Packing up garage shop for winter

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DigBaddy72

DigBaddy72

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
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271
Location
New Holstein, Wisconsin
Are there any seasonal woodworkers here?

My shop is a two car, detached garage. Spring, summer and fall are warm enough in Central Wisconsin that I can work out there comfortably and my cars can be parked on the street or in the driveway over night.

Come winter and it is another story. At first I thought of moving my operation into my basement, but I don't want to do that. So, I will spend the last weekend in November, cleaning out my shop, packing things away and making room for two cars to park there over the winter.

I am also looking for any tips or advice on tool storage and wood storage. Tips for rust prevention and wood rotting would be helpful.

Thanks!
 
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Maybe WD-40 on all exposed metal surfaces? Store wood off the floor and with a possibility for air circulation.

I am in the opposite situation to yours. I have no garage and being a renter won't have one. I am a full-time wheelchair user so a baseent shop is not feasible. My shop is in what would normally be the "dining room". It also houses my desk-top computer. So I just have three stationary power tools: A Harbor Freight 8 X 12 mini vs lathe, a Rikon 8" slow speed bench grinder with a OneWay Wolverine Sharpening System and a Ryobi SC165VS Scroll saw. Pen blanks get saw to length on the scroll saw, drilled on the lathe and trimmed with a 3/8" drill motor with a pen trimmer. Dust collection is with a 40-year-old Craftsman 8 gallon shop vacuum that still really "sucks".
 
I wonder what it is like to live in California year round??? :smile:
There are truely some great advantages to be able to have a garage workshop and the biggest of course is on those nice days just open the huge door and let the fresh air in. Of course if you have a few of those neighbors who get a hint of a saw running or the smell of saw dust they come running over to check out what you are doing and that can be fun the first couple times it happens but gets old quick. Yes speaking from experience. Have a basement shop now but the room is the killer part there.

Oh the dream is still alive. :biggrin: I guess I will go get my lottery ticket for the week.

Sorry not much help. Wood will be no problem. It is basically subjected to some of the worst conditions in the summer and spring months with moisture. The tools can be coated with a product called Boeshield T-9.

If you find yourself going through withdrawls you may want to consider getting a cheap lathe for the basement and setting up a small area. Pen making does not require alot of space. Anyway good luck.
 
I am also in that boat. I am in the process now of moving my shop to the basement. I have to have both hips replaced in the spring so this is no easy task believe me. The basement stairs are a little rough but I need to get my cars in the garage for the winter. I would use 3 in 1 oil for rust prevention WD40 isn't made for that.
 
jttheclockman said:
I wonder what it is like to live in California year round??? :smile:
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For me it is bad in California with 90+ temps during the Spring through Fall the cars are kept in the garage to help keep them cool. Plus the wifey wants her car in the garage when it rains.

With this, during the week I start "working" at 3pm and finish 4:30pm. Clean up the garage just in time for the wife to get home and pull into the garage.
 
You can't stop turning because of cold!

You can still turn on weaker days or for shorter spurts on cold days.

The only thing I pack up is some glue and finishes.

Cast iron surfaces get waxed year round.

What you really have to look out for with rest is when the tools are cold and it warms up and is humid. The moisture will collect on the tools.
 
Ive been known to turn when my garage is 15°F in the winter in michigan. I point a space heater at my rear and stand on a platform so my feet dont get too cold. I can turn for an hour or two easy this way
 
I live in North Central California Low in the 20 in the winter 110 in the summer. I am luckier than most I have a small 10x12 shop I built when I retired so it is insulated and has a small electric/oil radiator style heater for winter and a window A?C for summer. I will be taking the A/C out of the window next week and putting up in the loft until next June, and bring the little heater down. Won't plug it in yet not cold enough. In the winter i can keep the shop at 68 - 72 with no problem but 68 is goon enough in the summer it can be 74-76 on a 108F day. It all depends on when I turn the heater or AC on. I can close off the entrance to the loft so I keep the heat/cool down in the shop area.
 
Time for me to get more turning done now that it's only in the mid 90 s now... It was 96 today but sure did not feel like it.. WD/40 is my best friend.Need to try that wax thing Dan sounds like it will work better. Everyone have a great weekend....
 
I have 2 building additions planned for my house and property next year ... A small storage shed out on an existing concrete pad for my lawn tools and a bit of extra storage space for things I don't use but don't want to get rid of...

