A Better Place To Work

I call it my shop, but it really is a two car garage that like a lot of two car garages, two cars really can't fit. And like a lot of garages, the previous owner did not park his cars in the garage, but used it as a shop and storage area. He did install three workbench sections across the front wall that look like store counters. They are stoutly built with wood and formica tops and storage underneath. There are also two drawer units that look like cut down chest of drawers.

 

I do park one of my cars in the garage and the "second car" stall I use to park the motorcycle, some bicycles and other loose items. Fortunately, the car I park in the garage is short, so I do have some room around the workbench. This is my "shop".  It is nice to have an area to work in that is at least dry and well lit, even if it can be cold this time of the year.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a nice metal top workbench at Goodwill for $12. The people at Goodwill called it a desk and it does have a foot well that allows me to set with my legs underneath. This is what I have been looking for. I sometimes want to set on my high stool when I work on small stuff and with the old bench, I had to set "side saddle".

 

So one morning last week, I moved most of what was in the second car side of the garage outside and started rearranging the work benches and the drawer units. The workbench sections were heavy and would not slide. I had to get the hand truck under the end to get them to move. When all was done, I actually ended up with more room, or so it seems. Part of what I did was to get rid of a lot of junk too. Any shop needs to be cleaned out occasionally. Over the course of a few days, I rearranged some of the mounted tools. The air compressor was now too far down the bench, so I moved it to an empty storage bay closer to where it originally was. Of course, the compressed air piping does not line up any more, so I need to reroute that. Then I swapped the location of the wash tank and brake press to open up more room around the grinder. And last, I cleaned off the top of the bench and stored or disposed of what was there.

 

My "shop" may not be large or fancy with a lot of tools, but a lot of amazing and successful projects have been accomplished here.

 Here is the bench/desk that I found at Goodwill. It is 50 inches long with a steel surface and is close to the same height and depth as the exiting workbench.

 First I moved everything from the garage outside. With everything outside, I took the opportunity to sweep the floor too!

After clearing out bicycles, bicycle workstand, motorcycle, table saw and a lot of other stuff stored in the corner. 

First I had to move the drawer unit 90 degrees from the north wall to the east wall. My bench grinder and band saw were originally on the drawer unit. 

It looks like a mess(and was), but I needed to move the two sections of work bench to the right to insert the new bench. 

 With the two sections of work bench moved, the new bench/desk fit well. And I can set on my stool with my legs underneath to get close to my work.

 After the rearrangement. Some stuff that was on the floor is now on the drawer unit. The bench grinder and the band saw mount with more room and a better height on the work bench. There is more room around the drill press and more room in the corner.

 The entire work bench. I had to move the air compressor and still need to reconnect the shop air piping. I also cleared off a lot of loose stuff off the surface so I can actually see the top now.

I moved the wash tank to the last section of work bench and the brake press from the last section to the center section.