Hello! New Guy Here starting a little workshop

[GarageDan]

Hi! I stumbed across this forum looking for ideas on how to build my little shop and spent an hour reading "Restored 1930's Auto Shop". It was at this point I realized I was in the right place. I'm hoping you guys can help me.

I've got a full basement/garage in my house and after years of having it full of junk we've cleaned it out and I'm going to make a little workshop downstairs. I do general handyman stuff ranging from automotive maintenance/repair to general repair stuff to reloading ammo to building pinewood derby cars with my son. Right now I have a pretty blank slate of stuff to start. I have a little tool box, a 3' x 6' cabinet and just purchased a harbor freight workbench. I have a grinder, air compressor and drill press. Just basic garage tool stuff.

I need to run air lines, more light fixtures and more electrical plugs. My first question is about the electrical outlets. I was going to run a new breaker in the electrical box and put the outlets on the ceiling joists overhead. I thought then they would be out of the way and I could have a bunch of them. This would also keep me from having to install boxes on cement block walls. Should I use a 20amp breaker and 12 guage wire? How many outlets can I have on this one circuit? I wouldn't use them all at once, but I thought it would be good to have alot of them and keep from having to drag cords around.

All suggestions are welcome.

 

[regguy1]

Welcome,

You should find plenty of ideas here to use in finishing your space.
I'm not sure I've done to my garage is what you're looking for but maybe something could be of use: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

 

[Kevin54]

You may get a better response in the electrical section. Ask a Mod to move it, or just ask in the electrical section with a simple question and link it back to here.

 

[sams]

I can't help you with the electrics however there are some ideas in my worklog that you might be able to use for your layout. Link in my signiture

 

[camarotoolman]

Your building department could answer your questions too. I think its 4 outlets per wire.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

Just some personal experience, in my old workshop, I had a similar setup for the electrical. It's good and bad, IMO, because while it kept my walls clear for better wall storage, having a cord hanging really got to be a pain at times. I ended up basically tacking my larger items power cord to the wall anyway. In my home, I have a large enough garage that I can fit everything, and am adtually doing both. I'm adding 3 outlets to the ceiling and mounting retractable extensions that I can pull down when needed, yet can hook up my saws, etc along the wall, making a much more user friendly setup. Depending on your layout, you can now be creative and put the wall outlets that best suit your needs, and worse case scenario, put them wher you can cover with pegboard and make it a dual purpose area. Small spaces need flexibility.

Just my $0.02

Good luck

 

[PT Doc]

Just mount a stud vertically for the sole purpose of having the electrical outlet a usable height. Outlets in the ceiling are likely to work out well.

 

[GarageDan]

Thanks to this site I got off my rear end and went to work. This is where I've been working for the last 6 years.

But after years of the basement being piled high with junk I have this spot:

So I cleaned out the final junk that hasn't been sold to this:

After a couple of hours work I have this:

It's a start.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

Nicely done

 

[GarageDan]

One thing I have to fix before I go too far is water leaks. This wall doesn't leak, but a few others do and I need to fix that before I finish any walls. Not looking forward to that.

 

[AZ Pete]

I can't say how many outlets per circuit, but I agree that 20 amp is what will best suit shop use. You also might assess any need for a 220 v circuit or two..

 

[GarageDan]

Did a little more work in the shop today as it was too wet and cold outside to do anything. Moved all the tools and junk into the shop area, new light bulbs in all the fixtures, etc. I think I mentioned how easy it is for a bench to get messy...

My puppy doesn't seem to mind however.

 

[GarageDan]

Some of you may recognize my new workbench as coming from Harbor Freight. It's actually pretty good, real wood, heavy duty and stuff. Once I got it together I decided the top was too nice and that I wouldn't comfortably pound on it, paint on it or whatever one shoudl do on a workbench. So I decided it needed a top.

I found a piece of 1/2" plywood lying around. It was a little bit bigger than the original bench 20" x 60", but I decided to let it stay. It's thick enough and gives me a little bigger bench. But how to attach it?

If you're familiar with this bench you'll know it has holes in the top for dowels. It has something to do with the vice and woodworking, I dunno really. However it did solve my problem of attaching the plywood to the bench without drilling into it. I cut some hardwood dowels to fill the holes and screwed the dowels into the plywood and then drop the new top onto the bench. Fits like a glove and now I can bang away like you're supposed to.

I do plan add a 2x4 front to the front and back also.

 

[GarageDan]

Did a little work today, but not much. I took some things to my parents house and got around to mentioning that I'd been setting up my workshop. When I mentioned that I really had more tools than my box could hold, she offered me my Granddaddy's old tool box. It's not the greatest thing, an old bottom of the line setup, but it's just what I needed and it was Granddad's.

I mentioned in another post that he was alot like Mr. Johnson in the tread "restored 1930s garage" in that they both kept odds and ends and were a little messy. Well, except for one old 1/4" Craftsman Ratchet Drive (which I love) and some old screwdrivers the toolboxes were mostly filled with junk and dirt. I spent two hours dumping the drawers out and cleaning the boxes. I'm letting it air out tonight before I start putting tools in it to make sure it's all dry.

Now I just have to decide how to organize my boxes....

 

[GarageDan]

Now with two tool boxes I'm able to ditch that little brown bookshelf and have give my tools some breathing room.

I can finally have my ratches and extentions in a drawer, SEI Sockets in a drawer and Metric sockets in a drawer. However, I must say that after buying the racks to put the sockets on and eliminating all the junk it looks like I need more sockets!

And I'm able to move my screwdrivers to their own drawer. Anyone need a screwdriver?

How about some thing else?

Organizing the tools in the office is just a difficult as any other garage stuff.

 

[GarageDan]

Oh and so far I've culled all my junk screwdrivers and sockets.

 

[GarageDan]

I always thought that I had a pretty good socket collection, but after spreading it out like that I realize I don't. The Sears 309 Mechanics set is on sale for $199 locally and I may have to go pick it up with my Christmas money.

Funny thing is that with my small set of sockets over the last 10 years I've been able to do 90% of the work I need to with them. I've had to run out an buy bigger sockets before, but for all things under 22mm I've never had an issue. Maybe I should keep my $200.

 

[78Bird]

I'd keep it for now, add when you run into issues and needs.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

I'd hang on to my cash and just add as I needed and/or pick up a used set of sockets.

 

[bobemmerich]

Yeah, I'd keep your cash and just buy what you need at the time. 20amp circuit is fine, but I would put the outlets on the wall using conduit or "BX" cable. You can screw down the boxes/clamps with Tapcon screws. Depending on the span of the wall and what you plan to use, I would go about every 4ft or so.

 

[GarageDan]

My workbench has pounds and pounds of misc bolts, nails, screws, eyelets, cotter keys, etc. For the last few days I've been sorting them and putting them into little drawers...

 

[GarageDan]

My garage was just coming together and then bam! We've moved and sold the house. Good news is that I should close on the new house in a month. It doesn't have a basement, but it does have a three car garage! Now what to do with it????

 

[chief ben]

I have three shops the big one on the left is the welding shop 26 X 50,
the small 12 X 16 wood storage building on the right is the machine shop,
and I have a 12 X 40 mobile home next to the welding shop for my carpenter shop, the machine shop has Heat & Air,

Inside welding shop

Work bench in welding shop

inside the machine shop

inside the carpenter shop

the new barn we had put in last year

and this is the lay out with out the new Barn 1 & 1/4 acre

So see you can get a lot in small places