Hey everyone! A few quick answers to common questions: The black rail over the bench is a camera dolly track. I don’t actually use it at the moment. It was an idea that didn’t work out but it’s 16’ long so it’s staying there for now. Yes, I plan to move the fire extinguisher. Its location made sense at the time but I’ve moved stuff around a lot since. The Portaband is mounted with a prototype bracket that the company who makes it has not given me permission to talk about yet, sorry. It is not yet available for sale.
@@Warped65er And multiple smoke detectors. The standard ionizing detector doesn't go off over half the time. Try an optical detector, and/or a thermal spring-loaded alarm (no power required). A New Years Eve house fire next door left a lasting impression. A little expense for prevention, yada yada...
The upside down mounts for battery chargers and mounts are such a great call. Thanks for the example. I do hope to see the dbit grinder get some camera time soon. It seems to have been a while.
7:34 The look of “THAT’S GENIUS!!!” I shared with my husband when you showed the vertical hand tool dividers 🤯😍. He’s excitedly firing up Fusion360 to design some now!!!
Such a well thought out layout. I agree, the ability to prevent visual clutter is so good for the mind. In 50 years of trying I sadly haven’t achieved a clutter free workshop. 😢
@@jlucasound Safety must always be paramount. I don’t think I would ever achieve clinical spotlessness. All I crave is to be free from visual clutter. 👍😀
I agree about the hoist. As a young'un I tinkered with custom cars, and I bought an engine hoist rather than renting one for a job I was doing, because I wasn't sure how long I'd need it, planing to sell it when the job was done. It proved so useful that I had it for years, it was surprising how many uses I found for it. And it never worth risking your health by lifting things too heavy - it can take mere seconds to do damage that will trouble you for the rest of your life.
At my last job we needed a way to get a 20kg heating element out of a machine without bending forward. I modified an engine hoist by shortening the front legs and adding a lot of counterweight. If you find yourself using it a lot, put some nice castor wheels on it, the factory ones are complete pants. And, as someone with a lifetime injury, I would add don't one-hand battery drills. I had one catch and tear cartilage in my wrist before I could let go of the trigger. Seven years and two surgeries later, my wrist still bothers me!
My solution is a set of forks on the tractor front end loader. We live on a small farmette and it was 5 years before I finally broke down and bought a tractor. Since then is has become my only engine hoist/machine mover.
I'm with you! Similar to @IanSlothieRolfe 's comment about buying and selling when the job was done, I bought a skidloader when I was building my shop and figured I'd sell it when I was done with the construction. Like Ian says, it proved itself so useful that I still have it 25+ years later!
Quinn, your 2.0 shop looks great. This was by far the best shop tour video I’ve seen! The overview images were fantastic, and you clearly explained WHY you made these layout choices. Bravo!👏
My shop electrical tip: Use two 20 amp circuits for outlets on a wall. alternate from one circuit to another every 32 inches. So circuit A at 0", 64", 128" etc, & circuit B at 32", 96", 160" etc. I used white outlets & plates for one circuit & ivory for the other.
That's pretty much what I did. I've got four 20 amp circuits just for the wall mounted outlets. No two outlets next to each other are on the same circuit, but mine are at 24" intervals because that is what the stud spacing is.
When I worked as an electricians helper during college we always wired kitchens and dining rooms with 3 conductor cable and the upper and lower duplex outlets split. The coffee machine and toaster could share an outlet without problems. Now the requirements for GFI prevent this but it was a great arrangement.
I did the same in my shop - alternating circuits for the outlets and separate circuits for lighting. That way if I happen to trip a breaker I'm not left in the dark and I still have power to finish the task before having to go to the panel.
Must be the time of year - Colin Furze just did a workshop video, and Jeremy Fielding says there's one coming! As someone who is so disorganised in his own space, I'm watching and listening... but will I act? Probably not! Wonderful content as always - not sure why you didn't set the "kitchen triangle" scene to waltz music, but we can't have everything! 😂😂👍👏👏👏
It's Saturday after Thanksgiving, so many of us are probably watching this instead of doing the organizing ourselves... I've actually been doing some cleaning, but I'm losing steam...
Here's for treats for Sprocket, who apparently would like your attention 🥰 Could I ask where you got those LED fixtures? I need something like that for my little basement shop for all the good reasons you mentioned.
Mine are specifically the Lithonia dual-strip LEDs that Home Depot sells. They are cheap but surprisingly good. 5600k colour temp. You can’t get the 8 footers on Amazon because they’re too long for UPS to ship.
@@Blondihacks Ok right on, I'm close enough to one to go have a look easily enough. You never know, you might actually see a video out of me if I'm not careful 😅
Quinn, I just want to say that your habit of providing a small "you are here" or "this is what I'm talking about" picture in the corner of the video really helps. It's especially valuable in your machining videos, of course. I wish more creators did this. Thank you.
I enjoy darkroom tours by photographers, and many of the same basic workshop layout principles apply. We need a wet and a dry side, light, music, storage, and thinking space. In fact, I keep looking at mills as the machine tool equivalent of enlargers.
I'm not saying I let out an audible gasp when I saw your immaculate drawer of nuts, bolts, etc., but... it was the drawer of my dreams. I should also probably get out more... :)
It's nice to see what a nice clean well-organized shop looks like. Mine is as packed full and organized as a land fill, but I'm thankful to have the thinks that I do. I am having to mount thinks on the walls, as I have to make do with the space that I have. Stay awesome.
