Projects Shop organization-Tool storage

Those are nice big cabinets,
@Roothawg
Cabinets not only give you a place to put your stuff, it keeps everything from harboring dust that can ruin a paint job.

 

I love ‘em. I’m gonna get a set for the house garage next. Can’t go wrong for the price. You can store all kinds of stuff that sits out in the way. I like things organized, even though most times it looks like a tool grenade exploded.

 

Tool storage was a priority when remodeling my shop, years back. Afterward, it's evolved. I've downsized duplicate tools, upgraded cabinets, and added some new/specialized tools while the constraints of the shop being the same size remain.

It's like a fun puzzle to solve and resolve.

I had a killer collection of NOS vintage Craftsman stacks but necessities of the shop demanded a solution that modern cabinets could solve. It took a while getting used to the look but the configurations allowed me to get more organized with more space to grow.

Unfortunately I have something like 14 feet of flat surface collecting crap, now. Hahaha.

 

If you have some tall shelving you need to access, you could mount the track across the top and make a rolling ladder for easy access. Sometimes called a library ladder.
You could also use the track to build a sliding curtain wall to close off an area for messy operations such as welding/ grinding/ polishing/ painting.

 

I have the same addiction. I have been called an organizer by more than a few people. What they don't realize is that you have to make a mess to feed the organizing addiction.

 

I have a mess for ya'.

 

Per yalls recomendation I picked up one of those file cabinets to replace the locker setup in the background. Ive already got loaded & I like the capacity & it seems pretty stout, good call !

 

I remember that smell; Diazo process ammonia printing. If it wasn't ammonia-ed properly the print would fade to faint yellow lines on the white paper in no time. It it was ammonia-ed properly it'd last for a few weeks at least.

That was one of the things those cabinets were for. Prints you wanted to keep had to be kept in darkness. Originals, be they on vellum or film or whatever, usually hung on a row of hooks by a perforated card tape glued along the short end. There were tall cabinets for that purpose. And when the project gets archived, all the drawings get bound between two lengths of wood held together by bolts and wingnuts through the perforated tape.

But ammonia printing coexisted with CAD for quite a few years. We had a pen plotter in a dedicated, glass-partitioned Plotter Room. The plotter had interchangeable carousels containing stubby little pens. Plots for in-office use were plotted in coloured ballpoint on paper, and looked horrible. Final plots were done in technical pen on film, just like drawings done on the board, and because the plotter was slow and the pens were spendy (and troublesome), ammonia prints made from those were issued for use.

I found that I had a brain for CAD. It requires a precise way of thinking to use properly — one I dare say a good conventional draughtsman out to have anyway — because early CAD didn't allow anything vaguely analogous to sketching. I'd always liked Frank Ching's approach to architectural drawing, and was able to apply a lot of it to CAD. I remember a 1:10 spiral staircase construction detail I drew in AutoCAD 8 around 1990, which my boss subsequently had framed. So that's possible.

The problem with CAD is that the kids treat it like a servant and not like a tool. They want to doodle and have the computer turn their doodle into a technical document. I hated working on other people's CAD work.

I saw the BSH sticker and had to scroll up, because that had to be in the UK somewhere. I remember AWoL fondly: there's even an AWoL nostalgia page on Facebook.

That's the sort of approach that might just work for me. I've belatedly discovered that I've got a lot of brain weirdness going on — I'm going for an assessment later this month — and part of that is object permanence issues. If I don't see it I forget that I've got it, and end up running down to the hardware store and buying another, which eventually ends up in a messy drawer on top of the one I had. That, inattentive ADD and long-term CFS makes any kind of organization hard (and that's called executive dysfunction).

I've inherited all my late dad's tools. The next few months is going to be about going through all of it and sharing some of it out between my nephew, my brother-in-law, and a few friends who need it. At the same time I have to figure out a way to range all the stuff I keep around me in a way that I can see it and get to it.

 

Gosh, so many years back my Dad acquired a bread rack with a full compliment of bread trays. That turned into his nuts and bolts bins. 5/6 “loaves” deep, marked on front of each with 1/4 fine. 1/4 coarse-etc. each “loaf” had different lengths.
When I get up later today I’ll snap a pic of what I used before transferring it all to him. More compartments, but less in each one.
We always buy in bulk at the Farmer’s supply (not TSC) , they weigh all the bags at the same time be it 1/4 inch hardware or 1 inch hardware, and charge by the pound.

 

On the topic of storage; no one wants their tools/parts to rust. I love VCI.
https://www.cortecvci.com/how-vci-works/
Even in my unconditioned space, no rust.

 

A few sample pix of the 15 (+/-) file cabinets I have/use. Also wheel & valve cover storage pix. Upon further decluttering of my shop I'll be snagging a few more. I have LOTS of STUFF lying around that would fit nicely into file cabinets. Since I made the racks for 6 SBC distributors I've found some more sbc and nailhead distributors (here in the shop) that need homes.

I've posted these not to brag on what I have - compared to many of you I don't have squat - but to encourage use of file cabinets. I have 3 roll-around tool stacks for actual tool storage but don't know what I'd do without the other storage places.

 

Atch, that's what I need to do. I need to come up with someway to store wheels and tires. I only need 4 for rollers really. The rest are just in the way.

 

While admiring your file cabinets and organizational skills, I happened to notice a very dusty Beezer Gold Star tank peeking out of hiding. Is that off a 650?

 

Sorry, but I don't know.