And an addition to my house in the back corner behind my kitchen. Just an enclosure with 2 walls and a roof, with a solid back door and a nice solid floor that won't move. My house was built in the '30's and cheaply, at that. It's a small 1-bedroom efficiency house, I think, with a kitchen add-on in a redmodeling back in the '70's. It needs serious foundation work, and the floors creak and sag, but it's home... I need the room to put in laundry facilities, and it will also be my shop and wood storage area.

wob50 said:
Time for me to get more turning done now that it's only in the mid 90 s now... It was 96 today but sure did not feel like it.. WD/40 is my best friend.Need to try that wax thing Dan sounds like it will work better. Everyone have a great weekend....
Click to expand...

WD-40 is great for removing surface rust and displacing water, but it ends up attracting water, I hear ... which will cause MORE rust problems later. Wax might be the best solution... try a soft candle wax.
 
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It was relatively cool in the garage last night, probably no more than the low 90's (32C). I quit putting thermometers out there--too depressing in the summer. This summer is just lingering on, even with the rainstorms that others had.
 
jsolie said:
It was relatively cool in the garage last night, probably no more than the low 90's (32C). I quit putting thermometers out there--too depressing in the summer. This summer is just lingering on, even with the rainstorms that others had.
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I feel your pain! Well over 90 here in Eastvale all week, and my garage was about 100. That didn't stop me from turning out an order for 13 bolt action pens. Just need to polish and assemble them. Fans are great in the shop, except when trying to do CA finish!
 
Shop is air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. It is the only place I have to get away from the kids and wife without leaving the property. And there are times I need to get away to think and be by myself. If I want my music .... that is one place I can control the volume. In fact, the wife has been known to walk in and 'flash' the lights to get my attention.

Wax (bees wax) helps with the rust/water control. AND also works in keeping things moving freely. It is also great to burnish into the woods at times.

Two more weeks of working and I am off for the winter. Hello doctors, my shop, and ice fishing. (OF COURSE......those pesky taxes also have to be taken care of)
 
My two car garage is divided. I have a 8X14 foot shop partitioned off. The rest of my garage houses my Spyder, folding Kobalt table saw, horizontal metal saw, Craftsman band saw, bench grinders and misc. tools. I heat my little shop with a small portable propane heater and cool it with a small air conditioner. The shop is insulated so it never gets cold enough to freeze anything. If cars are to be inside one needs a car shed. Garages are for man toys.
 
We spend about half of the summer in New Mexico. I have a summer shop in the mountains of New Mexico, where we get snow and cold weather, when we leave in late August all of my finishes, waxes etc., are put in the house. The tool surfaces are wiped down with ATF, a light canvas cloth covers all of the tools, and the are left in the shed.

At home in Texas, only about half of the summer so I only have to deal with the heat a few weeks, a 105 is okay, but I usually limit my time to early mornings and late evenings if it is too hot. The amount of cold days we get so minimal I can skip them and do inside projects.
 
I also live in Wisconsin (North East). My shop is in the basement but it is unheated and I don't turn much of the winter. I don't like the idea of using a lathe with long sleeves. Fortunately, I take the time to catch up on other projects.

Seven
 
Plain car wax works well for blocking rust on a budget. Boeshield is a good option as well if you can find it locally (it can be mail ordered but car wax works well enough that my boesheild can just sits lonely on the shelf).
 
jttheclockman said:
I wonder what it is like to live in California year round??? :smile:
<snip>
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Having spent the last 27+ years in California's Silicon Valley area, I can attest that the weather is generally really nice the vast majority of the year. But, my garage is typically 80+ degrees during the day this time of year (and well into the 90's during summer days).

My shop in the back yard is better insulated but still gets too warm to work during the day.

Evenings are nice most of the year...once the sun sets, the temperature tends to get very reasonable.

Winter days can be much too cold in both the garage and the shop. I added a remote thermometer last year to monitor both the garage and the shop from my living room to get a better idea of the temperatures during the year.

My shop is technically an "accessory structure" which means under local building code, I can't heat it or air condition it. It's built for decent air flow and that helps, but I can't work long hours when the outside temps don't cooperate.

