solutions to shop problems

[duckkisser]

Ok so we each come across problems in the shop that we need creative solutions too. for instance we have lots of drill bits in the shop and i could drop 100 dollars for a wall mounted drill bit dispenser that stays in one place. but i wanted something that i could carry around lots of one kind of drill bit that was contained and secure. that way i can know what im passing out to 5-6 kids at once. and i don't have to worry about the kids sneaking one out because they are not easy to slip open and pocket a drill bit takes a little bit of work. here are some pictures of the containers i was talking about.

http://woodtalkonlin...__fromsearch__1

what i want to know is what kind of updates have you made to your shops to save space or to solve a unique problem. how have you combined stations or tool carts. have you mounted your tools in a unique way? do you put your tools in some kind of tool caddy? I recently saw a shop where the guy has a flip up bench mounter to a counter that he uses for miter saw and radial arm saw.

[jHop]

One idea I've been kicking around is a modified sliding dovetail for underneath my main bench/table. Since I have the lathe almost permanently mounted to this, the sliding dovetail will hold the modified 2x4 that I drilled holes into to hold my turning tools. When I'm done turning, I pull out the tool "tray" and put it away. (especially now in the new shop; I'd never be able to leave the shop if I didn't...)

As for drill bit caddies, I've seen one basic design in the 100+ shop tips that ShopNotes puts out periodically; It's little more than a block of wood mounted on a french cleat system with a wire handle. (the closet drawer type of wire handle.) If you wanted to go to all the hassle, you could grind a little indent in the last quarter inch of each drill bit and have a button catch style lock in them. But I'd worry about the structural integrity of some of the smaller bits if you did that.

**Lightbulb moment** Drill holes in a block that are angled slightly, wider at the top than at the bottom. Insert the drill bits, and mark where they fall. From the side, create a wedged through mortise (trapezoidal in shape in cross section) and use it to gently hold the drill bits in place while they are inside the holder. Remove the wedge to remove the drill bit.

[duckkisser]

hmmmm i think a sliding dove tail would be too limiting how about a lazy susan type of storage. where one section has your gouges and scrapers etc.... second section would have face plates and other accessories, third section sand paper, fourth section has finishes. then you can just rotate it for you different steps the shaping with section one, then you go to sand paper, then you go to finishes. i saw in a magazine a person made a giant rotating table that had scroll saw, router, sanders, and miter saw. you just spin the table to the tool you need plug it in cut and spin he could stay in one station and finish the project with each step. i really like that set up because it took very little room it had lots of storage for accessories and it was easy on the old guys feet and back.

[jHop]

My new shop is in the storage shed, approximately 4' by 5' total space. I don't have room for the rotating storage.

I've also hated the idea of losing space on the rotations. By the nature of the rotating base, you lose a portion of the space (floor, cabinet, wherever) to a "dead zone" defined by the arc of the outer edge of the circular base and the length of the radius of the same base. If the base was inside something, like a roll around tool cabinet, then you could fill those corners with something like cut offs, other gouges or scrapers, or miter gauges, or pipe clamps, or something needing some vertical storage roughly the height of the tool base.

But I try not to think in circular terms when coming up with storage. I have been looking at the Studley tool chest as a sample of using every available area to limit the amount of "wasted space," since my shop seems destined to fall into this category...

[duckkisser]

ouch small space well dont forget you have the space above your head saw a guy who had his lathe mounted to the wall above his bench in his shop dropped it down to bench with some kind of swinging arm. now that was space saving. i would like to see you shop please take a pic and post it to me.

[jHop]

i would like to see you shop please take a pic and post it to me.

These were taken about three weeks ago. The shop hasn't evolved much, just gotten more stuff in without resolving any issues. I still need to trim the ends off the MDF top of the tool table (not a workbench) that I replaced. You'd figure I'd remember to trim them to the right size when I was replacing it, but I cut it to the same length as the top being replaced. As for overhead space, well, you'll notice the area directly overhead is ... an issue.