Dual Use (wood/auto) Shop Hints

[kf4zht]

Anyone here run have a "dual use" shop? When I started building my tool collection it was mostly automotive and metal fab. Growing up I was always in my dads woodshop, and now that I am buying some basic woodworking tools for house projects I realize how much I miss it.

Best way I can think of is to have all the wood stuff on wheels so I can just put it out of the way when done and make sure all metal dust is cleaned up before starting anything.

 

[eldirector]

My shop/garage is all-purpose: parking, auto repair, and some woodworking. I'm slowly learning to keep stuff covered to reduce dust (wood or metal) from getting into everything. I started with open shelves and benches, and am migrating to cabinets.

I like the wheel idea. I'd use my tablesaw more if it was on wheels. It is a pain to move!

 

[sauceonside]

I store all of my woodworking power tools on a grocery warehouse cart that I bought at an auction. Capacity is 2,000 pounds, has 2 shelves and is approx 6 ft tall x 6 Ft wide x 3 Ft deep. It sits in the corner of my 1 1/2 car garage until I need it. Paid about $80 for it.

 

[cashishift]

You could buy a couple of these for all your tools

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2383

 

[pmpski_1]

I store all of my woodworking power tools on a grocery warehouse cart that I bought at an auction. Capacity is 2,000 pounds, has 2 shelves and is approx 6 ft tall x 6 Ft wide x 3 Ft deep. It sits in the corner of my 1 1/2 car garage until I need it. Paid about $80 for it.

Got a picture?

 

[BigRed390]

My shop is half and half, so i feel your pain. Never enough space. Here's a short description. Maybe it'll give you a few ideas as to what NOT to do. For the record, my daily driver stays in the driveway and I'm not married, so there's no point of contention there.

I've got a dual purpose workbench on one side that I currently use for both automotive stuff and woodworking projects. It holds my grinder, drill press, 2 vises, etc. My toolbox, floor jack, jack stands etc. sit beside it. I store all my power tools below the bench and alternate my POS table saw and my compound miter saw on a b&d workmate in the middle of the "shop" bay. With this setup, i've still got a lot of open floor space to work around things. However, I'm planning on adding a few larger power tools (either a cabinet or a hybrid table saw, planer, jointer, etc. ) and building a dedicated woodworking bench (a roubo design, for those familiar with such). This will likely kill my "set up a card table and have Christmas dinner in the garage" space, but i should be able to get by.

My '62 galaxie has the other side of the shop. Anybody who's familiar with a galaxie knows that wherever you put it, that's all you're putting there. I've got enough room to work around it but it's tight.

Never enough space!! I'd love to have a dedicated shop for both woodworking and auto work (and a separate building for a music studio while I'm sitting here daydreaming!) but that will have to wait.

Best of luck in your endeavor. I know a lot of guys who believe in putting everything on wheels. This works. Also, make sure all of your surfaces (benches, router tables, etc.) are the same height if possible. This lets you work longer boards using the rest of your shop for an outfeed table.

 

[Joe69]

That's exactly why I bought a folding, contractor type table saw. It folds up and rolls into a corner when not in use. I'll be organizing my new shop soon, since we'll be moving in this weekend, so I'll be watching this thread too.

Joe

 

[Shocker]

I was going to be a dual use auto/woodworking shop, but I have changed my mind to some degree.

A couple of months ago, I built a lean-to carport to have a covered area for my jetski's. Well, now I am thinking of doing a slab and enclosing the whole thing (9x20) and make it a dedicated wood working shop.

Wood dust gets everywhere.

 

[Earl]

2 tool boxes. If you have the room you need to separate your tools. Want to piss yourself off? Grab a wrench that you forgot to wipe off after the last session with the auto and get some grease on your hands and then grab that piece of wood you just spent your time getting sized and sanded to perfection. Makes you cuss in different flavors. I have a larger Craftsman chest and roll around for the auto tools and the same set up but smaller for the wood working tools. If you are going to be doing work that will make tons of dust see if you can store your stuff in a manner that you can keep the shavings and dust out of the storage areas. IE- keep the tool boxes closed, store your pneumatic or electric tools that you may use in an automotive environment (greasy/oily) in a manner that you can keep the dust away from them. Over all I haven't had to many issues. Just have to remember to put stuff back and keep the storage containers closed.
Earl

 

[crewchief888]

i store my woodworking stuff in my hobby/reloading room in my basement. this room was originally a woodworking shop that was bult by the previous owner. if i didnt have **** stored in there, i'd probably have more wood tooling.
most of my wood work gets done in the wintertime, and is very limited, like refinishing kitchen cabinets,and replacing and finishing trim.

i keep my shop vac close by and **** up everything i can, i'm still finding sanding dust from last years kitchen remodel.

