Spent much of Saturday restoring my workshop to a functional space. What a big job. Throughout the winter the garage became a dumping ground for my big tools and material. I still have a lot of cleaning to do but at least I can get into the shop and work now that the weather isn’t so cold.
My cutting station has the table saw at one end and my miter saw at the other and it is in the middle of the garage so I can actually cut a full sheet easy enough. I usually set up a finishing work station where the car goes, simply using saw horses and plywood. I have a small workbench with vice against the wall opposite to the cutting station. Right now I have the remains of our aquarium sitting there, it is destined for the Salvation Army. In the front of the garage door I have material storage which goes up one wall (sheet goods), into a material cart, and above the garage door for long stock.
I have a lot of plans for improving this work space which I’m hoping to implement this spring. The biggest will be building a custom cutting station into which I can install my two saws. I’d like something big with castors, collapsible out feed table, and storage. This will also let me install a better fence system for the table saw, this one was an improvement over my original saw, but it still requires some fiddling to keep perfectly parallel with the blade.
Right now the top two drawers of my cutting station are filled with fasteners and the bottom has hinges and other cabinetry hardware. I need a better storage solution. In my small workbench I added milk crates to organize the power tools and jigs. I’d like to insulate all the walls and clad them with OSB or plywood so that I can install better cabinetry in the shop. I have about seven tool boxes (still inside the house) which are very well organized and portable. I think I’d rather keep my main tools that way, at least until I see how functional the space will be. Cabinetry will not be the first project I tackle though because I find this space quite functional and organized enough for the short term.
What is more urgent for me to tackle after my cutting station is the material storage space. I am thinking that my lumber rack is not the best solution for me, it simply takes up too much room. I’ll probably dismantle it and replace it with a deep cabinet against the door. I don’t use this garage door and it is just a way for heat to escape, so a cabinet full of material will double as insulation. I definitely want to improve the over the door storage by building something more supportive and with at least two layers. It quickly gets packed up there so I need to organize it better, dividers are a must. I also have the space above my other garage door in which I might just install the rack from this side and use for longer sheets. But I’ll have to see because I want to rig the bikes up to live above where the car parks, Canadian Tire makes some bike lifts that I want to try out.
What projects do you have lined up for the Spring?
Let me know your thoughts...