow his advice time to time heh but I'm getting much better and he was 100% right
Try arranging your storage by time: when you put tools away at the end of the day, put them in the top drawer. If there are more than some fixed number of tools in the drawer (8 to 12, depending on the size of the drawer), move the excess to long-term storage. If you find yourself shuffling the same tools in and out of long-term storage every day, allocate another top drawer for frequenty-used items. In a short time, you'll find yourself pulling almost all your tools from two or three drawers whose contents you know by heart.
This was amazing. You really don't get a sense of how small your shop is in normal videos. I mean .. you know it is small but.. the 3d rendering really put it all in perspective. You have FOUR doors that you you have to plan around. You do amazing work in that small shop. This has me rethinking a few things. Thanks for this video. I have new hope for my space.
Yeah the doors was definitely challenging, and I would definitely rather some extra wall space. One of the doors just has the electrical panel behind it, so I'm comfortable semi-blocking it with something on wheels.
@@ScottWalshWoodworking this is encouraging. I’m working with a similar amount of space. What are the dimensions of your room?
@@cliffordduhh45 Scott's a great guy but I'd not do what he's doing. He doesn't use a miter saw and I've seen him cut with his table saw, which I'd not. Things can become dangerous if you have a small space without an outfeed table. A miter saw and a circular saw is all you need. Every ten minutes there is a table saw injury somewhere in the world! KZheadrs need to make people understand that a table saw cuts towards you.
@@cliffordduhh45 One persons small shop is another's warehouse . I don't consider his to be a small shop, judging by what's in it and the space , it's a really good size.
@@ItsNotInventedYet Quite frankly, if they can't work that out for themselves they shouldn't be anywhere near ANYTHING sharp.
If you choose to do the graph paper layout, which I like to do in planning many things in the early phase of design because it’s so easy and flexible, consider making some pieces that represent the room YOU need to use a station. It’s too easy to miss that part of the space without a strong visual cue. Similarly, you could cut some layout pieces that represent, for example, long stock that needs to be used at a station.
How dare you make sense and point out my tool hoarding! 🤣 Great tips. Thanks.
One thing that I have recently learned is to paint your walls and ceiling white. That will help with the lighting as well. I am in a garage, and I never took the time to notice the beige walls and soot covered ceiling. Now that I am focusing on improving the shop, the walls and ceiling all got painted a clean bright white.
I painted my whole shop white when I first moved in. It's kinda dingy now. But I've gotten into mood lighting over the years. I have big overhead fluorescent fixtures but I hardly ever turn those on anymore. I made a couple janky chandeliers that I use. Each has 4 CFL bulbs in it. Then I use task lighting.
I like your thinking BUT, My garage is just Zincalume, so I’d have to remove everything. 🙄😁
One suggestion I would make is to keep a list of what you have in long term storage. If you've forgotten what's in there, you could end up replacing something you already own.
I find that when it comes to organizing similar items that aren't physically identical, I like to sort them by size. It's very difficult to find that one tiny thing in a bin with a bunch of other large things even though all the individual items are similar in use/theme/etc.
Now that is someone I didn't expect to see here, seems like we share the same 2 hobbies, welcome to Canada lol :)
brilliant, thanks, i'm going to dump out my "misc screw bin" and just sort them by size into smaller bins. I'm often too lazy to sort them back to their original bins.
great tip! thank you
a few examples would be appreciated for us newbs if you feel so inclined. :)
I don't even have a workshop (nor a garage) but I totally enjoy watching these videos. So well done and concise -- and funny without going overboard.
I love the 3D model of your shop. It's fascinating. It looks extremely small in the 3D model but in your film it seems bigger.
I used vinyl fence cut into strips to divide drawers. Thin enough to not take up and space tough enough to stand up to some rough handling.
Great video. Added benefit of keeping organized is the time you save looking for stuff. I’ve even bought things that I couldn’t find only to find it a short time later.
My secret is to convince my wife to let me store unused tools in the guest shop. I mean guest bedroom.
