SO I am seriously thinking of digging in and reorganizing my entire workshop. So my questions is this what are some of the best things you have done to organize your wood shop (picture plz) I have plenty of ideas for online. but you guys are wood worker extraordinaires and know what works and what does not. I hope you have fun this and hope to see your awesome ideas. So thank you a head of time for taking time in busy schedules to post some awesome ideas! this includes little things like screws, nails and sandpaper etc....

Edited June 3, 20188 yr by Lissa Hall

Tools on wheels Lissa!  

i was wondering about that! how steady are they? i have a table saw that i often g=have to carry out... argghh but was thinking may not be such a good idea to put it on wheels??? but would love too..

 

I will take a pic that may give you an idea or two.  Be tonight or tomorrow before I can post it up.  But, check out govdeals.com  It is an auction site that sells surplus stuff for government entities.  I recently got some mobile computer carts from a school system that I use for my router table and portable planer.  Something like that would be ideal for a bench type saw or any bench type tool.

I went from a 500 sq/ft shop to having a roll-a-round stored in one corner of a small two car garage. All of my tools are on wheels. It is inconvenient, but doable. All of my big tools are either mounted to castered shop cabinets or on Shop Fox HD mobile bases. I'm currently using a Bosch 4100 table saw and it has its own fold-up rolling stand. It does everything I need.

 

On word of advise. HD mobile bases or GOOD quality casters. Get the largest casters you can comfortably use (take the final height into consideration). All of mine are a minimum of 4". This is all predicated on the assumption that you have a solid "level" rolling surface with no drastic changes in elevation (like a step/step ups).

1. For years, I was planning to build a nice tool cabinet, once my interests and collections stabilized.   Finally gave up and just bought a mechanic's tool chest.  It holds screwdrivers, wrenches, putty knives, knives, scrapers, rasps, chisels, drill bits, router bits, hammers, saws, measuring and marking tools.  Just about all my hand tools except planes (kept on a shelf nearby).  It sits next to my workbench and is one of the best things I ever did.

 

 

2.  Second is buying some storage bins for things like screws, nuts, bolts, other hardware.    Everything is sorted by size.   HF makes a good one, as the individual boxes are rearrangeable and you can pull them out and move to the work area if you are using a bunch of them.  Dewalt, Stanley, and others make similar ones.

 

 

 

 

3. If you are tight on space, putting things on casters so you can move them around, in and out of tuck-away areas, etc. is almost mandatory.

 

 

I'm afraid it's a skill I haven't mastered.....but I'll be following to see what I can learn form those who know how to do it.

41 minutes ago, kmealy said:

1. For years, I was planning to build a nice tool cabinet, once my interests and collections stabilized.   Finally gave up and just bought a mechanic's tool chest.  It holds screwdrivers, wrenches, putty knives, knives, scrapers, rasps, chisels, drill bits, router bits, hammers, saws, measuring and marking tools.  Just about all my hand tools except planes (kept on a shelf nearby).  It sits next to my workbench and is one of the best things I ever did.

 

 

2.  Second is buying some storage bins for things like screws, nuts, bolts, other hardware.    Everything is sorted by size.   HF makes a good one, as the individual boxes are rearrangeable and you can pull them out and move to the work area if you are using a bunch of them.  Dewalt, Stanley, and others make similar ones.

 

 

 

 

3. If you are tight on space, putting things on casters so you can move them around, in and out of tuck-away areas, etc. is almost mandatory.

 

 

+1

 

These are one of the very few things that I buy at HF. They are strong, durable (so far) and if purchased at the right time cost effective.

 

 

These are my larger screws. The small bins were exchanged with the larger one from another case, which holds all of the smaller screws. I can take the whole thing with me, or remove just the one bin that is needed. They stack well.

 

I have these for most of my small "often needed" parts; carbs/lawn equipment parts, wall anchors, picture hooks... I'm slowly getting rid of all of those crappy plastic gray cabinets with the brittle clear plastic pull out drawers.

 

 

What everyone else has said about wheels/casters. 

 

Also don't overlook overhead storage. I made these swing down storage areas for sand paper. They fit between the ceiling joists in my basement shop.

