Your Primary Work Space

[Flyingw]

How many of you guys have a very specific area where most of the work takes place? My garage is a 3 car and I have allot of bench space but yet 98% of all work takes place in a less than 5 square foot space.

[Darius1502]

Awesome space

[Jmoozy27]

I have a 8x12 shed with a "lean-to" on the side.

209526

[jb2wheels]

I move the car out of the garage and set up a folding table for a work bench.

Too much stuff, not enough space.

[Billy Golightly]

Man, now that is organized! I need to get something like that put together in my shop

[The_Steve_Man]

I don't even want to show mine after yours Jim. Nice. Mine is 20x20 in the basement

[CRAZY70MAN]

I don't think i could find anything in a shop that clean and organized? Where is the struggle in a workbench that efficient and productive? Lol. I really need to take a few days, or weeks..lol to get organized. Tired of buying parts and tools only to find 2 of them a week later. Then again when you get 20-30 trikes in one shop, Armageddon is not far behind for organazation. Nice job on that work area

[2fiftyR]

That is a very nice shop. My work space is our old sugar house(maple syrup) that my friends nicknamed the garage of broken dreams lol. Its not well lit,poorly organized most of the time 2 rooms a 12 x24 that is well heated and a 20x24 that is freezing cold right now.I have several projects taking turns in the heat.

[86125m]

we have a pretty big shed but its full of parts, 7 three wheelers, a go-cart, lots of chainsaws and weed whackers. so to say the least we need more space.

[onformula1]

Flyingw- I am in the same boat as you. I have a oversized 2 car garage and a 3/4 house length attic with a floor that you can stand up in.


But 99% of the time I am in one small area where I have the Sirius radio, AC conditioner, laptop and fridge are close.

I have the tools I use the most on peg boards and toolboxes and a aluminium jawed vise on one side and a steel jawed vise on the other side. My wife always says you never move from that spot!

Before I moved my shop to the house I had a 30' X 33' shop with 3 roll up doors on two sides, 15' ceilings and a pallet racked wall I would walk a couple of miles a night just to get a simple project done!

I am very organized and the neighbors stop and say- You have the cleanest most organized shop ever, I guess that's one advantage to having OCD.

[onformula1]

That is a very nice shop. My work space is our old sugar house(maple syrup) that my friends nicknamed the garage of broken dreams lol. Its not well lit,poorly organized most of the time 2 rooms a 12 x24 that is well heated and a 20x24 that is freezing cold right now.I have several projects taking turns in the heat.

Best quote ever! "The garage of broken dreams" I have heard that before...LOL

[Flyingw]

My wife insists that her SUV has to be parked in the garage so everything is laid out around the perimeter of the garage. I can still get her SUV and my truck in under cover when bad weather comes in but I can't close the garage door. Oh well, the space works fine for the way I do things.

[El Camexican]

The thread brings back some memories...

Up North I always had a decent garage shop or access to a welding/machine shop, but my first 7 years down here were pretty tough. For a couple years I was buying used trucks and fixing them here for resale. My single car width, open air patio was my repair shop and paint booth. I had a tiny little 12V tire pump that I would use to fill a 5 gallon air tank to paint with. I’d mask one fender at a time and it would take hours to spray just a few square feet.

Brakes, engines, bodywork, whatever, it was shade tree mechanics without the shade tree. I remember trying to hand truck doors in such a tight space that I could hardly stand between the door and the truck and still had to try and pound a hinge pin in while supporting the door with one hand. The then newborn kid needed a room and I had to build an addition for her that took up half the area where I kept my tools and parts. Yea those were the days…

Then things got better and I was able to turn the “shop” into a backyard of sorts. My roller tool chest was still outside covered with plastic and my machinist and power tools were stored in plastic buckets in a small closet. One day after not looking at them for months I discovered that rain had been getting driven in through a small screened opening above the door and all the buckets were full of water. Pretty much everything was ruined. A couple years later we moved. Kind of like the George and Weezie.