I use the drill press a lot. Can’t imagine registering concentric holes and repeating operations on a fence, or drilling accurate holes in small plastic, wood, or metal parts, or even cutting a bunch of plugs and dowels by hand. Last year I finally built a good add on DP table w fence, dust collection, & t-track for stops and hold downs. Best improvement ever. Also, my dad made everything from his own shop tools and jigs and fixtures to furniture, toys and classical guitars, he kept things organized on 18”-20” wide shelves along a wall in his basement and used a clear plastic curtain to keep dust out.
I use a "benchtop" milling machine as a drill press. I had to put "benchtop" in quotes because the mill I have weighs almost a thousand pounds. She's got some mass to her. It's actually on a 3"x5" heavy wall angle stand held up by 3" C channel. It has a T slot table. Sometimes I use it for mortising hinges too. Or I'll fly cut a box. Really makes the top and bottom mate up good.
Couple tips from an electrician with a woodshop. When you buy lights, find the color temperature you like, usually around 6K but higher (more blue) seems brighter to some. Then get the same color temperature for all your lights. When you build a cabinet or bench, mount some receptacles or wire mold strips into the sides, power strips are bad and good sources of fire and overloads. If you have power but no switch where you want a light or tool, use inexpensive wireless switches mounted next to your regular switch. Also lights should always be on a separate circuit breaker from anything else. No plugs. If you are just starting to put a shop together, make sure you have at least 75-100 amps available and if not consider putting a sub-panel in, it's not just convenient to isolate this power but will prevent fires from overloads. It's better and not that hard to add surface mount receptacles with conduit on the wall than running cords all over the shop. You only need one or two circuits if you only use one tool at a time. Try to put dust collection or extraction on it's own circuit if you can. Every removable connection, every plug, power strip and cord is a point of failure so having just one on the tool cord is best.
Very informative about lights and circuits. Thank you.
"at least 75-100 amps"? What kind of household has power like that?
@@Surmoka the service drop on almost every house can easily supply 400 amps. so, all of them.
@@BariumCobaltNitrog3n 400 amps?! That with 115V means 46 kW! WTF? Is that customary in the USA? We in Europe have 230V and usually 16 or 25 amps per household. That is one tenth of what you are saying.
@@Surmoka Old houses have 120 volts (x2) and 100 amps. Most houses now have 125 amp panels but it isn't rare to find 200 or 225 amp. The service from the pole can handle over 400 amps. A lot of mansions will have a pad mount transformer with 3000 volt inputs or several 200 amp drops (pool house, guest house, servants quarters, vineyard buildings...)
For years I'd been meaning to build some wall cabinets to replace the open shelves on a wall in my small shop. Things were disorganized and cluttered as I packed more and more stuff on those open shelves. Things also became covered with sawdust. I longed for neatly organized wall cabinets like I saw in some KZheadrs' shops. Looking for a temporary solution until I could build those cabinets, I went to a local big box store and bought a bunch of different size plastic lidded storage containers. I standardized on three container sizes of different widths and heights, but all 14" - 16" front-to-back. Then, I rebuilt the shelves so I could cram as many of these containers on the shelves as possible - one shelf for tall containers, one shelf for medium, and one for short. Now I pull together a bunch of related items, pack them in an appropriate size container, use a piece of masking tape to label it, and put the container on the shelves. Things remain together, dust-free, and easy to find. I can rearrange easily by simply moving stuff to larger or smaller containers, if necessary. For example, my dowel jig and the various dowels currently fit in a small container. But, if I buy a bunch more dowels someday, I can just move that stuff to a medium container. Also, I bought a bunch of different size 4-mil zip-lock bags from Amazon to help keep things (such as all the dowels of each size) organized within the containers. For me, this turned out to be so much simpler and more flexible than dedicated wall cabinets, that I'll never go that way.
