Organizing My Small Shop

Clean your room well; for good spirits will not live where there is dirt.  There is no dirt in heaven.
(Attributed to Mother Ann of the Shakers.)

I'm a slob. Always have been... always will be.
(Attributed to Toy Making Dad of the Sitters Around)

As a kid, Oscar Madison was pretty much my hero.
No fooling, my room was hit by lightning when I lived with my parents. Initially my mom didn't realize it had been hit since the normal mess wasn't all that different than how the room normally looked. What with a bookcase blown off the wall and a couple of holes in said wall.

As I often remind her even though she knew what she was getting into... my wife still married me.





Here is a shot of shop last month... not my proudest moment.
I had to finally say, enough is enough and start squaring things away.
I couldn't get anything done. It was time to declutter and put things where they belonged. If they didn't have a space, it was time to make a space.

So let me start at the beginning...

I've had my shop space for about three years now and I always knew it would be a work in progress. It was the result of us putting a modest addition on our modest house.

It shares a room with a washer and dryer as well as a cat box (or two) and a utility tub. The space that is pretty permanently mine is a "L" that runs about 9 feet down one wall, 10 feet across the back wall (including the door and window) and then 7 feet up the next wall to the washer and dryer.

Since I didn't used to have ANY space, I really shouldn't complain about the space I do have. However, it's funny how many times I've wished I had just one more inch to get something to fit just right. Still, all things considered, space really isn't an issue. I build toys not pianos.

My first build was a long tool bench, 2x4s and screws with a plywood and hardboard top. In the event of an earthquake or rocket attack, it is a designated shelter spot in the house. It is solid. (Here is the post and the general plans.)

I have a tool cabinet that I inherited from my parents and it fit perfectly into the middle section (almost as if the middle section had been designed around it... just saying.) I labeled the drawers and have stuck to putting sockets and hammers and rulers back where they belong after each use. It has saved me dozens of hours. The mini fridge didn't last long. It went off to college soon after this photo was taken.

I added a wall mounted drop leaf table that I got from Ikea for like 166 or 250 Krona. I use it as an assembly and painting table. I've found that I've left it upright the whole time it has been there but a) I use it a lot and b) it's nice to know I could fold it down if needed.

Here is a rare shot of it cleaned off. The box for the shop vac may have to go at some point. I was trying to muffle the sound as recommended in some shop guides but it really doesn't fit that well thanks to the nature of the hose. Another project for another day.

On to the shop organization and lessons learned.

First off, there is only so much floor space so you gotta start hanging stuff on the walls. Thank's to a brother who was formerly in the retail beverage business, I was able to acquire a fair number of wooden wine crates. I've used some of the wood for toys (it is mostly 3/8" thick) but I've turned others into shelving. They are sturdy and they class up the establishment.

It seems that I've moved them all half a dozen times over the last three years. In general, I've come to what should have been an obvious conclusion -  put the stuff you need close by and don't waste any wall space. (DUH!) Compared to my first attempts, that wall is now much "tighter" and practical.

I had planned on building a Roubo style workbench that would have made Chris Schwarz himself weep but alas... I purchased the Harbor Freight bench instead.  I suck. The mind is willing but the body and wallet are weak. I think it was about $120 (On sale! Wow, how lucky was I to find something from Harbor Freight on sale, right?) It suits my needs for now although it is not sturdy enough to be used for planing. Well... at least not yet. I have some thoughts on that for another day.

The workbench is too long to fit in the space without blocking the aisle in the shop, so one end is tucked into one of the bays in the tool bench. (The floor of the bay has been removed.) It's not ideal but it gives me all the work surface I need and at some point the space may be reconfigured. Moving that power strip there has made things much easier when I'm using the rotary tool or palm sander.



An early get for my shop space was a used stationary belt-sander. Next to my drill press, I'd say it is my most used tool in the shop. We'll, actually looking at that picture, it is literally next to my drill press.

The drill press and sander both sit on the bottom base of an Ikea two piece cabinet that gave us 20 good years of service. (It may have been a Splurk or Rehnikl but I'm sure it wasn't a Jork.) The base is very sturdy and gave me some needed storage behind doors. The height on the drill press is fine but the sander was a bit low.