My current garage was/is weird. It only has three sides. The overhead door is in the front and there is a wall on either side. There is no back wall. It opens up to the back yard which is 5’ lower than the garage floor. The yard is on two slopes of a hill, so to one side I can see the neighbor’s first floor windows over the fence and on the other side I can see that neighbor’s second floor window at the same level. Looking to the rear front of the open ended garage I can see straight into the neighbor’s second floor window as well.

Anyway, I guess the PO added on at some point because there are two large columns holding up the roof that are keeping me from parking four cars in the garage. So I decided that would be the perfect place to put my work area, between the two columns and off to the side. Just a couple problems with it…
My garage roof didn’t cover the entire garage floor, so I had to build roofs over my benches. That worked well until the rainy season came and the humidity caused all the wood drawers to swell and warp. I won’t even get into the issue of rusted tools. Then one day I discovered that termites had gotten into the plywood and hollowed out all the bases and even some of the lower drawers. The also ate a nearby window frame.

Like all this wasn’t enough I was constantly pulling the cars in and out of the garage to work on things, paint, grind and polish, etc. Sometimes when the bench would get full of clutter I’d drop the tail gate on the truck and work on there too.

Eventually my wife got sick of the mess and noise and having to park her car in the 105deg sun and came up with the great idea of building a small shop behind the house.
This time I learned my lesson. Everything is steel and concrete. The freaking termites followed me there, but now their diet consists of plaster and poison.

Because of the lower lever back yard I had to build a ramp from the garage to the back yard. I didn’t have a Tri-Z at the time, so the ramp was made with the Tri-Moto in mind. Turns out its exactly 2” wider than the inside of the two rear wheels of the Z. Needless to say it’s fallen more than once and I can’t drive it up while seated. When alone I get behind it and work the clutch and push at the same time. When it stalls things get interesting.

Anyway, I did eventually cut a deal with the guy next door that allowed me to build onto his fence and close my garage roof. I can’t drive street bikes or cars down the ramp, so I have to run up and down the stairs for tools whenever I have a project that can’t come to the shop. I guess at the end of this long and pointless tale I seem to always end up wrenching where ever I am, no particular spot seems to be the “primary” spot, but I do like to stay as close to the hammer drawer as possible.:naughty:
209596
209597

[onformula1]

The thread brings back some memories...

Up North I always had a decent garage shop or access to a welding/machine shop, but my first 7 years down here were pretty tough. For a couple years I was buying used trucks and fixing them here for resale. My single car width, open air patio was my repair shop and paint booth. I had a tiny little 12V tire pump that I would use to fill a 5 gallon air tank to paint with. I’d mask one fender at a time and it would take hours to spray just a few square feet.

Brakes, engines, bodywork, whatever, it was shade tree mechanics without the shade tree. I remember trying to hand truck doors in such a tight space that I could hardly stand between the door and the truck and still had to try and pound a hinge pin in while supporting the door with one hand. The then newborn kid needed a room and I had to build an addition for her that took up half the area where I kept my tools and parts. Yea those were the days…

Then things got better and I was able to turn the “shop” into a backyard of sorts. My roller tool chest was still outside covered with plastic and my machinist and power tools were stored in plastic buckets in a small closet. One day after not looking at them for months I discovered that rain had been getting driven in through a small screened opening above the door and all the buckets were full of water. Pretty much everything was ruined. A couple years later we moved. Kind of like the George and Weezie.

My current garage was/is weird. It only has three sides. The overhead door is in the front and there is a wall on either side. There is no back wall. It opens up to the back yard which is 5’ lower than the garage floor. The yard is on two slopes of a hill, so to one side I can see the neighbor’s first floor windows over the fence and on the other side I can see that neighbor’s second floor window at the same level. Looking to the rear front of the open ended garage I can see straight into the neighbor’s second floor window as well.

