Hi, I'm JP

Recently we moved and now that the boxes are finally out of the garage, it's time to put my workshop together. There are however 2 problems:

1. When I sold my old place they made me leave most of my old shop. (Hey! It's a tough market)
2. After buying the new house I'm almost broke.

I guess it's time to get creative. The next 6 months will be spent scanning classifieds, garage sales, shop foreclosures. The only thing I don't need is a hammer. It's not all depressing however. My new place has a work space to die for. 40' X 12' with 12 foot ceilings, cable, phone, and 220v ready. There is an attached garage for the cars, so this is all mine (hehehe). . Here's the picture (now you know why I'm broke)


I spent the last 2 days cleaning and removing glass shelving from all the walls. Who puts up glass shelving in a garage? After 100 of screws, without a drill gun, I'm ready to patch and paint.

Any helpful suggestions on the shop would be appreciated.... TIA JP

I'm in the same position.. but I still have all of my old stuff (which wasn't that great)...

My priorities are...
nice vertical organized wood storage
drill press
table saw
room for a CNC mill (diy lumenlab style of course)
some sort of dust collection (another lumenlab project)
other than that... lots of pegboard and shelving for other storage...

I think we all have similiar needs. (CNC mills mmmmmmmm)
along the right wall I'm going to put a wood rack. That way I can back in and unload directly onto the rack. Storage is always high on my priority. There are some gladiator (metal) cabinets at menard's I'm going to look into. They are on sale for $218. A little steep but a good deal. Hopefully Costco still has the work bench I've been drooling over.

First thing is to finish the walls with paint and lots of peg boards. So much for finishing my projector next week.

I thought the $160 price on this oak workbench was pretty good, they have a 4' for $30 less:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=93454

I wish I had checked out your post before I went ahead and bought 2 benches. The Costco bench I bought was a good buy. It's an 8' bench with a 1 1/2 " hardwood top. The 3" square steel legs could hold up my minivan. It cost <$200 and I would highly recommended it. The other bench, a 6'' gladiator, is ok but for the dollar your bench would have been a better buy. I'll attach some pics when I find the camera.

Hey JPD, how is your room coming along?

Things are going very slowly. Mucho trabajo, poco de dinero. As you guys would say in California.

Finished projects
The floor of the garage has been leveled and patched.
The walls and ceiling has been painted.
Fix the truck bay door.

Todo
Epoxy the floor (will have to waite 2-3 months till the cement cures).
Put a skirt arround the bottom of the walls after epoxy.
Buy storage cabinets.
Buy tools.
Buy or win a CNC machine. (Buy yes, win doubtful).
Install an air conditioner.
Install a heater.

In process
Trying to buy a used drill press / mill. The mill part was made as part of a semester project but their isn't much information about the drill press. I will be driving over there to check it out tonight. The guy wants $900 bucks. Can't afford it but If it's as industrial as it looks I might make an offer.