Packing up the shop

[jppierson]

Admiral said:

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If you're using commercial movers, just know they get temps to do the heavy lifting, and aren't too particular about background checks, so if you pack your own stuff, use a number code rather than labels with exact contents. I "lost" a box of cordless tools in my last move that was accurately labeled.

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+1
Every move I ever made had day laborers involved. They could careless about your treasured items, unless it is something they may treasure also. Under no circumstances should you allow them to finish packing at the warehouse under the guise it won't fit on the truck. Know also, if you use a commercial moving company, if you pack the box you will lose some insurance protection that the item broken in shipment was due to the packing job and not the 10 foot toss/drop to the floor. The carrier will mark the box as customer packed even if you use the original packaging. Unfortunately when the carrier packs you lose any control for organization of what is in each box. Make sure if you use a commercial carrier that they are aware of heavy items, e.g., cast iron tables or pianos.

[AHill]

I highly recommend making a trip to a U-Haul or FedEx store. They have boxes of every type, and experts to tell you what box is right for what type of product. I've always had professional movers move me. My clamps and larger tools were always wrapped in packing paper, then put into a box together. Very large items (table saw, etc.) were marked and moved individually. If a tool was broken down (I removed the rails and cast iron wings from my TS), hardware was placed in a Ziploc bag, marked, and duct taped inside the tool. I never left any tools in cabinets or drawers. Sometimes, the movers would take the loose loose tools in a drawer, wrap them individually, then replace them in a drawer. Mark everything, including the outside of the box. It will help immensely on the other side unpacking. Get very specific and make a list while you're doing that. You won't regret it. Before you unload your truck on the other side, have a good idea where things will go. You can place the boxes near their final destination. If you have to take things apart, you may want to take pics as you're doing that to ensure you can put it together without any "leftover" parts.

Any extra investment in bubble wrap, packing paper, or any other specialty wrapping stuff will not be wasted! Given a choice of over packing or handling everything very gingerly, I'd choose over packing any day of the week. Accidents happen. Protect yourself.

Good luck on your move.

[R Clark]

You didn't say how far you're moving. How far you're moving will impact my recommendation.

I have moved the shop long distance (Virginia to Nebraska) and local (30 miles). The long distance move was by professional movers, the local move was a lot more hands on.

For the long distance move, I made a crate for the upper unit of my closed stand bandsaw. I took the motor off my contractor saw and let the movers pack that. My experience with professional movers is that unless high value items are called out specifically on the inventory with serial numbers, then the movers are not really held at risk for loss. I made sure all the stationary tools and larger bench top tools (like the planer) were called out on the inventory.

The last time I moved was the local move. We packed our own stuff, used a local outfit to pack it out and put it into storage units that I rented and controlled. Then I called them back to move it all again when the new place was ready. I hovered over that move because I was carrying all the risk. For the local move, I created cardboard boxes for most of the tools and packed the whole shop myself. When it came time for load out, my wife and covered all the bases. We followed the truck when it left and went to unload at the storage units. We also followed the truck from the storage units to the new place where we supervised unloading.

I didn't suffer any losses to theft and any damage was negligible.

There are ways to minimize your risk exposure. It's just a matter of deciding what you want to do and be willing to pay for a more hands off approach, if that's what you want.

[Dave Diaman]

I did something very similar to what you are talking about when I moved. The only difference was none of my tools were mobile. They are all large heavy machines. I got a few guys and we managed to get everything in a pod I rented. I don't think the movers would have liked me leaving a 1500 LB jointer for them I shrink wrapped all my base cabinets. I did have to take some of the really heavy stuff out of them to make them manageable. For the other stuff I went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of these They have come in really handy since the move. My biggest problem was I had to get everything out of the garage and convert it back into a garage. I had been running a woodworking business out of my garage for about 8 years so there was a lot of work to do. The Pod was the best option for me. It gave me the ability to get my machinery and most of my tools out of the house ahead of time and store them. It also allowed me to have them delivered to my new shop when I was ready for them. If you have a lot of heavy tools it is a great option. I think my Pod ended up being right around 10,000 lbs based on an educated estimate and they didn't say anything about he weight

[Ken Vick]

I've moved my shop twice in the last 4 years, once 500 miles and the last 10 miles. I agree with most of the advice here. There are some things that stand out for me in my moves. Boxes are expensive and if you have a large shop you will need a lot of them. I found the best boxes for my purposes were liquor and wine boxes and you can get all you need for free. They are the right size and heavily built. Tools are heavy--use smaller boxes rather than large ones, be kind to your back. I moved myself but hired labor from moving companies to load and unload me. I was moving my household goods as well as the shop so I needed 2, 26' trucks each pulling a 12' trailer. Loading took the better part of 2 days but unloading was done in about a half day with the guys placing things generally where they were going to rest permanently. I same thousands of dollars compared to pods or commercial movers. Nothing was broken or went missing. Moving is the pits and that is mostly because you have to set up a new shop. There will never be enough power outlets or in the right locations. Probably won't be any 240 outlets and the list goes on. Best of luck. Ken

[RedBob]

+1 on the power issues in the new digs. I needed to bring a 100A sub-panel to the shop from the main box and run some 20A lines and a 240V circuit.
Another maybe not-so-surprising thing for me was, as I was preparing to unpack, I looked around the new shop and thought, 'this is a lot of space. I'll have tons of room left over.' Well, now that I'm unpacked and set up, I used pretty much every square inch. Proving the theory; You can never have a garage too big, a shed too big, or a shop too big.

Bob

[AztecKing]

If you're packing you're own stuff then take a picture of the stuff you're packing in that box and assign it a number and put that number on the box. Movers don't care and if you label what's in it it could come up missing. Be sure to pack drill drivers and batteries along with screws or whatever you plan on using to hang stuff in a box together. Saves a lot of digging around when you get to the new shop. If they are going to pack everything then I would pack my fragile things like chisels my self.

Jeff

[TJ61]

pjohnson said:

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My desire is to make boxes that are stackable and can be used in the new shop as shelving/cabinets.

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If you're making something to serve two purposes, there will likely be compromises involved. Will you end up with the best possible shelving/cabinets in your new shop?

BTW, I was pleasantly surprised at the low price of boxes from Home Depot when I moved my shop last fall.

[tomsteve]

when i moved september 2014 i picked up boxes at the local grocery store that they get theyre eggs in. kept me from over packing boxes and had handles in them. and they stacked up nice in the moving truck.

[AppleCreekWood]

I also recently moved - 500+ miles. The company paid for my move so it was done professionally. But I did want to get my shop stuff organized for the move. I had concerns if the company would pay to move it if it was too "professional" or extensive.
I built wood boxes about the size of legal boxes to pack my hardware in. I have a lot of screws, etc. that I did not want to through away & repurchase (I but in larger quantities and from better sources than big box). My plan was the same - to use the boxes as shelves until the new shop until I get around to building legit storage. I put the various hardware into zip lock bags to keep it all separated. Worked well and allowed for easier locating of it - instead of the need to open multiple boxes (see label note below).
The tools I left in there cabinets (old cupboard base units). The movers moved all as-is. No issues. Nothing missing. I was there during pack in and unload (they did not unpack).
I did build crates for my cyclone dust collector and some other odds & ends. The movers packed my long items (levels, etc) in a large wardrobe. It made the move with no problem, but did not last very long afterwards due to the weight.
It has been over 2 years and I am now just getting the shop set back up. Longer than I expected. I still cannot find everything (knobs/handles from drill press?). LABEL everything so you can find it. Don't pack something inside something else thinking you will remember you put it there.