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.
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!).
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.
I used to have a sad little lightbulb on my automatic, garage door opener, and a, no kidding, motion sensitive nightlight in my garage. I upgraded those to shop lights this summer, at which point I noticed the sheet rock had never been taped or painted. And then I decided as long as I was doing that, I should probably put in some windows, replace the shelving, and upgrade my workbenches. I’m telling you, the lighting is a slippery slope.
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
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.
@@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! RUclipsrs 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.
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.
One thing that has helped me a lot is to alternate between "productive" projects and organizational ones. So one day I will be building thread racks for my wife's quilting machine, the next I will be adding drawers to the weird space under the spindle sander. This helps me stay focused on organization but not so much it overwhelms or drives me nuts. I just pick one thing to do next. It also help prioritize my scrap, because I can plan to use the remnants of one project in the next and consume them instead of storing them for all time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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...)
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.
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
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.
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 RUclipsrs' 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!
Helpful, well thought out and very informative video as always! I will never understand people who comment without watching the whole thing. Straightforward and to the point. Thank you for sharing!
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.
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 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
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.
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.
Everything you say is spot on.......but applying it, now that's a different story. I've got 3 sheds all bigger than yours, all messy, I know where most stuff is, but no one else does and that suits me just fine. Cheers
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🇦🇺
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.
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 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!!
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.
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
You nailed it. With working full time, when I get a chance to work in my shop I always have a list of things to make and never seen to take the time to make the organization stuff but then gripe because it slows me down so much that I’m disorganized! Arghhhhhh.
I answered a question on FB one time about laying out your shop using graph paper, and cutouts. Wow, did I get slammed by a number of people. And luckily some people posted it worked great for them.
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!!
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.
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
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.
Having had TWO cordless brad nailers, neither of which had enough power; both of which broke within a month and had to be sent back, I HIGHLY recommend against them. I went and got a compressor. Aaaahhhhh! So much better. As you would know there are some pretty sweet, small compressors. Mine is a Makita 1000. Also very quiet.
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!
Great tips! At a certain point I was just watching to vindicate my "overtidying" habits. Also lol at the air sander in storage- I grabbed a cheap used one once not realizing what an insanely large compressor was needed to run it.
Helpful stuff. One of my uncles fixed glass jam jar lids to underside of his shelves with 2 screws, then could attach jar and contents easy to see what was in each (mostly different size nails, screws, nuts bolts) and unscrew them to use them. Made good use of top of under-shelf.
My dad did that in our garage/shop 60 years ago! Pint Jam/jelly jars and quart peanut butter/fruit jars. I'd guess close to 60 jars at eye level over a 12' long workbench. You could see what was in each jar to pick what you needed and all it cost was for the wood screws to hang the lids. They were still there 2 years ago when my sister died and I had to clear out and sell the house.
@@garrettswoodworx1873 must have been a thing, this was back in late 60’s early 70’s he was an engineering toolmaker by trade, his garage workshop was immaculate.
Thanks for this. I'm currently in the process of designing an 8x12 shed to use as a small woodshop. This video provided some great tips to help with that. I never thought of have no miter saw but I may be convinced to leave it out as its pretty large.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I love that i'm in the , somewhat, middle of the road, here. On the way is my 6 metre X 12 metre (20' X 40', in freedom units) shed. It's just for play and will NEVER see a serious job....like fixing a car. Not so big that it's going to be a pain to go from one end to the other, but big enough to give me the space to not be too worried about space saving.
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.
regarding lighting, I have seen recommendations for having 150ish lumens power square foot of space in a shop. a 60 watt incendesant or equivalent gives off around 600. I recommend getting hanging shop led lights. easy to install pretty cheap and pump out a lot of light. if you setup light switch outlets for them then if they were too cheap and went bad you could then replacement them easily
i've been using the ryboi finish nailer for years its been great, no compressor to scare the customer or lug around and no hose to make things fall or trip over
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.
