a better way to layout your workshop

if you have a small shop and are feeling jealous of all those warehouse workshops you see on the youtubes then i'll show you how to layout and organize your small shop to make it feel like a big shop except without as much walking around having a shop that is well laid out and organized will expand its capabilities making more efficient and make shop time much more enjoyable [Music] let's start with what you really need to have in your shop versus what you can store elsewhere or eliminate completely if you can minimize what's in your shop you can maximize the capabilities of the tools that you really need and give you the most space to work on your projects prioritize the stationary tools you use the most and what's the tool that you use the most when you're in your shop is it your band saw is it your planer it's your table saw isn't it nope it's your workbench just because you have a small shop doesn't mean you have to compromise on your workbench you're going to be spending 95 of your shop time at your workbench so its placement needs to be priority selecting which stationary tools are most important for a small hobbyist workshop will ultimately come down to what kind of projects you do and let's be real it is very difficult to do large projects in a small shop so that can guide us in deciding which tools we can eliminate for example a miter saw excels in cross cutting long boards to length but since we're not making large projects a table saw can make all of our cross cuts for us and probably a bit more accurately too and that's why i don't have a miter saw in my tiny shop with that in mind we can also think about tools that have overlapping functions to help you decide what you truly need versus what is nice to have another example that i've been thinking of recently is removing my drill press from my shop since i can most likely achieve 80 of what a drill press can do with a hand drill and one of those guides again this thought is based on the projects that i do in my shop and i realize more and more that a drill press is just not essential for the projects that i make this example may not apply to you but it's the thought process that counts is there a smaller version of a tool that you can get by with sometimes yes sometimes no for instance i have a 20 gallon air compressor in the storage closet that always gets forgotten because i only use it on the rare occasion that i bring out my brad nailer but i can ditch the whole compressor and buy a cordless nailer so i should probably do that yet at the same time i have a 12 inch jointer and a 16 inch planer are there bench top versions of these tools sure am i willing to compromise on my milling machines no some may say that you should have some duplicates of tools so you can save some steps when you're working in your shop like having your drill bits at your drill press but then having the same drill bits also at your hand drills it makes sense for a large shop but we're talking small shops here and you cannot tell me that taking two steps to grab your drill bits is more of an inconvenience than having extra space for a tool that could potentially boost your productivity [Music] you've all heard that you need casters on all of your tools and cabinets and while it definitely does help it's not going to solve all of your layout issues in fact i hate it when i have to pull out a machine every time i have to use it coming up with a smart layout can save you a lot of time and hassle when your shop time is limited an easy way to get started planning your shop is to use graph paper and create a drawing to scale of the walls the doors and any other obstacles in your space you can then cut out scaled versions of your stationary tools and your work surfaces to see where you can make things work start by placing your workbench where it'll work the best remember this is your number one most used tool so it gets priority now my number one and my number two my workbench and my table saw are really a single unit since my workbench doubles as an outfeed table for my table saw so i place them in a position where i get the most infeed and outfeed possible kind of in the center of the room this goes for most of the other stationary tools as well place them in such a way that it'll get the maximum in feed and outfeed possible doors may seem like an obstacle to work around but they can also provide an opportunity i've purposely set up my table saw such that i can open the door to the storage room behind me to increase the max length that i can rip my planer can also be oriented so that i can open other doors and increase the max length of board i complain furthermore don't think you can't place a tool on an angle in your shop angling can also increase the max in feed and outfeed length available since a rectangular room is longer when you measure it from corner to corner thanks to mr pythagoras i find looking at your shop's layout on graph paper can only take you so far with a bird's eye view we live in a 3d world and a small shop has to not only have a smart floor plan but it also must maximize all available volume within you can model your shop in a 3d program like sketchup and i totally did that for mine but it's not necessary if you don't want to venture down that road [Music] you can reduce clutter and increase storage options for essential tools and supplies in your shop that you need close at hand by eliminating wasted space that may be consumed by items that you truly don't need nearby or even poorly designed shop furniture that doesn't give you any storage opportunity as crazy as it sounds the biggest culprit of wasting volume in a small workshop in my opinion is wood one of the biggest reality checks when i started my own shop is when i brought home a hundred board feet of maple i got for super cheap and i realized that i had absolutely nowhere to put it realistically your small shop is not the ideal place to store wood if it's taking up room that you could otherwise use for tools you may have other options like storing wood in a shed or in a crawl space but for the most part you might just need to simply buy the amount of wood needed for each project as they come scraps can get burnt for firewood or turned into shower cutting boards but they can also get way out of hand really quick so if you are of the packrat persuasion you have to be cutthroat about getting rid of scraps a wall mounted lumber rack could instead be used for a french cleat wall that'll make you more efficient when working a scrap bin could be a cabinet to organize your sanding supplies you know what is another huge waste of space those cheap tool stands that are made out of pressed sheet metal whose only function is to raise the tool up to a semi-acceptable working height if you're frodo baggins but i can't carry you and it does that in a fairly rickety manner i might add there is so much wasted volume under them it's insane and it can be better used for additional storage wherever possible you should eliminate the use of these stands and build or buy cabinets that have integrated storage which you can put the same tool on top of similarly i have my router table mounted on a simple 2x2 frame that i just pocket screwed together it would have been way better to build a cabinet with drawers that i could house both my router bits and accessories and my table saw blades and accessories too i'll get around to it one day [Music] once you've eliminated wasted volume you need to decide how you're going to use that regain space for storage there are a few different methods to use and they're not all equal in my opinion you have closed storage like drawers and cupboards you have open storage like shelves and tool holders and you have wall storage like pegboard and french cleats if you like keeping your things dust free then closed storage will help keep the dust off them