Maximizing garage space...

KatieB · #1 05-18-2012, 12:02 AM

Hi all,

Ben and I are nearly settled down now in Yakima. We found the perfect house in a great neighborhood close to the airport with a 2 car garage, and finally got all our stuff moved in last weekend, including the RV-3. (I have new tail feathers stashed on my good comforter on the spare bed.) So far the neighbors are not too shocked to see a plane, since one of our co-workers lives a few houses away and is building a Carbon Cub in his garage.

Anyway, now the fun begins... it's time to begin designing a workshop. So I'm wondering, what have you done to make the most out of the space available in your garage workshop? (I searched briefly for a thread like this and came up empty, so if anyone knows of one, please post the link!)

Aiki_Aviator · #2 05-18-2012, 02:20 AM

I have a carport converted to a workspace. I have in this workspace a spray booth and have constructed the empennage and completed the QB wings in it. I also now have the engine.

Since the start I have had in this workspace the QB Fuse, Wings, and the empennage.

www.ozrv10.com

If you want to chat about options for maximising space drop me a line.

humptybump · #3 05-18-2012, 04:39 AM

I have found a few things that make my shop more "space efficient".

My compressor is tucked away and I have an air hose reel centrally located up high. Same for electrical.

Most work tables and cabinets are the same height and on wheels.

Use vertical space for storage.

rzbill · #4 05-18-2012, 04:39 AM

The tighter the space, the more it must be reconfigurable.
Easy rearrangement will promote doing a particular task that one might put off if there was heavy lifting involved.

I am a firm believer in Bingelis's mantra to put EVERYTHING on wheels.
Hang as much stuff from the ceiling as you can/

Consider the construction of rolling "tool islands" that might contain a drill press and a bench grinder for instance.

TS Flightlines · #5 05-18-2012, 05:30 AM

Hey Katie-good to hear that you and Ben are getting settled.
The one bit of advise I could pass along is to have several air and electrical outlets. Try to organize your machines so you are spending time waling from one side of the garage to the other all of the time. Allow the work to flow, kind a like a production line.
I would think lots of workbench space, and several racks on wheels to allow easy storage.
Tom

rgmwa · #6 05-18-2012, 06:29 AM

My workshop is about the same size. I've set it up so that about one quarter of the floor area is used as the main work area with wall benches (and a bar fridge). A belt driven compressor is right in the corner, and a good size island worktable has locking castors so it's easy to move around.

Six fluro's suspended from the roof over the work area and another 2 wall mounted tubes provide good lighting. With this setup, everything is within easy reach, which makes for efficient working. A few carpet remnants on the concrete floor also make standing more comfortable too.

The rest of the floor area is available for storage and now that I'm 2/3 of the way through the kit, it's filling up. As you're building an RV-3 you probably don't have large shipping crates, but if you do, put them on castors. Flexibility is the key. You need to be able to move things around easily. For example, I cut my finishing kit crate in half, put it on castors, put two padded planks on top of that and it does double duty as a mobile fuselage stand as well as storage space for most of the original contents.

Your needs will be different to mine, but designing the workshop is just about as much fun as building the plane.

DonFromTX · #7 05-18-2012, 06:47 AM

My build is in a two car garage - with a divider down the middle! You can take a look at my kitlog to get some views of how it went. Only "problem" so far is I cannot rivet the tail section to the fuse, will have to do that at the hangar.

William Slaughter · #8 05-18-2012, 08:06 AM

Lots of Elfa shelving largely covering all three walls.

John Courte · #9 05-18-2012, 08:55 AM

Overhead/rafter storage is a good thing. And yes, everything on wheels. I'm in a 2-car garage that was converted to a 1bdr guest house. Parts are stored in the bedroom, shop is the kitchen/living room. Wings are stored in the little 1-car garage attached to the main house, also on wheels.

I'm finding that as more bits go on the airplane, the more awkward it is to move around in there. Just make sure you can eventually get all the way up and down both sides of the fuse when it's on the gear.

Oh, and lights. Lots and lots of lights.

Buggsy2 · #10 05-18-2012, 09:26 AM

Good suggestions here. With a standard 2-car garage--and wanting to park one car at night--I've had to deal with the same issues.

One building table (EAA style) on wheels; grinder + belt sander on another small wheeled stand, bandsaw + drill press likewise. Stacked Craftsman toolboxes on wheels. Fuse and wing stands on wheels.

Use every square foot of vertical and ceiling space. I have a finished garage, not as handy as rafters, but I used old fire hose (ask at your local fire station) to make hangars for the finished emps, flaps, ailerons, and other lightweight, bulky things).

I have the typical pegboards to hang tools and other items. Garage cabinets used for more storage.

It all fits, a few pics here.