Eric’s Efficient Garage Shop

Shop Tour - Submitted by Eric Rusch, Sr. from Kissimmee, FL
Added on February 7, 2012

My shop is a two car garage where no cars live. I have one wall dedicated to lumber storage, one for my work bench area, and one for racks holding equipment. Lots of storage has been squeezed in. All my large equipment is on wheels because most of the year it’s sunny out and the drive apron expands the working space a ton. Great natural light too. At the end of the day, everything gets rolled back in. It works out great!

Thanks to Marc for shop set up tips and ideas on how to get the most out of a small space. Plus the shop machine maintenance and set up guides have really helped. The videos on projects and instruction are awesome!

Discussion

Alex Harris February 7, 2012 12:15 pm

Looks great! This would never work where I live, it is too wet and windly for most of the year :(

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Pinto February 7, 2012 12:39 pm

Wow, that’s fantastic.
But the shop is WAY too organized… I’d never be able to find anything if it wasn’t sitting in a pile of clutter.

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Torch02 February 7, 2012 12:50 pm

I think you might have too much lumber. I’ll send Iovino right over to pick some up for me ;-)

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ATOGRF1 February 7, 2012 1:10 pm

Man, if you tried that in Chicago, those tools would be rolling down the street with some help from the neighbors.

Nice set-up though!!!!

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Jeremiah E February 7, 2012 1:26 pm

I love your lumber storage.

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Tom Iovino February 7, 2012 2:07 pm

Oh, yeah! Eric is one of my most loyal readers… Nice shop, Dude!

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Texfire February 7, 2012 2:29 pm

Good night, that’s a nice space. Complete with shotgun to dissuade “interruptions”. ;)

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Jason February 7, 2012 2:32 pm

I like the soothing blue tool boxes. Very cool.

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JoelPro February 7, 2012 2:42 pm

Quick clamps on the garage door…Brilliant! Copying that today.

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Bob Egbert February 7, 2012 3:02 pm

OMG I thought this was a picture of my shop just before I moved it into the POD. Good bye Florida ^sniff^

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DozersWorkshop February 7, 2012 3:07 pm

Fantastic! Did you have to re-balance the garage door after hanging all the clamps on it ? ;-)

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MplsMike February 7, 2012 3:21 pm

Go Dick Butkus!

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TennesseeYankee February 7, 2012 3:32 pm

I love the unifying blue color through out. What made you pick that color?

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John Verreault (aka Johnny Vee) February 7, 2012 3:49 pm

Great shop Eric! I love your talent for understatement. What you’ve put into that smallish space is fabulous. Thanks for letting us take a peek.

Cheers

John

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Lenny February 7, 2012 3:55 pm

Very nice. I can appreciate using a smaller space like that but I sure am glad I have a 900 square foot area to work in!

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ToolSELECT February 7, 2012 4:05 pm

What a great use of space! Great job on this!

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Lone_Wolf February 7, 2012 7:37 pm

That is one power packed little shop. Nicely done. Great use of space.

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Eric February 8, 2012 7:32 am

Eric, you’re my hero! Your organization just pulls me in. I’m currently in transition; ressurecting my garage from a dump-site of finished remodeling debris/garage sale treasures – to a functional workshop, like yours. I’m wrestling with the muck and mire of how to effectively store what I need and part with what I don’t, all on a small budget. Most everything needs some cleaning up, oiling, and care before storage. I’ve made some great strides but FAR from finished. Please share your process to success and advice you have for those of us in-process.

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Tom F February 8, 2012 7:34 am

Inspiring to say the least. Well done, thanks for sharing the photos.
TF

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jim j February 8, 2012 8:44 am

This just makes me sick…

to think that mine is still a mess. Maybe over the next year I can use some of your ideas.

What brand of tool chests do you have?

Thanks for posting

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Bill Signorini February 8, 2012 10:44 am

Nice job on shop !! What special precautions do you take to prevent rust in the humidity. I was raised in Florida but was not a woodworker at that time. I am presently trying to organize a shop in a garage that does house cars.(in Western North Carolina) Thanks for sharing .Gives me ideas for mine.

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- John White March 1, 2012 4:19 pm
  
  Bill, Im in Western North Carolina as well, and I use two products:
  
  http://woodworker.com/fullpres.....RGEVIEW=ON
  
  http://woodworker.com/fullpres.....RGEVIEW=ON
  
  All of my cast iron surfaces and blades look like brand new….check out my site….
  http://www.johnwhitedesign.com
  
  Reply
Michael February 8, 2012 12:51 pm

Eric, If only I could be as organized!! hate it ;-)
Curious to know what you make with that uniform wood?