if you want easier access to tools then open or wall storage might be the way to go however if opening up a drawer to get a tool aggravates you and throws you off your game and i think you have some deeper seated issues to deal with i don't really understand this whole concept of first order of retrievability as it pertains to a small shop this concept simply put is just having your most used tools closer at hand than the rest but since everything in a small shop is already within arm's reach or at least just a couple of steps away and i think this point is moot if you have the available wall space hanging tools on walls with custom tool holders or french cleats is a great idea i would prefer this to using cupboards or shelves to prevent things from collecting there and getting lost and forgotten about my issue is that after organizing my stationary tools i have a serious lack of wall space but fear not there is lots of room for storage down low and for this i much prefer drawers over cupboards or open shelving like i said things get lost and forgotten deep within shelves and cupboards and then there's also really no opportunity for organization within drawers are essentially shelves that you can pull out and you're then able to access everything within and then everything within will stay clean and dust free [Music] if you don't keep drawers organized they can turn into a complete nightmare things will somehow collect in there and become jam-packed with stuff that you don't even recognize and there's seemingly no way to stop it but i found that the best way you can keep your drawers organized is to have a lot of drawers keep as little in each drawer as possible have each drawer contain only related items and create a permanent arrangement within each let me show you what i mean when i design the drawers in my workbench i spent some time figuring out what exactly i wanted in each so that i could make sure that each drawer was as small as possible more smaller drawers will stay better organized than fewer bigger drawers but here's the problem i'm running into even though i have figured out what i want in each drawer everything is just loose messy and completely jumbled around furthermore there is nothing stopping me from stuffing things where they don't belong when i inevitably get lazy so we need more intentional organization within each drawer there are many ways to accomplish this and will depend on what is within each drawer but the key is to plan out each drawer intentionally with similar items that make sense it also might be a good idea to leave a bit of extra room in a drawer if you're expecting to add something in the future and remember less is more in drawers i need a jingle for that simple bins are great for compartmentalizing the space in a drawer i find these are good for small and similar items such as markers pencils dowels biscuits you get the idea if you want to subdivide the space you can use thin strips of plywood lap together to make a grid that keeps everything separate just don't make them too tall or you won't be able to get your fingers in there bundle them together with tape to create the laps all at the same time and you don't even have to glue them together so you can adjust to changes in the drawer content over time for the classiest drawer organization you can splurge for some of this kaizen foam if you haven't seen this stuff before it's pretty simple to use just cut the entire foam to fit in your drawer then lay out what you want where you want on top of the foam trace the outline of each tool cut as deep as you want to go then peel back the layers you can get really deep versions of this stuff but i don't find it completely necessary to absolutely envelop each tool you just need to create a depression so it doesn't roll away there are obviously more ways to go about organizing drawers folks with cnc's and laser cutters can do all sorts of cool things with engraving organizers the point of all this is to make a home for everything which in turn prevents you from putting something where it doesn't belong friends colleagues i've gathered you here today to make a serious announcement i am done buying tools [Applause] no more tools are you serious what no i just say stuff so i can get elected you're always going to be expanding your tool and gadget collection it's a never-ending theme if you're a woodworker since your shop space is small and finite then some things are just gonna have to go if you want to bring new stuff in that's why approximately once a year i do a deep clean and go through all my stuff every drawer and every shelf and every cabinet for everything i ask myself if i've used this within the past year if i really need it and if its function can't be achieved by another tool already in my shop the answer is no then i'll consider getting rid of it or at least putting it away into storage then i go through my storage and do the same thing and it's easier at this point to get completely rid of things because i've usually forgotten all about them it feels good to have an annual cleanse so that you can make room for the new things you want this year rather than space being taken up by the tools that you thought you needed five years ago i can quite honestly say that i've rarely regretted getting rid of anything [Music] i used to work in a frame shop and my manager was a huge stickler for cleaning up everything at the end of each day i was a little peeved that i couldn't just leave the same five tools that we used every single day out on the work tables but slowly over time i began to appreciate coming in each morning to a totally clean shop that wouldn't cause me any frustration when everything is back in place you know where anything and everything is nothing is getting in your way and you can focus entirely on the task at hand and don't give me any of that bs about you're not a real woodworker unless you're up to your nips and sawdust it should be messy you have 30 rusty cans of folgers einstein was messy with mismatched nuts and bolts he was a genius littering the top of your workbench therefore i'm a genius right no clean your shops people i know you want to use all of your shop time for making things and not cleaning things but all it takes is 10 minutes after you finish up in the shop put your tools back give your surfaces and floors a quick sweep or a vacuum and you're done i'm not talking about a deep clean just a surface level thing when you start skipping this routine things will get messy and out of hand and it will take a lot longer to get back in order if you clean a little and often it makes it easy to keep tidy something that people hardly ever mention when it comes to good shop organization is good lighting probably because it's a little tangential but whatever having a bright shop is really underrated check this out it's quite easy to get used to dim lighting and it's definitely a case of you don't know what you're missing there's really no science to this i mean there probably is but who cares but just pick up a bunch of cheap led strips and go nuts if you want to spend extra money to get some extra fancy lights sure but it's totally not necessary my lights are a little unusual because i film videos in my shop so i'm not going to get into them because it's not applicable to anyone but me good lighting just makes everything feel cleaner and makes a small shop feel bigger and that's all i have to say about lighting alright so what did i miss let me know your thoughts and if you have any other sweet tips that i could use to make my small shop better don't forget to like and subscribe and tell a friend and tell your grandma and i have instagram too okay bye [Music]

Channel: Scott Walsh

Views: 249,543

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Id: vL3wi354znE

Length: 15min 43sec (943 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 17 2022