Anyway, I guess the PO added on at some point because there are two large columns holding up the roof that are keeping me from parking four cars in the garage. So I decided that would be the perfect place to put my work area, between the two columns and off to the side. Just a couple problems with it…
My garage roof didn’t cover the entire garage floor, so I had to build roofs over my benches. That worked well until the rainy season came and the humidity caused all the wood drawers to swell and warp. I won’t even get into the issue of rusted tools. Then one day I discovered that termites had gotten into the plywood and hollowed out all the bases and even some of the lower drawers. The also ate a nearby window frame.

Like all this wasn’t enough I was constantly pulling the cars in and out of the garage to work on things, paint, grind and polish, etc. Sometimes when the bench would get full of clutter I’d drop the tail gate on the truck and work on there too.

Eventually my wife got sick of the mess and noise and having to park her car in the 105deg sun and came up with the great idea of building a small shop behind the house.
This time I learned my lesson. Everything is steel and concrete. The freaking termites followed me there, but now their diet consists of plaster and poison.

Because of the lower lever back yard I had to build a ramp from the garage to the back yard. I didn’t have a Tri-Z at the time, so the ramp was made with the Tri-Moto in mind. Turns out its exactly 2” wider than the inside of the two rear wheels of the Z. Needless to say it’s fallen more than once and I can’t drive it up while seated. When alone I get behind it and work the clutch and push at the same time. When it stalls things get interesting.

Anyway, I did eventually cut a deal with the guy next door that allowed me to build onto his fence and close my garage roof. I can’t drive street bikes or cars down the ramp, so I have to run up and down the stairs for tools whenever I have a project that can’t come to the shop. I guess at the end of this long and pointless tale I seem to always end up wrenching where ever I am, no particular spot seems to be the “primary” spot, but I do like to stay as close to the hammer drawer as possible.:naughty:
209596
209597

And I thought I had it rough working around the "GTO" in the shop.

That shop looks nice, can't you enclose that back wall?

[onformula1]

Is that your YZ? It looks mint.

[atc500x]

My garage is 36 x 45 , 2 floor , paintshop,sandblast room, a loooooooooooooooooooooooooot of shelf,4 work table, a 5x9 welding table, we never have too much space

and 2 big barn 3 floor to store my toys :)

[thcowboy]

Did you say GTO? What year. Sorry im a pontiac nut :pics:

[ironchop]

I have a two car garage turned into a no car garage. I have a build table left over from my chopper days and workbenches built on three walls. Between 90 different projects, my wifes landscape stuff inside for the winter, and my personal current state of Apathy resides an efficient workspace lying in utter RUIN.

Im OCD about my space at work but at home its currently all about chaos and clutter. I guess I can agree that I still work mostly in just a 4' by 4' space on one bench as well but its just because that was the spot it was easiest for me to sweep the tools and junk aside to make a clean space for yet another project.

Im going to take a pic just for laughs

[Flyingw]

I've found over the years that if you have a TV or computer in your shop, the primary work space will be in very close proximity. At least that's the way its always been for me.

[onformula1]

Did you say GTO? What year. Sorry im a pontiac nut :pics:

1965, torn up right now for a third "Era" trikes, bikes & snowboarding have it on the back burner for now.

[thcowboy]

Thats my favorite year with the sacked headlamps lol tri power 389 i hope

[Ol Deuce]

organized organized organized You are very organized:Bounce:Bounce:Bounce I like your space :drool: ! My shop / Barn was built for my trikes and my Hot Rod :D ;) Slowly the work space is getting more organized

:crazy: Ol Deuce:crazy:

[bkm]

As God as my witness, I will have a clean, well lit, and organized garage by summer. I've honestly lost all desire to work on anything because my garage is such a cluster. I'm insulating and applying OSB to all the walls with a fresh coat of satin white paint. I feel like I work in a cave sometimes with unpainted exposed stud walls and open ceiling.