Yep, except that cheap plastic bins from a DIY store only lasted a very short time. I finally bit the bullet and bought some 'Eurocrates', pricey but tough, now everything in my shop goes in those crates and they are stacked on shelves under benches along the walls where they act like deep drawers. I went for a standard size of 2'6" deep 18" wide 12" deep. Smaller items (nails, screws, nuts bolts) are in individual plastic boxes inside the outer box. The keynote is toughness. Those boxes get a LOT of wear. Flimsy doesn't cut it.
Black and yellow commercial storage totes. Costco has them regularly in standard sizes and they go on sale twice a year. you need to see inside, cut circular holes and depending on what you can afford, glue pieces of PET (from 2-liter soda bottles), acrylic, polycarbonate, lexan, or plexiglass). You can peer inside without removing the lid. If you need to store them outside in the elements use a bi-layer system of painters canvas cloth on top of a heavy duty tarp. The light color canvas cloth will block most of the UV making the tarp last a longer time. You could also use 18” wide aluminum foil and join two sides together with aluminum foil tape for 100% UV blockage to the yellow lid and if moisture is present aluminum will inhibit mold, mildew and insects. If you live in a very humid environment, reclaim desiccant packs from new purchases by baking them in the oven. Get yourself some gasket maker and run a bead in the lip of the lid, now you have a vapor barrier for your regular tote. If you need paving to place your totes on, rent or buy a pro gas powered concrete saw and whenever someone is replacing their driveway or concrete pavement, cut it up into 1’ squares and make pavers.
If you do sketchup there's a lot of machines or shop furniture already modeled in it. You can just search for them within sketchup and drop it right into your model.
oh yeah, i love that so much. Coupled with the fact that I designed most of my shop furniture in sketchup already, it's really quick to draw your entire shop by importing tools from the 3d warehouse and importing your own drawings too.
Fook Sketch Up. It's really not that all fired hard to make a physical model. Some cereal boxes and hot glue. You can make things, can't you? Otherwise what's the point in having a workshop? I even painted the models I made with acrylic craft paint. That really made them pop. I hate using software. I swear they must only hire blind people to write drawing programs. Worst UIs ever!
@@1pcfred ok, boomer
@@MattMcConaha it's more than just OK.
@@1pcfred yup i agree love cad or software but laying a space is easier/faster using graph paper and cardboard cutouts of tools all to scale
Nuts and bolts - a separate bin for each thread size. If you need a 3"x 1/2" W, you go to the 1/2"W bin, the 3" is easy to identify among the various lengths. Same goes for Metric sizes, UNF, UNC etc. Trying to store each individually if you only have a few of each takes a lot of space. Bulk packs however are a different story.
Great video. Thanks. As for casters I have found that the if you use swivel types only use 2 of them or heck, just pick up the one end of the table or saw to move it. Swivels often don't lock and having a wheel move or twist on you mud cut is not cool. I have used simple dollar store cutting boards as skids. They provide just the right amount of friction to be safe to work with but you can easily drag it around. Also consider rafter space for storing dimensional wood and a pocket along a wall for storing sheet wood. Also, if you don't have time to make cabinets or drawers thrift stores often have cheap options
PS: you nailed the video title. well done.
Thanks Art 😂 Gotta play sensationalism if I'm going to get eyeballs on my hard work
Good points. I spend a majority of my time in the shop looking for things.
the first order of retrievability concept is more about not having to move stuff out of the way when you need something. A drawer is not an issue by itself. But for items that are used on a very regular basis it's sensible to think about putting these to a more accessible place.
Great vid! I'll be moving from a small shop... to an equally small shop. The move presents a clean slate to get better organized. I loved the bit about not buying more tools. Lol. Who'd fall for that. 😂
Great video Scott!!! Really!! I’m a member of the WWMM weekend workshop to witch have made me more intent and organized in my shop! But I have never seen an such in depth video about shop organizing! and the humor is very appreciated!😁👍 keep up the good work
Those drawers you have in your garage holding tools and stuff is nicer than any bit of real furniture I have ever had in my possession ever! You are truly an artisan
Great advice, Scott. And I don’t mind the title. I know you make solid content. I often find cleaning my shop afterwards difficult. Having 4 acres, 3 children, 2 jobs and 1 wife, my presence is often abruptly required elsewhere. And I always make the mistake of wanting to quickly finish the job before running to the next task. At 46, I still have a lot to learn. E.g. from videos like this.
