Organising workshop

[RickyH]

I have a large workshop with lots of power and hand tools as well as materials.  There is some old metal shelving from the previous owner but it's not easy to change the shelf heights.  I need to get it organised so I can find things easily and keep it neat.  Anyone got any thoughts / theories on how to arrange a good workshop?  Obviously, doing it without spending any / much cash is important.

[Jason]

Hi @RickyH

Thanks for posting. I'm sure the Workshop community will be keen to share some suggestions with you. You might also find these posts interesting:

• Before and after pegboard inspiration

• Garage storage

• Your top storage ideas

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to Workshop. It's great to have you join the community. Please let me know if you need a hand to get the most from the site.

Jason

[DIY_Dad]

I put 'French cleats' on one of my garage walls.

Take a length of timber and rip it down the middle at 45 degrees.

You can the build any custom mounts that you need.

The best thing is that you can simply move the cleats around and quickly rearrange your layout.

There are loads of resources on youtube for this.

Good luck

[Isobel]

@RickyH

I would recommend using storage tubs on your existing shelving. Cheap, easy and keeps things really tidy.

[lvdm50]

Have a look at this video

https://www.facebook.com/thewoodworkingtips/videos/851636358303335/

[CathD]

Ceiling racks are also a great idea for a workshop. 

[MartyH]

Agree that pegboards, lots of shelves and plastic tubs are the way to go.

[Andy_Mann]

Well done RickyH for having a large garage. Envy, envy, envy.

My workspace is 12'x10', being the back end of our rollerdoored single garage.

I have a mixture of stationery cabinets, & 3 drawer filing cabinets.

 My latest addition consists of a 2 drawer lateral filing cabinet, which is fitted with 100mm pivoting & lockable castors (Bunnings, yah). Only problem with that, was that if I had the drawers loaded & opened either one, it tended to fall towards me. My solution was to fabricate & fit 2 slideout bars under the lateral filing cabinet, that could slide under a couple of 2 drawer filing cabinets, which I'd pop rivetted back to back, also on castors.

My next project is to mount some used slatwall, for very versatile open wall storage,

though pegboard would've been cheaper.

My workbench, is a hacked heavy duty pallet rack, which I will soon rejig to make it more useable.

[Wayne]

I made my own parts boxes with removable dividers just glued and brad nailed together using 18mm MDF. quick and easy and inexpensive and you know they will fit the desired space!

[RickyH]

Thanks for all of your great ideas.  I thought I'd send an update on this.  I bought a pretty large 2nd hand kitchen on Gumtree for a bargain and am nearly done organising it.  Once it's done, I will have over 7m of bench space plus 2 large cupboards and a few overhead cabinets.  The old metal shelving has just left in the council cleanup... YIHA.  

I will certainly use some of your great ideas to organise the space over the bench as well as some ceiling storage.  Just need to work out electrical plans and get someone to do that for me before I move forward.

Thanks heaps,

Ricky