Packing Up My Shop........

[Zhent]

Another quick tip or two - although I haven't moved a workshop, I regularly coordinate and move research labs for work. Take pictures! If something breaks in transit and you want to file a claim with the moving company, it will be on you to show it was fine before, when it was packaged up for transport. Also make sure your movers are insured and will provide you a copy of their COI for Workman's Comp insurance [you may be surprised at how few carry it]

You may want to buy a moving blanket or two of your own to have before the movers drop stuff off in the final location. The moving company will not leave anything behind, obviously, but you may want to have them place equipment on a blanket rather than the floor, especially if you need to rebuild tables or platforms.

If you move between states, there is some paperwork that the moving company is required to provide you - they should give you a pamphlet from the government along with your written estimate. You may want to explain to them how you plan on packing the tools when they walk through the house, especially if everything is still assembled and out at that time.

Good luck!

[paulmaine]

Moved to Maine from Massachusetts 5 years ago.  The house sold in 3 days and we moved 30 days later. Though my house was paid off it took one week for the banks to transfer the equity for the new place.  One problem for the movers was that we had 3 trucks that had to be loaded and unloaded for their use in the week long wait.  Mark all boxes on the outside with your name and new address.  We ended up in a B&B that allowed us use of a kitchen for meals.  

    A fair number of the boxes  were left on the wrong new house level which I had to move later...leg cramps from all that...owww!

    You can possibly contract for an early move in rather than staying elsewhere-your attorney can discuss that.  Should you use a storage facility they are a blessing and are inexpensive for making the old place more spacious and getting clutter out of the way while packing.  Try to get a storage facility with a fence around it and personnel working there.   Storage places out in the country may not have fences and break ins are more common-this is worse in small towns that do not have police forces but an overworked county sheriff. 

    The wood was so heavy that another truck had to be taken-no time to sell what I had on hand.  Rock maple, cherry, oak...it all adds up.  I hired an electrician that did the shop wiring...I have done wiring myself but did not want to put in the time....there were just too many other things to do.  When you get older the spirit is less willing and the work is so physical.  

    The shop was moved by regular movers.  I broke down the Powermatic table saw into 3 pieces.  Heavy things should go into small boxes. We got boxes on line from Uline.  Special wardrobe boxes were handy for clothing.  Use the extra strong tape rather than regular box tape.  Again put heavier things into small boxes. 

   Moving may be tax deductible if it is job related.  Check with your CPA.   Tips for moving workers are expected and are earned.   

    Different movers charge different prices.  Mine was partially by weight-a washer or dryer  did not cost too much.   Other movers have special charges like how many stories, etc.   Try not to move at the end of the month as trucks are tied up.  Long moves may require that you put up workers overnight motels , etc.   The move was expensive and moving company earned their money...Glad that I did not do it myself

[MichaelS]

Having done this myself (shop was packed for 3 years) and knowing how much of a pain it is to clean and restore machine surfaces for use, I did heavy duty homework and determined that LPS 3 was the product I wanted to use.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_...Ck%3Alps+3

Their lubricants (LPS 1 and 2) are legendary in many machine and restoration circles and their commitment to product excellence is high. It's all they do after all, so they better be darn good! http://www.lpslabs.com/index

Cleaned up the bulk of the surface with a razor scraper and then a little wipe down with MS. Exposed cast iron looks as good now as the day I put it into storage, and bear in mind that those 3 years were in Austin, where it gets humid and hot during parts of the year (all was stored in my garage.)

Best,
Michael

[iclark]

I do see the goal of purging though. Easier in the scrap wood and 'I'll use this for a project, at some point' pile. 

You might consider pinging Father Peter and/or the folks over at the NC Woodworkers forum.
I don't know if Peter haas any shop access yet, but he is in our area.
The NCW forum folks might have someone who could accept a bunch of scraps for a fund raising auction or offer to lend you a hand.

[H_B]

It's briefly been hit on...but i would emphasize insurance.   Make sure everything is covered...for moving...for storing...for moving...   make sure it's for replacement value and covers theft, fire...everything.   You don't want to get to your storage unit and find it cleaned out...even if you paid for months in advance...

[Adnick]

Some storage facilities are bad about dripping condensation from the roof, so covering machines is always a good thing.

Was able to move my shop and design a new shop at the new location. My best design concept was to separate the hand tool space from the machine space, just a wall with a double wide opening which also gave me more wall space.

Also incorporated lumber storage into my work flow concept, and added some temporary storage areas around major tools like my miter saw, it has a shelf behind it for current project lumber, I call it a project staging area.

Changed my large lumber dimensioning process, bandsaw now does most of the ripping, so that changed several too locations from my last setup....not saying to do that you're self just saying it was a simple thing that totally changed my design from a workflow perspective. Small lumber is dimensioned by hand, and I've almost done away with using my power jointer, do most jointer work by hand now.

Most of all, be thankful you're in control, could retell a horrific story about not being in control of a shop move.....

Best Wishes,
Andy

[glzahn]

Been there, done that.  My shop sat in storage for 2 yrs.......actually it sat in my half of my garage/shop under all my worldly possessions.  I rented out my home and kept my shop space to store all my stuff.  I made sure I topcoated all my metal surfaces, kept my most useful hand tools and power tools(drills, track saw, mulltitool, ext.) close to the door.  When it came time for the move....I did it all myself
.  Biggest pain was my cabinet saw and workbench.
     
     The best thing I did at the end of the move was to inventory all my tools, bits, blades, etc. Only thing I didn't inventory was my hardware collection....nuts, bolts, screws, etc.  I can't imagine what that would come to.   I made a spreadsheet that had Tool, Serial Number, Part Number, Purchase price, Replacement price, Comments.  If you would have told me I had $1500 invested in pipe clamps prior to my move I would have told you....you're nuts.  Almost $3,000 worth of router bits, $3,200 in dust collection, etc. etc. etc.  If my house would have ever burnt to the ground I would have never recouped my losses.  Take pics as well.  Insurance companies are funny that way...wont reimburse unless you can prove you owned it. 

Have a cousin who's house was started on fire by a careless neighbor who threw his cigarette butt into their woodpile and she couldn't prove she owned a Quilting machine $10,000, until my girlfriend pointed it out in some pictures of the damage.

Blessing to you on your move!!!

[handi]

Moved my shop two years ago. Since mine is how I make my living, it had to stay running until a week before the closing. 

The best tip I can give is that the Habitat Re-Store will happily take opened cans of paint, finish and glues that you can't/don't want to store.

I rented two unit from 1-800-packrat. Sort of like Pods. One was house, the other shop. Actually rented my new shop before we bought the house. Even so, it was three months without the shop. Way too long.

[JGrout]

The best tip I can give is that the Habitat Re-Store will happily take opened cans of paint, finish and glues that you can't/don't want to store.

you better check first 

Our HfH will not take opened paint containers at all 

Same for solvent based finishes or toxic adhesives  

Joe

[EricU]

go buy a storage bin and a couple of bags of kitty litter.  Dump your finishes/paint in there until the kitty litter is saturated and let it dry.  My mom had a lot of paint, I did this for months when I was getting the house ready to sell.  Every week, I would pull out the dried paint/kitty litter chunks, put some new kitty litter in, and dump in some more paint.  When I thought I was done, I found more paint.