I put the focus on "outside". I have two grinders which I set up outside of the garage door. Compressor has done well in the attic. If I could keep a miter box outside I would. The key is appearance, because keeping tools safe from rain is actually easy. tHanks for the video
I run a commercial business and have for decades now running out of a small shop and a commercial storefront, the shop is only 15’x25’ and has an overhead door with an attached 10’x20’ covered area. I have a material cart on casters which can be moved around or out and can store sheet goods, lumber, and a ladder; being able to move this 4’x8’ cart around and outside allows larger jobs to be accomplished inside. I also have my drill press on a cabinet on casters that allows storage of sanders and paper as well as sortimo cases on the other side. Between the table saw with router table which is also on wheels and a chopsaw with wheeled stand I can move things around as needed. I have a bench and operating counter along both long walls with a storage wall opposite the overhead door with every wall having pegboard, I’m old school that way, with lights at 7’ and shelving above that for longer term storage; I also have storage on my rafter decking which accounts for another 180+ sq.ft. I have used this space to build cabinets and custom inserts for existing spaces as well as large furniture. I like having all tools, regularly used, at arms reach, with second order items below the counter, and third order items above the lights or in the rafter space. While most of my work is out of a custom built trailer in the field there I still do quite a bit in the shop. I must agree an annual cleanse is a good idea as one of the tradesman I came up learning from is so attached to things he hasn’t used in decades some of which don’t even still work, like old battery tools, 9.6 volt Makita, 14.4 volt DeWalt. If you have a small shop you have to be efficient and can’t afford hold onto fever. I’ve been doing this for more than 3 decades now and have learned, hard lessons sometimes, to not simply store everything because “you may need it”; I keep what I regularly use and frankly will buy one offs as I need them rather than take up what space I have storing things. Also working out of a trailer you become quite adept at knowing what you need as you have to fit everything into a 7.5’x16’ package while still allowing some work to be done inside, as/if needed, and weighing less than 5,000 pounds. I will say switching to a trailer was the best thing I did as it beats a work truck or van as far as insurance and operating costs and simply allows me to tow it when I need it with my personal vehicle, which means I only need to own,,pay for, and insure one vehicle vs both a personal and a work vehicle.
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
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.
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.
Great video. I’m throwing out all those bolts and nuts littering up my bench that I’ve never used and I’ll never will. The scrap cut offs too! Thanks. Bye bye chop saw!
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!
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
I'm going through similar process. I've had a 24 by 30 pole barn built after purging and tearing down an 18 by 28 foot old cinder block structure with lower level. It was built in 40s and was falling down. So now new space has to store Halloween decoration (a MUST) and my wood shop. I figure I'm looking at a 40/60 split with wood getting 60. Lots of wall space and storage will be up (not quite loft). I have been playing with it to put stuff above window and door height. I have started some drawers and love the cleaner access to my most common tools. Here is what is really cool. I'm just using poster board dividers and hot glue in drawers to organize. Why do I like it, I CAN CHANGE IT!. As I get stuff in I learn ya, I like a cubby with just rubber bands, or my pile of Phillips bits don't need to be in top draw. So I take out a partition and move it. Maybe some day I'll make something more permanent but love the options. Now the shop walls.....FRENCH CLEATS...Yes I'm building a couple cabinets (shadow peg board from Woodsmith but another just my own design, paint and tools) but I think french cleats will really free up stuff and make flow work. My plan is once I get my major item in (table saw) I build an outfeed/assembly table kind of similar to Shop Nation (no I don't pay for plans). So I'll share my stuff once I get it in. Might be Spring before I'm fully ready but love you sharing your journey. Thanks
Great video and advice. I keep a checklist on a wall that has a schedule for regular maintenance and cleaning of my tools and blades. It helps keep on top of workshop tasks that aren't necessarily every day tasks. This is tangentially related, but I try to build my shop furniture with the same techniques and methods I would use on fine woodworking projects. It helps me practice in a space where mistakes matter less. And if there is a piece of shop furniture I'm proud of, I'm more invested and likely to keep it clean and organized.
yeah, I definitely agree with that. I also simply don't find it enjoyable to half-ass a project, even if it's just for the shop. I could definitely clean my blades more though 😂
Right on. Shadows are pernicious! For reasons of both both safety and utility, there's probably no such thing as too much lighting (especially when staining, finishing and painting). 4' long hanging LED fixtures are really cheap now, and are (relatively) easy to place and power. These made the biggest single improvement in my small shop over the last four years.