It came with a 1966 500 cc BSA that I bought in 1974. The 500 cc scoot had a 0.9 gallon peanut tank on it and this one was just thrown into the deal. I never rode the BSA much due to a 35 mpg bike with a 0.9 gallon tank. I could never get out of town with it or I'd be walking. I did that a couple of times early on in my ownership.

I still have the bike but haven't started it in about 10 years. It's stored so far back in my shop that it would take several hours of moving stuff around to get it out. Do you need that tank? I really wouldn't mind if it was taking up someone else's room.

 

I was thinking the same thing for the future, think of an above toilet shelf but bigger, taller and on wheels. My lotto winning dream would be a large steel stop with industrial shelving.......and a forklift .

 

Hello,

Having lived with open shelves and auto parts lining each one, we thought it was handy and did not care about gathering dust and such. If we bought a new part, we moved what was on the work table over and made room for the new guy sitting on the table. As we made more room on the flat workbench, it was obvious that we were running out of flat work space, so, we tried to expand to the other side of the small backyard garage.

But there on the other side was a family barrier. Our dad’s massive fishing collection and rod making equipment. Plus, there was an old Mercury Outboard Motor on a rolling stand plus his dust free cabinet for all of his custom reels, spinners, and even a giant tuna reel that was the biggest reel we had ever seen.

He even had a space behind a curtain, inside of the open wall beams to hide his collection of poles from a lightweight trout fishing pole, to a multiple piece surf fishing pole that was rather long and a very thick pole for the giant tuna hunting expeditions. All hidden from view by a drop curtain, to keep the poles + stuff, dirt free, until ready for use.

Then, next to cabinet was an unusual wooden rolling reel that had the longest amount of monofilament lines we had ever seen. We used that tabletop size wooden reel with the old monofilament line to fly our custom made kites in various local contests. But, we should have taken a good look at the set up as our dad was a stickler for a dust free workplace and his equipment was always spotless.

This scene was what we dealt with for all of the many house moves we had and our garage stuff. Open shelving, exposed machinery, workspace with open shelves lining the walls, etc. handy access to the tools and parts left exposed for the next project or just sitting as storage. But, as the mechanical work was waning, the garage became a cluttered mess for everyday usage. It was what we saw every time anyone drove in or out of the garage. Stuff laying around or on open shelves.

When we got brand new garage cabinets, this time, it was not the ½ inch open shelves and walls for sturdiness. We had always purchase cabinets from the local big box stores and the white cabinets were fine for our budget. The tools we were able to buy were stored nightly in their respective drawers. When the drawers became overloaded, the bottom started having some difficulty opening and closing. So, on to the next version of new garage cabinets…

Years later, in a new house, one wild day, when my wife had a big idea, we had a custom garage wall cabinet system installed to hide our large rolling saws and drills. Drawers full of our daily use stuff and tons of old Craftsman tools from the hot rod days. Then the lower cabinets were made of the same material, but the drawer slides were better made and the garage looked like our kitchen cabinets and made a silent closure rather cool. But, it was not a garage cabinet company, but a custom closet company that said their cabinets work in garages, too. They do, but we found out that they are not heavy duty construction.

I had to make extra hidden supports for the shelves so they would not sag with the minimal weight of rags and bottles. Even the deep drawers were sagging with the weight of just general stuff that needed to be off of the counters after every job. There were a lot of jobs during those two years.

Jnaki

After enduring those “garage cabinets” we moved again and the old house went back to two floor cabinets and counters. They got a workout for several years, but eventually ran into the same problem of weight versus thin shelving and surrounding cabinet walls. Even an air compressor+ tank and hoses had to be stored on the side of a lower cabinet for fear of a sagging floor support.

The daily use drawer so my wife can find anything that she may use on a daily basis…

So, my wife was willing to get into a real garage cabinet company’s wares after seeing the heavy duty quality of the drawers/ slides and cabinet construction. The shelves were 1 inch with plenty of strength and rigidity. The whole system was made for heavy duty garage storage and ability to endure those piles of tools that everyone has stashed away.

My daily use tool drawer and model car supplies/cars…

The key was, nothing can be on the counter, because there is enough space in the tall wall of cabinets and a whole row and stacks of sliding drawers, from shallow to deep. So, in agreeance with her demands, we got the new cabinets installed and the garage looks like a room in our house. Smooth heavy duty cabinets, a nice long counter with plenty of drawers for storage.


One of the 4 deep drawers for construction tools and large things that won’t fit in the thin storage drawers. Including a bag of historic Transformers from our young son’s days of fun play… and a large Punisher figure to keep me in line with the rules. HA!

But, here is the catch. When we started, the white bottoms of each of the shallow drawers and dividers was evident and the white color could be seen easily. Slowly, those tools came from somewhere and joined in the gobs of space, fray. So, now, the white bottoms are hard to see and it is nearing a total clean out phase, again. It must be a conspiracy of tools to join in the clogging up of tool space in every drawer, everywhere… ha! YRMV

Note: at least, the counters are clean and open for the next project that is on a long list of things to get done during these hectic pandemic days. As we drive in and out of the garage, it is like driving into to a showroom for a nice clean organized house designed room...

AAAHHH ! Clean and dust free...too. With the fully insulated garage door, it is almost sound proof from the sidewalk, so no one complains about the noises and the high performance sounds emanating from the Ipod and custom speakers... (to add to the "What do you listen in your garage" theme...