Suggestions for my new shop improvement

[Aimsmall]

Jerry's shop improvement thread

After working out of a 2 car garage for 13 years I have finally bought a bigger place. I'm looking for suggestions on how to improve the place. I want the shop to be a clean and organized nice looking place as I do spend a lot of time here and I want to enjoy being here as much as possible. I'll update the thread with pics and ideas as I go. I'll add more pics and details soon.

Current plans include drywall, roll up door in the back of the shop (where the plywood is on the wall), lighting upgrade (LED?), 2 post lift and motorcycle lift, shop sink, the beloved hf44 toolbox/workbench build all around, and a 60" tv on the wall. I expect this to take a long time to fund and build but hopefully I can get some of the projects done every year.

I know you guys will need more pics and measurements to help and I'll get them as soon as I can. One thing I need suggestions for are how to tie in the metal shop to the main shop and what type of doors would work best there. I'm thinking basic roll up door would be cheap and easy but vertical space is limited there due to the slope roof. Metal shop on the left is 15' wide by 30' deep main shop is 40'x30' with 11' to the rafters. There's also a 15' wide covered area on the right side and on the back side (I'll get some more pics soon). All ideas are welcome for any aspect of the shop. There's also a good amount of space above the rafters that I'm not sure how I can utilize.

 

[JohnnyK8]

Congrats!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[oldironfarmer]

Looks like a great space to work with.

By metal shop, I assume you mean the lean to on the left of the front picture. Are you asking about tieing the roof in, or providing interior access? For an access door you might consider a sliding door since the overhead access is somewhat limited.

Light look pretty good to me, and with sheetrock they will put out more light. I'm very happy with T-8's. They are very cost effective.

It will be fun to watch your improvements.

 

[crocket468]

The first and biggest improvement you can make is to get rid of that dreadful fl400 taking up valuable floor space. Send it my way and ill be more than happy to dispose of it for you.


Tagged for interest...

 

[Aimsmall]

The first and biggest improvement you can make is to get rid of that dreadful fl400 taking up valuable floor space. Send it my way and ill be more than happy to dispose of it for you.


Tagged for interest...

LOL, I'd be happy to get rid of it, one of my customers has 8 of them and they are always needing repairs, good for my wallet but they can be a pain to work on.

Thanks for all the comments guys

 

[Aimsmall]

Looks like a great space to work with.

By metal shop, I assume you mean the lean to on the left of the front picture. Are you asking about tieing the roof in, or providing interior access? For an access door you might consider a sliding door since the overhead access is somewhat limited.

Light look pretty good to me, and with sheetrock they will put out more light. I'm very happy with T-8's. They are very cost effective.

It will be fun to watch your improvements.

Correct, lean to on the left, right now it's got sliding doors on the front and back which are pretty flimsy and a man size entry door to the main shop, what I'd like is to take out the interior door and just have a open walk way there big enough to to fit a quad through. In order to do that I feel I need to improve the exterior doors for security and to keep rodents out.

A friend suggested we build a vertical bifold door which could be an viable option but a roll up would be way faster and easier.

 

[Aimsmall]

Front outside


Front inside


Rear inside (note man door on right that I want to remove)


This used to be a large fan enclosure, the shop was previously used by a painter and I'd like to put a roll up door here.

 

[Aimsmall]

Upgraded the shop this weekend by building a stand for my new bender. Digging a 50' trench to add a shop sink tomorrow.

 

[Aimsmall]

Added some race deck flooring and built a new cart for my little Lincoln welder. Also got a sand blast cabinet set up.

 

[Aimsmall]

Put about 30 yards of gravel down to keep the mud out of the shop, cut back the hill I'm standing on about 6 feet to make the yard a little wider so it's easier to turn around with the car hauler trailer.

 

[Aimsmall]

Spent a day teaching the boys in the family what its like to be a gear head. They removed the engine from this little motorcycle then cleaned the carb then tore down the top end. We made a parts list together, I got everything and a week later and they put it all back together.

We also spent a couple hours learning how to weld. The boys are always asking for another shop day now.

 

[Aimsmall]

Just a Sunday in the shop with my wife, a few friends and my dogs. Life is good

 

[Aimsmall]

New tool box, it's a husky 66"x24" couldn't beat $600 and I really needed the extra space. So far I'm very happy with it.



Scored this 40 ton press for free, the ram is blown out so I'll have to come up with a fix for that.

 

[Aimsmall]

A few additions lately.
Trenched 70' to add a water line for a shop sink then dug a 4' deep 30" diameter hole to make a drywell for the sink drain. Also added a hot and cold hose bib on the side of the building.

 

[Aimsmall]

Installed the roll up door at the back of the shop where the giant hole was.

 

[Aimsmall]

Found this dash out of a duece and a half military truck sitting in someone's front yard, bought it for really cheap and built a cool shelf for the shop. Set it up with a motion sensor switch to light up whenever someone is in the shop.

 

[Aimsmall]

One of my friends is an electrician, after he saw my electrical panel in the shop was way too small and the wiring was a huge mess he offered to help me install a new panel and rewire the whole place. I plan on doing drywall in here and since all of the wires were on the outside of the studs it all had to be moved anyway.

One of my customers gave me some really nice ceiling speakers so I built some boxes for them and installed them in the rafters. In one of the pics you can see a box on the top right, it's also showing the dashboard lit up and some of the rewired electrical.

 

[oldironfarmer]

You've been getting with it! I really like the Deuce and a Half dash. Super cool!