Pere76, you hit the nail right on the head!! Similar situation for me. Less kids, more animals, and such, but time is scarce for some things... :Oh Honey, can you....." is the bain of my productivity at time. More project are create for me than by me.
Definitely not a clean every day person, but I am a clean at the end of every project person.
So glad I finally got my dream shop, a converted pole barn. 1000 square feet. Superman has his fortress of solitude, I have my shop. 😊
been seriously thinking of sorting out my small garage workshop but haven't known where to start. thanks for this vid as it has given me a few ideas :) and yes, wood is the biggest culprit by far in my small space!
I built a 14'*40' shop/garage last year in place of a barely single-car garage. Getting and keeping it organized since it went up has been insane. I will definitely be adapting a lot of your advise from this video for myself. Thanks.
The mayor consideration at time to design a workshop is: cleaning. You can't pile up a bunch immovable things where dust, ditt, chips stay forever cause is impossible to vacuum or mop
First order retrievability is about the continuous process of evaluating what is used most in a given situation and organizing your space to keep those things easy to access when performing that task. It is EXACTLY the process you just discussed regarding your large tools... Also, yes, sometimes taking a 2 steps aways to grab something is not feasible, or is aggravating, so including a storage spot for that item where it is commonly used can be worth the extra effort up front and the extra space potentially taken up. On that note, having a duplicate set of tools/bits CAN make sense for a few reasons. First is that it is often the case that a job either needs Good tools, or just meh tools. Having an every day set of tools out and an expensive set put away is a good way to save money by minimizing the risk of damaging your good tools while still having them available. Second, duplicate sets can reduce the risk of loosing a tool because you moved it around. Ask a mechanic about ¼" sockets, they probably have some actually attached to things that need them regularly, just like a Jacob's key. And the third reason I can think of off the top of my head is sometimes you need something but you can't let go of what you're working on. Clamps would be a good example of something you want hanging on your workbench somewhere so they can be grabbed without stepping away from what you're working on. I would honestly refer someone to Adam Savage on Tested for his shop storage solutions. I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment that drawers are where tools go to die. If you can see it you'll forget you have it, if you forget you have it then you won't use it. I have worked in warehousing my entire working life. Space optimization and process improvement are my specialty, and I'm good at it. If you are going to use drawers, dedicate them to something. Clearly lable them. And for crying out loud, use your vertical space. Aside from being able to hang things, you can run electrical and pneumatic lines on the ceiling with quick access where you need it rather than on the floor where you can trip on it, or under the floor/in the wall where you have limited access
Peg board is awesome (or other wall mounted type storage systems)! It's the only system I have used that I consistently put tools back where I found them when I am done with them. I also like it because it's much easier to find things. I have a lot of shelves for other stuff and they create a lot of clutter and digging to find stuff. I would love to get a large metal mechanics tool chest but they are very expensive. I think wall mounted and drawers are the way to store stuff.
Lighting is very important. As we age, our vision deteriorates so it's important to have as much light as you can.
Impact driver and air nailer is my go too. Great ideas now I gotta dig myself out!
My drill press is definitely one of the most used tools in my shop. I mostly build guitars
Great video and a matching sense of humor!! You rang a whole bunch of bells for me and my shop, so now I just have to get off my duff and follow your suggestions! Thanks!!
This video is just so simple but so INCREDIBLY intelligent!!!
"Have multiple trash containers and throw off cuts away. You think your going to use them, but you won't". Steve Ramsey, Woodworking For Mere Mortals.
Hey Scott, So relevant for my ‘micro’ space. I’ll be making some adjustments. 👍🏼👍🏼 One observation: Your advice on a clean shop left out the one of the most important things I learned in Woodwork class at school. A clean workshop is a safe workshop. Cheers! John 🇦🇺
vertical storage is also something i have found helpful.