And don't forget to factor in the obscene price of real estate out here. Hard to build even a hobby-sized shop these days given what's happening to rental and housing prices! I'm not whining...I bought 21 years ago! I'm selling, moving to the east coast to a much bigger place where the local HOA has already approved adding a 1K sq ft shop which I intend to have heated/air conditioned, well insulated, and will install a couple new (bigger) toys given the difference (lower) prices where we're going. :biggrin:
 
California gets cold?!?! Wussy! ;) :)

It gets below -40 degrees in both temperature scales here in Saskatoon. Our new shop is going to have foot thick insulated walls when it gets built next year. House too! ;) Meanwhile most everything we've got is in two 20' containers until then. Quite dry here so I'm not too concerned about corrosion.
 
I had my table saw (and 18" bandsaw) outside on a concrete pad for about 3 years. I kept it covered with motorcycle covers, (don't even think of using BBQ covers) as they worked the best. NONE of those rust preventatives worked, I tried them all. I finally wire brushed all the rust off and painted the top with Krylon yellow. That worked. No more problems.
WD40 is a Water Displacer. That's all it's for. NASA invented it for: You guessed it: WD: Water Displacer (version#) 40, that we all lovingly misuse as WD40. I always wondered about #39 and #41.
Move two kids into the same room and conquer the now extra room for a pen shop.
I've seen pictures of guys spaces on kitchen tables, under stairwells, foldout tables on tubs, all to make violins on. They can be made without any power tools at all though. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. (Girls too nowadays, welcome to the madness.)
 
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TimS124 said:
jttheclockman said:
I wonder what it is like to live in California year round??? :smile:
<snip>
Click to expand...

Having spent the last 27+ years in California's Silicon Valley area, I can attest that the weather is generally really nice the vast majority of the year. But, my garage is typically 80+ degrees during the day this time of year (and well into the 90's during summer days).

My shop in the back yard is better insulated but still gets too warm to work during the day.

Evenings are nice most of the year...once the sun sets, the temperature tends to get very reasonable.

Winter days can be much too cold in both the garage and the shop. I added a remote thermometer last year to monitor both the garage and the shop from my living room to get a better idea of the temperatures during the year.

My shop is technically an "accessory structure" which means under local building code, I can't heat it or air condition it. It's built for decent air flow and that helps, but I can't work long hours when the outside temps don't cooperate.

And don't forget to factor in the obscene price of real estate out here. Hard to build even a hobby-sized shop these days given what's happening to rental and housing prices! I'm not whining...I bought 21 years ago! I'm selling, moving to the east coast to a much bigger place where the local HOA has already approved adding a 1K sq ft shop which I intend to have heated/air conditioned, well insulated, and will install a couple new (bigger) toys given the difference (lower) prices where we're going. :biggrin:
Click to expand...


Moving back to the East coast. Think about that before you do it.:smile:
 
Curly said:
California gets cold?!?! Wussy! ;) :)

It gets below -40 degrees in both temperature scales here in Saskatoon. Our new shop is going to have foot thick insulated walls when it gets built next year. House too! ;) Meanwhile most everything we've got is in two 20' containers until then. Quite dry here so I'm not too concerned about corrosion.
Click to expand...

:smile:

Yes, it gets cold in CA. While most folks think of the southern end of the state where it is crazy warm most of the time, the northern end is about the same latitude as Chicago and almost as far north as Boston. And, we have big mountains so we can reach those cold atmospheric temperatures well into the non-winter times of the year...

To quote the web page for our local volcano, "It is not unusual for 40 feet of snow to accumulate on the road near Lake Helen." (found that at the bottom of Learn About the Park - Lassen Volcanic National Park (U.S. National Park Service))

Sure, that's not a regular 40 below, but it still counts as CA gets cold. :-)

As a kid, living in Osceola, IA, I've had to wait for the bus outside when it was "only" 25 below. Anybody intentionally living where it's colder than that is just asking for it. No sympathy. :biggrin:

I've learned that snow is much more interesting when you only visit it, rather than trying to live with it...sort of like in-laws. :smile:
 
Back on topic, wax, boeshield, etc need to be re-applied periodically. How often depends on your shop's conditions (moisture, etc).

I use a fine grit rust eraser before re-applying wax...
 
Snow on the ground this morning. I have to put the finish on a few pens today then tomorrow I move the last of the shop to the basement for the winter. It will probably stay there in the spring as I recover from surgery.
 
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