I'm so happy to have found your channel. I had a friend how introduced me to hobby machining and just as I got interested and started looking into it, he sadly passed. I had been hoping that he could teach me the ropes but that can't happen anymore. I love your videos oriented towards familiarizing beginners with shop tools and your tutorials. Thank you for making these videos and I hope the new shop works well. Congrats on the move!
Very nice! Lots of light, low clutter, clean and lots of shallow drawers - that's the goal for my shop. It is so nice to walk into a clean, well lit and organized workspace to start a project. Something that I have not experienced for quite some time now.
I love, love, love seeing a neat and well organized shop. Few things are more satisfying than having everything in it's place. You've done a fine job and if that software engineering thing doesn't work out I'm confident you could pick up a few bucks helping other people organize their shops.
Quinn, this video is chock full of good tips, tricks and reasons for why you have your shop laid out the way you do. Excellent work! I want to give a professional opinion: as an IBEW wireman that has worked in the electrical industry for almost 18 years, I've seen firsthand just how much of a difference light can bring to a space. (It's such an obvious and simple thing it is often overlooked.) I can't stress this enough: EVERY area humans occupy will be improved by well thought-out lighting; I've seen the difference in structures ranging from homes to data centers. The lighting system you've constructed is exactly what electricians and architects try to do: design a simple and elegant way to get light where it matters most. Two thumbs up! 👍👍
Have been watching your videos for a while now, and enjoying them greatly. Gave most of my woodworking equipment to my friend Peter, who has a large, bright shop in his basement. We’re near Toronto. He already had a metal lathe and lots of stuff. Recently, he acquired an EXCELLO mill. Helped him get it off the pallet onto to garage floor for cleaning, dismantling, and relocation to basement. Since we are both 75+, we are mindful of safety. Never used a mill or lathe, but find the ancillary equipment interesting as well. I’m the Electrical and Peter the Mechanical guy. We have a mutual friend out on Vancouver Island, Mechanical too. I think we have a fairly good mindset for these things. Hope you enjoy Canada.
Thanks for the tour Quinn. That looks very well laid out, and oh so neat and tidy. The ergonomic triangle looks just right, and everything important seems to be within reach, and not too high or low. I would however, make one suggestion or addition, and that would be a curtain on a rail to close off the "dirty" area when needed. Grinding dust and hot work fall out seems to find a way of getting everywhere in my experience. My shop is an absolute mess, so call it an aspirational suggestion from my point of view. I think the only thing I know for certain where it is, is the rubbish bin (trash can).
Very nice. I'm sure you'll enjoy, especially the canadian spring and summer when the weather is mild. I have a 20x30 free-standing shop with 12 foot roll up doors soon both ends. Springtime in the Texas Hill Country is wonderful, and definitely shop therapy. Good luck, enjoy, and keep em coming.
I have struggled in my shop with some advice from Adam Savage on his tested channel. He always emphasizes first order retrievability which is a concept I love. The problem comes from the impracticality of doing so in a machine shop. Try as I might it doesn’t really work. So much of the tooling needs to live in drawers to keep them out of open air. First order retrievability is a much more of a fabrication or wood worker arrangement. I really dig what you have done with your shop. Style points bursting right out out the front door. I know years ago that you mention inspiration from Adam Savage’ first order retrievability too. It seems vary fitting as I watch his channel, as he gets into more and more precision work, he moves to a system much more in line with yours. Shared conclusions are great.
I desperately need you to come over and help me organize my shop. :) I'm still working in the hollowed-out carcass of a former woodworking shop, and there are lots of things that used to be optimized for handling sheet goods, but are now just in the way.
This is awesome! When I retire and move, your video gives a bunch of great ideas for setting up a home machine shop. Thank you so much for sharing and giving us the video tour. Very helpful!!!
Thank you - your modesty honours you but you have a lot of experience in tweaking your workshop to your needs, you are a successful professional person who knows a thing or three about stuff - sharing that is no different from sharing your work on a steam engine: some people will know ‘better’, some people will learn with interest and the rest will enjoy time spent with you! I am in the second group - I have a lovely small but functional workshop that, for now, only exists in my head 😂 The up-side down batteries and the vertical tool-sorters in the drawers I have introduced in my workshop right away! Thanks for sharing, as always!
I love the way your shop is set up! It’s so clean and orderly, fantastic. Some day I hope to have the space for a workshop again. Also I appreciate your cat meow indicator 😸
Your shop is awesome and suits your needs. FYI to all, for anything bigger than hobby projects look for a Rockwell Mill from the 60's it is 2/3 the size of Bridgeport and runs on 120/240. I also found a Clausing 10" lathe circa 1950, does it all and can cut threads. Both slightly larger the these machines but well made and repairable. Save and restore the old machines is a great way to go.
Wow 🥳 So ‘neatsville’ . Quinn, your shop looks super organised…AND super clean. Looks also like a very safe environment as well. I liked the ‘under-shelf’ idea for your battery chargers and batteries. I’ve sell battery drills stored like that… but not the batteries GREAT idea. Congrats on getting it all together so we’ll. Regards Robert (Australia)
I run a small job shop; most of my time is spent converting people tooth brushes into cat toothbrushes. I watched your shop tour with obvious delight because I promptly steal all your ideas because you must have a better thinker than me. Anyway, I want to say you done good once again as is the tradition. Like the cat who ate cheese and sat by the mouse hole with baited breath, we be anxious to see what you make next. Best wishes for you and your new shop. 🥸👍👀✅
I think I saw one tucked beside your shop crane but I use a regular floor jack all the time. I use it to move everything around my shop. Helps levelling too
My floor jack is also a half way decent infeed or outfeed table for the horizontal band saw. The height adjustment the jack brings is convenient when dealing with the multiple planes of sloped garage floor and longer sections of stock. Wonder if Quin uses it that way, or if it is just coincidentally nearby?
