My 1-Car Welding / Fabrication Shop Tour
In this video, I give a brief tour of my mini welding and fabrication shop in my “1-car” attached garage. I show off my Klutch Bandsaw, Titanium Mig 170 Welder, Fixture Table, Steel Organization System, Drill Doctor, US General 14.5″ End Cabinet, and Compact Bender. Floor space is extremely precious working in my small shop, so I’ve come up with some very unique solutions.
Transcript:
Small Shop Basics & Ventilation
Today I decided to record a brief shop tour video. I’m in a 1-car attached garage, so I try and utilize as much space as I can. The garage doesn’t have AC, and the door has automatic hinges, so I made a little door stopper. The other day I was carrying a bunch of trash bags, and I jacked my shoulder up on this small piece of round bar.
I’ve got a portable ventilator attached to the ceiling and it runs out a dryer exhaust vent. It does a great job at pulling out the nice cold air. Here’s my Titanium 170 Mig Welder… and here’s the most important tool in the shop (a fire extinguisher). Here’s the second most important tool in the shop… an insulated garage door. It’s the little things for me.
I’ve got a nice collection of Wedding Decorations and a vinegar tank that I haven’t used for a bit. Above that I’ve got a double-magnet tool holder to try and keep track of my hand tools. I’ve got a 2 foot by 3 foot fixture table where I store a ton of my tools. I bought a mobile base kit from harbor freight and used 1″ square tube to hook it together. I used some angle on the inside of the base brackets to add another level of storage space. This is where I keep all my less frequently used tools.
Storing and Steel & Organizing Drops
I purchase full sticks of steel and have it cut to 8 foot lengths so I can transport it. There’s also some 10 foot cuts on here right now. When my material no longer spans the full width, it moves down to this level, and then to this spot.
Nothing under 16″ stays here. Then, the drops move to a bucket, and if they’re too short for the bucket, they move into their, lets them “shape bins” Square tube miters, parts I’ve cut off of stuff, angle, round, flat, square tube, and sheet metal.
Metal Bandsaw Miter Station & Wall Mount
Moving on to the bandsaw. I decided to go with this Klutch Bandsaw from Northern tool. The important thing to notice is the actual saw rotates, as opposed to the clamp or fence, so I was able to set it up like a miter saw. I primarily use it as a horizontal chop saw, but I can also use it vertically with a stand I made.
I fabricated a wall mount for the saw and the tables. I decided to go with a wall mounting solutions so I could still utilize the floor space for storage. I used a jigsaw to cut the reliefs so the saw can go fully vertical or rotate for miter cuts. I made a chip tray, and this keeps chips from piling up under the rotating section. With the tray in place, I’m able to clamp a shop vac hose on an automatic switch.
The hardest thing to figure out was how to get the saw vice to lineup with the in and out tables. My solution was to tap threads into the mounting brackets so I could fine tune the heights of the tables independently. The left table is level with the saw vice, and the right table is slightly low so material doesn’t bind when cutting. Speaking of cutting, let’s cut a piece of flat bar and watch the shop vac cleanup the mess. Hold on, this angle sucks, let me fix it.
There we go! Now let’s showoff in… slow motion. Production quality… because… why?
Basic Shop Tools
Anyways, back to tools. Here’s a dust separator, shop vac, in the shadows there’s a mini table saw, chop saw, electric stapler, dremel tool, orbital and sheet sander, air compressor and air-hose reel. Moving up, my 13″ drill press, terrible files, good punches and some random saws.
Here’s my sloppy old vise, the bench grinder I hate using, and I grind everything I can with the disk sander.
Drill Doctor 750X Drill Bit Sharpener
The Drill Doctor is basically worn out at this point. I didn’t expect it to last forever, but it only worked well for about a year. I ordered a new chuck, but I think the sharpening port is just too worn and has too much slop. The split point function never worked well, and it would grind way less of the point and more of the flute.
Welding Galvanized Fasteners
I recommend everyone gets a pipe wrench. I’ve used it for incredibly random things. Here’s my mini hardware store. I’m definitely going to build a storage rack and clean this spot up soon. Quick note, make sure to grind or burn the zinc coating off before welding. I always make sure to wear a respirator when I’m welding anything with a coating, and especially because I’m in such a small space.
Behind part of this Wedding Arch, let me move it real quick, I’ve got all my levels and squares, beside that, I’ve got some random asshole’s guitar.
Here’s the compact bender, Bauer weed eater I returned, and a magnetic floor sweeper. Back here I store all my sheet metal, plate, and expanded steel I’ve come across. Okay, if you made it this far, here comes the shelving shot… I purposely kept as much of it out of view prior to this point, but… here we go.
Storage Shelf Brackets
Lowe’s had a closeout on particle board shelves, so I paid $1.69 for every 4 foot piece. Using particle board meant I needed brackets every 16″, but I made a jig up so I could knock them out real fast. I could’ve made them faster with square tube, but I was out of square and had a full stick of 1/2″ round. I’d tack one side, flip it, tack the other, and set the weight on top it.
Here’s a space saving tip… but how does it work? You get a step stool, you look like an idiot, and then boom, you’ve got a ladder on the ceiling!
Here’s my “get-all-this-crap-off-the-welding-table-and-keep-it-within-reach” tool rack. And yes, it was built to the dimension of Harbor Freight Magnets. I’ve got some PVC drill holders, and I added a toolbox. This is the US General 14.5″ End Cabinet from Harbor Freight.
Back to the Mig Welder, I built this welding cart originally for an Everlast 140 welder, but we had a bit of a rocky relationship. I finally called it quits and upgraded to the Titanium Mig 170, complete with a setting chart and an actual display. No longer do I have to manually dial in settings every time I switch material thickness. This welder has been good to me, and I actually just bought a second one that I can leave at my Dad’s shop.
That just about wraps up my mini welding / fabrication shop tour. Please post any questions and comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe.
Now, here’s the full wide-angle 360 degree shot where I managed not to stumble or trip.