Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT 1950s Craftsman Garage retro remodel

[tinbender 66]

MDF is amazing. I know of its capabilities, although not personally.

Everyone and their mother needs to see this thread:

http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35139&p=235782&hilit=MDF+bondo#p235782

AND this thread:

http://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=87148&hilit=MDF+rick

After seeing these, all I can think of is...I am not worthy

There are some very talented people in this world. Those folks are some of them

Man oh man oh man oh man!!! I can make just about anything out of sheet metal but people who can do things with wood like that just blow me away!!!

 

[Red Leader]

Alright! Special #201 Post! (I'm kidding)

Put up one side of the accent fluorescent lights. Had relatively few snags ( anything under 10 snafus = relatively few) and here is the transition:

Before:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

During:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

After:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

Here's how it happened-

Lights, before:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

Now, the nice, professional, $.97 'flat black' approach:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

Getting them ready:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

Doing the install:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

Attached and ready to rock!

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

In the dark:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

This is probably one of my favorite shots so far:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03


The lights don't really provide a ton of light, but then again they are designed as 'accent' lights so I think they'll do fine. One snafu still remaining is that I forgot to branch off the romex to the bottom shelf and the far shelf, so I'll either cut the wires, add a box and tree it off that way, or take down the first light and run a new branch from inside the first light (sounds easy, but will be hard due to the super tight fit of the light). The 2nd option would be a cleaner install, so I may just **** it up and do that.

Next, the bottom shelf lights and then the far shelf!

 

[Red Leader]

I just wanted to make sure that you knew you could get these fairly inexpensively. BTW: Watch garage and estate sales for woodworking tools. They're usually REAL cheap

The wife has finally figured out that I save us a lot of money on repairs. so we've got a deal. I can buy most of the tools that I want as long as I don't go over about $100/week. However I need to have a CURRENT project that is in need of that tool. If I need to go over the $100/week I need to discuss it with her to ensure that we don't overdraw the bank account.

Case in point: For Father's day/birthday she bought me a compressor (5 HP-80 gallon) and had to "authorize" money for a regulator and dryer. The air distribution system (black pipe) will have to get started soon.


A note from a longer term father.... Make SURE she knows how much money those tools save her on repairs. ..and MAKE D&MN SURE that she understands that's money back into the bank account to spend on other things. ...including tools.

Heheh, kinda funny - my wife reads up on my blog every now and then and she happened to read it today and saw your post. She busted my chops over that one - we had a pretty funny conversation about it. But truthfully she is awesome and has been real supportive with this project, especially considering a lot of the work out there doesn't have to be done, I'm out there a lot, and projects always cost money.

I found me a real keeper

Hun if you read this, just know that I think you rock!

 

[DrunkSmurf]

Super cool stuff and great work on the garage, tools and especially loving how the shelving/cabinets project are coming out.

I've already tagged this thread as I can easily see myself trying to steal some of that curvy goodness as inspiration in some of my upcoming shop upgrades.

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to updates as they come.

How's the Wife and son project coming along...lol

On a side note, as you seem to be in-the-know on these vintage tools. Care to give your thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Red Leader]

Super cool stuff and great work on the garage, tools and especially loving how the shelving/cabinets project are coming out.

I've already tagged this thread as I can easily see myself trying to steal some of that curvy goodness as inspiration in some of my upcoming shop upgrades.

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to updates as they come.

How's the Wife and son project coming along...lol

On a side note, as you seem to be in-the-know on these vintage tools. Care to give your thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your thoughts! And please, steal away...that's the great thing about this forum, the sharing of ideas. Not only am I flattered, but lots of these ideas I cannot take credit for as I stole from someone else (hint hint where are you Jack?) and revised to fit the needs of the garage.

That drill press is nice. It is a 1960s Craftsman '150' industrial press made by King Seeley. I am looking for a similar floor standing press, only from the 1950s (really the only difference is the chrome trim and the designation '100' instead of '150'). For $125, if you can swing it, I'd ****** it up. It looks like it doesn't have the original motor, but those are easy enough to find and make original if you desire. The are awesome presses. While they have their limitations (and not quite the industrial nature of, say, a Powermatic 1150), they are found in many industrial settings.

I'm really trying to hold out for one with the table raising mechanism or the 'vari-slow' speed control, as both were relatively rare attachments, but I am most likely going to pay for it - which is why I'm not sweating that purchase any time soon. My little Atlas 53 is awesome and is keeping me company just fine until then. You usually see these presses ranging in price from $75-$400, which sometimes has to do with condition and accessories, or sometimes just dumb luck.