[90guy]

Pictures of my work space for my toys.
209719209720209721

[threewheelin-feelin]

My wife insists that her SUV has to be parked in the garage so everything is laid out around the perimeter of the garage. I can still get her SUV and my truck in under cover when bad weather comes in but I can't close the garage door. Oh well, the space works fine for the way I do things.

http://richmond.craigslist.org/snw/4889878671.html

these two garages look alot alike

[Flyingw]

I cant believe he's put that up for sale......

[threewheelin-feelin]

I cant believe he's put that up for sale......

i would have to agree

[Husky250]

As God as my witness, I will have a clean, well lit, and organized garage by summer. I've honestly lost all desire to work on anything because my garage is such a cluster. I'm insulating and applying OSB to all the walls with a fresh coat of satin white paint. I feel like I work in a cave sometimes with unpainted exposed stud walls and open ceiling.

I hear ya. my 16x24 garage looked big when we were moving out of a trailer but is WAY too small now. Have begged wife to let me expand over the last 15 years, to no avail. Finally conned her into letting me build a carport of sorts. Now every payday we buy $20 or $30 worth of wood and stuff it into my already packed to the gills garage. By August I will start on a carport for the RV ('74 dodge), the trailer (fabbed from a '62 nash rambler), the KLR, and the lawn tractor. That should give me room enough to at least work in there.

[Jmoozy27]

I hear ya. my 16x24 garage looked big when we were moving out of a trailer but is WAY too small now. Have begged wife to let me expand over the last 15 years, to no avail. Finally conned her into letting me build a carport of sorts. Now every payday we buy $20 or $30 worth of wood and stuff it into my already packed to the gills garage. By August I will start on a carport for the RV ('74 dodge), the trailer (fabbed from a '62 nash rambler), the KLR, and the lawn tractor. That should give me room enough to at least work in there.

Not in this weather yikes, I can only imagine what it's like up north. Us Cajuns don't know what to do when the temp drops below 40. Schools are closed I half of the state because we might get freezing rain.

[Mosh]

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/cosmicquads/20150220_161223.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/cosmicquads/media/20150220_161223.jpg.html)

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/cosmicquads/20150221_161825.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/cosmicquads/media/20150221_161825.jpg.html)

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/cosmicquads/20150221_161849.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/cosmicquads/media/20150221_161849.jpg.html)

900 sq ft. 13 feet ceilings a little messy and the only 3 angle pics I have on file. And I should have went bigger....
Getting ready to put in a 10x8 insulated office room, that can be heated seperate for bench engine building, compound bow tuning station, and bullet reloading in the cold months.
No tvs in my shop..they are a chock in front of the wheels of progress.

[Scootertrash]

My garage is in a semi-permanent state of organized confusion. I have/can make room too work, but I have so many irons in the fire I don't get time to rearrange the garage. The wife finally bagged a decent paying job that for all purposes appears to be permanent, so I cleared a 40 x 80 spot of trees and brush for the future out building. Haven't decided if it will be a pole barn or stick framed with a footing. We have a high water table here and some of the neighbors have had their posts lift on their pole barns if the ground freezes and the water is up. One neighbor had his deck posts lift. There's a combination of things I can do to combat this problem, but it makes the build a bit more expensive, so my building is planned 2 years out. I like to do it right the first time. ;)

[Husky250]

Not in this weather yikes, I can only imagine what it's like up north. Us Cajuns don't know what to do when the temp drops below 40. Schools are closed I half of the state because we might get freezing rain.

Jmoozy27 I hear ya. We get cold but this winter has been a bit skewed. I believe we have had 2 days above 15 degrees this year and those 2 days it rained. This has made it completely unridable here. Anyone who knows anything about the "snowbelt" will understand. Here in ol' Ashatabula, Oh we had about 18" on the ground, then it lightly rained for about 3 hours and the temp went straight to -10 degrees. Then in the next 8 hours we got another 15" of snow. this leaves 15" of powder/ an inch of ice (to break through) then a settled 10" of powder again. This result in something you simply can't get through. Buddy with a sled can't ride without spikes. as fro the cold it was -6 in the garage when I was replacing the clutch arm and putting the timberwolf clutch in the DX. So it was cold and cramped.

