Starting this Garage build with all 10 fingers...

[Hot Chop shop]

Few updates...

So I ordered some hammered verde green to redo my wilton vise... Wasn't happy how the bronze came out...

Stripped down to bare metal...(again) and used some filler primer to try to hide the nicks.

Paint is on the truck for delivery today... Stay tuned

Also finished a stool/box-jumps/step thingy and started paint... I wanted to do some kind of "X" on the sides but ran out of time so I kept it basic...

And also rewelded two of tension bolts on the welding table... I'm new to the welding world so getting the nuts on there without melting them while welding vertical wasn't too easy.

Not too pretty but they work!

Thanks for looking!

 

[Alexbn921]

Subscribed. Great work on all of you projects. You are really getting a nice setup. There is something about garage journal that really makes you want to collect vises.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Subscribed. Great work on all of you projects. You are really getting a nice setup. There is something about garage journal that really makes you want to collect vises.

Hey thanks a lot... I'm running out of room in my setup... I just gotta find a little more space for a sandblast cabinet all the fun things I could blast...

Just saw your wilton restore thread very impressive how that turned out!

 

[imagine44]

......I'm running out of room in my setup... I just gotta find a little more space for a sandblast cabinet all the fun things I could blast...

Just saw your build.. Fantastic!

Need room for a sandblast setup I hear? Get rid of the water heater, and install a tankless heater. Set the blast cabinet in that little niche! Or add a standup compressor in that spot..

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Just saw your build.. Fantastic!

Need room for a sandblast setup I hear? Get rid of the water heater, and install a tankless heater. Set the blast cabinet in that little niche! Or add a standup compressor in that spot..

Hey I appreciate you stopping by and your comments!!! I would love to get more aggressive with this garage but I have been going back and forth for the past 6 months trying to close on a new home near by with a 3 car garage so that I can spread my wings. So everything I do lately in the back of my mind comes back to do I wanna hang that when I'll have to take it down and patch it soon. (Hopefully)

 

[Hot Chop shop]

So few updates... I find I do the most work in my garage when it's either 120+ degrees or 20 degrees in here... I know there are members here living in much harsher climates but there are also those jerks in San Diego wearing shorts today and able to paint year round! Sorry it's real cold today! Ok back to updates

Finished step stool... Did brush-on hammered black paint on top and hammered spray paint red on legs, the brush-on hammered seems to look better and thicker or the red I got just didn't come out too great.

Finished the wilton with the Verde hammered green... It's ummm? Ummm ? Eh? It's really shiny... think I need to get it dirty. (or paint it for a 3rd time red? Don't judge me )

Had to cure it inside... The wine rack fit perfect.

 

[Alexbn921]

The new green looks good. I am finding it hard to use mine and mess up the paint. I just remember that in 20 years I can repaint it with my kids. Don't do the red, at least until you mess up the green.
Good luck with getting the new house. It is difficult to put in the hard work when you will just have to redo it at a new place.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

So Xmas project update?
Up to this point I have only attempted to make items for the garage but the wifey found a piece of furniture on Pinterest and jokingly asked if I could make it... I jumped at the opportunity... So I have barely scratched the surface of learning MIG welding but I really enjoy welding and get a little better each time.... for this project it's wood and metal... Well at some point I'll have to figure out the wood stuff so here goes... (Plus another reason for more tools)

This is the picture she found online...

So I'll use it as a template to inspire a coffee table and two end tables.
I picked up the 2"x1" steel tubing to keep it bare and try to just either use paste wax to seal it or a clear coat (I don't plan to have it rust in the house)
Then picked up some alder wood to distress and stain dark to make the tops.

First attempt at woodworking so spent the past few days watching some YouTube videos on how to do want I want with limited wood tools...
So think I can get away with a block plane and some pipe clamps...

Stay tuned...

all woodworker suggestions welcomed!

(Thread about wood project: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226217)

 

[Hot Chop shop]

The new green looks good. I am finding it hard to use mine and mess up the paint. I just remember that in 20 years I can repaint it with my kids. Don't do the red, at least until you mess up the green.
Good luck with getting the new house. It is difficult to put in the hard work when you will just have to redo it at a new place.

Hey thanks!

Trust me I wish I owned this spot so I could fill it with strong hold cabinets... But I don't think you ever wanna move those twice.

 

[cagullett1]

This is a great thread! Your work has been great! I feel like this has been my story over the past year. I literally bought the same "starter" workbench and Seville cabinet and quickly realized I wished I had built a "steevo" bench as well. I've bought 1 of the 44" HF boxes and would love to make this build. Like you, no experience in welding. Hopefully I can get the guts soon to buy a welder and see what happens!

What did you end up doing with your initial workbench and cart?

 

[cagullett1]

I forgot to ask, what welder did you get to start out with? Happy with it?

 

[Hot Chop shop]

This is a great thread! Your work has been great! I feel like this has been my story over the past year. I literally bought the same "starter" workbench and Seville cabinet and quickly realized I wished I had built a "steevo" bench as well. I've bought 1 of the 44" HF boxes and would love to make this build. Like you, no experience in welding. Hopefully I can get the guts soon to buy a welder and see what happens!

What did you end up doing with your initial workbench and cart?

I forgot to ask, what welder did you get to start out with? Happy with it?

Hey thanks for the compliment

My starter bench and cart has moved to the opposite side of the garage, I might end up putting it on Craigslist to make some needed room but i doubt it's worth it and I can always use an extra work surface to clutter.