If you are not too particular about brand and are really, REALLY good about watching Craigslist like a hawk (several times a day), then I have seen Craftsmans, Walker-Turners, Atlases, and Deltas (all floor presses) offered for $50. Those companies all made fantastic, classic drill presses. But, at that point, the deal becomes more important than anything else, and you should be prepared to wait it out. However, once you go 'bottom feeder' on tool purchase prices (like me haha), its really, really hard to go back unless you found a quest machine and everything about the purchase is saying 'YES' (everything but the price, that is).

At that price it may already be gone

-Dave, who is yet-again reminded of the Atlas floor press for sale for $50 that I passed on

 

[TejasBimmer]

Damn impressive work! Love the old CM power machines and the can not wait to see the end result! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Red Leader]

Welp, just ran out of sandpaper, so...

For now, I'm done with the cabinets. I might get a chance stop by the store and get some more, but for now I'm at a stand still.

I might try to redo some of the electrical and work on that today.

Anyway, thats the update!

 

[mdbeck1]

...

What I learned about bondo: It sets up SUPER ULTRA FAST. Meaning, you mix it as fast as you can (10 second) and you start putting it on right away. Now I know why they say to mix only what you need that moment. I mixed it on cardboard, which, typically, is considered a no-no, but since this is going on plywood cabinets and not a concours show car, I think I'm okay.

...

Used a lot of bondo in my younger days. We found out that if you grab a side window out of a car it works real well to mix your bondo on. You can clean the window off with a sharp putty knife.

If you want to slow down the set time you can use less activator.

 

[FritzA]

Nice project Red. I also love the old Craftsman tools. I'm in the Denver burbs and think it's a tough hobby in CO, not as many around as somewhere like Ohio.

I've got a early 60s DP, early 70s Grinder and 1960 lathe. I'm looking for a 40s or 50s grinder that had the seperate motor to use for buffing wheels. I do more metal work than woodwork.

Keep up the good work and thanks for posting all your info!

 

[Red Leader]

Quick update:

The good: Got the grinder back together again (for at least the 5th time) and hopefully it won't have to come apart much more again. This has been a learning process for me so I've had to take it apart multiple times to get things right.

I also installed some brass hardware which I think gives it a real touch of class and does it justice.

The bad: I put a huge scratch/chip in the center circle sheet metal's paint, so I had to patch it with a small square of paint, which is pretty visible. I'm hoping that once it dries it will blend in better and I can buff it a little and hopefully make it disappear. Until then, it is a little reminder to not take shortcuts and do things the right way - it ALWAYS pays off in the end.

How it looks now:

By daveamy at 2011-07-03

 

[Red Leader]

Nice project Red. I also love the old Craftsman tools. I'm in the Denver burbs and think it's a tough hobby in CO, not as many around as somewhere like Ohio.

I've got a early 60s DP, early 70s Grinder and 1960 lathe. I'm looking for a 40s or 50s grinder that had the seperate motor to use for buffing wheels. I do more metal work than woodwork.

Keep up the good work and thanks for posting all your info!

It certainly is a lot different than how it is on the east coast. Since Denver never had quite to the same scale the massive industrial complex that comprised most of the east coast, there is not the same surplus of huge industrial tools (12"-24" jointers, 16" table saws, etc). However, there are still lots and lots of vintage home/hobby type tools - you just have to keep an eye out for them and know how to search for the right stuff, which usually means sifting through a lot of junk.

I found my 18" bandsaw in a vague ad 3 hours away from me that simply described 'old 18" bandsaw". It wasn't in the title, and the post was in some random section and hidden amongst a myriad of other multiple items the seller was getting rid of. It was literally 1 line in a few paragraphs of a post. But I knew that if it really was an 18" band saw, and it was older, it has to be the Parks/Craftsman saw, since Craftsman made no other 18" saw at the time. When I called I confirmed it when the seller said the model # started with 112...which is the designated manufacturer code for Parks.

All my old iron has been found in the timespan of 1 year (starting last July). Narrowing it down to Craftsman has helped a lot, but still, there is a lot out there. Keep your eyes open and you'll find some good stuff for sure!

 

[omr]

you can do alot of shaping to the bondo almost instantly , once it starts to harden you can scrape alot of the extra material off and save your self alot of sanding and alot of mess ..

 

[Red Leader]

Quick and dirty post for tonight.

Finally (finally!) finished the grinder.

