This is a somewhat complicated and subjective question but I’m sure I’ll get lots of great ideas.
We’ll be moving in the next three to five years to a place about an hour and a half away. The place we’ll be moving to is a vacation house that we’ve been renting out in the summers but we’ve owned it for almost ten years. It’s got a full basement and I’ve got a good selection of hand and power tools (table saw, chop saw, routers, sawzall, CS, drills, etc.) there so I can pretty much get done any normal jobs. Here’s the problem. In three to five years I’ll have to move all the stuff from our current house to this one and that includes all my tools and supplies (I’ve been accused of being kind of a pack rat). I go to the vacation house about one weekend a month now to check on things and do the routine maintenance. Just so that the basement in the new place doesn’t become an impenetrable pile of junk when the move occurs, I’d like to start building storage cabinets for the walls and on casters to bring some semblance of organization to the new basement. I don’t need fancy cabinets but OSB is probably too low end. What would you guys and gals recommend that would be 1) not too expensive 2) able to be built with the normal tools I already have on site 3) able to be finished in a weekend (that is, one cabinet in one weekend) so it can’t be too complex 4) able to provide storage for most of the A-Z stuff that I’ve been accumulating all these years.
The good part is I’ve got some time to think about this. The bad part is that I’ve got lots of stuff. ( ‘ just can’t pass up a good buy)
All suggestions welcome.
Replies
good luck. i had a commercial body shop,then had tools at home.then my dad passed away and i brought his stuff home. then i get a call one day from a company ,who makes me a good offer on my comm location,so i sell.
i have it all in one place now and it's a mess. i keep trying to throw but it's hard to do. this weekend i gathered up 5 bodyman airfiles! now one would last me forever ,but what to do with the rest? i could sell em for 20.00 a piece but i paid about 200. for em so i'm keeping them.
for storage cabinets,if you can find someone tearing out a old youngstown metal kitchen cabinets,grab them,they make great cabinets.
i actually prefer my stuff to sit on open shelves,that way i can see it and not forget i have it.i use 2x8"s for the shelves.
if you want to make cabinets i would go with mdf and paint them up. oak/birch plywood is nice to stain up,try and find some damaged at lowes or hd everytime your in there,i can usally get it for about 20. a sheet.
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
quote "i could sell em for 20.00 a piece but i paid about 200. for em so i'm keeping them."that's the spirit! Wait and let your wife sell them for $10 each.My father and grandfather are both packrats too. They go with the open shelf method as you described. Not much organization but if you walk around the perimeter long enough you might find what you want or at least something else to bodger along with.I on the other hand am super organized. I like cabinets and know what is in every cabinet in my shop and in my van. It lets me know where things are and what's missing. If I cannot walk right to it (or give a helper specific directions) then I don't have it.Regardless, the best cabinet to use is one that you don't have to make. Go to craigslist and look for used kitchen cabinets. People know nobody wants a 1970's set of cabinets nor is that "extra" omega sierra maple cabinet really just what anyone needed to finish their kitchen. Offer them $5 to $10 per cabinet, take it or leave it! They will take it. Go home and screw the cabinets together in whatever length you need, cut in some 2x4's in the bottom and add casters and a double plywood top....Voila, an eight foot long rolling storage and workbench.
Thanks! I agree with you. It's so hard when you've got stuff that you know is useful and valuable but if it's so specific it's hard to find someone who even knows what it is, much less interested in buying it.
It's actually quite interesting to peruse Craig's List tools section. Some of the equipment is quite esoteric. It's an education just reading the descriptions.
I hear you. I've got my stuff, stuff from my Mom's house when we sold it, stuff from a really talented carpenter who died too young and his wife just told me to take it all.
My wife says I get too emotionally attached to stuff, but it is hard when everything you pick up you can remember all the times and places associated with it. This sounds really corny but when I go into a cleanup mode, I sometimes spend more time "remembering" than cleaning.
I outfitted my shop with the cabinets removed from a doctor's office/lab. Got paid to do the demo and had instant shop when we bought. See if you can find a office or retail remodel and offer to take those pesky cabinets out of the way.
Bruce
fingers, check out costco, we just bought a commercial shelving (wire steel chrome plated) very sturdy we have one with 400 lbs on one shelf. comes with wheels $67.00 $13.00shipping. great product. Good Luck
I like wire shelving on castors....commercial kitchen stuff. YMMV
I have cigarette carton display shelving that I purchased at auction. They have adjustable shelves, plexiglass doors and metal frames. Just wish that I had bought more. Old with office bookshelves with the doors that slide up work good to.
So, what I'm hearing is that most here would discourage me from making anything. Instead, try to score some freebe used ones?
I'd make something myself. Of course I would use a found/purchased thing too, if it worked, but there are shortcomings to almost anything pre-made. Either it's shoddy, doesn't fit the area, makes un economical use of the space, won't adjust to fit your stuff, costs more than the stuff you're storing, exposes or hides your stuff etc.I would however recommend getting a lot of the storage bins and the holders like these, and putting them on the wall etc.http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=storage+bin&Submit=Go
dude... get rid of your c*&P... and this comes from someone with well over 30,000sf of "STUFF" i this summer i sold a shopping center where i had 6000sf of personal storage... and we're talk'n 16ft ceilings all lined with pallet racks and i even had 2 "extra" forklifts and an "extra" skidsteer and an "extra" parking lot sweeper ... i have every tool known to man... and it just ain't worth it... i got rid of a ton of stuff... in that move... took the better part of a month... time i didn't have.... but i got it done...
I'm now keeping ads on craigs list... I don't want this stuff any more... i have at least 9 personal watercraft... not one made it to the water this summer... at least 5 commercial mowers... and i sold everything where i cut the grass...
i have at least a million dollars in commercial kitchen equipment (i use to build em) i've been selling stuff for months and you can't even tell...
but i'm not gather'n anything new :)
i'm do'n this cold turkey but i feel no pain
P
I need some stainless shelves
Ponytl,I can only agree with you, I only keep what I use and get rid of the rest; I just give it away to someone who I know needs it and will use it.BTW: Who the heck are you? you've been around for a long time and I have for the most part agreed with your posts. Your mention of CL posting prompted me to look at your profile...nothing there!??! Don't ya think it time to let us all know a little bit about you?GK
Fingers,
I forgot to mention that a shop is a very personal thing. I hope you are also looking elsewhere for advice on storage. If you go to the bookstore you will find hundreds of titles (by Taunton as well as others ) on just that subject. Pick up the latest Shop Notes or Wood, there is at least one storage cabinet idea in every issue. Ask around other web forums: Knots, Sawmill Creek, WoodNet, OWWM.org, Etc.
Speaking of online forums....This is Breaktime, a forum about homebuilding with a population of many carpenters; cheap carpenters, many of who look at a pile of 2x4's and think shelf or bench. Others (like me) who demo a lot of kitchens and are able to collect old cabinets for free (and I'm a cabinetmaker too), and still more who enjoy hanging out in the clearance aisles hammering out deals. There are some here who would build a cabinet: some build out of scraps of OSB and others who would build top of the line works of art. But for the most part...we are cheap.
I will bet if you ask the same question over at Knots, you will get more responses telling you to build from scratch. Just the nature of the crowd.
Here are some hints:
Are you retired? If yes, then build cabinets.
Do you have a surplus of time and money? if yes, then build storage out of mahogany and maple.
Are you a pro woodworker? if no, then build storage that will add to your skill set.
Do you have all the tools you need? if no, then tell the wife you need such and such tool to build storage.
Are you working and frugal? if yes, listen to your cheapo BT friends.
GK