I totally enjoy your videos Quinn, much better than most mindless TV shows. I'm old and so are my tools, 1946 820 10"Logan, 1952 Benchmaster Mill and my shop looked like yours 45 years ago. 45 years of adding more tools I needed as my skill got better you would say my shop is a mess. Yet I manage knowing where everything is. As my long passed lady said what I needed "a 6 car garage with an apartment over it" Keep up the good work.
What a great and clean workshop you created. That is really an inspiration to me. I love al your RUclips videos, especially about working with a lathe which I recently started to learn to work with.
Ditto on the lights. I have so many toolboxes that what helps is they’re of different colors. Reds, white, blues, green, orange, yellows. It’s a regular kaleidoscope of colors. Helps this old guy.
Wow- This is very close to the set up I've been toying with in my head for my own workshop... Your execution is MUCH better than what I've come up with thus far. Thanks for this vid!
Great tour, thank you very much. Love the idea of putting the charging station under the cabinet, brilliant! Heading out to the shop to install charging station under cabinet.
2:40 Well, if this YT machinist gig doesn't work out, you could always be a prize presenter on a game show! Hi Sprocket. Edit: can you do a vid on how you mounted the bandsaw? I just bought an older Japanese portable bandsaw.
HiYa Quinn, Im so glad that you shared with us your shop layout tour. I will admit as the father of 3 adult girls now, the amount of time they spent growing up watching & helping me fabricate & machine items for our large farming operation in Australia that ONLY a woman can inject the correct amount of space & a loving look into the place that you undoublably spend a great portion of yout time.
That is an incredible number of years of putting together a little shop. I'm in the midst of sorting out my mess. Some good ideas in your little shop tour.
You should consider getting some welding curtains to help contain the welding and grinding garbage to it's area. I picked some up a long time ago to keep people from getting arc flashed if they came into the shop while I'm welding and don't have enough sense to not look at the pretty blue lights, but the vinyl ones hold up surprisingly well to grinding sparks too, as long as you're not right up against them
Great shop tour, My partner Tanya remarked on your awesome pink tool box, and added if you're happy with your machines that's all that matters and everyone else can mind their own business.
I just finished insulating and dry walling what used to be a calf shed that housed my 106 year old model A Monarch lathe with an overhead flat belt drive. I moved my mill which had lived at my brothers shop down the road and installed a ductless heat pump. I'm near ready to have things up and running soon. The idea of having things together in one inviting place will be wonderful. Seeing your space is an inspiration. I still have the problem of wood working tools in the basement, automotive tools in the garage, and machinist stuff in the calf shed. I have found the need to have duplicates of various tools such as adjustable wrenches, screw drivers, and a basic set of combo wrenches in each location to avoid the three location search for the tool that is never in the place you are working. It used to be four locations before moved the mill that was a half a mile away. Really enjoy your channel. David Vik
Welcome back to Canada! You’ve resparked my love for machining in the last year and have helped immensely become better on the lathe and hopefully on my new mill!
I owned a shop where I designed and built custom machinery. When I thought I was ready to retire, I sold the shop and moved to Upstate NY. It took me about 3 months to become screaming bored, and there was this building ( a tin wall and slant tin roof, dirt floor and the front wall was opened to the outside ) 200 feet behind the house. The structure measured 12x26 feet. The first thing I did was to put down Visqueen sheet vapor barrier then framed out the floor with pressure treated 2x8s. Then I hit the auctions for my machines, I needed to do this first to know how big to pour concrete pads for the bigger machines I wanted. I made two sets of double doors to cover 10 foot spans. That left room for framing out a walk-in door in the center. this way there was nothing in the way of getting anything in or out of the shop. My first machine was a 14.5x 6 foot South Bend lathe that had been dropped from a lift gate, and had all of the handles bent or broken. It took me 6 months to fix, but I was cutting threads with it when it was finished. That machine cost me $300.00. The next two machines were an Enco mill and a Clausing 9x36 inch lathe. While the auctioneer and I were putting the Clausing in the truck we heard something very heavy hit the floor. His fork lift operator had run into the Enco and knocked it over and breaking the quill stop. I had never intended to buy anything but the lathe, but they offered the mill for next to nothing. I only had room on the truck for the lathe so I told them I needed to go home and drop off the lathe and get the money for the mill. They told me they were leaving in 2 hours so hurry. By the time I got back ( A bus flipped on the interstate ) it took me 3 hrs to get back. When I got back they were gone, but the mill and a shop crane were by the door with a note " Enjoy the mill. Just put the crane in the ally and lock it up with the chain back there.
I like the upside down battery chargers; clever. I have one on the wall but the telltale light was obscured. A hotmelted 25 cent-sized first-surface mirror was the fix. Thank you for the inspiring, artfully narrated shop tour. Best ever, period.
I'm super excited my Lathe and Mill should be delivered today!! Thanks to your videos knowing what ever my question may be you will have an answer that I can understand.
Quinn, I am so, so , so jealous... but in a good way!! So much space! So much light! So little dust from nearby woodworking tools! 🙂 It would be a dream to work in a shop like yours. Thanks for the great tour, and sharing your ideas.
Great video! I do appreciate a tidy shop and I like the little touches like the ironically pink drawers and the "stabby bits" sign. I really like your metal wall cabinets with the chargers underneath too!
Thank you Quinn, this is the video i was waiting, it gives many ideas for the instalation of mine, you win many comfort and space with the new shop congratulations!
