THE SPACE ODYSSEY.

[matty]

Please share your innovative ways and means of creating space where it is far from at a premium.?
You know the score. "Where the hell am i going to put this bike i got three in there already" and "what i needs another shelf" Or perhaps you need another Wall for multiples Of shelves,
Racks Lockers Cupboards Storage Hooks, whatever. We all need more space and clever use of what we have needs sharing, and this is the place to share that information.

 

[matty]

OK i admit i am disappointed 135 views and not a single bright idea.

So here goes.
The most crowded part of any storage is the floor, for obvious reasons. The old hanging stuff from the rafters idea is not that practical but it gets unused space helping to facilitate your accumulated clutter.
Shelves are good and you can try mounting wide low shelving from strong door T hinges mounted off the walls that drop down to the floor when not used if need be.. You can either have wooden hinge out legs or suspend the shelves from threaded bar from upper shelves or rafters.
The good thing about the drop down shelving is it can be used in a small building to store a lot of stuff , but if you need it for working not storage you can relocate gear and it filds down flush with the wall and you have full size of the building again.

 

[psykown]

Idk I've found that having deliberate storage is better than just general storage. Build a few shelves and now you have a few more shelves of junk and still no storage, but build a shelf thats only for bike X maintenance parts or that only gets used during rebuilds and everything stays way neater

right now Ive got a 48" toolbox that I use as the Daily/Very short term project storage only one project at a time is ever on it and it gets completely cleaned off after every project or every few days
Then each of my bikes also gets one of the $10 plastic totes for spare parts or maintenance labelled and stacked, It's helped cut down on the clutter for me and made working on things take way less time as well

 

[matty]

Agree organization can make space at times, i relate to the plastic tote idea but being a peasant i use cardboard boxes which are both cheap but a bad idea, I kid you not, i have had more fires...No raging infernos started by grinding sparks on cardboard boxes than any other things in workshops the one i learneed to avoid cardboard from was the old open out a cardboard box cover the damp patch on the bench spill idea was a shocker. It invariably got left got a bit of diesel or petrol spll and your grinding away and you are sudenley aware of heat behind you, and the floor is ablase and just licked onto that dog meat can with just a little paint thiner with 3 old brushes in it and thats igniting that cardboard box of door seals you had on the shelf and the one next to that.
This literally happened to me and i managed to save the day but it was getting serrious and at one point i nearly ran and let it go. I remember sitting down exhausted after the fight, and looking at the two empty co2 cylinders laid there amidst the black smouldering mess and thinking Fu*k Cardboard.

 

[psykown]

Now that hasnt happened yet thankfully, I have set my plans on fire more times than I cared to redraw them though

I used to use cardboard boxes but it they just always fell apart, after switching to totes I couldnt go back lol plus all those slightly oily engine parts dont ruin the bottom and are easy to clean out

 

[ZoomerP]

I like using a wall track system and wire shelving. Having wheels on most things that are on the floor also makes it easier to reconfigure the available space for whatever I'm doing.

 

[matty]

I like the on wheels idea but only have a single experience of a welding wheeled frame. it was nothing special (I still acctualy have it out back) but it made moving a heavy old air cooled buz box arc welder and a small set up for gassles mig welder about much easier. And when i wanted it away it was parked neat under a bench , only reason i stopped using it after a decade or more was i removed the fixed bench and vice and sat it outside under a small pole barn bench shelter.
I will reuse it but i am converting the old stables to two shops mostly for machines and bikes with a lathe in each along the back to free up the big shop. ideal size at 18ftx 18ft each but not big enough for widening the doors for car use.

 

[MVI]

Im a huge fan of shelving, heavy duty, I have several 205 and 203 transfer cases up there the better part of a decade.

 

[vtduc]

FWIW, maybe a small contribution to the thread....... When building my garage, I made several wall cabinets that have pegboard in the doors so I can hang stuff inside and outside in addition to the shelves inside the cabinets.

 

[matty]

I have a Big vice in a pole barn outside its ok but a walk to do stuff sometimes, its not so much the matter of distance but inconvenience / mildly irritating.
I really dont want to tie up the back wall of the shop with a metere wide fixed bench again, i always ended up loading it with clutter and needed to move it all before i could actually use the bench/ vice.
I have a relatively lightweight 3/4 ply and pine framed hinged of the wall swing legged afair i strip carbs on repair guns mount reloading presses off etc, but a big vice is too much.
i like the idea of a movable sturdy bench i can mount a vice on leave it there but turn it so i could stand like bike engines 4x4 gearboxes etc on if i need to at any time. not sure if i could use heave angle or 6x4 pine or a mixture of both with scafold board top etc.
want it to move but not be too hard to park i have a 5 foot section of space under some steel yard wide shelves i curently have a compressor parked there, i wondered about sitting the compressor under the bench and utilising the room more fully.
Any iseas you might have or similar aplicable ideas you could have seen anytime would be greatfully recieved. matty.

 

[FLrider]

The first thing I do to create space, is to go through all my stuff and weed out the things I haven't used in years. Tools are excluded from this, as you can't have enough of them...
This means broken items, worn out things that slipped past the garbage can etc. Having moved a dozen times also helped to cull the crap btw.
Then it is onto organizing by sport, hobby, importance and frequently used items. Clear totes are good so you can keep an eye on things until the next round of weeding out the unused pieces...🤣

 

[ZoomerP]

I saw a wire rack system for spray cans that looks useful and easy enough to replicate.



Like he says, some 3" grid fencing wire and a little time with a welder would give the same result. The racks could be custom fit for a spot on the wall that may otherwise go unused.