When I had my garage built with an area for a workspace, I was generous with the overhead lighting and I love it. Now that I have some large tools and cabinets, I also have to add some task lighting to compensate for shadows. It's not only a safety thing but plenty of lighting makes me happy and less fatigued, too, when I work there.
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.
I totally agree about the chop saw and drill press. I rare ever use either machine. OTH I would love to have a large assembly table/workbench. Don’t get me started on those space hog CNC machines. Quick edit to add… that I rarely use my bandsaw either!
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 :)
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
I used to have a sad little lightbulb on my automatic, garage door opener, and a, no kidding, motion sensitive nightlight in my garage. I upgraded those to shop lights this summer, at which point I noticed the sheet rock had never been taped or painted. And then I decided as long as I was doing that, I should probably put in some windows, replace the shelving, and upgrade my workbenches. I’m telling you, the lighting is a slippery slope.
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
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! RUclipsrs 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.
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 thing that has helped me a lot is to alternate between "productive" projects and organizational ones. So one day I will be building thread racks for my wife's quilting machine, the next I will be adding drawers to the weird space under the spindle sander. This helps me stay focused on organization but not so much it overwhelms or drives me nuts. I just pick one thing to do next. It also help prioritize my scrap, because I can plan to use the remnants of one project in the next and consume them instead of storing them for all time.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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...)
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.
How dare you make sense and point out my tool hoarding! 🤣 Great tips. Thanks.
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
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'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.
I told my grandma, she says you're very cute and organised, and has subscribed.
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. 😊
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 RUclipsrs' 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
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.
This video is just so simple but so INCREDIBLY intelligent!!!
Helpful, well thought out and very informative video as always! I will never understand people who comment without watching the whole thing. Straightforward and to the point. Thank you for sharing!
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. :)
Dude. You have a great sense of humor. You’ll hit 100,000 subscribers before you know it.
I’m a seasoned hobbyist woodworker and I found a lot of these to be good ideas/points. Great video!
Definitely not a clean every day person, but I am a clean at the end of every project person.
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
Good points. I spend a majority of my time in the shop looking for things.
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.
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.
Thanks Scott. As a guy building in a small shop, your thoughts really help.
Everything you say is spot on.......but applying it, now that's a different story. I've got 3 sheds all bigger than yours, all messy, I know where most stuff is, but no one else does and that suits me just fine. Cheers
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🇦🇺
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
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.
Lighting is very important. As we age, our vision deteriorates so it's important to have as much light as you can.
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 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!!
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.
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
A simple Thank you. This process has helped narrow down what I need to do. Be Well and Good Journey. Richie
You nailed it. With working full time, when I get a chance to work in my shop I always have a list of things to make and never seen to take the time to make the organization stuff but then gripe because it slows me down so much that I’m disorganized! Arghhhhhh.
I answered a question on FB one time about laying out your shop using graph paper, and cutouts. Wow, did I get slammed by a number of people. And luckily some people posted it worked great for them.
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.
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 advice...I'm pretty much doin this with dust collection on a boom to get to all the machines...so many options...
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
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 like your tip about lighting. I also like to add LED lighting in drawers and cabinets to make it easier to see stuff.
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.
Having had TWO cordless brad nailers, neither of which had enough power; both of which broke within a month and had to be sent back, I HIGHLY recommend against them. I went and got a compressor. Aaaahhhhh! So much better. As you would know there are some pretty sweet, small compressors. Mine is a Makita 1000. Also very quiet.
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!
Great tips! At a certain point I was just watching to vindicate my "overtidying" habits. Also lol at the air sander in storage- I grabbed a cheap used one once not realizing what an insanely large compressor was needed to run it.
