Step 2 of Cleaning up the Garage/Shop

[Iplayfarmer]

Here is a shot of the cart loaded up and in use. I can't tell you how handy this thing has been for me, and it's only been a week. It's easier to wheel the whole cart over than it is to carry even a few wrenches. Having all my tools right there makes work so much faster, and it makes clean-up smooth. It's also super nice to have a flat surface handy to put stuff on as I'm working.

I'm sure in no time, the top of the cart will have a nice mottled patina of grease and oil from setting stuff on it.

 

[mmurphy]

Looks like good idea. I wish I had some advice how to do it because I have a 40x48 that is a disaster! I have been saving things here and there in case I need it, then when I do need it I can't find it. I am hoping for a free weekend to throw a lot of stuff.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Looks like good idea. I wish I had some advice how to do it because I have a 40x48 that is a disaster! I have been saving things here and there in case I need it, then when I do need it I can't find it. I am hoping for a free weekend to throw a lot of stuff.

My first advice... learn to love e-bay. Once that piece of miscellaneous junk that I knew had value could be turned into money, cleaning out was much less traumatic. Ditto for Craig's List. A yard sale was a real big motivator for me too. I had one last weekend. I cleaned out a ton of space and ended up with about $500 from stuff that came out of my shop. (A new table saw followed me home yesterday.)

My garage is roughly 20' X 25'. There's is an art and science to making a small space work. Maximize the use of wall space. Build a lot of heavy duty shelves. Make tools and equipment portable. Watch Craig's list or the want ads for old cabinets. Lazy suzan cabinets are the best use of corners in my opinion. Learn to love peg board, and think 3 dimensionally. Hang your stuff like they do in stores. Put all of your hammers in a row rather than side by side, etc.

You have to organize both your time and your space. I can't keep multiple projects going at the same time. I've started the tradition of beginning every weeknight project by putting a soda in the deep freeze. When I'm done working for the night, the soda is just cold enough. I break out the soda and spend the time I'm drinking to clean up my tools and stuff for the night. (I'm sure you beer drinkers could improvise.) It's worked well for me so far.

I'm a big auction nut. I will have to plan time after I bring home a truck load of treasures to organize and sort out what I'll keep, what I'll sell, and what I'll donate. I have a whole corner of the shop now dedicated to the transient auction stuff that I'm going to sell.

The first step is to get started. I've taken about two weeks of nights and weekends to casually go through the years of junk. I'm probably about half done. I need to do another good round of e-bay selling, and I'll probably start collecting another pile of stuff for a yard sale in the spring.

 

[mmurphy]

I am afraid they will charge me to sell that junk I have!!!!
Soda Idea, good idea. Have not touched the alcohol in 21 years, That is for putting in my gas tank.

 

[1grnlwn]

This is a computer card file cabinet from a state auction. It is major heavy duty ( aprox 300 lb empty). I would love to have 2 more but they are getting hard to find. That reminds me I need to severely restock this during winter.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

This is a computer card file cabinet from a state auction. It is major heavy duty ( aprox 300 lb empty). I would love to have 2 more but they are getting hard to find. That reminds me I need to severely restock this during winter.

Those cabinets look like they were custom made for you. Those look very nice.

After my post last night I took some pictures of some of my solutions. Keep in mind as you look at these pictures that I am still in the middle of cleaning up and clearing out.

This first shot is of the pegboard over my workbench. A lot of what was on the pegboard went into my cart. I can use the space a lot better than I am right now.

This second shot is of the back wall of my garage. I have shelves build under my lathe stand to hold power tools. The rack above the lathe holds my lumber. (I have another rack on the east wall for sheet goods like plywood.) The other trick I really like is using strings to hang cords and hoses. I can use varied lengths of string and hang multiple cords from the same hook. You can also see another peg board to the left in this picture.

This final picture is a shelf/cabinet that I made a few years ago to hold all of my oils, lubes, and fuel. There's a drawer about waist height, a shelf on the bottom, and two shelves on top. I have a solvent sink on the counter surface, and pegboard along the back. This is one of those surfaces that still needs to be cleaned up.

 

[dstig1]

Your lumber storage is a good idea. But of course it depends on how much you have as it is heavy and hard to cantilever like that. Here's mine :laughing:

Or rather it was until my friend and I combined our stashes and moved into a bigger unit with some pallet racking...

And that was before we REALLY filled it up. I have a bunch of good lumber myself but my friend is a lumber hoarder to the nth degree... For reference, my daughter in the pic was a bit over 4' tall at that point. Probably 4'3" or thereabouts. I should take a current picture one of these days...

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Your lumber storage is a good idea. But of course it depends on how much you have as it is heavy and hard to cantilever like that. Here's mine :laughing:...

Holy Cow! What do you do with all that lumber? Do you go through it pretty fast, or do you store it for a while before it's used?