Where do you store parts???

[cantex]

So after searching everywhere it seems, my garage is always a mess.
I rebuild old Hondas and my detached 2 car garage has 4 bikes in there, parts for another 8, and no where left to walk. There's not much room in the attic. kinda filled with exhausts and big items already.

i would love to see some pics of working garages...

cantex

 

[Bull]

Pics of your setup certainly would help, so we can see how you have stuff organized now.

If you are using shelves, ceiling storage, attic storage and still don't have room to walk, I would say you need either to build a storage shed, expand your garage, use your basement, or get rid of a lot of stuff.

I look at space restrictions the same way as budgetary restrictions. If I desperately want something but don't have a big enough budget, then I can't get it. If I want to store five cars and parts but only have room for three, then I need to limit myself to three.

It sounds like you are stuffing that proverbial five pound bag with a lot more than ten pounds of **** (not calling yourself ****, just using the metaphor). Is this a business or a hobby? Do you really need all of these parts, or are they "just in case" parts?

I'm moving this to the general garage discussion area, too.

 

[Certainteed]

i don't have a pic, so I'll do my best to describe my small-parts storage bins...

i asked everyone in my family to switch to the coffee that comes in the blue plastic containers. those containers have built-in handles.

a 1x3 will fit through the handle. so i'll slip a bunch of those coffee containers (with lids) onto a 1x3 and space them out evenely. then I route a 3/4" grove into a pair of 2-bys at an angle. last, i mount the routed 2-bys on the walls, between legs of benches, or wherever else i need storage.

drop the 1x3 into the groves and the coffee containers just hang there, angled outward/upward.

i hope i explained this well-enough that you can reproduce it. and i appologize to your family for having to consume all that bad coffee

 

[J Banning]

Subscribed.

I work on bikes too and am currently redoing my whole 2-car attached garage and trying to make the most out of the space I have available.

Suggestions I can make (sorry, no pics handy):

• As long as your wall height allows for it, make hanging shelves above head height to make the most use of floor and bench space. Great for stuff you don't use all the time.
• like the previous item, do the same for the space above your garage doors. Great for ladders, spare lumber, etc.
• to hide clutter and make for a cleaner look in the shop, put faces on all your shelves and cabinets. I made benches and used 1/4 sheathing as sliding doors for the fronts.
• Put all the spare parts in a shed (I'm looking to build a 10x16 this summer for just that).

-B

 

[turbodave]

I store parts anywhere I can...lol...

I do all my work in the detatched 23x26 garage behind the house, but I rent a 30x100 barn for storage (16cars + tons of parts). In the barn I've got a 10x30 area with shelving down both 30' walls, across the back wall, and another row of wire shelves on casters in the middle. Parts are either in totes, cardboard boxes, or laid out on shelves.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have some dedicated shelving for motorcycle parts to keep them at least somewhat organized. I used those cheap metal shelf units that you bolt together and they work well enough, but it's your choice depending on what you want to spend. It does help to identify the parts, by putting them in boxes or plastic bags and then writing a description on them.

 

[Outlawmws]

i don't have a pic, so I'll do my best to describe my small-parts storage bins...

You really need to solve this first to get good comments.

Or as we say at GJ:





Having said that, here is my thread on collecting fasteners as a start:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117174

 

[sselander]

One way to get more of the blue plastic maxwell house coffee containers is to place an ad on freecycle or craigslist. There is a nice post on here where someone made a neat wooden organizer for them.

 

[SGKent]

if the containers are round I see part of the issue there. You are wasting space each time you use one. We use bankers boxes on shelves. I keep an inventory in Excel for each box and a copy goes on each box. When I need something and we don't know where to start we do a search in Excel to find the item, figure which box it is in and go get it. We restored a 1977 VW bus and have about 100,000 miles worth of wear for hard to find parts or things where one never sees the part again as they are NLA. Add to that Acura and Sable brake parts, tools, camping gear and the normal household hardware - one cannot make this happen in coffee cans. Coffee cans sound like where do I throw these old bolts and the old hinge? Those go in the recycle bin unless they are a hard to find special bolt or nut.

 

[Need4racin]

outside, on pallets in an cut out area of the woods on the back of the property. If it's a motor or something you would have to make some kind of covering for it, so rain doesn't run down the intake. Only bad part is you can't store anything clean or interior wise outside.