 

 

There are now 2 of these side by side.

i started with a basement shop, 11x18.  it was very tight, so everything was either on wheels (including the TS), or was light enough to pick up and move as needed.

 

i then graduated to a shop in an old horse barn with very uneven flooring, and built more mobile work tables and was able to spread out a bit and not have to worry about making everything mobile, as i had room for everything.

 

and now, i'm finally in my custom built 25x50 shop with 12' ceilings!  all work tables are still on casters (at least 2 locking), and a few tools are on casters, but most are not.  for storage, i have french cleats on 3 walls of the shop (last is a large garage door), so i'm able to place and move as needed a collection of cabinets (no doors) or peg board panels where i want them, and they are easy to move if my needs dictate that they need to be placed somewhere else.

 

have a wood storage rack on the back wall to hold a small collection of lumber, mostly hardwood.  i don't store a lot of lumber, only buying what i need when i need it.

 

some views of my shop and clamp storage rack (mobile).

note:  it looks like the shop pics were taken when i was in the middle of building our new bed.

Three words:  storage, storage, storage.  You rarely lose big tools (you often stub your toe on them), but it's the little things that drive you nuts.  Three ideas that I found handy:

Left:  "juice and screw":  I drink orange juice in these small containers (balancing carefully between sore gums and diabetes).  I now have 50--60 of them, mostly devoted to screws.  I had no idea how many/type/size/ color screws I had, and as a result kept buying more.  Middle:  that's a blue pencil box (Amazon):  this one for jigsaw blades (again, a dozen blade packages in various places); I have about 14 pencil boxes now, assigned to various tools; don't forget the mandatory "misc".  Right:  more small juice bottles (with screws:  this cupboard is for outdoor/house stuff, not woodworking); the larger containers turned out to be perfect for installation stuff where you buy 4 to install 3; I have a lot of wire trellises to support bougainvillea, and the jar has wire connectors, S-clips, screweyes, etc.  "one jar to hold them all, and in the darkness bind them".  This took about 8 months to fruition, and now I have spare containers hanging around.  The picture at right is mostly peanut butter and mayo containers. 

lew love the overhead idea that may be a doable thing for me!! and love the clamp rack Dab!! these are some awesome ideas!!!! keep them coming! Pete the jar idea i cool as well live with two yound men so they are always going thru bottles and i love to repurpose stuff!!

22 minutes ago, Lissa Hall said:

lew love the overhead idea that may be a doable thing for me!! and love the clamp rack Dab!! these are some awesome ideas!!!! keep them coming! Pete the jar idea i cool as well live with two yound men so they are always going thru bottles and i love to repurpose stuff!!

you will find that there is no one size fits all solution.  everyone has different tools, different levels of stuff, different amounts of space and money, and different interests and working methods.  but maximizing storage space and ease of use of tools are common threads we all chase.

I don't know how large of a workbench you have, but for me, this is one of the handiest things I ever did in my shop.  Think of it as a naked drawer on its' side.  The pictures should explain what I mean.  A little blurry, but should be OK.

 

 

This is to highlight the use of magnets to keep things from rattling around when I pull the "drawer" open.

 

 

 

 

And here is the other side.

 

I prefer drawers and cabinets as this will make the dust problem more manageable. In the process of adding more cabinets now.

My clamp rack (at least the main one) is attached to ceiling above the workbench.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bench has drawers in size for the contents. Started with dividers in drawers and changed to Kaizen Foam . You cut out the shape of each tool in a block of the foam and the chisels and planes do not bump and are secure. I do not have a picture but the link has videos to show it all.

 

This is something I acquired as part of the luck of my profession as a Pharmacist. Almost all my drawer units and shelf storage came from drugstores. These are in the process pf development in this photo. I labeled the drawers with contents .

 

As has been said wheels are your friend but be sure to get the correct size. This lumber rack has 5 inch wheels (cast iron) but wish I had 8 inch on the outside instead of under it.

Go to youtube and type April Wilkerson in the search. She showed the build of her workbench with storage and other goodies. Very nice bench and storage.

I am enjoying seeing all these creative and talented ideas!  And can't wait to give some of them a try!allof you are inspirations.