Last year, I built a second workbench in my garage. It's a great brute of a thing, lag-bolted into the wall with a pair of plywood sheets as the top. The legs are twinned 2x4s. I would bet that you could easily rest a big-block V8 motor on the thing.
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| My BB-41 workbench right after construction. I name my workbenches after battleships. The first was BB-60. |
The shelf on the bottom is where I store my power tools. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I've come to discover that it was too crude of a plan. I can't stand cordless tools as I never remember to charge the batteries and they always wimp out when I want to use them so everything I have has cords. Cords are a mess and so is that shelf.
Aside: I'd show you the shelf, but my workspace bay in the garage is filled with camping gear that now needs to be put away. We were going camping, but right at the last minute, Governor "Goober" Newsom closed all the campgrounds because he's an idiot and was wetting himself over the Wuhan Flu. Ohioan has more. Lately, we've had a tremendous heat wave and the temperatures have been over 100, so no one wants to help me store the camping gear.
On with the show.
Shoving a bunch of corded power tools on a shelf is a bad idea. The cords droop all over the place and getting the things out is a cause for the sin of Wrath. I took zip ties and tied up the cords from the tools I use the least, but that just means I need to cut the ties to use them and re-zip them when I'm done. More Wrath.
I might actually have some time for myself this weekend, so this morning, I spent some time looking at ways that smart people store corded power tools. I discovered that if you do a little thinking and design your storage solution for the tools you have, you can get some great results. Here are my favorites, with links. Enjoy!
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| Cubbies sized for the tools you have. Meh. |
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| I like the idea of storing my sandpaper with my sanders. Right now it's in my big, automotive tool chest and it's a pain to get at it. |
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| This one is my favorite. Since power tools are long-term purchases, you know what you need to store and can make tailored wall hangers for each. It's not like you'll have a whole new collection of power tools next year. Even if you replace one, they all have the same design and ought to fit in your tailored holders just fine. |
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| I thought this was an elegant design for keeping the cords under control. |
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| Similar to the one above, but not as elegant. |
I'm going to go with the tailored wall hanger design.
As soon as I can get the camping gear put away, that is.
4 comments:
hmm, I never seem to have enough wall space. And I have an undersized garage and a 10x10 work room.
I do like the ones with cubbie holes for the cords.
As to mine. My older (30+) year old corded tools, are in one of my tool chests. It isn't a great solution, the cords are still a problem, but you can close the door.
I do have a number of newer power tools, both corded and battery, that come with tote bags. These are all different color, so you know which is which, when closed. The big issue is that we (mostly I, but also a kid I used to have is into woodworking) never zip the cases closed. And it seems the band saw is always on that tool bench, so everything is covered in saw dust.
I need to build up a workable dust mitigation system for the work room. I built a cart/table top for the garage that holds my air compressor and 1 (of 3) shop vacs. It is the same height as the table saw, so can be the receiving end of a long board, and have the shop vac sucking up the dust from in all at once.
I have 2 craftsman 2 piece tool chests, one for the garage and mostly car type tools, and one for the work room, with more woodworking tools. But a lot of overlap.
The kid I used to have also has one in the garage for his growing tool empire.
KT - I have looked at this as well. Two things that will be a part of my version (to be implemented at next stem-to-stern garage cleaning, which will after the CoViD mess ends)...
1) I will use the individually tailored holders, but I will mount them using a French cleat so they can easily be moved around or replaced whenever a tool needs to be replaced.
And 2) I will cut off most the cords and rewire the plug so the attached cord is only about 12” long. Yeah, it means using an extension cord every time, but I find need to use one more than half the time anyways and it will eliminate the tangled cords during storage.
Both of those ideas are really good.
I put down epoxy on my garage floor last month. After patching a 4x4 area of floor that failed. It makes sweeping water,slush, and snow so much easier. Important for you SDers.
I have to admit, I had no idea it was called a French cleat until I researched this post.
I think I'm going to go with the one second from the bottom. I can make it as a stand-alone unit and store it on the shelf under my workbench. If I use that one, I won't have to tie up the power cords with zip ties or rubber bands. Instead, I can just coil them into the little cubbies underneath the tool.
Photos and descriptions in an upcoming post.
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