Cabinets or Shelving?

[Steve Southwood]

Cabinet guy here too. Have them for two reasons. 1, keep people from finding stuff they want without paying for. 2, have a terrible problem with mud dobbers. The dang things build nests every where. In all my electrical tools, under shelves, wall, you name it they built it there.

[John Sanford]

Steve,

Mud dawbers?

Sounds like you need a shop cat!

Mike's point about shop cabinets being practice for higher grade furniture is a good one. You can experiment with different joinery forms (biscuits, dadoes, pocket screws), face frame vs. faceless, drawer glides, dirrerent finishes, etc, all with the certain knowledge that function is paramount so boo-boos are tolerable. Also, you can use adjustable shelves in cabinets if needed.

[Steve Southwood]

Yep mud dawbers. Never could spell worth a crap. Wonder why there is no spell check on forums?

Have plenty of barn cats, they never make it over to the gargae. Reckon all the moisture from the cattle ponds keeps the dawbers around.

[Scott Haddix]

I used Andrews approach and it has worked great. I built the cabinet carcasses to go across the width of the back of my garage, and left a few in the middle without doors. I put the items I use most often and want within easy reach in the 'shelves' and the rest goes in the cabinets. If I change my mind, I can turn them into cabinets in no time.

[Chip Lindley]

Dirt Dobbers we calls em around here. Really pesky in any out-of-the-way nook. Inside machinery too!!

I'm a cabinet man! I have a whole set of kitchen cabs I built 25 years ago that are now being replaced with new cherry cabs. The almond laminate-trimmed-with-oak doors will brighten my dark shop and help HIDE STUFF! I don't want to make it too easy for things to disappear either! I doubt I will live long enough to see a set of cherry cabs in my shop tho.....

[Tom Clark FL]

I taught myself how to make cabinets 20 years ago, and have never regretted it. Keep it simple and they are easy. In the photo below, the three cabinets on the left were built before I even had a table saw. The parts were just cut out on a bandsaw and assembled. They have been priceless for all these years. Another point; cabinets, especially drawers, hold far more 'stuff' than shelves ever will! Keeping it clean is just another bonus.

You can see some of the dozens of shop cabinets I made here.

[Roger Bell]

I have both. Cabinets up high and out of the way (head height or higher) for seldom used stuff. Cabinets down low and out of the way (knee high or lower) for heavier seldom used stuff. Countertops and shelves and wall tool racks at waist height or thereabouts for stuff used all the time everyday that I want visible and in arms reach. Very much like a kitchen, I suppose. Having too much behind closed doors challenges the memory too much, especially if something gets misplaced.

Dust is always a problem, even with the best DC (as I have). Some machines just don't allow efficient dust pickup (bandsaw, lathe, CMS, some sanders) The only real solution to dust is to have a separate room (as I have) for dust free finishing and drying and where dust free storage is more important.

[Jim Kountz]

Both. Depends on what you're putting in or on it. For things like gallons of latex paint I like shelves just because its easier to put them on and off rather than trying to squeeze them into a cabinet. But for tools and accessories and such I like my cabs.

[Don Bullock]

I have to change my previous post by adding that at least in the garage section of my new shop/garage that there will be some shelves. Budget constraints won out. SWMBO and I both decided that part of our planned storage area will have shelves. The cost of the shelves is less for the amount of storage provided when compared to cabinets.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I have both and like them both. I have a store room in one corner of the shop with heavy duty shelves on each side of the aisle. It stays pretty clean since the door is kept shut. Too bad I share it with LOML's "stuff". The cabinets came out of her kitchen several years ago. They serve the purpose very well.

[James Schulist]

full extension drawers everywhere on bottom, cabinets on top...dust control... hand tool work helps there. initial dimensioning outdoors if able.

[Joe Chritz]

I didn't read all the posts but cabinets with a french cleat are easy to move from place to place when the need strikes. I am retrofitting all my shop cabs with french cleats.

As for the original question, I like cabs and drawers for storage.

Joe

[Sonny Edmonds]

I like to hang things up, or use wire rack type shelves. I forget where stuff is in cabinets.
If I can't see it, I tend to forget where it is.
Among other things, I have an extensive air system with blow guns in areas of most use with hanging recoil hose. If I have a dust problem in an immediate area, a quick poof with a nozzle gets it out of the way.
On heavy cleaning days, the shop vac system sucks up most stray stuff, but the air hoses will move it out into the open and off of anything it might get on.

If cabinets were dust tight, or fed positive filtered air to keep them clean, then that might be a good way to go.
Or plexy glass paneled doors, so you could see through to what the hecks inside.

[Matt Meiser]

Cabinets stay cleaner, but are more difficult to build to fit everything perfectly. There will always be that one item that won't allow the door to close. Shelves allow that item to hang slightly over the edge.

I have a mix of about 50/50. Most of my cabinets are very well built base cabinets that came out of a school. I couldn't have bought materials for what I paid at a garage sale for them. I also have a metal office-type cabinet I keep all my finishing supplies in, shelves built into my benches, and a heavy duty metal shelving unit.