Thanks for sharing.

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Jeff Yates February 8, 2012 3:10 pm

I’m working on a similar concept in my garage…

But question…how does it look with everything inside? Is there room to work when it rains?

Overall…I give it two thumbs up…

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Eric R February 8, 2012 6:45 pm

Thank you very much Marc for displaying my shop, and to everyone for your kind comments.
I will try to answer your questions as best I can:

Alex: We have a very rainy/hurricane season and when it rains I work inside. It’s a squeeze, but I find moving the machine I’m using to the center of the shop and keeping everything else off to the periphery works out fine.

Pinto: I’m exactly the opposite. I’m kind of anal in keeping everything where it belongs. Just ask my kids…lol

Torch02: Secret admission; what you see is about 1/5th of what I have. The rest is stacked in a large dead space behind my workbench and at my brother’s house.

ATOGRFi: I used to live just south of Chicago and know what you mean. Thankfully, I have a secure environment
here. (and ample security measurements just in case.)

Jeremiah: Big box steel racks that hold a LOT of weight and can be repositioned wherever I need.

Tom: You & Iggy have taught me a lot and I will remain a faithful follower. Tomsworkbench.com rocks!

Texfire: I really hate interruptions…lol

Jason: Thanks. I had three different colors and just tried to make everything look a little nicer.

Joel: One day I just stuck some on there while I was working on a project, and bingo, the light in my coconut went off!

Bob: I moved down here a couple of years ago from Chicago, and the weather is unbelievable. No more shoveling snow for me ! lol

Dozers: The door still works fine. I may have to replace a few rollers down the road, but that is easy.

MPLSMike: Dick Butkus and Walter Payton.
All Stars for ALL TIME. Enough said!

Tennessee Yankee: Thanks. It’s “safety blue” and truthfully, the old girl likes that color. Happy wife = more tools…lol

John: Thank you my friend. A kind comment coming from someone who is smart enough to follow this fine site is very much appreciated.

Lenny: I used to have a bigger shop and found this one suits me just as well. It is what you make of it.

ToolSelect: Thank you very much.

Lone Wolf: Thank you as well.

Eric: I just must have moved everything a hundred times before it started taking shape. I painfully removed things I didn’t use any more and then obtained several cabinets and chests, putting like items together. Slowly but surely it started to organize. I can now go out there and find just what I’m looking for. But you know I’ll move it all around again soon ! lol

TF Tom: Thank you. I appreciate your kindness.

Jim J: I have several different small tool chests and the four large ones are from HD. Stainless Steel with the rollers left off. I am in the process of replacing my bench top cabinets with ones I’m making (Lumberjocks project: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/57379
It’ll take a while, but it’s been fun.

Bill: Man, rust is ever present down here in Florida, but following Marc & Tom Iovino’s tips have really helped. T-9 Boshield by the case helps too…lol

Michael: The uniformity in wood shape is just from the source which I was fortunate enough to tap in to.
I make everything from small items to large. (Large means more glue ups..lol)

Jeff: I can work pretty easily when I have everything inside. It is definitely a little more “comfy”… but there is less reaching for something…lol

Thank you all again, and thanks to Marc.
With as many plates as he keeps spinning in the air at once, he is really something!
The woodworking community is really lucky to have people like him out there!
Thanks again.
Eric

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Jeff February 9, 2012 6:22 am

My hero!!! I love the shop! What a pile of wood!

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Mo Theron February 9, 2012 9:06 pm

You shop is very well laid out, i especially love the fact that you put the big heavy weights on wells, that is something I need to do someday. Very creative on storing the clamps on the garage door. All and all it a awesome workshop.

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John P February 10, 2012 8:30 pm

Awesome Eric, very well thought out and executed. I am still struggling getting my shop in order. 2 car garage with the requirement of 1 car in…

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nateswoodworks February 11, 2012 7:46 pm

Nice setup, thanks for sharing

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John White March 1, 2012 4:21 pm

Eric, I hope its ok if I take some of your organization ideas! Great job on utilization of space….Im running out of space even in my shop!

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Phil Gibbs April 10, 2012 2:03 am

My concern is, do you get enough air filtration from the “blast zone” take care with that one. Man you have a great set up and soooo tidy too. Thanks for the pics.

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Eric’s Efficient Garage Shop

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