I am close to reaching critical mass in the shop. I have a lot of crap and not enough floor space. I built a frame table about 10 years ago and I thought I would be smart and make it dual purpose by bolting a table top on it. Well, now it is covered in junk and I added a vise and a few other attachments that make it hard to move around. Now I am looking at building another one. Where do you guys store yours? I was thinking of trying to rig up a block and tackle and possible hoist it up against the wall. But the thought of it falling over scares the bejeebies out of me. Don't really wanna leave em outside for obvious reasons.... Just wondering if you have come up with a clever way to store massive shop equipment?
Why not outside? I'm kinda facing the same dilemma since I'm relocating to a new shop that's half the size I'm in now. I plan on leaving my frame table and other big equipment the rain and snow won't hurt outside while I'm not using it. Helps now I have a nice fenced yard that I don't have now. I also plan on a shipping container or shed to store parts, ect in to clear up more shop space.
Well, I live on a main road and basically you can see every angle of my place. we are on a corner, so there is no where to hide it. The agreement made with the wife was "I don't care what you put in the shop or what you do, as long as no one can see it". I try to hold up my end of the bargain.
I have a frame table that rotates and stands vertical against my bench and only takes up 5" of vertical space with cross bars removed. It holds 32 frames on one side and 34 on the other side. The dolly ends come apart and are stored under the work bench. This is a photo of when I first purchased the jig. I had to sand it down and paint it.
Ha, I have been going thru this myself. The way I look at it is this, The big stuff has it's place. Even so, some of it, like the rotisserie, engine stands, cherry picker, etc, gets left outside behind the shed. It is the small stuff that I am buried in. As a solution, I have been buying storage totes like crazy and packing stuff away. I currently have more than twenty totes stuffed with car and motorcycle parts. I probably need about ten more. They stack up real nice and keep my stuff clean. The real (permanent) solution to this, I have decided, is to put some cars together and I would have fewer parts to trip over.
I made mine so it bolted together. This is my chassis jig, I did have it hanging from the rafters, but we are moving out of this building and had the hole open so I could get it ready for the move.
My frame table is my concrete floor, then once the perimeter frame is done it progresses to saw horses for suspension work, then once suspension is done it progresses to wheels and tires. Doesn't take much room to store the saw horses. Honestly never seen much need for the table, I can see it being useful but not necessary and it does get you off the floor.
Remember ten years ago when you came over and helped my brothers and I weld up that frame jig? 12' sticks of 8" I-beam, with cross bars of the same material. It got finished with 6" I-beam legs that unbolt. So when not needed it sits on edge up against some pallet racking, and all the legs and jig stands (also unbolted) stack in between. I do have it wired to the pallet rack, but that's just because I climb on the thing when I'm reaching the top shelf of the rack. If I didn't climb on the thing it would never even think of falling over.
I partnered with a friend to build a rotisserie. When not in use it is stored at his place. For the last 7 months the rotisserie has been at another friends shop while he uses it to work on his camaro. So that is one way to keep the space gobblers out of your hair while you do not need them(sharing). I am fortunate to have a couple of sheds to store other things like cherry pickers and band saws. I like these ideas expressed here about break down frame table jigs.
Hang em high ! Isnt that what Clint Eastwood said ? Oldmics (running out of ceiling View attachment 4160082 space)
I built a poor mans rotisserie primarily for finishing the underside of the fiberglass body on my roadster and knew it would take some time and with two other long term projects it would need to be moved around easily so this is what I came up with. So far it has only been used as a storage rack but realized the value of the portability, all that fiberglass dust would make quite a mess in the shop and it "should" be pretty easy to roll outside to work on, could even be left outside with just a good wrap of plastic. I thought I had some construction photos of it but it does have casters on it.
I have the same problem, just like most here, not enough room in the shop. I am biting the bullet and adding a 16 x 16 addition to my shop. It will become full as soon as I can buy more stuff to stick in there. Last year I installed a 2 ton mini split heat pump in my 20 x 24 in anticipation of this addition, so I am set as far as climate control goes. I am not putting any windows in it so I won't lose any storage space along the walls. If I time it right, the addition will become a paint booth for a short time. Nahhh....I will still be moving stuff around.
I just started making my rotisserie. For the rotating ends, I scrounged up rear axle spindle assemblies from fwd cars. One I bolted to the end of my heavy steel workbench and the other end will attach to the vertical support of my cherrypicker engine hoist. When I don't need them, I'll unbolt them and stash them outside. Shouldn't take up much space.
Build a fence. -------My buddy borrowed my engine hoist and body cart. I told him he can store them until he finishes his truck. I told him I know where they are if I need them. He also has my huge ass extension ladder. It takes a car trailer to move it.
I have a 5ft chain link around the whole acre. It doesn’t hide much. I have been pondering building a sheetmetal fence that would be an extention of the shop. It would be about 8’ tall and trimmed to match the building. Gravel base to park the trailers on.
Sink four posts in the ground in concrete and put a 3000# table top on top of it and it won't go nowhere.
In all my years I have yet to have or see the perfect answer. If there is one it must be more floor space than we need. The few times I have had that it was only a matter of time before my new space was once again full of more stuff and vehicles. I think clutter and congestion is just part of the disease. Once I submitted to that I did learn to function more or less in my own mess. What I found hardest to store is raw product, steel plate, tubing, sheetmetal, access to it and not having it turn to rust. The Wizzard
That's a good idea. On our last round of prototypes, we replaced the left rear hub, with a modified one. I have a pallet of nearly new unit bearing rear hubs, taking up space, at work.
Here's the rotisserie as of today. It has cost me zero dollars, just stuff I had laying around. The one end is a rear spindle from a fwd car bolted to the side of my workbench with a wheel mounted backwards on it that will have mounts welded to it to bolt to the car frame. The other end is another spindle and wheel assembly but this one has in addition a really bad brake rotor that some idiot wore the side of the rotor down to the fins. I'm going to have a spring loaded plunger that will engage between the fins to hold the car frame in various angles. When I don't need a rotisserie, it just unbolts and it becomes an engine hoist again.
I made the rotisseries to be able to roll the frame table, so heavy it takes the chain hoist to do it. When the project is done the rotisseries will fit under the side of the table, which I will make a removeable top for. B
Built my house on an acre 30+ years ago. She was supposed to get half for her gardens and I half for a junk yard. We compromised. She generously allowed me 1500 sq.ft. for a garage if I kept everything out of sight. I can store some stuff under the eaves out back because there is enough brush on the fence line to hide it from the neighbors.