Garage storage, cabinets, etc. - what is your favorite feature / product?

[erikweste]

Here's the deal - I am a product designer and some of you actually, unknowingly, use parts I have helped create. My newest project is cabinets. Garage and trailer storage cabinets.

I really cant wait to nail this one, because with my A.D.D. I need to have a place for everything to keep it all from becoming a pile on top of a workbench.

Usually I just run with the idea I have been given and try to make magic happen, but something like this can be very personal to a guy (just like his tools), so I want feedback. I am posting this in the forum because CC has real dudes, making real stuff in real garages. I want to know what you would like to see in a cabinet / storage / workbench type product if you could have one custom made.

I am NOT talking about integrated stereos, Kegerators with a tap coming up through your workbench with a cup holder hanging off the side (hmmm... maybe that one would be ok). What I want to know is what would get you to buy something like that. Drawers?, gas shock hinged doors so they will stay up? Brushed aluminum with anodized finish? See through window so you know whats in it?... shit like that.

I look forward to the responses.
Thanks
~Erik

[mjasen10]

im a big fan of the tear down tables that have the little holes in a area of it that drains into some sort of collecting device. i think if you were to put that on a serice cart type deal it would be amazing. i personally like to do trans work in those cus it keeps everything in one spot and i can move it with me but oil always pools up in em. drawers are nice too. call me lame but im also a sucker for magnetic shit so like a magnetic tray on the side or sumthin would be cool too. im constantly droppin and misplacin shit if ya cant tell haha. hope that helps man!

[Nicko]

My favorite shop "cabinet"

is a huge 3 'wide 6' high fastener organizer. Like the little plastic bins you buy individually then put on the cheesy wall hanger strip...this one is steel, from an old dealership parts dept. Has nice deep cubby holes, about 12-16 per row with decent angle, big enough so I can get my hand in there and get a fistful of whatever. Everybody says something when they see it....she's a money maker baby!

[wickedblockhead]

i may have slight ocd, so i like a lot of drawers. everything has to be in its place and i dont like rummaging through for shit when i need it. i like a thick metal top, something i can bolt an 8" vise to and something i can weld on. im also a sucker for perforated boards so i can hang shit up and out of my way. hope this helps

[erikweste]

definitely...

all good feedback so far. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks!

[wickedblockhead]

on and i want smooth rolling drawers too.

[Guest]

Erik,

Can't wait to see what you develop on this, if you need test monkeys you know where we are at!

My biggest bitch about "garage" cabinets is that they are all over-designed, like "Hey these are macho dudes who work in the garage, they'll dig big rubber handles and plastic that looks like diamond plate!" That shit looks like kid toys to me. I just want regular old cabinets like mechaincs shops had. Sometimes the shop I worked at would get them from oil companies or other parts manufacturers and they were all pretty cheaply built, but held up nice.

The other alternative seems to be the super nice stuff like LISTA but nobody I know can afford that stuff. To me, their cabinets are exactly what I'd buy if I won the lottery. Since that's not going to happen, how 'bout something almost as good for way cheaper?

Want to do more research? www.garagejournal.com

One last thought: Modularity and Flexibility. Everything needs to be adjustable and customizeable so you can tweak it when things change.

Good luck, let us know what you end up doing.

[ditto]

id say 180 degree hinged doors with magnet 'hold-back' so they stay completely open when needed (like when pulling the chop saw out from the drawer and fighting with the right door closing on you) or not realizing its half closed and giving yourself a sweet new forehead divit ala charles manson

[ChoppyGee]

I'm probably the only one who has this trouble but the work benches and cabinets in my garage and the ones in the shop where i work and everywhere are too tall. So perhaps adjustable legs for different heights on work benches and cabinets??

unless you're talking to wall mounted units where the height is left up to the customer in that case ignore me.

[Sawbones]

I don't know about anyone else, but I think the wooden tool chests have a really nice vintage look to them. Especially with some bronze corners and hardware. Of course, they may not be as sturdy. I like the idea of glass or polycarbonate windows to see what the hell's in there. Locking casters are a must. Magnets. More magnets. Even more magnets. I want some cork board to pin notes and blueprints to. Did I mention magnets? One thing I'd really like to see more of is decent hammer storage. Everyone I know just kind of throws their hammers into one drawer and I always have to look for the one I need. I'd like to see them hanging up in loops so they're easy to find. Gas shocks are helpful, but up here in Minnesota when it gets below freezing they tend not to work as well anymore. Just a few thoughts.

[mplsdave]

im with choppy, adjustable height would be awesome!

[Guest]

BTW, check this mid-century kitchen cabinet set up. I found it on Craigslist a couple years ago.

[philbey]

I have to agree with the bullshit macho designed crap out there, it's like they're going around putting race-car workshop bling on the toolboxes now.

I reckon you should option the toolboxes in PRIMER so we don't need to sand anything before we go slapping a cool homemade paintjob on them anyway.

[soca750]

ball bearing sliding drawers are a must. but i also like the simple but sturdy stuff. the kind that doesnt mind if you kick it around your garage because you just stripped a case screw sorta thing.

and i think someone mentioned it already, but im not too big on the gas shocks either. seems to me that when they wear out, you end up getting your fingers smashed. im all for sacrificing some blood in the garage...but let me spill blood on the bike. not the tool chest

[Guest]

Melon crates or crates of various sizes. Concrete blocks and plank- 1x12 pine, what ever you can afford. a piece of steel diamond plate about 24"x 36"or 48" enough 2"or 3"tubing to make a table for the diamond plate top, make it so the lower cross bars can hold something.
Just a beginning.