Helpful stuff. One of my uncles fixed glass jam jar lids to underside of his shelves with 2 screws, then could attach jar and contents easy to see what was in each (mostly different size nails, screws, nuts bolts) and unscrew them to use them. Made good use of top of under-shelf.
My dad did that in our garage/shop 60 years ago! Pint Jam/jelly jars and quart peanut butter/fruit jars. I'd guess close to 60 jars at eye level over a 12' long workbench. You could see what was in each jar to pick what you needed and all it cost was for the wood screws to hang the lids. They were still there 2 years ago when my sister died and I had to clear out and sell the house.
@@garrettswoodworx1873 must have been a thing, this was back in late 60’s early 70’s he was an engineering toolmaker by trade, his garage workshop was immaculate.
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 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.
Impact driver and air nailer is my go too. Great ideas now I gotta dig myself out!
Thanks for this. I'm currently in the process of designing an 8x12 shed to use as a small woodshop. This video provided some great tips to help with that. I never thought of have no miter saw but I may be convinced to leave it out as its pretty large.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I got rid of mine and just handle crosscuts with a sled in the table saw and the bigger panels with a bench dog/track saw rail setup. I don’t miss it at all.
I love that i'm in the , somewhat, middle of the road, here. On the way is my 6 metre X 12 metre (20' X 40', in freedom units) shed. It's just for play and will NEVER see a serious job....like fixing a car. Not so big that it's going to be a pain to go from one end to the other, but big enough to give me the space to not be too worried about space saving.
13:52 Ok that part made it for me, love it
Ohh man, small shops are the greatest aren't they!? Love this video. I'm liking the pace and breaks throughout. Easy to digest.
Thanks Blake!
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.
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!
Brilliant! This all needed to be said out loud (although I'm not sure I could live without castors).
that table saw placement was really a galaxy brain move
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.
Fantastic tips on shop organization. Thank you for sharing this video.
regarding lighting, I have seen recommendations for having 150ish lumens power square foot of space in a shop. a 60 watt incendesant or equivalent gives off around 600. I recommend getting hanging shop led lights. easy to install pretty cheap and pump out a lot of light. if you setup light switch outlets for them then if they were too cheap and went bad you could then replacement them easily
14:00 that bit cracked me up. Good job 👍
PS: you nailed the video title. well done.
Thanks Art 😂 Gotta play sensationalism if I'm going to get eyeballs on my hard work
i've been using the ryboi finish nailer for years its been great, no compressor to scare the customer or lug around and no hose to make things fall or trip over
Nice job. I'm building a new big shop but find that your ideas will apply to me as well. Thanks!
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.
I put the focus on "outside". I have two grinders which I set up outside of the garage door. Compressor has done well in the attic. If I could keep a miter box outside I would. The key is appearance, because keeping tools safe from rain is actually easy. tHanks for the video
I run a commercial business and have for decades now running out of a small shop and a commercial storefront, the shop is only 15’x25’ and has an overhead door with an attached 10’x20’ covered area. I have a material cart on casters which can be moved around or out and can store sheet goods, lumber, and a ladder; being able to move this 4’x8’ cart around and outside allows larger jobs to be accomplished inside. I also have my drill press on a cabinet on casters that allows storage of sanders and paper as well as sortimo cases on the other side. Between the table saw with router table which is also on wheels and a chopsaw with wheeled stand I can move things around as needed. I have a bench and operating counter along both long walls with a storage wall opposite the overhead door with every wall having pegboard, I’m old school that way, with lights at 7’ and shelving above that for longer term storage; I also have storage on my rafter decking which accounts for another 180+ sq.ft.
I have used this space to build cabinets and custom inserts for existing spaces as well as large furniture. I like having all tools, regularly used, at arms reach, with second order items below the counter, and third order items above the lights or in the rafter space. While most of my work is out of a custom built trailer in the field there I still do quite a bit in the shop.