I worked as an aircraft mechanic and worked in numerous hanger's over the years, lighting was important. Lighting was measured in Kilowatt's, thousands of them. In the last place I worked we had 6 rows with 8 1000 watt lamps each and that was only adequate if all lamps were on. The manager found funds to paint the walls white and that made a huge difference. After that, 2 of the 6 rows would give more illumination than all 6 could provide before painting the walls. White in a dirty, dusty environment isn't the best choice, it should be the only choice, invest the savings in cleaning.
I agree, music is nice for mundane tasks. I have two JBL Eon15 G2 powered speakers (800 watts) and two JBL Eon Sub G2 powered subs (500 watts) in my garage shop. That amount of power is certainly not needed for a home shop, but having all the "headroom" really makes for very clean sound at reasonable listening levels. I also use an old phone to stream music. That system gets turned on every day and is on every second I am in that space. The music system is by far the most used piece of equipment my my shop. Makes time go much faster. I wish my space was as organized as yours. Very nice setup you have. Looks very easy to navigate while busily moving about. Good job!
Very nice Quinn, you are more organized than I. I totally agree with sorting out nuts, bolts and hardware. I did the same (on a shelf) a few years ago, it took quite a bit of time, but now I can find things quick and easy. It's wirth it, again your shop looks good
Great video - small shop but perfect for your needs. Really good set up. Some things I would add are a small parts cleaner, a burning torch and some type of fume extraction instead of just opening up a door, and chairs. Where do you store your hazardous materials such as spray cans etc.? I worked in heavy steel and aluminum industry for 40 years and helped set up and or modify multiple work shops and work areas, the employees always liked Vidmar cabinets for parts and tool storage. If we were going to add then they always said they wanted Vidmar cabinets???? Vidmar cabinets are a little pricey but last forever and if the employees love them - well you got to support your people cuz they will support you if you support them so we always got them pretty much what they wanted.
I hope you do these occasionally as things change. These are one of my favorite video types, especially as I’m planning my shop build right now What really helps is your explanations on things. The kitchen triangle is genius. Love the channel!
This is an awesome setup and very inspiring. I can't agree with you more about the lighting - replaced my florescent lighting some years ago with LED tubes and it is a joy to be in the shop now.
Thanks for sharing! I have a tip for shopowners with kids, i’ve placed 2 big circuit breakers know as ‘maintenance switch’ 1 for my 230VAC circuit and 1 for my 400VAC circuit. With a flick of the switch I unpower all of the wall sockets (and machines) I can even lock them with a padlock. Very handy and safe against curious kids!
Nice layout! I noticed your bench grinder isn't connected to a vacuum. I suggest installing a port in each guard. Then a few pieces of pvc pipe ending with a rubber connector. This makes for a quick detachable connection for your vacuum, and a lot less invisible grinding powder in the air. Don't forget to close the area from the tool rest to the guard below.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey everyone! A few quick answers to common questions:
The black rail over the bench is a camera dolly track. I don’t actually use it at the moment. It was an idea that didn’t work out but it’s 16’ long so it’s staying there for now.
Yes, I plan to move the fire extinguisher. Its location made sense at the time but I’ve moved stuff around a lot since.
The Portaband is mounted with a prototype bracket that the company who makes it has not given me permission to talk about yet, sorry. It is not yet available for sale.
More than one fire extinguisher isn't a bad idea either.
@@Warped65er And multiple smoke detectors. The standard ionizing detector doesn't go off over half the time. Try an optical detector, and/or a thermal spring-loaded alarm (no power required). A New Years Eve house fire next door left a lasting impression. A little expense for prevention, yada yada...
great shop layout. off topic but I have that same car "drip tarp", very useful.
The upside down mounts for battery chargers and mounts are such a great call. Thanks for the example.
I do hope to see the dbit grinder get some camera time soon. It seems to have been a while.
Hey I have one of the tri sheet metal machine. Hint add another crank handle the other end much easier to use with equal pressures.
7:34 The look of “THAT’S GENIUS!!!” I shared with my husband when you showed the vertical hand tool dividers 🤯😍. He’s excitedly firing up Fusion360 to design some now!!!
battery chargers UNDER the cabinets... brilliant! great shop, hoping to have one like that one day, even half as nice as yours. good stuff
Such a well thought out layout. I agree, the ability to prevent visual clutter is so good for the mind. In 50 years of trying I sadly haven’t achieved a clutter free workshop. 😢
find a man with a clean desk, sack him now.. clean just meens an empty mind,
@@garryharrington8255 There is though a distinction between a “clean / clear” desk and a “cluttered” desk.
It is so difficult, isn't it?! I just try to opt for safe, if not spotless. I do dream of a lab quality workspace. Maybe someday! 😊
@@garryharrington8255 I am not sure what you "meen".
@@jlucasound Safety must always be paramount. I don’t think I would ever achieve clinical spotlessness. All I crave is to be free from visual clutter. 👍😀
I agree about the hoist. As a young'un I tinkered with custom cars, and I bought an engine hoist rather than renting one for a job I was doing, because I wasn't sure how long I'd need it, planing to sell it when the job was done. It proved so useful that I had it for years, it was surprising how many uses I found for it. And it never worth risking your health by lifting things too heavy - it can take mere seconds to do damage that will trouble you for the rest of your life.
At my last job we needed a way to get a 20kg heating element out of a machine without bending forward. I modified an engine hoist by shortening the front legs and adding a lot of counterweight. If you find yourself using it a lot, put some nice castor wheels on it, the factory ones are complete pants. And, as someone with a lifetime injury, I would add don't one-hand battery drills. I had one catch and tear cartilage in my wrist before I could let go of the trigger. Seven years and two surgeries later, my wrist still bothers me!