Mosh I am completely jealous. I won't even show a pic of my work station. in that 16x24 I have 3 tool boxes, a 30sq ft freezer, a fridge, a 6 1/2' x 10' rack to put 2 atv's on (and one under), 2 dressers for storage, a work bench, a table saw, a tire changer, a drill press, 4 ATV's (200x, DX, lt185, raptor 150), my KLR, Husky 125, Scorpa 250, TTR 125, rototiller, the ol' Cub Cadet,and about 10 or 11 bicycles (I do Ironman triathlons). Noone has ever said they made the garage too big. Father-in-law just made a 36x60 garage with 16 foot ceilings and it took him a week before he said he should have gone 72' (and this is his 3rd garage). Now when weather breaks I have to go help him put a 20x30 second floor inside it. To quote LA Guns, "It's never enough".

[Jmoozy27]

No tvs in my shop..they are a chock in front of the wheels of progress.

Yeah, there isn't too much on there that I want to look at. As far as information, and news, I have an old radio and it mostly just plays old Honky Tonk Songs & David Allan Coe.

[Flyingw]

NO TV!!!!!!!! Holy blackout Batman!!!!!!!! I couldn't function out there without my laptop and TV. They are always on.

[Husky250]

Yeah, there isn't too much on there that I want to look at. As far as information, and news, I have an old radio and it mostly just plays old Honky Tonk Songs & David Allan Coe.

I agree with Jmoozy.... No TV. Just an old boom box (with only one speaker left), 'cept for me it's old 80's hair bands on it.

[Jmoozy27]

NO TV!!!!!!!! Holy blackout Batman!!!!!!!! I couldn't function out there without my laptop and TV. They are always on.

The humidity would kill all valuable electronic equipment and I would be replacing them instead of 30yr old ATC components. If I need quick response information I can always rely on my cell phone if it would ever work right. Low on storage, but it has all of the ATC manuals saved.:TrikesOwn:crazy::beer

[Jmoozy27]

I agree with Jmoozy.... No TV. Just an old boom box (with only one speaker left), 'cept for me it's old 80's hair bands on it.

Okay, I have a confession, my radio looks old and has a record player on top, but it also has an aux cord plugged to a tablet and that's where all of the old Hank songs are coming from. Technology, just makes things so easy...

[bkm]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/28/464ffc89f09c05636397a74ff44c0147.jpg

The garage cabinet fairy visited my house last night. Commercial grade wall cabinets, base cabinets, and counter tops. All for the price of a home cooked meal. Even though he'll never see this I can't thank my buddy Steve enough.

[Xpress]

For the motorsport toys I just have a carport (with a Jeep project stuck in the way) with a toolbox tucked away on the side. No real comfortable workspace, especially when it's cold and wet out. I need a large shed :crazy:

[bkm]

Getting my asse in gear. More to come and soon it will look like a different garage.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/17/c5c73120c5d4b915c5317a4572e7e427.jpg

[yaegerb]

Getting my asse in gear. More to come and soon it will look like a different garage.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/17/c5c73120c5d4b915c5317a4572e7e427.jpg


Wow, that doesn't look like the same garage I was in last week! Nice job man!

[onformula1]

Getting my asse in gear. More to come and soon it will look like a different garage.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/17/c5c73120c5d4b915c5317a4572e7e427.jpg

Looks good, if you painted the walls bright gloss white, 2-part epoxied the floor, and added some lights under the cabinets you would be in the running for the-
Best shop trophy!

[Billy Golightly]

Man that looks good...Need to do that to mine

[bkm]

Thanks fellas. The walls will be white, but the floor is in no condition to coat. It's cracked and sunk a few inches in the back of the garage and needs to be mudjacked back to level. The only problem is just about everything in the garage is built with the slope in mind so if the floor is raised, everything will have to be modified to accomodate.