Here are some build shots:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

I decided to re-shoot the paint because I'm not happy with it. Turns out I got a little on the black piece, and now I'm not happy with that. Oh well life goes on

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

The paint does look a lot more rich now.

The eye shields were kinda bent up from someone trying to twist them up while they were tightened. See below:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

Since I was playing around with bondo on the shelves, I thought I'd give it a try on these:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

And now here is the finished product. Finally.

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

This is my first Craftsman tool restoration. It surely won't be my last. I just hope the others go a little quicker and that I won't have to take them apart 5 times.

Thats all tonight!

 

[Drebs]

nice job on the grinder i recently got a 67 craftsman radial arm saw im gonna clean up. it will be my first tool restoration as well. cant wait to see your shop when its done!

 

[fergus]

Dude...nice work on the tools AND the garage. I read this thread every time there's an update.

 

[Red Leader]

Dude...nice work on the tools AND the garage. I read this thread every time there's an update.

Thanks man!

Here a fun 'before' and 'after'-

Before:

By daveamy at 2011-06-27

After:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

Up next is a 3" Wilton vise that was given to me by my father-in-law. Since it was such a nice gift, I'll have to do it up right! Stay tuned for that! Pics of said vise:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

It will get the same color as the grinder, and will look real nice with the brass jaws. These pictures were taken before it went in the ****** tank (electrolysis). Also, I do have a problem - an allen bolt holding the brass jaw in the main casting had its head break off. I partially drilled out the stuck bolt threads, but its still solidly in there. Any ideas? I really don't want to get a 'screw extractor' just to have one of those break inside it. Thoughts?

I know the vise isn't 'Craftsman', but I feel the garage will have a few honorary members, the vise included. Its kinda like if someone were to just hand me an Emmert Pattermaker. Don't think I would turn it down anytime soon

Next on the 'garage list' to cross off:

Finish wiring and lighting installation (minus the puck lights and rope lighting) of the shelving

AND

Finish bondo and sanding of shelving and then time for paint!

 

[Red Leader]

nice job on the grinder i recently got a 67 craftsman radial arm saw im gonna clean up. it will be my first tool restoration as well. cant wait to see your shop when its done!

Thank you sir! You should post some pictures of your saw (either before or after, or both!) in this thread. It is very Craftsman-friendly

 

[HAMAR]

I love this garage and the 50's theme

 

[kbuhagiar]

Up next is a 3" Wilton vise that was given to me by my father-in-law. Since it was such a nice gift, I'll have to do it up right! Stay tuned for that! Pics of said vise:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06


I know the vise isn't 'Craftsman', but I feel the garage will have a few honorary members, the vise included.

Wilton vises are legendary in their excellence...
it is certainly worthy of placement in the Craftsman Garage!

 

[Red Leader]

Wilton vises are legendary in their excellence...
it is certainly worthy of placement in the Craftsman Garage!

I agree!

 

[kngkong]

Looking great Red Leader. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the vice.

 

[TONE]

Looks great. Very unique.

Just something to comment on though. With the climate change (assuming you have one) the wood will expand and contract. The bondo fill wont. You will probably get some cracking of the paint in those areas/seams.

 

[Red Leader]

Looks great. Very unique.

Just something to comment on though. With the climate change (assuming you have one) the wood will expand and contract. The bondo fill wont. You will probably get some cracking of the paint in those areas/seams.

Thanks for your thoughts!

About the cracking - I think I'm okay with it. I've seen a tiny bit of it already, but it is really minor. The main goal with the bondo was to get the joints level, and for that it has done really well. It won't be perfect, but it will make a better transition than without it. It will also have a polished aluminum strip that will go around the bottom facing and kinda tie it all together.

I'm always open to learning though! I've never worked with bondo before - it has been an enlightening experience. Thank you for sharing your experience!

 

[Red Leader]

More old tool restoration...

Okay guys, quick update.

I decided to get started on the vise. Again, quick refresher:

By daveamy at 2011-07-06

I took all the rusty crusty hardware:

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

And made it look better:

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

Not totally done yet (as you can make out). The proces was to use a FINE wire wheel (heavy wire gouges the metal) to get off a large part of the rust, and then use a 3M EXL deburring wheel (NOT cheap but worth every penny!!!) to get that perfect, 'new, slightly wire brushed but polished' look.