My solution is a set of forks on the tractor front end loader. We live on a small farmette and it was 5 years before I finally broke down and bought a tractor. Since then is has become my only engine hoist/machine mover.
I'm with you! Similar to @IanSlothieRolfe 's comment about buying and selling when the job was done, I bought a skidloader when I was building my shop and figured I'd sell it when I was done with the construction. Like Ian says, it proved itself so useful that I still have it 25+ years later!
Quinn, your 2.0 shop looks great. This was by far the best shop tour video I’ve seen! The overview images were fantastic, and you clearly explained WHY you made these layout choices.
Bravo!👏
My shop electrical tip:
Use two 20 amp circuits for outlets on a wall. alternate from one circuit to another every 32 inches. So circuit A at 0", 64", 128" etc, & circuit B at 32", 96", 160" etc. I used white outlets & plates for one circuit & ivory for the other.
That's pretty much what I did. I've got four 20 amp circuits just for the wall mounted outlets. No two outlets next to each other are on the same circuit, but mine are at 24" intervals because that is what the stud spacing is.
@@smallbyrdz3823 I actually put the lights on a seperate circuit for lights only.
When I worked as an electricians helper during college we always wired kitchens and dining rooms with 3 conductor cable and the upper and lower duplex outlets split. The coffee machine and toaster could share an outlet without problems. Now the requirements for GFI prevent this but it was a great arrangement.
I did the same in my shop - alternating circuits for the outlets and separate circuits for lighting. That way if I happen to trip a breaker I'm not left in the dark and I still have power to finish the task before having to go to the panel.
The new shop is looking great Quinn! Lot's of good helpful tips on layout and organization.
Thanks Adam! It’s been a long time coming, but I know you know all about that! 😄
Must be the time of year - Colin Furze just did a workshop video, and Jeremy Fielding says there's one coming! As someone who is so disorganised in his own space, I'm watching and listening... but will I act? Probably not! Wonderful content as always - not sure why you didn't set the "kitchen triangle" scene to waltz music, but we can't have everything! 😂😂👍👏👏👏
It's Saturday after Thanksgiving, so many of us are probably watching this instead of doing the organizing ourselves... I've actually been doing some cleaning, but I'm losing steam...
And mr Carlsons Lab too, whose next I wonder?
@@grilnam9945 lol! I just watched Mr. Carlson's one - having said that, that's been going on for months now!
@@Tibyon no Thanksgiving here - I'm in Ireland! 🇮🇪👍
...none in Blondihacks' Canada either*! 👍
Such a good video. Was sponsorsed by some bada$$es
Here's for treats for Sprocket, who apparently would like your attention 🥰 Could I ask where you got those LED fixtures? I need something like that for my little basement shop for all the good reasons you mentioned.
Mine are specifically the Lithonia dual-strip LEDs that Home Depot sells. They are cheap but surprisingly good. 5600k colour temp. You can’t get the 8 footers on Amazon because they’re too long for UPS to ship.
@@Blondihacks Ok right on, I'm close enough to one to go have a look easily enough. You never know, you might actually see a video out of me if I'm not careful 😅
Quinn, I just want to say that your habit of providing a small "you are here" or "this is what I'm talking about" picture in the corner of the video really helps. It's especially valuable in your machining videos, of course. I wish more creators did this. Thank you.
Yay!! It's Blondihacks time!!!
I like the use of cutting down cardboard boxes for dividers and organizerz.....simple and perfect...thanks for the idea
I enjoy darkroom tours by photographers, and many of the same basic workshop layout principles apply. We need a wet and a dry side, light, music, storage, and thinking space. In fact, I keep looking at mills as the machine tool equivalent of enlargers.
I really like how clean your workshop is. Such a pleasant difference to many others who look like 18th century ones. Dark and greasy :)))
Good setup. Excellent lighting is the most important tool in the shop.
Agree, and make it daylight (5000K) color temperature.
I'm not saying I let out an audible gasp when I saw your immaculate drawer of nuts, bolts, etc., but... it was the drawer of my dreams.
I should also probably get out more... :)
When a local hardware store went out of business, I picked up their Midwest Fasteners hardware units at the auction!
It's nice to see what a nice clean well-organized shop looks like. Mine is as packed full and organized as a land fill, but I'm thankful to have the thinks that I do. I am having to mount thinks on the walls, as I have to make do with the space that I have. Stay awesome.
Congrats on the new shop but what I really mean is I’m glad you’re done with moving all that shop equipment. It’s such a pain in so many ways.
I'm so happy to have found your channel. I had a friend how introduced me to hobby machining and just as I got interested and started looking into it, he sadly passed. I had been hoping that he could teach me the ropes but that can't happen anymore. I love your videos oriented towards familiarizing beginners with shop tools and your tutorials. Thank you for making these videos and I hope the new shop works well. Congrats on the move!
Very nice! Lots of light, low clutter, clean and lots of shallow drawers - that's the goal for my shop. It is so nice to walk into a clean, well lit and organized workspace to start a project. Something that I have not experienced for quite some time now.
I love, love, love seeing a neat and well organized shop. Few things are more satisfying than having everything in it's place. You've done a fine job and if that software engineering thing doesn't work out I'm confident you could pick up a few bucks helping other people organize their shops.
Thinking bench... I love it both as a concept and layout wise. It's perfect.