I'm getting ready to put up four more of the big wall cabinets on the back wall just like the ones above my tool box so that should give me about 12 more feet of cabinet space. I'm also getting a space ready to house my new 1940's Sebastian 12x36 geared head lathe. No more Harbor Freight junk lathe once this one is installed. Once the walls and cabinets are done, electrical outlets ran, junk has been thrown away, and the lathe is installed, I'm going to keep my eye out for a Harbor Freight motorcycle lift table coupon and use that for my assembly table.

[DSHOT59]

I have a tractor trailer box that is my main work space for most of my toys, started out being plenty big but I`m running out of room rapidly. Guess I just have to much chit what can I say I can`t pass up a deal. :beer

[bkm]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/24/c4f2e4255b76ded03f6a577c3246b4da.jpg

Got the cabinets hung up on the back wall. I'm still in the process of tossing crap out and heavily rearranging things. It's come a long way, but I've still got a lot of work to do. My lathe is going under that gray cabinet along the left wall.

[oldskool83]

I've added a lot more of 1x12 shelving and loft space then what's picture due to the lack of toy space. I have room for 3 toys broken down if I use all my wall and loft space.

[3 Wheel Drive]

Here's my primary work space, now where did I put that bolt?:wondering

212944

[El Camexican]

Here's my primary work space, now where did I put that bolt?:wondering

212944

Looks like my daughter's room, but with cool stuff in it.

[Jmoozy27]

Here's my primary work space, now where did I put that bolt?:wondering

212944

I guess the Dyson couldn't handle the job???

[CodyRosa]

213077

Here is my workspace =) My bedroom! Only till summer though. No heated garage. My room was half the size when I had all my parts laying neatly on some plastic taped to the floor lol.

[yaegerb]

213077

Here is my workspace =) My bedroom! Only till summer though. No heated garage. My room was half the size when I had all my parts laying neatly on some plastic taped to the floor lol.

So I have to ask....how are you getting it out of the room/house?

[onformula1]

So I have to ask....how are you getting it out of the room/house?

A 3 wheeler will fit through a door frame....Don't ask me how I know! :lol:

[CodyRosa]

You dont want to know how many times I get asked that lol.. Simple.. remove the rear axle =D then grab the grab and walk it right on outside. We have a ramp going outside in the back so its perfect.

[fieldy]

A 3 wheeler will fit through a door frame....Don't ask me how I know! :lol:

I might know this one. Is the answer spring house cleaning wife on the warpath?

[onformula1]

I might know this one. Is the answer spring house cleaning wife on the warpath?
Na I had old shop when I was a teenager that was built from a old 60's house it was cool but didn't have a bigger door installed.

[Ol Deuce]

this is half of my work space love it!!
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/OlDeuce/IMG_1592_zpsckfjmsgn.jpg (http://s230.photobucket.com/user/OlDeuce/media/IMG_1592_zpsckfjmsgn.jpg.html)

[onformula1]

this is half of my work space love it!!
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/OlDeuce/IMG_1592_zpsckfjmsgn.jpg (http://s230.photobucket.com/user/OlDeuce/media/IMG_1592_zpsckfjmsgn.jpg.html)
I see a mill/lathe combo! Nice

[dmfaulks85]

My work space in my basement, not too big on space but it's nice and warm in the winter months

[oscarmayer]

Here is my work space and also the main tool box we use for building motors and take to the races.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/7851a35c455b4949fa34af172739193f.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/4de4f528f2a4a2b30c5de47d75446219.jpg
Right now I am building a spare motor for my son and also testing prototype head inserts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[madmass]

One car garage... 5 bikes and my lil corner of heaven.... Amazing the things we can do in small areas..213405213406213407

[Jmoozy27]

How true it is... If my wife didn't give me shiit when I stay in the shop too late I would likely stay there and sleep on the work bench. It is the only 8x12 room I truly enjoy being in.:lock::beer:

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