How Do You Organize your Workbench and Tools

What is this "organize" of which you speak?  I have never heard of it.

Seriously, I have an automotive tool chest on wheels that I can move around the room as well as some old kitchen cabinets around the workbench.  My space is VERY limited, so the workspace is far more cramped than it should be, butt eh drawers and cubbies help to alleviate the mess when I do a good job of returning tools to their places.  I wish I had room for another cabinet for paint and building supplies, but they have to live in totes under the layout.

I used to have a condensed area, but being crammed in a 4'x6' area just doesn't work. After much thought, I went with a 10' counter top supported by two base cabinets with drawers and storage.  It allows for a decent test track, parts bins and pegboard for tools.  I also have a roll around spray booth for painting.  Please see the photos.

My tool boxes are suspended under my bench for easy reach of any of my hand tools....machines are spread out in work stations, I can easily move from station to station....

Pat

@palallin posted:

What is this "organize" of which you speak?  I have never heard of it.

Seriously, I have an automotive tool chest on wheels that I can move around the room as well as some old kitchen cabinets around the workbench.  My space is VERY limited, so the workspace is far more cramped than it should be, butt eh drawers and cubbies help to alleviate the mess when I do a good job of returning tools to their places.  I wish I had room for another cabinet for paint and building supplies, but they have to live in totes under the layout.

You beat me to the draw on that one....even used my wording.

Over my main work bench I have a wall cabinet that stands on the floor. It has open spaces on each end for plugged in tools like sabre saw, solder gun, 3 electric drills and Dremel Moto tools (4) to reduce changing bits.  I only use the right side for the plugged in tools since I am right handed.  The peg board section is 44 inches wide and the end shelves are 12 inches wide.

There are 12 electrical outlets on the cabinet and 4 more below as well at 4 under the work bench.  All of these tools and outlets are within reach of my stool with a back at faces the work bench.

In the center of the cabinet are peg boards on the ends and middle.  I have one main pegboard type tool holder with over 80 pairs of pliers and 100 screw drivers.  It is that gray colored bar in the pictures.  Other peg board tool holders line the sides and back of the cabinet.  Most of my tools were purchased at garage sales and always buy a style of pliers I do not have.

The cabinet is held up with a 1 x12 inch 7ft board bolted on to each end and stands on the floor.  Two lag screws anchor the cabinet to the wall with and 1" x 1" angle, driven in studs.  The cabinet and work bench were made in the 1970s and a have been moved to 5 houses so I did not have to make them but once.

Right end of Cabinet

Left end of cabinet

The 6 ft x 3 ft wide work bench below the cabinet has the front 12 inches made from laminated 2 x 4 s on edge for solid hammering.  A 4 x 10 inch Columbian wood working vise, that quick opens to 12 inches, is installed flush on the end to allow cutting off to the edge of the bench.  The bench is always crammed with tools, parts etc.

There is open space under the work bench for my feet and a heater.  I use a stool with swivel seat and back padding.

To the left of the work bench is a 18 inch Craftsman Jig saw, 15 inch drill press and 14 inch band saw.

There is a smaller 4 ft work bench with a 5 inch metal vise and tool cabinet on the wall opposite the larger work bench.  A garage sale heavy duty file drawer like cabinet was installed below the work bench top (colored file drawers faces).  The file contains lathe tools, aviation and tin snips, files, five drawers for small clamps etc. I have hundreds of clamps in other boxes and several long clamps made with 4ft and 6ft pipes.   The bottom of this work bench is full of 7 1/4 in Skill saws, large 1/2 inch drill,several sizes of planes, spoke shave and saw blades for Skill and 10 inch blades for the  table saw in the garage.  There is a lockable sliding cover for the file cabinet drawers and lock for bottom doors as this bench was on a carport at one time.

Above the work bench in another cabinet with peg boards on the center section that holds several hack saw, brace and bits, Wonder pry bars, combination ruler, square and levels, etc.  The right section has cubby holes and hold plastic shoe boxes with things like sewing needles and thread, and other stuff.  I see another saber saw and often a hand drill is there also.  This cabinet stands on the floor supported by two 1x12s,  7 feet long and has two !" X 1" angles anchored to two studs.

The left section has no partitions and is open.  It has peg board and holds longer tools like old style hand saws, 24 and 36 inch levels, 2 foot long grabbers, long drill bits, crow bars, pipe wrenches, pieces of long straightened out coat hangers, etc.

The garage has messy power tools.

Charlie

I believe that “organized” is the faulted premise that you will be able to locate an item precisely where it was left.

Thank you for the insights and my space will also be limited. I like the idea of mounting the toolbox. My closet will be close to the layout, so it could go under there and be within an easy reach.

Organization is a fluid state on my bench based on the current project. This photo was taken after a clean up.

I recently added this shelf unit to store my cordless drills that used to sit on the floor. The top was an added flat surface for the chargers. The cabinets came from a chemistry lab we were renovating at the school I work at.

And in the interest of total disclosure

Bob

I may have hit the trifecta when I moved to my new place, I have a very generous work area.

It starts with my 6 foot main workbench.

This is were most of the work is done, especially anything dealing with electronics.

+

Secondary bench with more tools, parts, and books

Staging table, this is where I usually wrap or unwrap stuff.

Of course, we have to have a spot for the computer!

The double doors lead back to the "dirty" shop area.

The door on the right conveniently leads to my train potty.

The back room where dirtier stuff is done, cutting, grinding, etc.

Yep, more parts cabinets back here as well.

The eight foot bench and more tools and storage.

Badly.

My grandfather’s desk, project cart, and “wet “ cart. Both carts fit under one end of the layout.

@D500 posted:

Badly.

Ok, we need to get off topic just for a second...nevermind the workbench, what do we have here??.....please do tell....afterwards, we’ll return to the regularly scheduled programming....

Pat

D500, yours looks very similar to mine!

Larry

There are some great ideas and nice workshops in this thread.

I am a fan of pegboard and magnetic bars to organize my small tools. They give easy access and are versatile when you need to change things. Just like building layouts, space is always a limiting factor. In the same way that large congested cities build up with skyscrapers (see Alan Arnold's neat layout), peg board allows me to build out with longer hooks if necessary to hold similar items. Wiremold type multi outlet power strips are also a must.

TJ

Less impressive than others, but functional. This is strictly for train repair. My garage workbench (car repair and what not) is much different, and larger.

One thing that I noticed, about half of the benches had no place for your legs to go. If you cannot sit up next to the workbench, you will be bent over and your back will become tired or sore.

I have a nice overhang on my bench that I do most of my work on.  The other benches I don't often want to sit at, so they don't need space.

I wrote a whole article on the subject in the January/February 2020 issue of O Scale Trains magazine.

George

Great workshops all!  Always like to see how others handle storage of tools and other stuff as there never seems to be enough places for all the "stuff".

My workshop is in the basement and roughly 11x14 feet and is next to the train/laundry room.

First picture is when you walk in from the family room.

This is looking back from workshop to entry door from family room. Toolbox has hand tools.

Wall with pegboard for hand tools and other odds and ends. Storage for hand power tools underneath. TV and VCR for watching train flicks and DVDs.

More pegboard with storage under.

This is looking from workshop into train/laundry room.

Looking back from train/laundry room into workshop.

Thanks to all for sharing.

Dean

I organized my work bench by disassembling it, throwing it out, and building my Popsicle stick Yankee Stadium in its place:

LOL, Arnold