I've used graph paper & cutouts whenever I move house as well. It's just generally a *really* useful thing when laying out a space.
Thanks Scott. As a guy building in a small shop, your thoughts really help.
I’m a seasoned hobbyist woodworker and I found a lot of these to be good ideas/points. Great video!
Many smart tips here. I've laid out and built three professional shops and I'm always looking for new ideas. Best small shop layout video I've seen.
An intelligently narrated video, thank you,
I really look forward to using your advice once I cure my pathologic tendency for hording. Thanks!
How one letter can corrupt the core of the information, eh?
Hoarding. I don't know what hording is.
@@nefariousyawn horde, noun; a large unorganized group of individuals : a teeming crowd or throng
Great advice, Scott. Working out of a 1-car garage-sized rectangular shop was a challenge. While I have lots of wall space, the shop is only 12’ wide. My approach was: get everything out that isn’t used for making (including wood storage); put my tablesaw on a rolling platform & building a removable top that serves as my assembly table (until I built a collapsible track saw table that rests on sawhorses & can be used for assembling larger projects); and building a “tool tower” (also on casters): 30” square, 7’ tall with 5 drawers on 100 lb. capacity slides. The tower holds an array of tools in the drawers & hung on the 3 other sides and on top. A collapsible plywood carrier doubles as an outfeed & assembly table, but folds nearly vertically flat when not used. Eight 8’ pipe clamps are hung on the back of one (of two) barn-style entry doors. Lastly, a jam-packed French Cleat wall holds more tools, clamps, and measuring devices. The irony of my setup is that even though I build custom workbenches, I don’t (& may never) have a dedicated workbench in my shop. I’m reserving that space for a combination jointer-planer. Gotta sell a dozen or so workbenches before that will happen. Thanks for putting this very helpful “thinkpiece” video together. Sincerely, another supremely satisfied subscriber.
Great video! I always enjoy seeing what you do in your small space.
Great tips here. I am nearly at the stage of roughing in the electrical for my new shop in my barn. I like what you said about drawers as my tendency is to make cupboards for a quicker "fix". But I can see the utility of using drawers instead. Good point about the workbench as well and it's cause for pause as I overbuilt a rolling outfeed table for my jobsite table saw which frankly now takes up alot of space with marginally useful storage. Much appreciated Scott.
My most used 'tool' is likely my router table. its a 2' by 3' custom made table that also holds most of my tools. I used it more then my bigger workbench, its better suited for larger projects. The smaller table is in the middle of my shop so I can easily move around to all sides rather then turning whatever possibly heavy item that I'm working on. Its on casters so that it can be easily moved out of the way even if I have something heavy on top of it. This way I can increase the floor space if I need to. My shop needs to do more then woodworking, its a farm shop and needs to do a little of everything. This includes storing things that I don't use in my shop but are in there because its the best place to have them when I need them as they are easy to get to and I know exactly where they are. I do plan on building drawers into the shelves that line every wall as there is a lot of wasted space there, just need to figure out the best way to do so. None of the shelves match and store all kinds of things, I even have two motorcycles taking up space, its a real nightmare lol.
Excellent presentation and very informative. I needed this! Thank you.
Fantastic tips on shop organization. Thank you for sharing this video.
14:00 that bit cracked me up. Good job 👍
That drill press is sweet!
A simple Thank you. This process has helped narrow down what I need to do. Be Well and Good Journey. Richie
In April I started giving away tools and other crap I didn't need to the local Restore.In May,the French cleats magically appeared along with the required tool holders.June and now July have seen a total work flow change for the better.Next the lights.Great video.
BRB. Gonna explore my deep seeded issues.
Dude. You have a great sense of humor. You’ll hit 100,000 subscribers before you know it.
I like your tip about lighting. I also like to add LED lighting in drawers and cabinets to make it easier to see stuff.
Helpful tips! Thank you.
