best workshop storage

For sorting, I use a slice off the side of the big laundry detergent jugs, they even have a pouring spout which facilitates pouring the contents back into tobacco tin storage (three per stud space resting on horizontal 1x2's, many levels high) cut off jugs provide additional storage, soaking containers etc. Scrap goes into the blue box. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

A friend of mine got a whole pile of cafeteria trays cheap. He puts them in a dado slot between two uprights and has an instant skinny drawer. He stores his unsorted hardware on them.

Steve

Not a good idea to put heavy stuff up high above your desk. I put heav y stuff low and light stuff high.

I agree, but this is a fully framed and floored area, not rafters.

The best thing I have found for holding small hand tool are the cutlery basket from a dishwasher. They are round or rectangular an can be screwed to the wall and you can see what's in them. A plus is with the holes in them they don't collect dirt in the bottoms.

I found that gray steel shelving is available of the used market. I found a dealer of used office furniture that had a warehouse of the stuff and I could pick risers in 1 ft increments and shelves in width, depth, and loadbearing to fit what I wanted. ISTR it was $2 per piece. I bolted 6 inch shelves along an entire wall in my shop.

I bought some 4 drawer lateral file cabinets at a govt auction. Not that I wanted them, but they were in the lot of other sh8 that I wanted. Was going to dump them until I got the idea that I could use them in my shop. The drawers come out only about 12 inches but the drawer is about 3 feet wide ! Makes it very easy to see what you have without bringing the load way out front of the center of gravity. Plus the top is another shelf.

BTW, Grant: the whistle you re-drew is lack>

Yep, they are very handy and not expensive if you can find them at auctions and closing down sales - they are the main storage down at the mill and lathe end of my workshop for all the heavy stuff like chucks, milling tools, drill sets, soft jaws. They also help keep things rust free in damp air although not totally. Up at the engine assembly end it's mainly cheap shelves from the local DIY superstore with stuff in cardboard and plastic boxes on them and the hand tools are on racks made from fibreboard screwed to the walls with nails banged in to hold the tools. A cheap version of pegboard I suppose. The other 1/3 of the wallspace is occupied by benches which primarily accumulate crap and cease to be of any value at all.

I think the general rule in workshops is that any flat area will accumulate junk until it can no longer be used for its intended purpose and you then either have to spend a few days sorting and boxing the junk or get a bigger workshop.

-- Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

Lateral draws are nice. Only one open at a time to inhibit tip over. Load heavy in the bottom...

Mart> I bought some 4 drawer lateral file cabinets at a govt auction. Not