Help me build my hubby's shop!

R

RacerWidow

New Member
I've looked over my husband's shoulder at Do The Ton for years, but joined today to go on a covert mission.

We're getting ready to celebrate our anniversary and I want to him to finally put some money into his garage shop. We've budgeted pretty tightly for him to be able to quit his day job and built bikes full time. He's been working in a garage filled with kids' bikes and sports equipment and general household overflow for years. It's time to make a real shop!

If I buy him a girt card to someplace like Lowe's I know he'll end up spending the money on something else for our home or yard.

So where would you shop to outfit your garage? He has some decent big equipment, but needs better organization systems for his smaller parts. Not to mention that I want to help give him the nudge to making the place look really professional!

Any ideas? Recommendations? Where can one spend money to outfit their custom cafe racer garage??!
 
Re: Help me build my hubby's shop!

Damn. My anniversary was last month.
 
Re: Help me build my hubby's shop!

Moat bang for the buck is used stuff ,certainly; but if he's not one to spend on himself the gift card option is tough.

I buy my plastic bins etc. at Harbor Freight. Lots of shop stuff, not much else.
 
How much do you have to spend, what does he have now, what kind of space is avalible and what kind of work does he want to be able to do?
 
We're working toward making this a full time business. Right now it looks like a garage. I want it to look like a combination workshop/showroom for him!
 
I dont know what you know about this hobby/ buisness but thats not alot.

How about an air compressor or bike lift? If not, lighting upgrades are always good. Not much worse then working in a dark hole.
 
Re: Re: Help me build my hubby's shop!

Garage Rat said:
I dont know what you know about this hobby/ buisness but thats not alot.

How about an air compressor or bike lift? If not, lighting upgrades are always good. Not much worse then working in a dark hole.
Click to expand...

I love my lift, but it was given to me - $500 can go a long way or vanish quickly. Spend it together!
 
Help me build my hubby's shop!

Rich Ard said:
Spend it together!
Click to expand...

Good advice! Trust me, he will be just as happy to be part of the buying process as he would if you surprise him. Just explain that you want to help him outfit the shop and he will be off and running.
 
Second the used stuff, around here craigs list has tons of shelving and storage crap from sell outs and some of the walmarts are redecorating and selling their stuff.

FLOORING, if you want to make a shop look good a nice epoxy floor covering or something along those lines helps, plus it's oil/fuel proof wipes right off.

Inspiration helps as well, posters, pictures, hub caps, cool stuff to look at and think up good ideas.

LIGHTING, lights, anything helps.

And yeah, be there with him, I love that my wife likes my hobby and I love that she likes to be in the shop while me and the guys are working on stuff. She's a gear head from way back but still it helps tons to know she likes working on and collecting old worn out junk as much as I do. ;D
 
Now yes you can get some great bargans at Harbor Freight and I shop there all of the time.
I have bought several tools grinder, sander, cutting wheel and these are all basic tools you really need to have.

I have no idea what he has or what he needs but I would look at a good air compressor with enough volume to handle air tools and eventually maybe a media blasting cabinet which they also carry.

So you can get a lot of pieces and parts there but some things you just have to quality.
I will never ever buy another solder gun there it worked one time and melted.

If you want inexpensive cabinets you can go to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up some pretty nice cabinets to bolt on the walls. I have a really nice all metal storage cabinet that works really great and it is made by Gladiator. Picked it up at Lowes if I remember correctly.

Good Luck,
CK

P.S. Can I give you my wife's phone number and you give her a call our 20th anniversary is coming up. ;)
 
Believe me, I know $500 isn't a lot! Just a "gift" of saying, okay, we're going to dedicate this money to the shop. We've been budgeting everything tightly for a long time.

I was thinking flooring. We've talked about the the epoxy before. And lighting, too. And the air compressor def needs an upgrade.

We have a great lift.

I guess I was hoping their was some retailer I might not know about where I could get a gift card in order to say "this money is for the shop, nothing else!"

Thanks, all!
 
Help me build my hubby's shop!

First you need to talk to my wife...she hates my passion for bikes...that said I'm in the camp of looking in CL first then auctions...but be careful you got to know what the price of tool is so you don't end up paying to much in the heat of battle...then HF is my next stop...a table lift is a must if your old like me, but you can get away with building stationary one out of wood ...a big compressor is a must...angle grinder, files, a wire welder is nice too...band saw, polisher, drill press....etc
 
Upgrade the garage electrical system. Add another panel specifically for it. Then lights and receptacles, preferably drop downs. Flammables locker, old commercial fridge or freezer is perfect, does not need to run, can be found cheap.

Tools. Old, American made Thorsen, Proto, Mac, Craftsman (pre-1970s are alright), Black Hawk, etc. Hit flea markets, swap meets, garage sales, etc. Older American made power tools or older Bosch. Same sources. Don't waste money on modern stuff that doesn't hold up. Especially the cut rate junk from Harbor Freight and Northern Tool, you can use them for consumables (saw blades, grinding discs, ear plugs and such) but buy actual tools elsewhere.

Shop decoration is critical at my place, be it the machine shed, garage, blacksmith shop or wood shop. License plates, old car/truck trim, posters, bike parts, century+ old tools on the wall beams and rafters, and such. My wife picks out a lot of the nudes that go on the walls (no little kids here, ever) and is always dragging home vintage tools.

A junk bike to make a sign out of wouldn't be out of place either...
 
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Not sure that helps at all, tho :)
 
Help me build my hubby's shop!

My current shop doubles as storage for my FJ many bicycle, kayaks and snowboards but I'm still able to get a lot of work done....I would completely agree about the old tools and upgrading the electrical most everything is on wheels so I cram it all in one side and when I work I pull out the FJ Then at the end of a work session I'm forced to clean everything up and put it all back keeping it somewhat neat...I'll post a pick later when I get home
 
You know what might help, though, is this:

http://12-gaugegarage.com

Not because you need a hydraulic lift in the floor - but because that's a spot where there's a place for everything, and I've gone to great pains to do it the same way. It takes me about ten minutes to go from absolute nightmare mess to cleaned up in the shop - because almost every tool is at its station, and it's easier to put it away than leave it out.

If you want to get really nuts on that front, look up "lean 5S" on google and get your nerd shirt on.
 
Re: Help me build my hubby's shop!

This weekend I'm going to post pictures of the shed I'm working in, just so you guys can have a laugh.
 
Think he's a lucky man my wife is like you wants my shop where a spend alot of time be a place worth being in . Like everyone CL and HF are great place to find what u need and good lighting help . I know summers coming but don't forget HEAT for when it gets cold out if not it sucks trying to work in it . If I made a list of non tool stuff would go exhaust fan, light , heat , frig , peg board , work bench, flooring etc.. As for tools he'll know what he needs ! Wish you the best of luck and hope it takes off !
 
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