 

[gpounce]

I get rid of clutter. If a thing isn't paying rent somehow then it has to go; a couple years ago I unloaded all my old Sun computer stuff, all the old software, gave away old books. I had a turret lathe in the shop that just wasn't getting used, got rid of that and replaced it with a screw press which is helping me do stuff.

I periodically scavenge old, unused items from the basement and get rid of them - though I have to be careful with doing that in the wife's craft area (ie her dumping ground).

With clutter at a minimum and only working a very few projects at a time (which have to be completed unless theres a compelling reason for a change), then simple storage methods work pretty well.

 

[matty]

I get rid of clutter. If a thing isn't paying rent somehow then it has to go; a couple years ago I unloaded all my old Sun computer stuff, all the old software, gave away old books. I had a turret lathe in the shop that just wasn't getting used, got rid of that and replaced it with a screw press which is helping me do stuff.

I periodically scavenge old, unused items from the basement and get rid of them - though I have to be careful with doing that in the wife's craft area (ie her dumping ground).

With clutter at a minimum and only working a very few projects at a time (which have to be completed unless theres a compelling reason for a change), then simple storage methods work pretty well.

You are so right. I had to get brutal. it hurt and i took ages to clear the storage throwing stuff on the to go pile and then taking it off again. Ridiculous i had the wife getting quite annoyed with my reluctance to dispose of things i had not used in 20 years and thet were taking up space we needed to get the old workshop functioning again for vehicles not just storage.
then out the blue like a bolt of Lightening, I arrived at a Tidy but very much stored Bosch automatic washing machine, i knew all it needed was a set of brushes in the motor. And I said as such. But the wife started riving it out by her self saying it was going end of story.
I loaded it on the Lilux and with some old leyland tractor three point hitch tooling and a draw bar lift hook off the same tractor i sold 30 years ago. I drove to the scrap yard some what reluctantly.
I backed in loaded it on the scale and the lass handed me the ticket £47 A positive angle to this clutter shifting.
I went home with renewed vigor, rang the eldest lad up and he came back home with his girlfriend and the daughter and wife all got busy and i started to find it super easy to pass it off as "Scrap it . Two more trips with the hilux and the lad with his surf and trailer and we were down to obvious stuff to keep like concrete mixed and stand for the same and a big steel bench thats going in the back lean too. The rest was just cardboard scrap wood and car plastics from interior and underbonet air boxes turbo pipes etc mostly off Fords i had scrapped and saved bits.
Financialy we were £178 up on the deal and had achieved what was needed .
And Man do i feel better walking in there now, its like i can walk not stepping and climbing up over shit anymore.
My advice. Do It be brutal weigh in what you can and you will be shocked how fruitfull it can be . OK £178 is not mega bucks but its better in my pocket than cluttering up space we need for years and years. Should have done it sooner is all i can say. .

 

[Danno]

Oh...I worked at a mega HD dealer. I could shove 11 bikes into an unused office without a scratch. This has been a downfall. The wife and the salesman could never retrieve the bikes without damage. It was funny at work but not at home. As far as anythimg else..keep everything off the floor. Next job was a nightmare of inventory. All heavy steel in cardboard boxes on the floor. I had to dig out the bottom 5th wheel kit that had 700lbs on top of it. Same with load distrabution kits. I worked constantly in my free time to fix. But my time was too valuable for many more aspects. From installs to maintenance of all our machines. I threw away 2500lbs of fastners that created a safety hazard in 2 days of down time. The rack was collapsing. But I needed all the strange serrated conical washers and plates. Ah good times! There is never enough space or organization when cranking out for a percieved profit. We save things because we might need that part later. Scrap steel was also an issue. Funny now but not when it causes an injury or hampers productivity.

 

[Alan F.]

A few years ago I made a nice little stand from scrap wood to hold my polisher, grinder, small drill press, small bandsaw or small belt sander. The unused tools store on a shelf or under a bench and the stand can hang up when unused.

 

[gpounce]

...As far as anythimg else..keep everything off the floor. ...

omg this +1 crap cannot be allowed to collect on the floor, not only the effort of digging thru it, lifting and hauling, but projects submerge and are lost and wrecked.

I like to open the shop doors and blow out the dust and dirt with a leafblower followed by vacuuming a few times a year, go after the cobwebs that accumulate here and there. Anything not appropriately sitting on the floor (as opposed to table legs, machinery bases, carpet, motorcyle tires for the bike up on its sidestand, etc) has to find a home somewhere else or be gone.

My wife doesn't mind heaps of mixed craft leavings all over, drives me BSC- but its her space so I only clean and toss out when I have to work in it.

 

[gpounce]

...
And Man do i feel better walking in there now, its like i can walk not stepping and climbing up over shit anymore.
...

 

[Danno]

omg this +1 crap cannot be allowed to collect on the floor, not only the effort of digging thru it, lifting and hauling, but projects submerge and are lost and wrecked.

I like to open the shop doors and blow out the dust and dirt with a leafblower followed by vacuuming a few times a year, go after the cobwebs that accumulate here and there. Anything not appropriately sitting on the floor (as opposed to table legs, machinery bases, carpet, motorcyle tires for the bike up on its sidestand, etc) has to find a home somewhere else or be gone.

My wife doesn't mind heaps of mixed craft leavings all over, drives me BSC- but its her space so I only clean and toss out when I have to work in it.

No air brooms at 2nd shop. We used sweeping compound...but when no one was looking?

 

[matty]

I only have three 5 foot long 24 inch wide Pressed steel Dexian type racking systems with three shelves two foot apart and of course the floor below the bottom shelf. Its remarkable how when kept tidy and stacked well just how much they help keep the place clear. +2 in the floor its fatal storing on a floor robs any chance you have of using the place to its full potential. Racking systems loaded properly are the way to go.