Hey Scott. I liked some of your suggestions. Some I disagreed with. I think having wood on hand, especially making room for special boards you come across, is important. Nice video, with advice that I will think over. Thanks!
Sure you need a convenient place to keep it but it doesn't have to be inside your work space. If your ceilings are high, you can add hanging storage to keep it close and out of the way.
Fantastic video, and I really need to adopt the yearly purge!
SO good! I need this, I have Bora work horses with a work top and my table saw on my patio, a spare bedroom container a tool wall constitutes my wood room…. It’s certainly not ideal but as I’m using to the UK your advise is valuable. Thank you!
I've had the opportunity to visit and work in shops of a number of well-known (in the '70's) woodworkers around the country. My institutional shop was very well organized and we kept it very clean but I can't think of any of the well-known woodworkers' shops that weren't piles of sawdust, trails going through work areas, etc. Many of them would talk about how they could tell a "good" woodworker from one who was not so good. The "good" woodworker's shop looked worked in. I agree with you more than I did them. It's far easier to let the sawdust pile up and only clean it occasionally. But I doubt that you'll change many minds;-). Thanks for your good ideas.
My shop is a bit bigger than yours but it’s still small. You are 100% right about cleaning, lighting, and purging! A little self discipline in the space makes it much more pleasant!!
True artists suffer.
"You think you will use these off cuts one day, but you won't". Steve Ramsey. I still have to force myself to throw giblets of wood away.
One thing I think you could add to this is cable and hose management! I don't mind pulling out my planer every time I need it, except when I need to unplug something to plug it in! Great video, I have watched it a few times as I am going through my own shop. Keep up the great content and I'd love to see an update on this if you have anything new to add.
Good point about power. I added a wall mounted multi-outlet strip at the back of my workbench so I wouldn't have to juggle plugging and unplugging things. You don't need an expensive, hard-wired PlugMold setup. There are other affordable alternatives. Make sure the fixture has a power rating sufficient for the tools you'll use with them.
When I moved after I retired I gave up a 1300 sq ft shop and built a 400 sq ft one. Everything with the exception of two benches are on wheels. Even the 2 HP dust collector and the Shop Vac/Dust deputy are on mobile bases. The band saw, miter saw, router table, jointer and thickness planer are all moved every time they're used. The table saw on a mobile base is virtually never moved; same with the heavy duty bench top drill press but both of them could be moved if necessary. Even the assembly/outfeed table is on wheels. All of the tool bases except the jointer have drawers. With a GOOD small square a miter saw can be set up for very accurate cuts. My miter saw base not only has casters but folding wings as well. It's much better for cross cutting long material than the table saw. All of my machines are set up at the same height as the table saw's top which allows the mobile assembly table to serve as an outfeed or extension for any tool in the shop except the drill press. Since the drill press is adjusted constantly it's a different animal from anything else in the shop. It has its own height adjustable supports built into the mobile base.
I got some discarded 36Wx24Dx19H upper kitchen cabinets for cheap. I stiffened the base and top with scrap MDF and plywood and added casters. I use them as tool bases with built in storage. Perfect for mounting my benchtop planer, and it holds my different sanders, electric hand planer and all my sanding consumables inside. And 12 4' LED tubes cost about $100 and truly made a world of difference
I have a 3 car garage and I am planning a small workshop to allow for all 3 cars to be parked while maintaining a workshop in the same space. I resonate with your thinking. Small drawers down below. Everything that sparks joy has a particular spot. Some open space for quick tool grabs, cabinets if you want to hide the hideous stuff. All good stuff. I get it. The tip you made about throwing out the metal stands and making your own was the best idea. I have that very problem. Scraps accumulate under my bandsaw stand and I cannot store anything there but scraps. I just think the perfect shop is overkill. Your shop is simple with a human element. Always changing. Ever evolving. I like it.
This video has been so helpful for me. And I have to mention that the best shop design I ever did was first mocked up in Minecraft.
