I have some of the pre-fab white MDF home depot sold cabinets in the garage and I need (want) about 3X the amount I already have, problem is is that these things really add up in price.

I've got the usual mix of hand tools, a table saw, radial arm saw brad nailer and other stuff, it's just that I kinda suck at woodworking

Flush mount doors are needed to keep a nice uniform look in the garage.

mdf blows.

make 2x4 and .5" ply shelves.....

or get rhino racks.....

Everything in my garage is made out of 2x4s and plywood.

Except for the 914... Thats got bondo and rust as well.

2x2 light guage metal framing could look very cool in a garage. And all you need to work with it is some tin snips, a screw gun and some self tappign screws.

A little research on the cuts needed to make good joints (easy) and you're halfway done.

Not as cheap as wood, but lighter and stronger.
Then i would recommend some honeycomb lexan for the doors.

use OSB instead of plywood. cheaper.

measure the openings, get the lexan cut to size and use some Haefele hidden hinges to make it look sweet.

Not the cheap way, but it would be a garage to be proud of.

b.

I'm an MDF fan.

I purchased the Home Depot MDF cabinets, I am not sold on the material. Split at the bottom shelf, Look for something heavy duty. Even the plastic shelving that is on the market today. Check Sears, they have some good looking shelves that I would use rather than the Home Depot items.
CCLINONTHESHELF

MDF is very susceptible to damage, especially from moisture. Nice when finished, but not durable when compared to other options.

It also makes a crapload of unhealthful dust when cut.


OSB (oriented strand board)

is the new plywood. Its made with waterproof adhesives so its tougher and it looks cool when sealed and finished as well.

Cheaper than plywood, and environmentally more friendly as its made from waste and recycled material.

And its cheapers than MDF.

I love OSB

I'm using unistrut and 3/4" ply for my shelving. I gave up on doors after pricing out all the plywood I would need. I put everything into Rubbermaid bins instead.
The heavy stuff goes on pallet rack beams that I cut down to size.
The really heavy stuff (complete engines) goes on 2x2x1/4 steel tubing racks on castors.
I put alot of thought on maximizing usefullness of the shelving. Everything is made to hold bins of a certain size and I know it is way overkill - when the big one comes you'll find me out in the garage under my shelving.

check these out

Institutional grade face hinges

super easy it hang doors with these.

one suggestion, whatever material the cabinets/shelving are made out of, is to keep everything enclosed and also build an elevated shelf which can either hold individual items or several long items. Here's a few shots of my garage:

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

That place is way toooo clean. Where do you work on you car

Must not live in the Saltbelt. LOL.

You should see my garage. 914 on jackstands, melting slush from the wife's car, and a mild oil slick from the numerous oil spills.

And, it's colder than hell.

Yeah, let's go work on our cars.

Tom

"" Here's a few shots of my garage ""



Nice Garage... But Where do u work on the car....

OK Lets see some additional shots of some finished garages and the cabinets or shelving that u have built.....

Finish the room for the babies first!

The crap that Home despot uses for cabinets is not MDF, it's particle board.
Brer is right about the dust....nasty.

For some quick and inexpensive shelving you can use some 3/4" MDF or particle board, furring strips, and some 1/2" electrical conduit for supports. I could put up 70 linear feet of shelves in only a few hours this way. The conduit is flattened to form tabs on the ends to screw to the wall and to the shelves. I glued and used a brad nailer to attach the pine strips to the shelves, making them strong and resistant to sag. Plywood shelves will sag unless adequately reinforced also, and costs about three times more for a sheet than particle board. But as mentioned before much more resistant to moisture if that's a concern.

Stalk a local kitchen remodeling place and ask them for their throw aways.

QUOTE (TROJANMAN @ Dec 12 2005, 08:06 AM)

Stalk a local kitchen remodeling place and ask them for their throw aways.

I agree, that's what i'm doing when I remodel my kitchen...using the old ones in the garage.

Another good place to stalk is if they are renovating any apartment buildings in your area.