I love the appearance of Sprocket! Thanks Quinn
Worth the tour, now back to cleaning up and organizing mine.
Quinn, this video is chock full of good tips, tricks and reasons for why you have your shop laid out the way you do. Excellent work!
I want to give a professional opinion: as an IBEW wireman that has worked in the electrical industry for almost 18 years, I've seen firsthand just how much of a difference light can bring to a space. (It's such an obvious and simple thing it is often overlooked.) I can't stress this enough: EVERY area humans occupy will be improved by well thought-out lighting; I've seen the difference in structures ranging from homes to data centers. The lighting system you've constructed is exactly what electricians and architects try to do: design a simple and elegant way to get light where it matters most. Two thumbs up! 👍👍
Have been watching your videos for a while now, and enjoying them greatly. Gave most of my woodworking equipment to my friend Peter, who has a large, bright shop in his basement. We’re near Toronto. He already had a metal lathe and lots of stuff. Recently, he acquired an EXCELLO mill. Helped him get it off the pallet onto to garage floor for cleaning, dismantling, and relocation to basement. Since we are both 75+, we are mindful of safety.
Never used a mill or lathe, but find the ancillary equipment interesting as well. I’m the Electrical and Peter the Mechanical guy. We have a mutual friend out on Vancouver Island, Mechanical too.
I think we have a fairly good mindset for these things.
Hope you enjoy Canada.
Thanks for the tour Quinn. That looks very well laid out, and oh so neat and tidy. The ergonomic triangle looks just right, and everything important seems to be within reach, and not too high or low. I would however, make one suggestion or addition, and that would be a curtain on a rail to close off the "dirty" area when needed. Grinding dust and hot work fall out seems to find a way of getting everywhere in my experience. My shop is an absolute mess, so call it an aspirational suggestion from my point of view. I think the only thing I know for certain where it is, is the rubbish bin (trash can).
Very nice. I'm sure you'll enjoy, especially the canadian spring and summer when the weather is mild. I have a 20x30 free-standing shop with 12 foot roll up doors soon both ends. Springtime in the Texas Hill Country is wonderful, and definitely shop therapy. Good luck, enjoy, and keep em coming.
3:03 ''what are you doing with your life'' LOL thank you for sharing. Your videos certainly give lots of self confidence!
I have struggled in my shop with some advice from Adam Savage on his tested channel. He always emphasizes first order retrievability which is a concept I love. The problem comes from the impracticality of doing so in a machine shop. Try as I might it doesn’t really work. So much of the tooling needs to live in drawers to keep them out of open air. First order retrievability is a much more of a fabrication or wood worker arrangement. I really dig what you have done with your shop. Style points bursting right out out the front door. I know years ago that you mention inspiration from Adam Savage’ first order retrievability too. It seems vary fitting as I watch his channel, as he gets into more and more precision work, he moves to a system much more in line with yours. Shared conclusions are great.
shower curtain across the dirty side helps keep the shmoo off the clean bits and just fold away
I desperately need you to come over and help me organize my shop. :) I'm still working in the hollowed-out carcass of a former woodworking shop, and there are lots of things that used to be optimized for handling sheet goods, but are now just in the way.
Your shop looks great on camera though! Sneaky framing? 😁
This is awesome! When I retire and move, your video gives a bunch of great ideas for setting up a home machine shop. Thank you so much for sharing and giving us the video tour. Very helpful!!!
Thank you - your modesty honours you but you have a lot of experience in tweaking your workshop to your needs, you are a successful professional person who knows a thing or three about stuff - sharing that is no different from sharing your work on a steam engine: some people will know ‘better’, some people will learn with interest and the rest will enjoy time spent with you!
I am in the second group - I have a lovely small but functional workshop that, for now, only exists in my head 😂
The up-side down batteries and the vertical tool-sorters in the drawers I have introduced in my workshop right away!
Thanks for sharing, as always!
I love the way your shop is set up! It’s so clean and orderly, fantastic. Some day I hope to have the space for a workshop again.
Also I appreciate your cat meow indicator 😸
My gosh that is the cleanist most organized home shop I have ever seen, well done!
Great layout and use of the space. Couldn't agree more about the lighting and how important it is.
I second all the nice comments. I used to use strings etc to hold chuck keys, then settled on strong magnets. The strong ‘clunk’ is a nice plus.
Your shop is awesome and suits your needs. FYI to all, for anything bigger than hobby projects look for a Rockwell Mill from the 60's it is 2/3 the size of Bridgeport and runs on 120/240. I also found a Clausing 10" lathe circa 1950, does it all and can cut threads. Both slightly larger the these machines but well made and repairable. Save and restore the old machines is a great way to go.
I love the flight safety pantomime style demo of the triangle 😜
Great setup Quinn. I 100% agree: you can NEVER have too much light in a shop!
A lot of great ideas. Thanks, Quinn.
Welcome to Canada, looks like snow outside your window. LOL I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate your presentations. , keep it up.
AH! A place for everything and everything in its place! Absolutely wonderful layout.👍
Wow 🥳
So ‘neatsville’ . Quinn, your shop looks super organised…AND super clean.
Looks also like a very safe environment as well.
I liked the ‘under-shelf’ idea for your battery chargers and batteries. I’ve sell battery drills stored like that… but not the batteries
GREAT idea.
Congrats on getting it all together so we’ll.
