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Trying to organise a garage workshop...
- Thread starter MrCrankyface
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2014
- Messages
- 2,860
MrCrankyface, you should get the Nobel Prize in Shop Management. You have to be setting a record in most stuff per unit volume.
In my world, even getting one car in a two car garage is beyond the current state of the art. You can even drive to the awards ceremony.
And a great writeup, thanks!
In my world, even getting one car in a two car garage is beyond the current state of the art. You can even drive to the awards ceremony.
And a great writeup, thanks!
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,411
very neat! Always fun to see someone else's journey and solutions. I'm jealous of all your space though, I have just under 1/2 a 2 car garage and I have to fit 6 bikes in there too 
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2019
- Messages
- 496
Thanks everyone! Definitely gave me some motivation to organize more! 
It was hard to get much info about it from him, he mostly just seemed to want it gone since it was taking up space.
I would absolutely love to find myself a decent sized surface grinder.
I'm extremely lucky to have an understanding wife who eventually let me have the entire garage mostly to myself.
I did manage to get some stuff done today despite having a mad headache.
Superquick mockup just to test for a few weeks how i feel about this solution.
One thing I completely missed thinking about is that the top decides the shortest piece you can store, the final version will have compartments with covers between them or a lower layer of sticks so shorter stuff don't fall over.
For now I just solved it with an extra crossbar and some sheet steel, don't wanna spend any nice material on this as I'm just testing the idea out.
The taped square on the floor was to get a sense of where the attic staircase comes down.
I also got tired of looking at the ugly tool buckets real fast and booted up some 3D printers.
Definitely more aesthetically pleasing..
Still printing a bunch of them, a few will be deeper for longer tools like files.
I have an idea for a storage unit for longer material that I can hopefully take a look at tomorrow.
Thanks! I'm just above 6'4 at 194cm.
It's a Storebro BA SA 205B from 1938, I don't know much about it's history besides mostly sitting for 25 years in previous owners barn.
It was hard to get much info about it from him, he mostly just seemed to want it gone since it was taking up space.
Thanks, I'm still hoping to fit a lot more!
I would absolutely love to find myself a decent sized surface grinder.
I believe that's a feeling that never goes away, I got a few neighbours with "real" workshops so I'm looking jealousy over at their stuff.very neat! Always fun to see someone else's journey and solutions. I'm jealous of all your space though, I have just under 1/2 a 2 car garage and I have to fit 6 bikes in there too
I'm extremely lucky to have an understanding wife who eventually let me have the entire garage mostly to myself.
I did manage to get some stuff done today despite having a mad headache.
Superquick mockup just to test for a few weeks how i feel about this solution.
One thing I completely missed thinking about is that the top decides the shortest piece you can store, the final version will have compartments with covers between them or a lower layer of sticks so shorter stuff don't fall over.
For now I just solved it with an extra crossbar and some sheet steel, don't wanna spend any nice material on this as I'm just testing the idea out.
The taped square on the floor was to get a sense of where the attic staircase comes down.
I also got tired of looking at the ugly tool buckets real fast and booted up some 3D printers.
Definitely more aesthetically pleasing..
Still printing a bunch of them, a few will be deeper for longer tools like files.
I have an idea for a storage unit for longer material that I can hopefully take a look at tomorrow.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2020
- Messages
- 793
I will do some reading on the lathe. Not a brand I have heard of previous to this. At least from memory…
material storage is a difficult challenge for me, one I like seeing different solutions to. I also have problems with files, many of mine are in a drawer rubbing one one another which grates on me…
material storage is a difficult challenge for me, one I like seeing different solutions to. I also have problems with files, many of mine are in a drawer rubbing one one another which grates on me…
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2013
- Messages
- 4,409
Here's what I do with files ...
It's not ideal, because the file surfaces kinda drag inside the clips. But it gets them organized, visible, and handy. The mounts are meant for screwdrivers, but I found them a lot less than satisfactory for that purpose - difficult to get the shank of the driver exactly into the notches. But OK for files!
Non-magnetic version:
It's not ideal, because the file surfaces kinda drag inside the clips. But it gets them organized, visible, and handy. The mounts are meant for screwdrivers, but I found them a lot less than satisfactory for that purpose - difficult to get the shank of the driver exactly into the notches. But OK for files!
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Buy PD Magnetic Screwdriver Organizer, Tool Tray Holder Rack, Premium Ultra Strong Magnet | Holds Screwdriver sets, Drill Bits, Nail Sets (Red): Tool Trays - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
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Non-magnetic version:
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2019
- Messages
- 496
Neat! I've considered a similar solution but I want them to take up less space in height and width so my only chance is to lean them out from the wall more.
I considered the "bucket approach" but I want a better overview of the files so haven't made much progress on it yet.
I did work on the "long storage" a bit. Let's me store up to 6 meter long pieces
The shelf has two bars going up to the ceiling so material can (no longer) fall down and attack me.
This is the shelf where I keep "misc" things and all my clamps. Not super space efficient but easy oversight.
Added some pins underneath for all cutting discs since that's something I use fairly often and always had problems when they were in a drawer.
