Converting one half of a two car garage to a workshop without losing the ability to park a normal vehicle

[James G. King]

My challenge has been to make multiple, and temporary use of existing space.
First:
inventory of required ( realistically desired) power tools which must be mobile
* Table Saw ; probably a mounted bench saw with some portable in- and out-run surfaces
* Compound Miter Saw ; biggest is better, and sliding is best
* Router Table ; see the in-and out-run surfaces above, multiple applications
* Work Surface ; mobile(?) and also a portable
* Hand Tool Storage ; cabinets and tool chests, shelves
Then:
Adequate power outlets ; may require some wiring
Lighting ; I prefer fluorescent but not familiar with LED possibilities
Dust Control ; for the space and the likelihood that single tools will be in use at any time, this can be a rather small unit and combined with a suitable ShopVac
Finally:
Material Storage ; depends on individual work preferences and the kinds of materials present at any time.
Still working on the end result, and in a semi-finished garage, I will need to finish the walls. Many of my projects relate to home updates so the router table is a worthy addition.

[Suzy]

Hi James, I see this is an old post and wanted to reply because we have needed to convert our one car garage into a workshop too.  Our empty garage doesn't hold a car unless it's a small compact car like maybe a mini cooper because the garage is far too short to park a car.  I have no idea what the builder was thinking since the house was built in 1998, lol.

We have now built a Panel Saw and it is housed on one wall with all the sheet goods slid into the side and behind the panel saw.  Its easy to pull out a sheet of plywood and put it on the saw.  Next to the panel saw on the right is a tool box and all the clamps are stored on the wall next to it.  There is a wall shelf on each side of the Panel Saw which hold paint and tool cases.

The opposite side of the garage is a 72" long worktop made of two base cabinets of 36" wide which are on opposite ends of the 72" laminate counter top with a space between them for the chair to be slid under.  There is also a wall cabinet on the left side which holds all the books my husband owns, lol.

Next to the 72" counter top is the new 5' wide by 3' deep bench we just built on wheels using an old laminate table top with finished and rounded edges.  Our plan for this bench is to use it for our kreg clamp table, it provides a large working surface to put things together.  The table saw, router table, miter saw and kreg forman all take up the lower shelf below.  There is another wall shelf above this bench on wheels to house other miscellaneous things.

This organization leaves the middle of the garage floor for use but we must move the trikke I ride and the bar stool rider my husband built outside so we can use the floor space.  This leaves a small table my husband had built years ago for use with the table saw, router table and miter saw which I now use it for the Foreman too. There is also the new clearVue cyclone with shop vac attached for use with all the saws.

There is plenty of center space for our use to build with this one car garage so I believe you will be able to manage a portion of your two car garage for woodworking.

I wonder how it has gone for your garage?

[Suzy]

Correction, the counter top with the two 36" cabinets is 96" long not 72" long.

[Don Foley]

Hey Suzy,

If possible could you share some photos of the panel saw you built?  I'm sure there's other members who'd like to see it also.

thanks, Don

[Suzy]

Hi Don, we built a Panel Saw R Us panel saw.  I posted about it but nobody responded so I deleted the post, I figured I wouldn't waste the space, lol.

Here is the link to it and there are some videos too, ours looks like his.

http://panelsawsrus.com/

[Don Foley]

Thanks for the information

[Suzy]

Your welcome!