Regards
Robert
(Australia)
I run a small job shop; most of my time is spent converting people tooth brushes into cat toothbrushes. I watched your shop tour with obvious delight because I promptly steal all your ideas because you must have a better thinker than me. Anyway, I want to say you done good once again as is the tradition. Like the cat who ate cheese and sat by the mouse hole with baited breath, we be anxious to see what you make next. Best wishes for you and your new shop. 🥸👍👀✅
I think I saw one tucked beside your shop crane but I use a regular floor jack all the time. I use it to move everything around my shop. Helps levelling too
My floor jack is also a half way decent infeed or outfeed table for the horizontal band saw. The height adjustment the jack brings is convenient when dealing with the multiple planes of sloped garage floor and longer sections of stock. Wonder if Quin uses it that way, or if it is just coincidentally nearby?
Neat idea for the battery charger
I totally enjoy your videos Quinn, much better than most mindless TV shows. I'm old and so are my tools, 1946 820 10"Logan, 1952 Benchmaster Mill and my shop looked like yours 45 years ago. 45 years of adding more tools I needed as my skill got better you would say my shop is a mess. Yet I manage knowing where everything is. As my long passed lady said what I needed "a 6 car garage with an apartment over it"
Keep up the good work.
A fantastic setup.
Great looking shop , love it
What a great and clean workshop you created. That is really an inspiration to me. I love al your RUclips videos, especially about working with a lathe which I recently started to learn to work with.
“Dirty end of the shop” is the garage door…BRILLIANT! Thanks. I’ll use this
You are one smart lady, Quinn. Your ideas on small shop organization have given me some of my own because a small shop is just what I have.
Ditto on the lights. I have so many toolboxes that what helps is they’re of different colors. Reds, white, blues, green, orange, yellows. It’s a regular kaleidoscope of colors. Helps this old guy.
I dig your cardboard/hot glue idea on the drawers. So simple. I should have thought of that!
Wow- This is very close to the set up I've been toying with in my head for my own workshop... Your execution is MUCH better than what I've come up with thus far. Thanks for this vid!
Great looking shop! Congrats and welcome to Canada🇨🇦
Thanks for the wonderful idea of hanging the tool battery chargers upside down! I would never have thought of it! I'll hang mine tomorrow.
Great tour, thank you very much. Love the idea of putting the charging station under the cabinet, brilliant! Heading out to the shop to install charging station under cabinet.
2:40 Well, if this YT machinist gig doesn't work out, you could always be a prize presenter on a game show! Hi Sprocket. Edit: can you do a vid on how you mounted the bandsaw? I just bought an older Japanese portable bandsaw.
"I'd like to buy a vowel, Quinn."
HiYa Quinn, Im so glad that you shared with us your shop layout tour. I will admit as the father of 3 adult girls now, the amount of time they spent growing up watching & helping me fabricate & machine items for our large farming operation in Australia that ONLY a woman can inject the correct amount of space & a loving look into the place that you undoublably spend a great portion of yout time.
Awesome shop tour, it’s nice to see a clean metal shop. Show’s ownership!😊
That is an incredible number of years of putting together a little shop. I'm in the midst of sorting out my mess. Some good ideas in your little shop tour.
Quite an explanatory video. I sure like the way you laid it out and why and lighting is to die for heheh.
I look forward to more.
You should consider getting some welding curtains to help contain the welding and grinding garbage to it's area. I picked some up a long time ago to keep people from getting arc flashed if they came into the shop while I'm welding and don't have enough sense to not look at the pretty blue lights, but the vinyl ones hold up surprisingly well to grinding sparks too, as long as you're not right up against them
Great shop tour, My partner Tanya remarked on your awesome pink tool box, and added if you're happy with your machines that's all that matters and everyone else can mind their own business.
I just finished insulating and dry walling what used to be a calf shed that housed my 106 year old model A Monarch lathe with an overhead flat belt drive. I moved my mill which had lived at my brothers shop down the road and installed a ductless heat pump. I'm near ready to have things up and running soon. The idea of having things together in one inviting place will be wonderful. Seeing your space is an inspiration. I still have the problem of wood working tools in the basement, automotive tools in the garage, and machinist stuff in the calf shed. I have found the need to have duplicates of various tools such as adjustable wrenches, screw drivers, and a basic set of combo wrenches in each location to avoid the three location search for the tool that is never in the place you are working. It used to be four locations before moved the mill that was a half a mile away.
Really enjoy your channel.
David Vik
Welcome back to Canada! You’ve resparked my love for machining in the last year and have helped immensely become better on the lathe and hopefully on my new mill!
I owned a shop where I designed and built custom machinery. When I thought I was ready to retire, I sold the shop and moved to Upstate NY. It took me about 3 months to become screaming bored, and there was this building ( a tin wall and slant tin roof, dirt floor and the front wall was opened to the outside ) 200 feet behind the house. The structure measured 12x26 feet. The first thing I did was to put down Visqueen sheet vapor barrier then framed out the floor with pressure treated 2x8s. Then I hit the auctions for my machines, I needed to do this first to know how big to pour concrete pads for the bigger machines I wanted. I made two sets of double doors to cover 10 foot spans. That left room for framing out a walk-in door in the center. this way there was nothing in the way of getting anything in or out of the shop. My first machine was a 14.5x 6 foot South Bend lathe that had been dropped from a lift gate, and had all of the handles bent or broken. It took me 6 months to fix, but I was cutting threads with it when it was finished. That machine cost me $300.00. The next two machines were an Enco mill and a Clausing 9x36 inch lathe. While the auctioneer and I were putting the Clausing in the truck we heard something very heavy hit the floor. His fork lift operator had run into the Enco and knocked it over and breaking the quill stop. I had never intended to buy anything but the lathe, but they offered the mill for next to nothing. I only had room on the truck for the lathe so I told them I needed to go home and drop off the lathe and get the money for the mill. They told me they were leaving in 2 hours so hurry. By the time I got back ( A bus flipped on the interstate ) it took me 3 hrs to get back. When I got back they were gone, but the mill and a shop crane were by the door with a note " Enjoy the mill. Just put the crane in the ally and lock it up with the chain back there.