I have a small shop with a low (7'-4") ceiling. I have made hangers by using a hole saw make to hold mailing tubes in wood cleats. I use these to store strips of inlay, dowels, carbon fiber rods and rolled-up plans. It saves my precious wall and shelf space. If I had taller ceilings I would still do this and use a step stool to access them.
I'm one of those people with deeper-seated issues, but it's not about avoiding opening drawers. I don't follow "First Order of Retrievability", but as someone with pretty bad ADHD I learned I can work better if what I need is in sight and/or at point of use. I don't mind opening a drawer to get to my drill bits, but I will mind it if that drawer is anywhere other than underneath the drill press. If I have to walk across the room to get a drill bit, I will forget which bit I needed by the time I get to the drawer lol
Love this, Scott. My shop space has more room than yours, but definitely isn't among the roomy warehouse shops that you mentioned in the beginning of your video. Also, it's so awesome to see your channel succeed. I stumbled upon your channel when you made the video of restoring your old 12" jointer. I also share the affinity (obsession?) of vintage woodworking machines. Now if I could just finish my pending restorations so that I can make some projects... Keep up the hard work man!
I’m super lucky to have a large shop. The previous home owner had a workshop and made pottery. So the shop is an addition to the house complete with its own HVAC. It’s about 32x35. However… there are obstacles . There are four large posts down the center, a set of stairs to the second floor. And three separate doors that go to the outside. One of them being a set of double doors. Which is SUPER great for bringing in material and taking out projects. Around one of those poles the floor has sank. This is where they had their pottery mixer and another HEAVY item for pottery. All that to say this… even with a larger shop… I have a horrible layout. But I can’t wrap my head around how to do it differently. I’m stuck. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to pull up a storage container to my double doors and empty everything from my shop into it. Then place things in. And then… I would be forced to make harder decisions about things that have gotten buried and purge. AND LIGHTING!!! I need to get this taken care of. Very motivating. Thanks.
Your comment about not stockpiling wood was an "aha" moment for me. I have an area of my workshop for this purpose. If I at least reduced the size of that area, my workflow would be much better. I have some work to do!
My home shop is 12 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. My hobbies are wood working, metal working, welding, knife making, shooting, reloading, air conditioning, refrigeration, electronics and gardening,automotive including body and fender Not to mention all the painting, spakling and hardwood flooring tools, tile saws and cutters,ladders and acutraments that are needed to keep the house up. I do all this out of a 20 by 20 garage. I have no room on my property for a shed and I won't just pile stuff in the yard that is so common in this state. I have drawers,cabinets, shelves,wall hooks and rafter hangers. I am very well organized having spent 20 years working aircraft with three times a day tool inventories. I feel I spend as much time rearranging and organizing as I do working projects. Great video, glad you got it figured out. There is no hope for me.
In terms of First Order of Retrievability, you can have cabinets up by your ceiling that store your excess sandpaper or other accessories where you only need maybe 1 or 5 in easy access. This could allow you to reduce the size of your sandpaper rack. Have that jig that you only use twice a year, hang it up out of the way.
Nice job. I'm building a new big shop but find that your ideas will apply to me as well. Thanks!
The only other tip I'd add to this is to think about overlapping tools to save floor space. I have a miter saw and a cabinet I built for it (that's a little too big for the space, but meh) and I've put both my drill press and router mount in the same piece, so the three tools take up only the one tools floor space. The drill press table is always above the miter stuff, and the router is retracted 90% of the time. Same kind of concept to your planer under your jointer until you use it or the bench being outfeed as well. The nicest thing is cabinet is already set up for storage too so I have my router bits and drill bits and wrenches etc all right there.
Exactly -- gang tools together in a small shop when it makes sense. This way, those tools effectively share the same infeed / outfeed and support wings. If possible, add wheels to that section or series of tool bays, so that you can pull a tool out when you're working with a board that is longer than the usual space available. This is especially true for the mitre saw, where you're often starting out with a board that's 8'+ or even 12' in length.
Thank you Scott! well done. I enjoy your videos and informative ideas.
