My shops getting crowded lately, and I need to reorganize. I have lots of ideas, but I thought I’d tap into this group to find out what works for y’all (and what doesn’t) before I make up my mind.

My shop is a detached, uninsulated and unheated garage, 20x21, with 9’ bare concrete block walls, peaked wood framed roof, and a single 16’ wide garage door. We don’t park cars in it. Its hard to believe I could crowd up a space that big, when cars never go in, but that’s the way it is. My tool collection has been growing nicely, and the garage houses the usual assortment, aside from workshop equipment. Bikes, windsurfer, garden gear & seasonal things, as well as boxes & boxes of “stuff” in storage.

My biggest problem is that with the exception of one elevated platform, 9’ up, everything is either on the floor, or on one of my two workbenches. There is no cabinetry and very little shelving. So I intend to build cabinets & shelving, & maybe modify my existing half-assed workbenches, but I’m still undecided as to best layout / arrangement. Here are some of my thoughts.

The conventional approach seems to be mounting the various tools on mobile stands, so they can be rolled out of the way when they are not in use. I like this for certain tools (ie. table saw, thickness planer). Not just wheels on the existing stands, but rolling cabinets, to make use of the wasted space underneath these tools. These rolling cabinets could then nest underneath other benches / cabinets when not in use. The extra height wouldn’t be an obstacle. I like to have at least one high workbench, around 45” off the floor.

One alternative idea I saw was a mobile worktable, designed so it could nest over top of stationary tools. The guy who built it sized it to fit over both his table saw and his chest freezer, both of which stayed put. It was on retractable wheels, and when the wheels were raised, it would settle at the right height to be used as outfeed extension for the saw. Kind of an elegant solution.

What I have in mind for the heavy jointer, is to place it along the wall with cabinets on either side that would double as infeed / outfeed extensions. Then there could be a hinged worktable above the jointer that would swing up out of the way when I need access to the jointer, but when lowered could be used as another elevated work surface. This way, I wouldn’t be tempted to pile things up on the jointer surface (as I am now – it’s a flat surface, just begging to have stuff piled on it )

Benchtop tools are already mounted on plywood bases, so they can be moved around, but at the moment, there’s no place to store them when not in use, except on the floor, or on a workbench. Some kind of stacked “tool locker” might be good for these.

One frustration at the moment is that every tool has a different outfeed height. Once I settle on a comfortable working height, all tools will be arranged to be at uniform outfeed height. Then I can modify one of the workbenches to that height, or make some new sawhorses specific to that height, or whatever.

Some of the other things I have in mind are:

lumber rack – ‘nuff said

rewiring -- the electric outlets are all along one 10’ stretch of wall, with NOTHING around the other sides. I am tired of tripping over extension cords snaking all around my ankles.

better lighting -- currently consists of two fluorescent fixtures and two bare incandescent bulbs, plus whatever dedicated lighting is on a few of the tools, and one “drafting lamp” over a workbench. The fluorescent fixtures are mounted on the wall at the moment, taking up valuable potential shelf (or lumber rack) space.

better audio – my tinny little radio keeps drifting off station.

And of course, whatever arrangement I come up with, it has to leave at least a 20x 4’ space unobstructed, for building the next boat. So if anyone has any brilliant suggestions on any part of the above, I’m happy to hear them.

Ken