I took the free time I had in May to remove the fixed shelving I was using for both storage and a miter saw stand, and to build some custom rolling carts designed for my different tools.
I made carts for my miter saw, air compressor, drill press, CNC, table saw and welder. I also added some pegboard wall storage, a lumber rack, and a charging station for battery powered tools.
The previous shelving took up a lot of space, blocked the light and collected saw dust.
I first made a cart for my CNC and another for the drill press.
I cut out name plates for each drawer with the CNC, using stencil font. Some letters cut out better then others.
I made a cart for my air compressor and air tools - I can store the compressor and framing nailer in the open bays in the bottom, and hardware and fittings in the upper drawers.
On the right size I can coil air hoses and have a compartment for tool oil.
On the back I have a rack for hanging smaller air tools, and a cubby for finish nailers.
I made a table saw stand with 2x4’s and pocket screws, with space for a dust cyclone bucket underneath. This is my least favorite improvement - the wheels are not as good as what I found for later carts, the saw is not fastened to the stand in a sturdy way, the accessories hanging on screws often fall off, and the dust collection is not ideal.
The accessory and jig storage as well as shop dust collection are items to improve upon in the future.
I made a miter saw cart, with stops to hold the saw in a fixed position, yet allowing it to be easily removed for projects outside the shop. It also allows me to swap the miter saw for the abrasive chop saw stored in the bottom of the cart - though unless I am doing a big project I will normally just pull that saw out and use it on the ground.
I also added some storage bays for hardware - screws, nails, bolts, etc.
The carts I made are all the same height, so that I can cut long lumber on the miter saw using the other carts for support, or use the other carts as outfeed/infeed supports for the table saw. This works fairly well, but doesn’t allow me to setup stops on the miter saw easily. In the future I will probably build an extension fence to accommodate stops for quick repeated cuts.
I welded up a metal cart to hold my welder, welding helmet, grinder, grinding wheels and metal welding supports. It is nice to have all my welding tools in one place and to be able to ground to the cart itself instead of needing to clip a ground clamp to each workpiece.
I installed pre-built metal lumber storage racks on the wall. I cut some of the shelf brackets in half, because my shop space is limited and I could live with having fewer racks for very long lumber.
I made a shelf unit to store all my 20V cordless tools and with charging stations for all the batteries. I also added charging stations for radios and other tool batteries here.
I installed a wood block to store my clamps on. It is a tight fit to get them all on or remove them when it is full, but it works good enough for now with the limited space.
I made a wood frame to hold pegboard spaced from the wall, secured that frame to the wall, and then attached the pegboard to the frame.
This was a mistake. It works fine now… but I should have installed the pegboard to the frame and then installed it on the wall as an entire unit. If I want to move the pegboard in the future (to a new house or shop), I will have to remove the pegboard from the frames and then the frames from the wall, instead of moving it as one unit.
I setup plastic sheeting to divide the wood shop from the rest of the basement years ago. This remains with the updated shop. We need to decide if we will be moving soon, and if not I want to replace the sheeting with an actual framed out door and plexiglass or polycarbonate walls.