I dunno, I was pretty happy with the gorilla racks...

Not sturdy enough to bolt a drill press onto, but for everything else, great.

Oh, and I'm working with a small garage, nothing like the palacial acres of epoxy coated floors we just saw here...

But at least it's heated!! Came in handy last week for sure! (-5 outside, only 50 or so in the garage, downright balmy!)

-Josh2

Mike,

Look at the first pic that JP Stein put in this thread.

This is the old school way of building "built in" cabinets.

What you need to do it lay out the cabinets on some graph paper...

Then, like JP, nail a cleat to the wall...
This cleat can be number 3 pine,,,1*3 or 1*4..it will hold the edge of the top shelf...you can put one under the bottom shelf as well...the side pieces, and middle pieces will provide the structural elements.

Then, use MDF, or Plywood,,, not particle board...

MDF is really the best because it does not react to the moisture like plywood will..MDF is what signs are made from etc...

Now , Ill give you the real trick. Home Depot will cut your mdf sheet for free...bring a cut sheet, buy the board,,and have them rip and cut what you need, less work at home handling a 60 -80 lb sheet of 3/4 mdf..

The cabinets should be designed so you can buy the pre-made doors that Home depot sells...These doors are in two isles...the kitchen cabinet isle, and the storage isle where you got the original cabinets..

The doors and hardware are all made by the same company, Mills Pride...really perfect for what you are doing.

You can buy hinges that need no special drilling, I can explain via email on that one...it gets detailed...


Now,, to make the shelf holes even and the same, I mkae a jig out of plexiglass, or aluminum stock.
The aluminum lasts longer.

The jig had the holes layed out so you can set it on the bottom of the cabinet, or line it up against the sidewall before you assemble the cabinet...you get a wood drill bit with a stop on it, or use elec tape or duct tape to ensure you do not go through the sidewall..

Now, I drill right through the aluminum into the plywood (the aluminum jig is pre-drilled already...you only need to think once this way....mark top and bottom on the jig...)

This is the cheapest way I have done cabinets...home depot doors, mdf boxes mounted directly to the wall and fastened together using sheetrock screws (I biscuit them also, but you can get away without that if you want)

The other option is to find what we call the "scratch and dent" shop...it is a regional kitchen cabiet liquidator...the cabs have shipping marks etc..but with alot of planning and a flexible mindset, it can be put together without any of the marks showing..and be really cheap.

Good luck.

Rich

We did the same, used the old kitchen cabinets in the garage, just painted the fronts to snazz them up a bit.

That pictured garage looked great. What was the floor paint used? How is it holding up?

I figured you California guys (Mueller) would be using carbon fiber cabinets by now! Us rust belt guys are stuck with whatever you can find. Need to spend extra money on the car!

A 4 X 8 sheet (actually 97 X 49) of MDF weighs 115 lbs....I found that out after grunting my way thru ripping up about 50 sheets

QUOTE (J P Stein @ Dec 12 2005, 02:20 PM)

A 4 X 8 sheet (actually 97 X 49) of MDF weighs 115 lbs....I found that out after grunting my way thru ripping up about 50 sheets

that's the drawback of MDF... it eats saw blades too... I used to use MDF for speaker cabs... Pain in the ass

birch plywood is nice, cheaper and easier to work with... stain or paint...

I build cabinets like that with 2x2s to put it together...

I'll do that for the garage too, when I get around to it...

Other than you pro's out there, I think I've ripped more MDF than anyone on the planet. That stuff amazes me everytime I use it. If you want a flat surface there is just no subsitiute. Also the stuff machines like aluminum.

