Unique storage solutions in your workshop

I made a giant lazy Susan that I adapted from something I saw in a book. I keep all of my bench top tools on it including a scroll saw, drill press, belt/disk sander, and mortiser. I put the turn table in the corner. One of my benches is 3’ deep and the other is 2’ deep. This makes the back corner hard to reach.

I made it ut of 3/4 MDF, cutting off the corners to let it spin freely. I put a 3/4" pipe in the middle attached to a flange on the bench which acts as an “axel”. It spins on 5 or 6 1" ball bearings.

The picture is an old picture not showing the mortiser.

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Wow I’m blown away already. @fred that overhead storage is awesome. Never would have thought of that.
@William the lazy Susan is a great use if a corner. Very cool.

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Cool

I’ve seen a variation on this theme where the benchtop tools are mounted on pivots/hinges so they can be stored below the bench and swing up for use. They sell commercially made fixtures like this to stow-away a Kitchen Aid mixer in a cabinet and then lift it into place for use:

http://www.amazon.com/Rev---Shelf-RAS-ML-HDCR-Height-Cabinet/dp/B0042QB6M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457925090&sr=8-1&keywords=kitchenaid+mixer+lift

I’ve been a bit less ambitious - but one other rack that I made holds 47 hand saws in a space that is about 15 inches wide and 9 inches deep:

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The rolling carts I’ve used came for just about $0 - leftovers from my kids and room-mates when my kids were going to college. There ere made out of flake board - so they needed a bit of scrap wood screwed in place to beef up the corners and keep them from racking - but the casters - while by no means heavy-duty still work OK and can be chocked to keep the cart stationary.

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Depending on how tall you are you can store stuff on your ceiling. I have all of my trigger quick-clamps clamped to the bottom of ceiling joists. I also made this drop down cabinet the swings up into the joist bay. (Sorry for the bad picture) I use it to store shop vac hose and attachments. In addition I drilled through some of the joists and ran a 3/4" pvc pipe through them. I hang my c-clamps and smaller f-style clamps on the rod. I took some plywood and cut a hook into it and clamped my spring clamps to the board. I can hang that on my pipe as well. That way I can take the whole hanger down if I need a lot of spring clamps for a project.

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I’m not sure any of these count as unique, but I have plenty of storage solutions in my small garage shop.

  1. Home made slat wall tool board, this design came from John Heisz.

  2. Cubies for small power tools. This is actually hung from French cleat as with most of my wall mounted stuff. Note this is an old picture and many tools are elsewhere now.

  3. Overhead storage based on Jay Bates design. Really useful for stuff that doesn’t need regular access.

  4. My own three layer cabinet design for drill and router bits. Features a small slat wall on the front then different storage options behind.

  5. More French cleat mounted storage, this time for boxes of hardware. Also a cleat mounted disc/belt sander but that has now moved.

  6. Loads of storage in the Jay Bates inspired mitre saw station.

  7. Deep cupboards and drawers based on John Heisz design and used to store wood off cuts as well as sheets to the right and recycling bins to the left.

  8. Another of my designs for specific problem, it was so cold in my shop (less than freezing point) for much of the winter that my battery chargers wouldn’t work. So I built this heated/insulated cabinet for chargers, batteries and glue as well as a place for drills and other tools to hang out.
    https://youtu.be/qYLr94WyZf4

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Such a mess, but it will look awesome soon. Thanks for all the other pics, some really great storage ideas.

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@Mr_Creek did you put something over your garage door glass to frost them? I have the same type of garage doors and I need to do something about them soon.

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I’ve used this for garage windows for a few clients http://m.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-Frosted-Glass-Indoor-Spray-Paint/3592474?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA_ONLY--Paint--SosInteriorStains-_-3592474:Rust-Oleum&CAWELAID=1537229501&kpid=3592474&CAGPSPN=pla&k_clickID=21870c8d-b1ea-4122-81ee-da43595e25b2

Seems to work quite well

Not exactly unique - but here are 2 pictures of other ways to store things on you garage ceiling:


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Very awesome, thank you everyone for sharing!

We’re moving to a larger space soon, and I definitely plan to come back to this thread for inspiration.

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Some other ideas for Screwdriver storage:

Make a Stand from scrap wood:

Use commercial racks on pegboard doors:

Make wood racks - using L-Hooks to hook into pegboard:

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@Jacob_Edmond maybe a pic from this angle will help explain. With the inner garage door open. Sometimes God gives with both hands, I was blessed with a 1500 sqft. Garage on my first home purchase. The inner garage door already had frost on the windows when I moved in. By the looks it’s just white spray paint.(see post #9 in this thread)

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I live in a studio flat so my “workshop” is one small area, and I want it to look nice.
I have a Pelican-style case with wide elastic straps added to hold tools in place when the case is opened. This is for most of the tools, and a few big tools on shelves above that.

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I got messages saying can only post one image at a time because i’m a new user, and wait 14 seconds between each one, otherwise it wouldn’t let me post. Strange.

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Whoa, @Mr_Creek you have a 2 car garage within a 2 car garage? So do you just leave that inner door open? I have so many questions!

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I have the same drill. I love the size of it. I really want to get that jigsaw too. I’m liking my bosch stuff for sure!

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@Jacob_Edmond I have an insulated / heated 2 car garage, inside another 4 car garage. Basically, the previous owners added another garage on. I leave the inner door closed, because it’s winter in Colorado. So I have a garage in my garage. And ask away.

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1500 sqft! My garage shop is about 200 sqft. I feel so inadequate :cry:

P.S. I live in the Canadian Rockies and frequently have to work below freezing point with the door open because there is not enough space to handle larger pieces of wood with the door shut.

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