Yea. I don't know who you are but man that's a good one.
Looks awesome, the lighting is fantastic makes a huge difference as does all the storage space thanks so much for sharing
I like the upside down battery chargers; clever. I have one on the wall but the telltale light was obscured. A hotmelted 25 cent-sized first-surface mirror was the fix.
Thank you for the inspiring, artfully narrated shop tour. Best ever, period.
A rare look behind the scenes. I really like the lights.
Thank you so much for sharing your shop layout with us. Your efficient use of a small space has inspired me to set up my shop in a similar manner.
Nice job setting up your shop. You put alot of thought into it and it shows.
Thank You for the tour!
I'm super excited my Lathe and Mill should be delivered today!! Thanks to your videos knowing what ever my question may be you will have an answer that I can understand.
Quinn, I am so, so , so jealous... but in a good way!! So much space! So much light! So little dust from nearby woodworking tools! 🙂 It would be a dream to work in a shop like yours. Thanks for the great tour, and sharing your ideas.
Great to know that my little patreonage contributes to such a neat and pleasant work environment. 🙂👍🏻
Thank you for the support 🙏😊
Very nice shop. I agree with you that you can't have too much light.
Well thought out plan. I agree with the cleanliness and lighting approach you described. Thanks for sharing.
love the labels on the pink toolbox!
Great video! I do appreciate a tidy shop and I like the little touches like the ironically pink drawers and the "stabby bits" sign. I really like your metal wall cabinets with the chargers underneath too!
Thank you Quinn, this is the video i was waiting, it gives many ideas for the instalation of mine, you win many comfort and space with the new shop congratulations!
Hello Quinn,
An interesting shop tour, I agree about the need for good light.
Take care
Paul,,
welcome to Canada 🙂thanks for the great tour. i definitely see some points for my own workspace 🤔
Excellent! Much needed for those who haven’t seen how good it could be, Thanks this is encouraging and simple and a Requirement!
I've always felt that painting the walls of the shop white is as important as installing tons o' lights.
I worked as an aircraft mechanic and worked in numerous hanger's over the years, lighting was important. Lighting was measured in Kilowatt's, thousands of them. In the last place I worked we had 6 rows with 8 1000 watt lamps each and that was only adequate if all lamps were on. The manager found funds to paint the walls white and that made a huge difference. After that, 2 of the 6 rows would give more illumination than all 6 could provide before painting the walls. White in a dirty, dusty environment isn't the best choice, it should be the only choice, invest the savings in cleaning.
I agree, music is nice for mundane tasks. I have two JBL Eon15 G2 powered speakers (800 watts) and two JBL Eon Sub G2 powered subs (500 watts) in my garage shop. That amount of power is certainly not needed for a home shop, but having all the "headroom" really makes for very clean sound at reasonable listening levels. I also use an old phone to stream music. That system gets turned on every day and is on every second I am in that space. The music system is by far the most used piece of equipment my my shop. Makes time go much faster. I wish my space was as organized as yours. Very nice setup you have. Looks very easy to navigate while busily moving about. Good job!
Nice clean, efficient shop thanks for sharing this insight Quinn
My god, love it so much 💖 Congratulations and so happy for you!
Very nice Quinn, you are more organized than I. I totally agree with sorting out nuts, bolts and hardware. I did the same (on a shelf) a few years ago, it took quite a bit of time, but now I can find things quick and easy. It's wirth it, again your shop looks good
Great video - small shop but perfect for your needs. Really good set up. Some things I would add are a small parts cleaner, a burning torch and some type of fume extraction instead of just opening up a door, and chairs. Where do you store your hazardous materials such as spray cans etc.? I worked in heavy steel and aluminum industry for 40 years and helped set up and or modify multiple work shops and work areas, the employees always liked Vidmar cabinets for parts and tool storage. If we were going to add then they always said they wanted Vidmar cabinets???? Vidmar cabinets are a little pricey but last forever and if the employees love them - well you got to support your people cuz they will support you if you support them so we always got them pretty much what they wanted.
I hope you do these occasionally as things change. These are one of my favorite video types, especially as I’m planning my shop build right now What really helps is your explanations on things. The kitchen triangle is genius. Love the channel!
Love the feet to cubits conversion, some of us are really really old school. Thanks!
This is an awesome setup and very inspiring. I can't agree with you more about the lighting - replaced my florescent lighting some years ago with LED tubes and it is a joy to be in the shop now.
Thanks for sharing!
I have a tip for shopowners with kids, i’ve placed 2 big circuit breakers know as ‘maintenance switch’ 1 for my 230VAC circuit and 1 for my 400VAC circuit.
With a flick of the switch I unpower all of the wall sockets (and machines)
I can even lock them with a padlock. Very handy and safe against curious kids!
Nice setup in your new place. I'll be looking forward to seeing projects in your new shop.
Nice layout! I noticed your bench grinder isn't connected to a vacuum. I suggest installing a port in each guard. Then a few pieces of pvc pipe ending with a rubber connector. This makes for a quick detachable connection for your vacuum, and a lot less invisible grinding powder in the air. Don't forget to close the area from the tool rest to the guard below.
Totally agree on the lights. I continue to put more lights on my shop . If I find a stray light strip out in the wild, it goes up lolol