 

[Aimsmall]

You've been getting with it! I really like the Deuce and a Half dash. Super cool!

I've actually been so busy working on customer stuff I feel like I have had very little time to work on the shop. It's been exactly one year since we bought the house and looking back I guess I did get a couple of things checked off the list.

As for the deuce shelf, I went back to the place where I found the dash and the guy had a windshield there with the frame, fold up windows, wipers and all so I bought that and have plans to build an interesting shelf out of it that will have some lighting inside, access through the windshield and a few other little details to make it cool.

Thanks for your comment, I'll be sure to post more pics as I go.

 

[Aimsmall]

Hey guys, it's been awhile since I had anything good to post but I've been busy and have a few updates. Check it out.

 

[Aimsmall]

The shops even further along now then the pics show, I painted the frames of the work benches and stained the tops with a black stain then put a few coats of tung oil on them, they look pretty good for now. The big steel table is almost done too, I plan to mount the vice and the bench grinder on it and maybe throw a couple cabinets on the bottom shelf. Stereo cabinet is all done and the new stereo rocks the shop.

Still on the list is epoxy floor, newage cabinets and steel work benches, new garage doors, and then I'll move on to the other room.

I'll try to post a few more pics over the weekend. Thanks for looking.

 

[Aimsmall]

Just posting this one to show the stereo cabinet. I bought the cabinet and then did a few modifications during assembly and before installing it. I cut 2" off the back to make it sit in closer to the wall, cut a hole and added a computer style cooling fan in directly underneath the stereo and I also added some steel across the bottom to stiffen up tha cabinet as well as create a little valance to hide a light behind in the future. I put hinges on the doors instead of using the sliding system it was designed for, the door is open on the left side where the dewalt stuff is.

 

[patrickg20]

Awesome update! Your shop is looking great, and I really like the new color choices. I'm also glad to see you passing along your knowledge to the kids. Keep up the good work.

 

[Aimsmall]

Thanks Patrick I'm going to post another little update here in a minute.

 

[Aimsmall]

Scored some free wall cabinets that were removed from a local school before demo, I removed all the tape and hardware tonight in preparation for paint and install.



Painted this old map cabinet, it was an ugly tan color and a little rusty. It came out super nice, I'm very happy with it.




I'm no expert when it comes to paint but I have done a few projects over the years and have a few ideas on how to get these cabinets looking good again. My plan is to clean them then give them a light sand by hand with 220 grit (that's what I have on hand but could go get some 120 if needed). After cleaning and sanding I'll use some bondo to patch a few small problem areas. Next I'll use an oil base "cover stain" primer, then paint them with behr ultra cut with a little acetone using a foam roller.

Please chime in if any of this sounds wrong or if you know a better method. Thank you

 

[cros13]

nice progress with the shop, huge transformation, its so much brighter now!

Now tell me... is the zed yours? whats in the works with her ?

Rudi.

 

[Cris B]

Some great progress on this shop, each update seems to be a massive step forwards and it's looking good! What was the deal with the aged wood being sanded in the earlier photo?

 

[Aimsmall]

Cros, the Z is a friends car he is building for auto cross racing it's got a LS1 in there with a Chevy trans, the roll cage and dash are built, some of the suspension upgrades have been done but there's more to do there. He's also got some fiberglass stuff he wants to add to allow larger rims and tires. Should be a fun little car whenever it's finally driveable.

Cris, the sanding was on the work bench top, it was pretty beat up from years of auto body work by the PO. I also sanded my old bench I brought with me. I stained them and put some tung oil on them to make look a little nicer until I have the funds to build my steel benches.

 

[Aimsmall]

Painted up those cabinets and some of my buddy's came over and helped me throw them up on the wall. Probably going to put another coat of paint on them but you get the idea. Also mounted my old tv up on the wall while we were at it.

 

[JohnnyK8]

Re: Jerry's shop improvement thread

Dude your shop is super awesome.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Aimsmall]

Thanks Johnny, I'm trying to make it that way, hopefully in a few years I can be done working on it and just enjoy it.

 

[patrickg20]

Painted up those cabinets and some of my buddy's came over and helped me throw them up on the wall. Probably going to put another coat of paint on them but you get the idea. Also mounted my old tv up on the wall while we were at it.

Looking great!

 

[Unruh]

Looks Awesome. I'm currently working out of a two car garage and would love to bump up to something bigger!

 

[Aimsmall]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words.

 

[Aimsmall]

So no updates on the shop lately, still saving for the flooring and steel for the new benches. In the mean time I've been pretty busy working in the shop and thought I'd post a couple pics.

Hitch carrier for my jet ski.


And another carrier I built for a customer. This one is designed to carry a motorcycle or a jet ski.



This just shows the attachment for the motorcycle function. For the jet ski there's a different attachment that has a bow stop on it.

 

[Aimsmall]

I also sold my Chevy and bought a Ford.

 

[Aimsmall]

 

[Aimsmall]

Just a quick update above, spent the last couple days preparing the floor for epoxy coating which is going down tomorrow morning. I moved the race deck floor to the other room in the shop. Me and some friends built an RC track too.

 

[Lee Celtic]

Just Wow.. what a transformation.. watching with interest.. and thanks for the update.

 

[rpcraft]

I've learned over time cleaning and organizing is a state of mind but it looks like you are off to a great start. Cleaning and putting away the tools at the end of the day is the hardest part of the process, but it sure helps when you start and everything is where it belongs.