I did take a long look at my "chem space" but haven't really come up with a better solution so ended up just emptying the entire shelf and cleaning everything off.
One thing I need to do is change the labels so they're easier to sort after.
It's crazy how much stuff you collect after a bunch of projects...
I also used to have a bunch of small tubes laying on the shelf which I instead put standing up in a small bucket, easier to keep things organized.
I'm trying to sort all kind of screws and nuts into different labeled boxes but that part is so much of a work in progress that I'm gonna wait with showing anything.
What I'm instead, or rather also, working on is flattening two large plates of cast iron.
I have two of these that are ~400mm x 800mm and then a surface plate that's 400mm x 600mm, the idea is to build a small work station where I can do both general work and metrology stuff.
According to the seller the plates are ~60 years old and used to sit in a factory where they used these to straighten some kind of dowels.
I needed to remove around a millimeter to get rid of all the smaller pits, the big one in the middle I'm not even going to try and remove.
Using a 40mm endmill it looks like my side to side tramming is pretty good but depthwise it varies and there's a tiny tiny edge.
I don't think this is related to my head tramming though due to how it varies, probably more related to the machine being old and worn and this plate being heavy as heck causing movements.
I can only machine ~60% of the depth and 80% of the width per setup since the plate is a bit big for this mill, will set it up again later tonight and continue.
The other plate is thinner(100mm versus this 140mm or so) so I will see if I can remove 40mm from the backside which is not solid but rather a 30mm edge around the entire casting, this just to get them to sit on an even height later on.
I considered the "bucket approach" but I want a better overview of the files so haven't made much progress on it yet.
I did work on the "long storage" a bit. Let's me store up to 6 meter long pieces
The shelf has two bars going up to the ceiling so material can (no longer) fall down and attack me.
This is the shelf where I keep "misc" things and all my clamps. Not super space efficient but easy oversight.
Added some pins underneath for all cutting discs since that's something I use fairly often and always had problems when they were in a drawer.
I did take a long look at my "chem space" but haven't really come up with a better solution so ended up just emptying the entire shelf and cleaning everything off.
One thing I need to do is change the labels so they're easier to sort after.
It's crazy how much stuff you collect after a bunch of projects...
I also used to have a bunch of small tubes laying on the shelf which I instead put standing up in a small bucket, easier to keep things organized.
I'm trying to sort all kind of screws and nuts into different labeled boxes but that part is so much of a work in progress that I'm gonna wait with showing anything.
What I'm instead, or rather also, working on is flattening two large plates of cast iron.
I have two of these that are ~400mm x 800mm and then a surface plate that's 400mm x 600mm, the idea is to build a small work station where I can do both general work and metrology stuff.
According to the seller the plates are ~60 years old and used to sit in a factory where they used these to straighten some kind of dowels.
I needed to remove around a millimeter to get rid of all the smaller pits, the big one in the middle I'm not even going to try and remove.
Using a 40mm endmill it looks like my side to side tramming is pretty good but depthwise it varies and there's a tiny tiny edge.
I don't think this is related to my head tramming though due to how it varies, probably more related to the machine being old and worn and this plate being heavy as heck causing movements.
I can only machine ~60% of the depth and 80% of the width per setup since the plate is a bit big for this mill, will set it up again later tonight and continue.
The other plate is thinner(100mm versus this 140mm or so) so I will see if I can remove 40mm from the backside which is not solid but rather a 30mm edge around the entire casting, this just to get them to sit on an even height later on.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 3,742
When you say "flattening", how flat do you intend?
After the clean-up from the milling machine, what other processes do you have in mind to improve the flattness further, if necessary?
Edit: spelling
After the clean-up from the milling machine, what other processes do you have in mind to improve the flattness further, if necessary?
Edit: spelling
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2019
- Messages
- 496
It will definitely not be surface plate quality.
If it's within 0.5mm across the entire plate I'm happy but I think it will be within 0.1 judging by the DRO and what I've been able to measure so far.
I'm probably just going to do a light stoning once I've milled the entire thing and then see if I can use my surface plate to measure this.
I'm thinking of setting them up side by side and using the surface plate as a base for my indicator stand, extending the arm over to the cast iron and seeing how close it is.
I would love to build an electric scraper and scrape it in even better but I don't have that kind of time nor do I have a plate large enough.
If it's within 0.5mm across the entire plate I'm happy but I think it will be within 0.1 judging by the DRO and what I've been able to measure so far.
I'm probably just going to do a light stoning once I've milled the entire thing and then see if I can use my surface plate to measure this.
I'm thinking of setting them up side by side and using the surface plate as a base for my indicator stand, extending the arm over to the cast iron and seeing how close it is.
I would love to build an electric scraper and scrape it in even better but I don't have that kind of time nor do I have a plate large enough.
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2020
- Messages
- 793
If there was a Blanchard grinder at a shop somewhere local to you, I think that piece would be worth the effort and cost to have them clean it up. I have a smaller one (steel) which is only about 40mm thick and was a ground die plate or something. I got it from a frkendo dad’s estate and besides having his name stamped in it. I use it as a bench block. I can just lift it so it isn’t super portable but I find it handy.
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