Garage Workshop

In 2001 the attached two car garage was re-modeled become a part time woodworking shop.  A storage area was created in the rafters by installing a plywood floor about 10" above the bottom of the rafters, and insulation was installed beneath this floor in in all walls. Fire rock (5/8" drywall) was installed on all ceiling and wall surfaces. A drop down stairway was installed to provide access to the ceiling storage. A portable propane space heater is capable of heating the space during winter months and during the summer, the insulation prevents the space from becoming unbearably hot.

The workshop is arranged to support a wide range of projects, and to provide storage for tools and parts.  Over the years I've enjoyed performing most home improvement projects myself and have found that I always end a project with one of more new tools and many left over parts. Storage has always been a problem.  I ended up with three inbuilt workbenches, each dedicated to a phase of a project, with each having drawers of cabinets for storing tools or spare items. 

The main workbench is permanently installed against the house wall. This general purpose work bench is used for a variety of tasks. It was built shortly after we purchased the house using scrap material discarded by the neighborhood home construction crews.    The workbench top is built from 2x construction lumber. The cabinets are built from 1 1/2" x 3/4" lumber milled from scrap 2x lumber.  The cabinet doors are 5/8" plywood used for rough flooring.  The base cabinet drawers were replaced during the remodel and installed using higher quality drawer slides. Tall cabinets above the bench are used for material storage. The cabinets below the bench store hand tools and supplies.  Several of the new drawers are designed to house plastic small parts storage cases.  Other drawers are sized for boxes of nails or screws.  Electrical sockets are handy right below the workbench surface as shown in this picture.  The material in the foreground is a plywood side to an entertainment cabinet being built.

The second workbench is located across the garage and closer to the garage door. It is built on top of a tool drawer cabinet I built in 1975.  The 22 drawers in this cabinet provide adequate space and easy access to small hand tools. Eight shallow drawers provide surface for a single layer of small tools. This workbench is primarily used for sanding operations or for mixing paint/stain/varnish.  The shelves above store a wide variety of painting and sanding tools and some spare cans of paint.  The main air duct of the dust collection system terminates at the floor to the left of this workbench where a sweeping collector is installed.  Baffles allow vacuum to be distributed between the sweeping collector and the ports slightly above the workbench top as shown in this picture.  These ports supply vacuum to portable and bench top power sanders.

The third workbench was built to provide a wide work surface for a radial arm saw which I now use mostly for rough cross cuts when I'm initially sizing material. That was not always true.  I purchased the old Sear Radial Arm Saw in 1974 third or fourth hand for $100 and for about 20 years it was my only stand alone woodworking tool.  It was the primary tool for a variety of projects including a writing desk for my daughters, drawers for my wife's sewing room, a kitchen remodel where I built several custom cabinets and the 22 drawer tool chest (shown above). This workbench is about 10 ft wide and the saw is positioned to cut at lease a 6' length.  Two cabinets that are reused from a kitchen remodel support the left end of the bench and provide drawers for tool storage.  A frame was fabricated to allow two open areas beneath the right end of the bench. An Air Compressor is installed in the central open area, with piping to distribute compressed air to an overhead retractable air hose.  The right most open area is sized to allow one end of the table saw to be positioned under the bench when the space is being used as a garage.

Fitting a woodworking shop into a two car garage is a challenge, especially for storage of material. Hardwood lumber must be stored in the garage attic.  It is purchased for a project and immediately cut to the sizes needed for the project.  Larger parts such as plywood panels will not fit in the attic and there is no space along the garage walls. These parts are stored in a ceiling storage system.  2x4 hard pine blocks are bolted to rafters using 6" x 3/8" lag bolts.  These hard blocks support 1/2" screws fabricated out of threaded rod, large washers and nuts which then support 1' x 2" slats  Several 4' x 8' sheets of 3/4" plywood can be stored in this system as shown in this picture.

Several tools will not fit in the three workbenches. A wall rack was assembled to hold clamps - a woodworker never has enough clamps - and installed on wall space to the right of the third workbench.  The rack was designed to hold my collection of 3/4" pipe clamps which has grown over the years.  It also can be used to store my recently acquired Quick Grip clamps and a straight edge clamp. I also use the frames of this rack to hang other tools such as the clamp on lamps shown in this picture.

The Rigid 10" Table Saw is the second stand alone tool we purchased. It is a solid built construction grade table saw, built in the United States, with heavy side panels. It has a unique built in set of casters that can be deactivated allowing the four legs to stabilize on the concrete floor. The casters are activated with a foot lever allowing four wheels to lift the saw about 1". It is then easily rolled to an empty space beneath the right end of the radial saw workbench.

The Rigid brand drill press is positioned to the left of the painting/Sanding workbench where it does not need to be moved when the space is used as a garage. I built a large table to allow use of an aluminum fence as shown in this picture.

I own a high power 1/2" DeWalt variable speed router which was a present from my cousin.  I designed and built router table.  The plywood table top is edged with oak strips.  A 3/4" aluminum miter gauge slot is milled into the top, and aluminum track hardware is installed to secure the commercial adjustable fence.  110v service supply is installed inside the router box controlled by a switch on right side of table.   Effective dust control is achieved using a 3" flexible hose connected to the 2HP dust collection system.

I use the DeWalt 13" dual speed surface plainer which is mounted on fabricated stand built from plywood and commercial steel legs.  This configuration can be moved as needed without casters.  The 3" flexible hose that collects shavings into the dust collection system generates a high level of static electricity and has to be grounded.   

The 2HP Dust Collection System is now positioned against the back garage wall and piped to a 4" main PVC pipe register mounted on the garage ceiling.  Flexible plastic hoses, either 4" or 3", are routed to each tool.  A plastic cutoff valve controls the vacuum to each tool.