As always, fantastic content! Keep it up!
Thanks for the video- haven’t found anything as useful for setting up a workshop in all aspects. Currently using the floor plan as a starting point.
My garage has 3 seperate sets of lights; a small 2" double fluorescent strip & a 3 bulb set with a fan for minimal lighting, when playing on the computer/watching the TV/smoking etc. I then have 12 feet of fluorescent lighting on the left & right sides of the garage, each side on it's own switch. I can turn on as much light as I need, when I need it
Extra: Multi purpose workshops. Not everyone with tools is commercial…or only a woodworker. My “craftroom” caters for things like…repairing a chair, making a cabinet, soldering/brazing, sheet metal and making bespoke fittings, hobby power carving, paint spraying etc Generally small’ish stuff, but covering several disciplines. Also…..Modular workshops, mobile workstations!
I will say, as a maker with ADHD first order of retrievability with having to take literally *zero* steps as well as open storage really are non-negotiables for me. Difficulty with object permanence really is a huge thing with ADHD and closed storage really exacerbates that problem. Hell, in the kitchen I still find myself opening several drawers to grab a fork. Obviously the benefits of any practice depend upon each person and their individual needs, but I do think that the frequency that those specific things are suggested to a warranted, given the much higher prevalence of ADHD people in the circle or makers than in the population at large
I made a small tool tower for keeping a few things right at hand. More are available in a few steps, but these are RIGHT there. I have done the review and swapped out things I found not being used. Made out of scraps, it validated the idea to me. I will prolly be making another with different tool holding methods - I did rows of different sizes of pvc. ADHD - having everything right there together is helpful. I watched “how to adhd” video about her coffee station and it kinda klicked.
This video was very entertaining and fantastically useful. Well done! 👍
Good tips. Thank you. I'm going to tell Ellie that Scott Walsh said if I get rid of a tool I can get a new one. 😁
Great callout on angled layouts. They are the best option for many tools. My biggest issue is that I now have more drawers than I need, too many things that need to be put away don't fit in drawers.
I have learned a new term today ... and it definitely applies to me. I am a PACKRAT ! Thanks for a sensible and helpful video. No time to write more as I have to go dump some stuff.
Great advice...I'm pretty much doin this with dust collection on a boom to get to all the machines...so many options...
13:10 One hundred percent agree. Streamlined minimalist is so much more enjoyable. Plus it's a great way to build friendships by offering friends first crack at the old tools.
First time watcher. Great video. Loved the tips and love your humor. Just enough to make a great video even better. New subscriber. Thank you!
Love the graph paper modeling. I did it for our last home (1,110 sq ft) and furniture, it was super helpful. Garage now has a built in workbench with cabinets below but also overhead that are too deep. Really just in a bad spot entirely. Not sure whether to use it for storage and put a usable bench elsewhere or what? Its been 2 years and about 60% of the crap doesn't have a home location. Totally overwhelmed and it feels like an unachievable task.
Brilliant! This all needed to be said out loud (although I'm not sure I could live without castors).
Hi Scott, My greatest error is to not put my tools away, perhaps because I dont have enough cabinets, but also the traffic flow is poor. Having something in the middle of the room is a big waste of shop real estate My table saw is a monster that until recently, was in the middle of the shop without wheels and for whatever reason of the time, the infeed side faced the garage door and that was the problem. Now, I will discard all of the waste that has been collecting and turn the saw around! so I do not have to twirl the lumber around. to get to the cutting side. Thanks for all of your videos, each has been a keeper for the small details that could make us go insane.
Before I moved my shop was a 2 and a half car garage, which I thought was too small. Looking at the space you have to work with is crazy. Huge kudos - and most of your advice is very sound. However I would argue against your statement that casters are not the answer - but not for the reason you'd think. Sometimes a change in needs or a re-arrangement is necessary in which case moving the bigger, heavier items is a nightmare if they're not on wheels. Every tool and bench I have that is able to is on wheels even if I don't plan on moving it frequently, if ever. Also helps with cleaning.