Official Luthiers Forum!

My shop is framed and the Electrician is coming this week to wire 120V and 240V receptacles and lights. Assembled the new drill press and band saw this past weekend. I'm excited about getting my small shop up and running in my garage conversion (I'm proud of my 155 sq ft ).

I have 9' ceilings in the shop and garage and want to put some shelves up high to make the most of the both spaces. I have an existing drywall insulated ceiling nailed to the bottom of double 2x10 joists 16" on center. So I'll need to cut some holes in the ceiling if I nail/hang anything from the ceiling joists instead of supporting it off the wall studs (could go either way).

I would like the highest shelving to be 24" wide to make the most of the space and be flexible enough to store large items, even though it will take a step ladder to reach them.

Lower wall-supported shelves reachable from grade could be 24" or smaller width. My thought is to use some 5/8" plywood for the shelf and 2x4s (ripped if needed to reduce weight and dead space) for support. But maybe steel pre-fabbed supports are more cost effective, especially for smaller width lower shelving??

Who has a good design for for simple cost effective shelving? I do not want anything coming down to grade. Avoiding going up to the joists and supporting purely off the walls would be my preference. But if someone has a good design with advantages (like going wider than 24") hanging from joists I would consider it. Has anyone found a good use for shelving wider than 24" up high?

Thanks for the help,
Ed

I think you could use HD adjustable brackets (as Filippo shows) or individual (non-adj). (' is golden & you should definitely take advantage. (Make one particularly stiff for underside of go-bar deck??). I wouldn't go through the ceiling drywall...just hang L-brackets (screwed to joists) & hang from that where you need it.
For wide shelving, I used half bifold doors (both shop & office) which are light (torsion box) construction but very strong. (Lots if houses in the area were built with these and, as people upgrade, it's easy to find them on garbage day.)

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Dave
Milton, ON

This is timely for me, too. Shelves are the first thing I want to add to our new garage. Do you find 18" to be the most useful depth?

James,

For me, the 18" is the most useful. But some of the other sizes help too, the 24" for the bigger heavier stuff to keep it off the floor, and then some shallow 12" closer to my work bench.

I'd second Dave's suggestion about the go-bar deck. That shelf will have to be sturdy, though- probably hung from the joists. Go-bar pressure does add up. Above the go-bar deck is a good place for molds/bodies/air cleaner.

http://www.dejongeguitars.com/about-myshop.html

Cheers
John

!8" depth is enough for me & luckily that's what bifolds are. It's deep enough for a guitar body. Deeper & you may get into stuff getting pushed too far back, serious cantilever issues etc.

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Dave
Milton, ON

I have some of the same style shelf brackets that Filippo has. After a little research, I found that the Lee Valley ones were much heavier duty, and about the same price, at least from my neighborhood Home Depot. Here's a link. http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page. ... 3648,43650

I've been planning to build two basic 6'x6' units with 2x4 and MDF in an effort to keep costs low. I really like these adjustable brackets, but they seem like something that would add up fast. Costco has some good storage shelves, but they're $120 a piece. We'll have to see what the tax return brings. I'm also planning a new bench (ala Filippo minus the adjustable frame), router table, and a few other misc. tools.

I tend to gravitate towards anything that is secure, solid, and straight as an arrow. Stacking wood on uneven shelves doesn't do much for me. The Fillippo shelves work fine, and leave a little jingle left over for things more important....like tools. I............like..........tools.

James,

Take a look at this for 2x4 and plywood plan with adjustable shelves. Router does the trick. http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProjectCe ... 16123.html
I've been surfing the web today for ideas and found it. Since I am not going to grade this is not the best for me, but maybe it'll work for you. I agree that the brackets do add up quick. I went to the Rockler link noted above and quickly saw several hundred dollars in brackets to do what I want to do in both the garage and shop.

Ed