I must agree an annual cleanse is a good idea as one of the tradesman I came up learning from is so attached to things he hasn’t used in decades some of which don’t even still work, like old battery tools, 9.6 volt Makita, 14.4 volt DeWalt. If you have a small shop you have to be efficient and can’t afford hold onto fever. I’ve been doing this for more than 3 decades now and have learned, hard lessons sometimes, to not simply store everything because “you may need it”; I keep what I regularly use and frankly will buy one offs as I need them rather than take up what space I have storing things. Also working out of a trailer you become quite adept at knowing what you need as you have to fit everything into a 7.5’x16’ package while still allowing some work to be done inside, as/if needed, and weighing less than 5,000 pounds. I will say switching to a trailer was the best thing I did as it beats a work truck or van as far as insurance and operating costs and simply allows me to tow it when I need it with my personal vehicle, which means I only need to own,,pay for, and insure one vehicle vs both a personal and a work vehicle.
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
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.
Thank you Scott! well done. I enjoy your videos and informative ideas.
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.
My drill press is definitely one of the most used tools in my shop. I mostly build guitars
Great video. I’m throwing out all those bolts and nuts littering up my bench that I’ve never used and I’ll never will. The scrap cut offs too! Thanks. Bye bye chop saw!
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!
Great vid, especially as I’m setting up my newest shops. Subscribed!
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
I'm going through similar process. I've had a 24 by 30 pole barn built after purging and tearing down an 18 by 28 foot old cinder block structure with lower level. It was built in 40s and was falling down. So now new space has to store Halloween decoration (a MUST) and my wood shop. I figure I'm looking at a 40/60 split with wood getting 60. Lots of wall space and storage will be up (not quite loft). I have been playing with it to put stuff above window and door height. I have started some drawers and love the cleaner access to my most common tools. Here is what is really cool. I'm just using poster board dividers and hot glue in drawers to organize. Why do I like it, I CAN CHANGE IT!. As I get stuff in I learn ya, I like a cubby with just rubber bands, or my pile of Phillips bits don't need to be in top draw. So I take out a partition and move it. Maybe some day I'll make something more permanent but love the options. Now the shop walls.....FRENCH CLEATS...Yes I'm building a couple cabinets (shadow peg board from Woodsmith but another just my own design, paint and tools) but I think french cleats will really free up stuff and make flow work. My plan is once I get my major item in (table saw) I build an outfeed/assembly table kind of similar to Shop Nation (no I don't pay for plans). So I'll share my stuff once I get it in. Might be Spring before I'm fully ready but love you sharing your journey. Thanks
Great video and advice. I keep a checklist on a wall that has a schedule for regular maintenance and cleaning of my tools and blades. It helps keep on top of workshop tasks that aren't necessarily every day tasks.
This is tangentially related, but I try to build my shop furniture with the same techniques and methods I would use on fine woodworking projects. It helps me practice in a space where mistakes matter less. And if there is a piece of shop furniture I'm proud of, I'm more invested and likely to keep it clean and organized.
yeah, I definitely agree with that. I also simply don't find it enjoyable to half-ass a project, even if it's just for the shop.
I could definitely clean my blades more though 😂
My secret is to convince my wife to let me store unused tools in the guest shop. I mean guest bedroom.
Where could I get this drillpress vacuum hose?
Right on. Shadows are pernicious! For reasons of both both safety and utility, there's probably no such thing as too much lighting (especially when staining, finishing and painting). 4' long hanging LED fixtures are really cheap now, and are (relatively) easy to place and power. These made the biggest single improvement in my small shop over the last four years.
When I had my garage built with an area for a workspace, I was generous with the overhead lighting and I love it. Now that I have some large tools and cabinets, I also have to add some task lighting to compensate for shadows. It's not only a safety thing but plenty of lighting makes me happy and less fatigued, too, when I work there.
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.
Fantastic video, and I really need to adopt the yearly purge!
I totally agree about the chop saw and drill press. I rare ever use either machine. OTH I would love to have a large assembly table/workbench. Don’t get me started on those space hog CNC machines. Quick edit to add… that I rarely use my bandsaw either!