Simple Hacks to Level up YOUR Workshop. Metal Fabrication Shop Tour.

The air compressor room needs air flow for intake and cooling. The air compressor should be mounted to the floor-the rubber feet will wear out due to vibration. The Dyna-mat will retain the heat in the tank. Heat from the tank bleeds into the piston housing and then the heat doubles. Hot housings burn the oil and the bearings. When installing the grind room curtain make sure you leave room on the bottom or the curtains will be sucked inward due to exhaust fan suction. "Flying in the breeze". Is the paint going to overheat in the air compressor room? What about a Harbor Freight rolling cart for electrical work instead of running upstairs every time-limited tools and supplies. Store it in the tool room. The funnels will drain left over fluids onto the wall. Zombie green toolboxes for everybody!

Might have been mentioned, but Lowes now carries and warranties Craftsman. Simple walk-in, grab a new one and exchange. Haven't had a single problem getting anything replaced.

Nice setup.... I'd get rid of the 2 drill presses and by a Bridgeport mill

Awesome setup. I just finished my 40x40 and have a blank canvas. Was looking to do a loft somewhere, as well as a grinding room (had the idea before I saw this lol) but don’t want to give up space for lifts and car storage. Might take some ideas, thanks for the video!

Congratulations You've done a great job i know it takes heaps of time I'm sure it will pay back plenty

there are some terrific auto drain valves you can get for the compressor put it on the bottom of the tank and any low piont then set it to blow off 2 seconds every 10 minutes and if you are building a dryer using an old fridge with a heat exchanger is much cheaper and more effective than the copper pipes on the wall arrangement

High lights will need high ceilings

awesome how you plumbed the drip legs so they blast you in the face when you open them

That loft without a rail, makes me a bit nervous, specially that big tool box right on the edge..

I’m not jealous at all 🤣

How tall are those walls? 16 foot?

Electric cord reels. Great to move tools and workstations around.
If you move workstations a lot, put a cord reel on the station with a make plug on the end.

Just a thought...does that big air compressor not need any kind of makeup air? A semi tight confined room plus sucking through that bucket / noise suppressor will put a strain on the unit wont it? Wouldnt want to shorten the life of it or cause it to over heat. Looks good though I like what you did with the place!

So cool. Thankful for the walk around and celebrating your success! What an awesome shop!

Just put a small window ac unit through the wall in to the compressor room. You’ll never have water in your air again.

Craftsman are now sold at Lowe’s

Can’t believe some will cheap out on Chinese junk lifts. You can literally buy a good known used one for pretty cheap. Not sure where this is but in Canada hoist testing requirements have to pass a double the amount weight rating for 24 hrs. I’m a cheap dude but not when it comes to hoists. I work under one everyday.

Hey dude how tall is your shop?

Sweet set up, I wish I would have built mine taller! I have a 40’ X 60’ X 12’
And only do hobby work only, and it’s already filled up!
I have a peg board question, bout ready to trash mine due to pegs come off board when removing items!!!!🤬🤬. What style/brand do you use and/or how are they secured to board

That turned out so sick. Nice job Nate would love to see it someday. Dream shop brother!

Combustibles in an unvented room with compressor not a good idea.
Combustibles out and you need fresh air in so compressor won't starve for air nor overheat.
Everything else looks good.

Wouldn't put my lawnmower on that lift

You should put some sound deadening padding on the walls in the grinding room 😂

Wow! Dang, with a shop this organized, big, and well lit my family would miss me. I would miss some birthdays, baseball games and heck maybe even a few births…😂😂😂

Maaaate ,,,Im in Japan, my workshop is 3 METERS x 3m I have ti breathe in to get past the bike on the bench to get to my tool box !

People still use air compressors?

That’s a bad ass setup man!!!! I’m so happy for you!!!

"Had to have something better.. So I called my friends at Harbor Freight" Translation: They gave me free garbage to support the race to the bottom

Tool room needs to be called the machine shop….

I would put a ceiling in the grinding room, less surface area for metal particles to stick to. Just some super cheap paneling would work

Plumb another tank into the DeWalt.

Awesome shop 👍👍👍👍👍try to move compressor away from grinding room (it will suck in grinding dust)

Good luck getting your kids to do anything,even for money.

If you add a second air compressor you can put them on a cycle timer so one runs while the other rests. I ran across this in a big repair shop. The advantage is they last longer and smaller units are so much cheaper to acquire than one big one.

Dude love the shop... I only have one suggestion.... Have something cover all the 2nd level crimps, bolts and screws.... dirt/dust is going to pile up over time... I did that mistake a long time ago.

Kaser Screw Compressor is quiet, efficient, saves on electricity look into Screw Compressors

Love it!

OCD much?
Cool, Over the top, set up.
Interested in watching the builds.

I like a lot of the stuff you have done. I do however have a question about the compressor room. I see you have chemicals stored in there and it does not look like the motor on the compressor is brushless. is it rated at no spark or chemical safe, as I did not see any ventilation for the fumes from the room and it would not be good if it came on and a spark ignited the fumes. The other thing is the compressor would like it to keep it cooler in the room. That way it may not hit the thermal breaker.
Great things going on in the shop... Thank you for sharing.

Id be worried about the heat in the compressor room. Good ventilation is important. You can also add an auto drain on the compressor to keep the tank empty.

A great hack to increase your compressed air capacity is to keep your eye out for a curb alert or "free stuff" compressor with a blown motor. I was given a 26-gallon Kobalt with a busted piston. I trashed the motor, found an out of the way place in the shop and piped it in. Slapped a shut-off and gauge on it and just like that doubled my capacity. This also saves the working motor by reducing the amount of cycling. Thanks for the tour!

You probably should vent that compressor room… Maybe it is, I couldn’t tell. If you don’t do it you may burn up your compressor motor with the extreme heat! I cut a hole in the lower part of my compressor room door and added an air return cover and put a wall fan high on the wall blowing out of my compressor room to draw cool air through the door and up across the motor. Works great!

I teach high school agricultural mechanics, also called Applied Ag Engineering (metal fab, structural building, electrical, plumbing, etc.). I am at a new high school, and my permanent shop isn't even finished. This setup is fantastic and gave me so many ideas. Efficiency is critical, and with so many high school students in and out all day, it is challenging to keep a clean, safe, and efficient shop. As soon as I can get into it, I will look at ways to implement many similar ideas! Thank You

I've been struggling with running air in my garage. I love the idea you showed by having the valves below your connectors to let out water. I'm interested in seeing what you do for an air dryer.

OK, now i have to build a grinding room in my shop! Killer idea 👌

Awesome organization Nate. Makes my 30 x 50 look small by comparison-due to too much stuff!

I like your elevated shelf holding bins.
I’ll have to look back in the vids to see how you did that.

Do you ever find condensation in the plastic bins?

I tell everyone this, but lateral file cabinets are awesome for shop storage. Flip doors and pull out drawers. They're designed to hold a lot of weight, and you can get them for cheap or even free if you keep your eyes out for them.

I think a medical curtain would work perfect for the grind room. They have nice rollers and are decently robust.

that icon job box setup is crazy so much tool storage and it looks like something you would get from matco and snap-on. that upper deck is nice but id for sure fall off the end with no railing .