Next up, I had to tackle this broken bolt in the casting:

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

So I chucked up drill bits, going steadily up in size, and bored out the hole:

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

And then, got to here:

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

And I made a boo-boo. When that moon-shaped piece came loose, it must have grabbed the drill bit HARD, because, um, the drill chuck continued to turn and, um, the actually drill bit, did not. So I ruined a drill bit, and I'm hoping I didn't ruin the jacobs chuck. I'm not sure how I would have avoided it, but I'm glad that piece is loose. So now its just loose, still stuck in there. Haven't figured out yet how to get it out. I'm thinking of grinding it down real thin, then just crushing it and pulling it out.

On to the main castings, I went ahead and started a 2nd electrolysis bath:

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

By daveamy at 2011-07-08

For those of you who haven't heard of electrolysis, here is a quick run down:

1. Involves rusty GOOD piece, clean metal 'sacrificial' pieces, manual battery charger, water, and an activating agent (in this case, Arm and Hammer 'washing' soda - not baking soda...important!)

I'll 'spare' you the scientific mumbo jumbo (mainly because basically I don't know it) and put it in lay mans terms. Through the electical current and activating agent, you're basically reversing the chemical reaction of rusting and just 'moving' the rust from the good piece to the scrap piece. It is actually pretty awesome and there is absolutely no better way to get the rust off small pieces, especially if preservation of the surface is key (note: paint will be NOT survive!). The downside is that it takes a while (several days constantly if piece is heavily rusted). I started it up yesterday early evening, but the first time I did it with this vise it ran for several days, so it shouldn't take that long - I'm thinking by tomorrow it should be good to go. The reason I'm doing it a second time is that the first time when it was done, I just pulled it out and it sat around forever. Uncoated steel will rust immediately. Even though Colorado is really dry, I thought I'd give it another go just to be thorough.

Tomorrow I might even get the chance to start finishing it (vises are easy restos). The main goal for tomorrow will be finishing up with the bondo on the cabinets and maybe get on the first bit of paint!

Questing - prime cabinets before paint or just paint? I have that Glidden drywall primer and I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to use on the cabinets before paint. Any thoughts?

 

[LeonardY]

Re: More old tool restoration...

Questing - prime cabinets before paint or just paint? I have that Glidden drywall primer and I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to use on the cabinets before paint. Any thoughts?

I would prime. You have both bondo and wood. The two different materials will take paint differently. With all the great work you put into this garage, why skimp now?

Great looking vise and grinder.

Best,

Leonard

 

[Red Leader]

Vise and Cabinets, cont.

Mid-day update!

Alright! I've been steadily working on the vise and cabinets.

I am officially out of bondo!!! I got nearly all of it done, and at this rate I'm not going to buy another container of it, so I've got what I've got. I need to do some final sanding and cleaning - after that, prime time, baby!

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

With the vise, here is what things looked like right after I pulled it out of the electrolysis bath:

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

I seem to have this bad habit of jacking up all my hard paintwork when I put stuff back together or fit parts together, so I thought I'd be smart and go the extra mile with the prep work BEFORE the paint.

Restoring the anvil surface:

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

Not shown is the cleanup of the sliding column, but that will be shown in other future pictures.

I decided to clean up the jaws, file/sand/grind the mating surfaces and then polish them up a little. I only went about halfway on the filing and polishing because these are big chunks of brass and I wanted to preserve part of the patina, as it looks really cool. So I filed just until the mating surfaces were flush, then gave them a light polish on the EXL wheel, and I was done! (note: these pictures were taken before the final polish, so they do look kinda crappy)

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

Now its time for the paint prep!

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

Last shot of uncoated cast iron!

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

First coat of primer!

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

I could have spent a little more time making every little thing perfect, but honestly, it would probably feel a little out of place on this vise. The area around the jaws has some scars. The jaws themselves have plenty of battle wounds and patina. The exposed metal bits were slightly pitted, even after a clean up and polish. I feel like leaving some 'age' on it is just right for it, and appropriate. It works hard in its previous life - it'll be okay to flaunt it

 

[Red Leader]

The 'Secret'!!!!

Holy cow!!!

The vise paint turned out killer!!!!!!!!!

The paint that I have been using for the vise, the grinder, the Atlas drill press, is Rustoleum Hammered paint, in the color Verde Green (special order).

I finally learned the secret to getting that awesome finish.

I had it come through on the drill press by dumb luck, and it didn't really show up on the grinder when I did it, but I found out how to manipulate the painting to get the right results.

What I did was to spray a few coats on and build it up. Then, I got real close (think 2-3 inches away from the work piece) and pressed the nozzle as light as I could to just get the paint to 'spritz' out of the can, causing little spots to splatter in a small area - when the paint is still wet, these spots blend in with the paint and it creates the 'depth' behind the hammered look. I don't know if it is just the Verde Green color, but its a little hard to produce if your not trying, but check out the results and see for yourself:

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

By daveamy at 2011-07-09

I love this color!!!