A log time ago I had made stackable crates as a shoe rack for our closet and after about 18 years of service, it was time for them to be replaced. They were still pretty sturdy so I cannibalized one and made the other into a very solid shelf into which I could fit little plastic bins.

The bins were salvaged from a piece of kid's furniture no longer needed to house Happy Meal toys from 350 movies we never saw. So the shelf raised the belt-sander just enough to make working on it more comfortable and gave me three "drawers" to house my drill bits and hole saws. Win-Win.



As an aside... check out the difference between a 1x3 furring strip sold now (on the left) and one sold in about 1998 (on the right). Sort of makes you think, huh?



With the doors removed from the top half of the Ikea cabinet, it really formed a nice hutch. I raised it a bit by making a big "C" out of 2x8s and setting it on top of that. Extra shelves have been easy to add and it sits on top of the tool bench and almost reaches the ceiling.



You can see the Western edge of  "The Great Wall of Clementine Boxes" as well as my growing toy making library in that photo but here is the rest of the wall. There are still more clementine boxes on another shelf across the room and in the closet of our computer room... and on my desk at work but I swear I can stop saving them at any point.




The wall mounted little plastic bins are pretty much invaluable. I did get smart and made labels with the exact dimensions and part numbers for the pre-made wheels and specific parts I use.










It sounds stupid but the little labels really help around the shop. You can see things at a glance without opening cigar boxes and drawers to look for your priceless Allen wrench collection. As a bonus you get a a zillion of them for just a few bucks. You can even send them through your printer. Just saying.









The latest addition to the shop has been another wine crate wall shelf but this one has a sliding lid. Once I mounted it on its side, it turned it into a cabinet. I also added a pencil and marker holder under it and my clamps in another wine case above it.







I picked up some sheets of self adhesive dry erase paper and turned the door into a white board for notes and quick scribbles. (Robert Neville must have dropped by...) It's great because I can pull it completely out and use it at the workbench to work numbers and do rough sketches.

My shop is as clean as it has ever been. As each surface was cleared my tabby supervisor came in to supervise and comment on my work. This time it passed the smell test and nothing had to be knocked on the floor to test for gravity levels in the shop.


As I suspect it is the case with all weekend tinkerers, it isn't just my experience and tools that will change over time but so will my storage and work surfaces. They will all be a constant work in progress and that's not a bad thing.

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Making a Tool Bench out of 2x4s

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George S. Patton.

"An okay plan now is better than a perfect plan never." - Toy Making Dad's version.

So, since the nature of the work space is to have a space to work, I needed to get tools out of my friend's basement and into my new utility room. The main working area of my space is this 6'x7' corner. Once there, they need to be on "things." Shelves, tables, the floor, etc.

During my exile from toy making, I read a lot about work surfaces. In one of those "Duh" moments the idea that kitchen tables (meant to sit at) and kitchen counters (meant to stand at ) are different heights for a reason really struck home. I knew I needed something higher to put my stationary tools on for easy use. But how big, what shape, what material, all that needed to be worked out.

First off, I realized that I had more stuff than I remembered. I have a table saw and a full size band saw. Both of these need to live on the floor and I'll get to them in a later post. I also have a stationary belt sander, a drill press, a table top bandsaw and a scrollsaw. Those tools are responsible for about 80% of my toy making. In my old setup they resided on my dad's ridiculously cluttered (by me) workbench and a Workmate. It was an OSHA nightmare of cords, clutter and sawdust. In retrospect, some days I spent more time looking for stuff than actually making stuff.

Two wildcards came into play at this point. I inherited a rolling Craftsman tool chest that while great, didn't fit my needs. My space is only a few feet wide, I don't need my hand tools to be mobile and I don't have the wall space to just park it. The other piece is a mini fridge that we purchased during our recent renovation. I don't really need it. It's nice to have... but again, I don't have a good place to put it.

I had the mini fridge on top of the tool chest for awhile. While maybe being marginally safe, it looked goofy and still took up a lot of space. Grrrrr.

In staring at the fridge and tool chest, it suddenly hit me that I could build the tool bench over them and I'd be all set. The tool chest would become the drawers and the fridge could sit in one of the bays. Now they weren't taking up space; now they were helping me make better use of the space I have. I removed and stored the caster wheels from the tool chest so it would be the right height. The casters may end up on my bandsaw in the coming weeks.

