Organizing tools and equipment makes me happy.

Like a lot of you, I am a bit overendowed with random stuff that goes along with hobbies. My garage is a modest 2-car affair; I have to keep one of my cars and two of the motorcycles in it, along with a reasonableish assembly of tools and things. I also hunt and shoot recreationally and load much of my own ammunition, so presses and powders and pieces for that consumes a fair amount of real estate.

With Harbor Freight's recent 20% off sale I bought myself another tool cabinet. This allowed me to free up some MUCH-needed horizontal space in the shop; in fact, I used the top of the cab largely to convert my NB Miata doors to flat panels this weekend, so the timing was fortuitous. I also spent most of the day today engaging in one of my favorite infrastructure pastimes: Putting tools Where They Belong. Sometimes this means talking to a tool and figuring out how often and where it's used and placing it accordingly. Other times it's a trial-and-error process. Once the tools have lived in their new homes for a while, out will come the label maker and drawers will get new (and sometimes irreverent) labels. It's good times.

This doesn't just apply to the garage, though. It's deeply satisfying to receive a new tool and figure out exactly where it lives. Behind the house I have a 24x40 workshop with the welders, machine tools, and CNC equipment. (I also have a warehouse down the road for my business.) When a new tool comes in or when I've just finished a big project, that's often the impetus to go through and clean all the horizontal surfaces and make sure every tool is in its sensible home, all the surfaces are swept/blown off, and in general maintenance is done. 

It's incredibly satisfying (in my workshop) to put on some good music or a good podcast and just get to setting things where they need to be. Oftentimes it's worth lighting a cigar or pipe while at it. I can easily kill a weekend just putting things back in array. 

This weekend, though, I count as a success that I finished the NB steering column shim removal and door card project and managed to get quite a lot put away in the new tool cab. It is satisfying to my soul. 

Hmm, it doesn't look like my photos uploaded. Damn! Let's try this again, but from the shiny pocket box this time. 

When you have a small shop (mine is also a modest 2 car garage) you absolutely have to keep it organized. I went thru and did a MAJOR rebuild and reorganization of my space a few years ago and now it's getting full again. Time for another round.....

I went to harbor freight hoping to score a large rolling box the same weekend. They would not honor the coupon on insider track prices so I passed. 
This was nearsighted as I've still not purchased one of the boxes for more than a year for various annoyances. I need to get over myself. I hate that my tools aren't organized. 

Some guys enjoy sitting in a boat all day fishing or some enjoy 18 or 36 holes on a golf course.  Some even enjoy gardening or landscaping. 

I find joy in hanging around in my garage puttering around with mechanical things. 

Yes, there is happiness in organizing wrenches. 

Up until our recent move, my garage/shop space consisted of a 20x20 suburban garage.  Like Brandon, I had to pack several hobbies into that workspace.  Not to mention multiple cars and a motorcycle... and a freezer.  I had two small stationary benches, but what really made things work for me was putting all my tools, and my fabrication bench on wheels.  Welder cart, tube bender, shop press... all on wheels so I could play garage tetris and maximize usable space for whatever project was going on. 

When I built my big bench, I also incorporated a couple ideas to help with storage and useability.  First, I built two of the HF side cabinets into the bench.

I also built a 'receiver' into each corner, so I could mount tools like my bandsaw, tubing notcher, etc. as I needed them.  This has turned out to be one of my better ideas, coming in very handy.

I managed a lot of projects in that little space over the years, from engine swaps, to paintwork to building a rollcage. 

My new workspace feels almost decadent by comparison.  Even though it's 4x the space I previously had, I'm trying to apply my space conscious habits because it's not limitless.  I find myself moving tools and re-organizing something almost daily, because I'm still settling in and figuring out what works in the new space.

Oooo, love the receiver idea.   I'm totally stealing that.  Did you weld a nut to the outer tube for a lock screw?

My barge bench has two standard sized tool boxes back to back on one side and an open shelf on the other.  Next project for my barge is a large drawer.  I used to work for a drawer slide manufacturer so I have a couple of nice ones ready.

In reply to akylekoz :

Thanks!  Definitely one of my better ideas.  Yes, nuts on every corner.  You can see the locking knob in the out of focus pic above.

One thing that's kind of annoying... since we've moved, the local metal supply doesn't carry either the outer or inner tube for the 'receiver', so if I need to make any more tool mounts, I'll have to track it down online.