Five words of caution:

1) Like everyone has said, that stuff is mother-F*&%&^%ing heavy. Make sure you have enough support all around your saw on the infeed and outfeed and the side!
2) Do NOT get it wet. It won't recover very well. This goes double for OSB. Ask me about my little roofing project if you want to know... If it's going to get wet, use plywood.
3) Do NOT breathe the dust!!! People in the woodworking business have gotten the equivalent of silicosis from it.
4) It's not great for structural regidity. That being said my benches and cabinets have been made out of it anyway. It just needs some care as to how you apply it (layering, ribbing support, etc)
5) Don't get it confused with particle board. particle board is crap. You can easily tell the difference just by looking at it. Particle board looks kinda like OSB; it's made from a bunch of tiny bits of wood. MDF looks like a solid piece of very fine dust. And when you cut it you'll find out that is exactly what it is! See caution #3

Man, I'd hate to see what a sheet of HDF weighs!

I have a 7.5' long costco air hockey table made of MDF.. I agree, it's heavy. Had to open the box in the van and unload it in pieces.

QUOTE (J P Stein @ Dec 12 2005, 02:20 PM)

A 4 X 8 sheet (actually 97 X 49) of MDF weighs 115 lbs....I found that out after grunting my way thru ripping up about 50 sheets

I dont know my own strength...

I am a big guy and a poor judge of weight.

I can see 115#...I hate moving it around...ar for that matter any 4*8 sheet...

I have lots of tables surrounding my saw...so once its lifted up, i just push through and it slides on the melemine surfaces...simple and smooth..

Mike,

If you want to keep cost under control, first visit Craigslist. I've collected quite a bit of 1 x 12 pine shelving for FREE!! just had to pull the nails

I just stumbled across this thread which is kinda funny because I just finished building my new work bench in my garage. It built it out of 2x4's and 3/4"MDF. The entire thing has been painted with some durable paint and I did some extra bracing on the workbench itself to give a nice sturdy surface to hammer on. I am still working on wiring it up and installing some lights. I also was painted the hedious yellow wall.

-Britain

bracing

painted.

QUOTE (Jeroen @ Dec 12 2005, 07:44 AM)

Finish the room for the babies first!

finished it last night !!!!!

bad picture, does not show the colors too well on the walls....

a bunch of good ideas, I'm sure I'll end up using a mixture of them

Congrats Mike. When is the due date?

QUOTE (MW 914 @ Dec 13 2005, 02:37 PM)

Congrats Mike. When is the due date?

Thanks Mike,

March 21....due to twins, more likely 3 weeks early

Here's my take.. As someone suggested, hit up a kitchen remodeling shop, or heck, any local contractor - I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have you come to their next remodel and take the old kitchen cabinetry away for free.

OR, employ my method. Use a '67 Squareback as a self contained storage unit!

Damn unfinished projects. Damn them all to hell!

More pictures of my garage space...

-greg-

Mike, the wife (and room) are looking good!
You did well. I only finished our babyroom a couple of weeks before Zoey was born

If you want to make something that looks pretty, use MDF
It's real easy to cut, sand, shape, etc. (it doesn't chip)
When painted, it turns out great and it needs very little prep before painting, which is a big plus

A last word about MDF.
Sgomes is right, it machines like aluminum...almost.
I have cut my hands on a freshly cut edge.
ALWAYS bullnose exposed edges....corners will put a hole in you.....and that smarts.

QUOTE (Mueller @ Dec 13 2005, 01:28 PM)

QUOTE (Jeroen @ Dec 12 2005, 07:44 AM) Finish the room for the babies first! finished it last night !!!!! bad picture, does not show the colors too well on the walls....

Mike,
I had not heard. Congrats man -- to both of you.

Timely thread -- thanks for the ideas. I'm gonna be off work (supposedly) the week between the er...holiday...and New Years and was thinking about major upgrades to our garage. I would like to do the whole shebang including paint, epoxy floors, shelves, pegboard/tool holder do-dads, workbench + cabinets.

Main objective is to get more crap off the floor into more efficient storage locations and thus clear out room in the 3rd bay for another car...

Anybody have rough cost figures for the decent quality premade cabinet units? I really haven't looked into it at all but would be inclined to use prebuilt stuff due to limited time and meager woodworking tools and experience.