So, now I had something to design the bench around and needed to settle on size. 

The distance from the outside wall to the edge of the dryer is 7'3". I wanted a depth of 2' because I knew that the focus of this bench was a place for stationary tools and not assembly, clamping, finishing etc. The tool chest pretty much dictated the height - 41". (I'm sort of on the tall side, so this is a decent height for a work surface you stand next to in order to work on.) I also knew I wanted to use 2x4s since they are cheap and they are strong. (Hey, they build houses out of the suckers.)

 

What I came up with a structure with 4 walls that created three bays with a 7'3"x2'x7/8" OSB sheet on top with 1/8 hardboard glued to the top of it. The 7' long horizontal boards end butt against the vertical 2x4s of the outside walls making a total length of 7'3". Here is the general idea:



The middle is open across the bottom so the caster-less tool cart that weighs 87 quadzillion tons didn't have to be lifted up and the bench didn't need to be nearly 4" higher. The left and right bays have a 2x4 lip with a piece of OSB attached to make a shelf.

The two outside walls are constructed like this with the horizontal 2x4s facing in towards the bay:

 

The inside walls were similar but not as wide. The horizontal 2x4's also faced in toward the bays giving me the maximum room for the tool cart.

 

Building these was actually pretty easy. I just measured 37 times and cut once. A borrowed chop saw and speed square made short work of most of this. I used 3" screws that were offset for almost all of the basic construction. (Totally worth a couple of bucks more for the coated star drive screws. Just saying.) I used a scrap 2x4 to make sure I was allowing enough space for where the long 2x4 stretchers would attach on the outside walls.

 

 

 

Here they are all done along with the OSB I had them rip in half at the big Orange store. I was a fool to ever buy giant boards and try and cut them myself. I can trim a foot off the end with my circular saw but trying to rip a 4'x8' sheet when I don't have the space was stupid at best.

 

I also picked up some peg board and had it ripped so that I could make panels for the walls. This allows for at least some air circulation. The mini-fridge can benefit from it now but once that goes off to college, a vacuum can move in and breath a bit in the bays.

 

I attached the front kick plates to start assembling the two bays and used scrap blocks and a few strategically placed 5 gallon buckets to hold the walls vertical while I started screwing them in. I just focused on making each corner square one at a time. As long as it was square, the next one would be easy.

 

 

Putting the 7' long runners was straight forward as well. I just set the bays on their backs and ran the top horizontal board and then flipped it over and put the two long runners on the back. Again, just making sure each joint was square, one at a time. Once that was done I flipped it upright and was pleasantly surprised to see how sturdy it was even without the top and bottom shelves.

 

I used a bunch of drywall screws to attach the OSB to the frame. Why drywall screws you ask? Well.. that's what I had. Besides when the four legged inspector came by to check my work, he approved. After that, I glued the 1/8" hardboard to the top and secured it with all the clamp I have and put my socket sets, drill press and small band saw on it to weigh it down overnight.

 

Now the moment of truth... would it fit in the space between the wall and the dryer. Short answer - yes. Longer answer - yes, but only just. The outside wall of the room is at an angle so there is more space as you go back. So it fit but right before I have 7'3", I only have 7 '2 and 3/4" if you catch my drift. I had to unhook the washing machine and dryer. Move them. Get the tool bench in place and then hook the appliances back up. (Because of a in-wall vent and very tight space, they really need to be exactly where they are.)

 

Within moments, I had all sorts of junk on it and in it. Mission accomplished!

 

I think my total cost was around $65 or $70 bucks. The OSB being the most expensive piece. (The hardboard wouldn't ring up so they gave it to me for free. I asked if I could go back and get four more sheets...)

 

Is it perfect? Ummmm...nah.

Does it meet all my current needs? You betcha.

 

I mostly make toys. I don't land airplanes. No one is expecting perfection. Good now is better than perfect never.

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I promise to not keep putting pictures of my cats in every post but a funny dynamic seems to be taking place in our house. We now have two boy cats. Both are relatively young and they help me out during guy time. They are fascinated whenever I am in making stuff. I guess one never knows when a mouse or can of tuna is going to pop out of nowhere. One is an orange tabby. The other looks like a bespectacled balding middle aged man-child.

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