Best shop ideas

[milkmansdaughter]

Hi All,
We have a 2 1/2 stall "shop".

We started setting it up as a shop, but 2 years of illness, and a bad roof on another shed temporarily forced everything into the shop. Right now it's being used as storage for EVERYTHING (motorcycle, bikes, tools, lawnmowers, weedeaters, chain saws, chicken stuff, potting stuff, used feed bags, paint, gas cans, wood scraps... You name it- it's in there!) So much so, that right now the shop isn't usable as a shop.

My husband is retiring soon, and I want to have the shop completely cleaned out, painted and organized for his retirement.
All but shop stuff will be going into a new garden shed being added to the back of the property.

My questions for all of you are:
1) What is your favorite thing about your shop?
2) What have you done to make things easy to keep organized?
3) What are your favorite tools for woodworking?
4) If you had a 2 1/2 stall shop to work in, what would be on your dream list?
5) Looking at the pictures, what are some ideas for making this a great place for my husband to enjoy? (There's a mini fridge in there somewhere, along with a rolling microwave stand and microwave and coffee maker.)

I have a whole pile of pegboard that I got free that I plan on putting up. I also have a 14' counter with 35 drawers (free to me) that I have been using to sort tools, nuts and nails and screws, painting supplies, window splining stuff, masonry tools, etc.
There are two 14' long wood tables. We already have a jig saw, table saw, circular saw, hand saws. It was used as a shop before we had it, and it has LOTS of electrical outlets.

Here are some "before" pictures:

 

[PatriciaPNW]

I don’t know anything about shops but I do recognize a thoughtful partner - lucky man!

 

[Mini Horses]

So when you said 2.5 "stalls", I thought of my barn. Nope, bigger than that....thankfully, as mine are for mini horses. Now...that new shed better be a big one! You have a lot of stuff to relocate. (yeah, you know).

Gosh, there must be a place with layouts -- like you find for kitchens, baths, etc. Have you looked? Plus, I think that a woodworker would have some personal idea as to where they'd like things. You have a lot of the tools of the trade which tells me DH had some type of "shop" area before. Do you remember -- or have pics -- of how he had things arranged?

I don't do that type of work, so not much help with further suggestions. But, I am certain it will be awesome when done! I totally agree with PatriciaPNW!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Can't help you with the organization. Our "shop also houses 2 cars, plus a lot of "stuff". Have to take the cars out to do any wood working. It totally needs to be organized, but I have no organization skills, and tend to be ADHD, jumping from one project to an other, with the final result being that I often have multiple projects in the works, with nothing completed. @Beekissed is the queen of organization. Hopefully, she'll chime in here.

I envision creating one section of deep shelves, putting peg board up behind the work bench. Perhaps designating the back (or front) end of one of those bays for hubby's "man cave" area.

We're also kicking around how best to meet our storage needs. I'm even willing to give up my 10 x 12 chicken coop to turn it into a storage shed. The location is not ideal, but could be made workable. Then building a much smaller wood's style coop on skids. That would entail cutting my flock size by 75%.

 

[Britesea]

Ha! Your shop has NOTHING on my studio! You can still see bare floor!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

You have a lot of the tools of the trade which tells me DH had some type of "shop" area before. Do you remember -- or have pics -- of how he had things arranged?

When we bought the property, we envisioned a large garden and fruit trees (which we've since established). He didn't have a real shop before, but has always wanted one. He HAS worked with wood on and off through the years, and has always enjoyed that. We wanted to eventually set up the shop for his retirement, so we could eventually do craft shows, but his cancer has forced an earlier retirement than originally planned. But I've been collecting the tools over the last few years for rediculously low prices as I find them at rummage sales.
A lot of the stuff in the shop now belongs to our son. He was in the Army, and was stationed overseas. He is now looking for a house here in the States. And everything that has to do with the yard, garden, and chickens will be moved to the new shed. It'll look much better when I get that peg board up, and the other stuff out!
It looks bad now, but it won't for long. The weather is finally getting cool enough for me to tackle this as a project (a window AC unit is on the list for the shop.)

 

[Mini Horses]

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...3i10i30j0i22i30.mOBI5lok2lk#spf=1570349082264

try here...….

I entered this in Google search "small woodworking shop layout" and got the above. But, there are all manner of links below it. May help you out

 

[HomesteaderWife]

1) What is your favorite thing about your shop?
I love having a space to craft, tan, store, and relax all in one.
2) What have you done to make things easy to keep organized?
Shelving and regular cleanups keep it semi-organized
3) What are your favorite tools for woodworking?
I mainly work with art-based projects so I enjoy having a finishing sander to smooth boards and wood slices
4) If you had a 2 1/2 stall shop to work in, what would be on your dream list?
We want to have a big shop for tractor repair, tanning/skinning, crafting, wood-working (building tables, bed frames, etc with rough cut wood)
5) Looking at the pictures, what are some ideas for making this a great place for my husband to enjoy?
Mini-fridge well stocked for long shop hours is a plus. Comfortable chair to sit in, maybe some shop towels and an area to wash up if you don't have one already. A nice fan to plug up for a cool breeze (because you're in Alabama and I already know we just had a 104 degree F day even though it's OCTOBER!) Other than that....hmm...a nice toolbox to organize everything. And I saw an interesting chainsaw there, so maybe a place to hang spare bars/chains and some spare files and chainsaw tools?

What a thoughtful idea to get it all straightened up. However from experience- if he already KNOWS where things are, make sure to label or explain where things now are and how its organized. I cleaned one time and had my husband confused as to where all the tools now were.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Thanks for the great reply @HomesteaderWife . He's been sick, and still working full time, so he had kind of shelved the shop idea. I don't think he's been in there to actually do anything in months (and YES, this has been a HOT summer and fall here.) So, he doesn't know where anything is. I started organizing everything into that bank of drawers months ago, and they are labeled. I just have to get the other stuff out of there, and get that peg board up, and I think it will make a BIG difference.

Thanks for the idea of the finishing sander. That's something I hadn't even thought of yet. And I hadn't thought of a place to wash up or shop towels. Thanks!

 

[Mini Horses]

A vacuum (or two) wood, cut, sand -- hmmm...more than just a broom can handle.