 

[tinbender 66]

Looks great! Did you clearcoat that or did you get that gloss just from the color coat?

 

[Red Leader]

Looks great! Did you clearcoat that or did you get that gloss just from the color coat?

Thats actually the gloss straight from the colored spray paint. No overcoat.

I'm really happy with it. I won't touch it for a couple of days while it cures, and then I'll be able to attach all the cleaned up hardware bits and have a before/after photo shoot

 

[Red Leader]

Gents,

Well, no primer tonight. I've had a minor setback.

So I put up that end door on the shelves when I bondo-ed around it so that I could get things perfectly flush. I made sure to sand till I hit the edges, but apparently it wasn't enough. When I finagled it loose, it ripped some wood out and made a bit of a mess of things. Also, I found some extra screw holes in the shelves and just a few places I missed.

As I've said before...***** to be a perfectionist

I want to do it right, but I'm trying to balance that with cutting it loose since the wife's due date is in 2 days (!!!!!!!!!)

Not sure I'll finish the shelving project by the time the kid comes, but when its done its gonna be done right.

Looks like I'll have to go get some more bondo tomorrow and finish things up. If I can primer/paint tomorrow, that I'll be happy with that.

 

[Wardy]

Excellent work and attention to detail!

 

[sscustom]

wow great work cant get enought of this thread awsome job i want more!!!!!!!!!

 

[dragracer98]

Red Leader,
Excellent work you have done so far!!! The shelves you are building remind me of a Texaco station I would go to when I was a kid. The inside of the station had almost the same shelves as what you are building. Talk about a flashback. I really like everything you have done with the exception of the electrical box. Not trying to be critical, but you did ask for feedback....lol.. I like what you did to it, but I would have carried the wall color right over the panel to sort of blend it into the wall.

But I do like the frame around it too. Great job on the tool refinishing too. Good color choices, it all looks good. I check everyday for updates that you post. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Randy

 

[Scuderia-F1]

Awesome theme, awesome garage & awesome equipment!

 

[perry71]

Awesome theme, awesome garage & awesome equipment!

i agree. nice job .....

 

[Red Leader]

Thanks for all the great comments, guys.

Although I do have to say, for every comment I get on the garage, about 2 need to go to my wife for her patience, understanding, and general acceptance of what probably 95% of the rest of the world would consider a strange and ridiculous obsession.

She has been a real cool cat through this whole thing and has continued to support me in it.

That being said, I am repairing the cabinets as I write this. I need one final touch up as I cleaned up the joints where the cabinet curves meet the walls, but then, its prime time.

 

[Red Leader]

Red Leader,
Excellent work you have done so far!!! The shelves you are building remind me of a Texaco station I would go to when I was a kid. The inside of the station had almost the same shelves as what you are building. Talk about a flashback. I really like everything you have done with the exception of the electrical box. Not trying to be critical, but you did ask for feedback....lol.. I like what you did to it, but I would have carried the wall color right over the panel to sort of blend it into the wall.

But I do like the frame around it too. Great job on the tool refinishing too. Good color choices, it all looks good. I check everyday for updates that you post. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Randy

Randy,

I appreciate your thoughts, including the constructive criticism. That part of the garage kinda morphed into its own thing, as I didn't really plan it out that way. I agree - doing the box up like the walls would have been pretty cool. The Verde Green color is a great match with the teal wall paint, but I haven't found something that matched the off white color in the enamel spray (not that I've looked that hard or anything). If its any consolation, I think I may paint the inside of the door and the garage door to match the wall

 

[48James]

Nice vise, but could you tell me where you ordered the paint? I just can't seem to find green hammertone!

 

[Red Leader]

Nice vise, but could you tell me where you ordered the paint? I just can't seem to find green hammertone!

Sir,

Here is where I got it from:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Looks like they are all out currently, but there may be other online retailers that carry it. It is an awesome color, a little blue...a little green - it's perfect.

Its a little hard to find, but I wouldn't have any other color. Love it!

 

[Red Leader]

Re: More old tool restoration...

I would prime. You have both bondo and wood. The two different materials will take paint differently. With all the great work you put into this garage, why skimp now?

Great looking vise and grinder.

Best,

Leonard

Leonard,

I am SO glad you said this! I didn't even think about the different surfaces and how the paint would react. Good thinking! That was a 'D'oh!!!' moment on my part