 

[Tman]

Rolling tools is the key. I haul the saws out to the middle to work. Allows me to clean better as well.

 

[shovel]

My situation is just the opposite of the OPs. My garage started out a woodworking shop. I built cabinets and furniture for years. One morning I woke up and told my wife that I would rather run the weedeater than build furniture. She got kinda wide-eyed because she knows how much I HATE running the weedeater! I have sold most of my woodworking equipment, only keeping my Unisaw. It is on wheels and has a cover on it. We have built a 59 chevy pickup and am now doing a 68 swb chevy. Next project is a trailer-mounted BBQ pit then restore a 83 Harley Lowrider. No furniture in the forecast! I dont really see how a woodworking shop and auto/welding shop can co-exist. I'm hoping that someday I can have both. The best you can do is have almost everything on wheels to move around as best you can.

 

[NUTTSGT]

My garage started life as a gas station/convience store. I use one side for auto work and the other side for wood/home projects.

 

[crewchief888]

My garage started life as a gas station/convience store. I use one side for auto work and the other side for wood/home projects.

any pics of it?

and i'll take a slurpy

 

[NUTTSGT]

any pics of it?

and i'll take a slurpy

Slurppy, no slurppy, pepsi

I've posted these in different threads I believe. It was built in 1936 or 37, the concrete is showing it's age and needs a new floor.

Wood/home project side

garage side

 

[crewchief888]

i like it

it's a good thing that nobody ever tore it down to put in a 7-11
love those old buildings, just dont seem to see em anymore

 

[tommywommy]

I have a 30' X 50' workshop. Half is dedicated to woodworking and the other half is automobile work. I've had it for about two years, and last summer, it was wrecked by a tornado and crappy contractor. I just now got it back where I want it and have started enjoying it. Having a split shop is great. When I glue up a wood project, I can go tinker with my '71 Torino while it dries. After the tornado, I had the shop insulated with blown in insulation. The main problem now is heating it adequately. Believe it or not, it gets cold in Texas in the winter.

 

[willymakeit]

I have both welding/metal and woodworking equip. in my 24X36. Tablesaws are covered to keep metal sparks out [think fire]. Use a dust collector on all equip. and lots of cleanup. Not many open shelves, mainly cabinets.

 

[schultzy]

I took an old bathroom vanity that was going to be thrown out, put some casters on it and a piece of 3/4 plywood on the top. I store all my nail guns , miter saw and other tools in there. It fits under my 12 foot workbench and when I have a project I just wheel it out and I have a nice bench for wood working projects.

 

[rsanter]

my garage is multi purpose
woodworking/metal working & welding/ automotive work & engine building

I do not have enough room so nearly everything in on wheels including my Bport mill.
the biggest problem is keeping the wood dust out of the mill and lathe. when doing woodworking I do little overkill in covering the ways, table, and then the whole machine so as not to contaminate them and cause excess wear.
all of my hand tools get cleaned very well before going back into the box so I do not have problems with the tool contaminating the wood and I also even have a smaller toolset in my machinist box that is only used there.
when a project is done and I change modes of what I will be doing in the garage I do a cleanup and use a yard blower and conpressed air to clean up all equipment being put away and all equipment that is being pulled out to be used.
to convert the steel table (for welding and auto work) to be used for wood only takes setting a piece of plywood on the top of it.
currently working in a 3 car garage. pictures below are the metalworking side. the project mustang is in the middle and the wifes car parks on the other side with the toolboxes. to do woodworking to automotive work the wifes car has to go outside for the day.

been doing it this way for about 20 years now and so far has worked well.
yes I would rather have seperate shops for doing each, but that is not in the cards untill I hit the lotto or a long lost rich relative dies and leaves me a bunch of money

bob
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