Stevo's bench is great and if you want one then I say go for it you can always find second hand welders on Craigslist or if you know a welder to help you out. I would recommend starting with some small projects to learn. There are a few videos on YouTube which cover the basics of safety and MIG technique then there is a great thread on here called show your welding projects and those guys are great they post lots of pics and also post settings they use to achieve that pretty stack of dimes look that people strive for. I started with a Lincoln welder then upgraded to a miller 220. I only upgraded causes the miller 220 comes with two plugs 1 for 120v and 1 for 220v for thicker material so that down the road I don't have to buy another welder when I wire a 220v plug in the garage... But too be honest I have seen some pretty nice looking welds from a harbor freight welder so if your just looking to do welds on a bench for the garage it should work... And you can always get good at grinding

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Little update on the attempt into wood working I joined two boards together and it came out pretty darn flat thanks to some pipe clamps... I sanded the wood glue off and did my best to even it out with the sander now it's time to distress the boards... Hard to do cause its just so pretty... Game on...
I dropped some heavy tools on it and hit it with a few random objects..

Gotta wait 24 hours for the vinegar and steel wool to make this aged coated to cover it before I stain it....

Then I can get back to the fun part of welding the legs.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Finally back to the metal part of the project!

Test fitting the leg/base fitment...

Next up prep the welds... Then weld then stain the top board... Then put together

 

[mrgm]

nice work

 

[Hot Chop shop]

nice work

Thanks!

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Project update... So what's unique about this kind of welding is that it's suppose to be distressed and left bare steel soooo when I can usually hide my lack of welding experience with lots of grinding and primer and paint on this it's naked to the world for judgement (and going INSIDE the house)... So I tried to slightly bevel the edges to let the weld lay flatter... And I'm trying to preheat the metal to see if that helps the welds appearance... But in truth there is no quick fix for inexperience just gotta keep at it... Gotta get back to it since this is suppose to be the Xmas gift.

One leg done one more to go.

Then gotta cap all 6square openings... Game on.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

So everything came together to finish the wifey Xmas gift today... Sort of... It's hard to stain and poly coat wood in the same garage where you are grinding and welding. I need one garage for metal and one to do wood working...

I was however bummed out when the clear coat I used took away the shine and character of the metal it gave it a milky dull color tint to it.. Hard to explain and I'm sure the cell phone pics won't show it... I'm going to try to wet sand it in the AM to try to bring some of the shine back to it... I should have just used paste wax... Such is life...

I beveled the edges to "try" to make a trench for the weld to lay flat into...

I notched out where the legs where going to go through the wood.

Test fit went good had to do a little more sanding so it wasn't too tight to let the wood have a little room to swell and settle (so the internet tells me)

Then used the vinegar &steel wool stain to age the wood

Then did a dark espresso stain and several coats of semi gloss poly

Then made a cap for each tube

And then lots of grinding I tried to keep the discoloration around the welds to add to the distress look of the table.

Then did the clear coat which I'm not happy with but hopefully a little wet sanding with fix it?
Milky white coating

Well see how it looks in the AM when it's dry I'll post a final pic.

Thanks for looking and happy holidays!

 

[Hot Chop shop]

So I finally finished the coffee table... Two end tables with the same theme in the works...

Here was the almost finished project :

Then wet sanding the clear coat didn't go so well so I decided to just wire brush the entire thing... (Sorry for the bad cell pics)

So it's all done and it's the first welding project that made it inside the house.
Thanks for looking!

 

[NPOD3]

I beveled the edges to "try" to make a trench for the weld to lay flat into...

Excuse me - new guy here - what is that red tool that is nearly shaped like an arrow called, and what is its purpose?? I'd do a search for it, but I don't even know its name or purpose, so I figured I'd just ask. Thanks!

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Excuse me - new guy here - what is that red tool that is nearly shaped like an arrow called, and what is its purpose?? I'd do a search for it, but I don't even know its name or purpose, so I figured I'd just ask. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NPR3BG/ref=pd_aw_sims_8?pi=SY115

They are welders magnets ? I think that's what you call them... I use them to help keep square tubing closer to square to help with distortion of the metal... I'm sure a real welder could give you a better explanation though.

 

[Dirtybird103]

Excuse me - new guy here - what is that red tool that is nearly shaped like an arrow called, and what is its purpose?? I'd do a search for it, but I don't even know its name or purpose, so I figured I'd just ask. Thanks!

It's just a welding magnet.

 

[Dirtybird103]

Hot you beat me too it haha. I love the table and the shop. Nice work.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Just checking in, fantastic work as per usual.

 

[cagullett1]

Love this project. Couple questions, how did you attach the top to the metal legs? Also, because you did not like how the clear coat came out, would you have finished the metal differently?

 

[aggierailroad]

Had no idea you had a full feature thread. You are a busy guy!

Keep up all of the hard work, you are learning very fast, and your work improves every time.

Some mentioned that you had "tenacity". I couldn't think of a better word! Your hard work is paying off, everything looks great!

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Hot you beat me too it haha. I love the table and the shop. Nice work.

Thanks! and to be fair I had to google the name cause I just call them red arrow magnet thingys.

Just checking in, fantastic work as per usual.

Thanks, I appreciate it!!

Love this project. Couple questions, how did you attach the top to the metal legs? Also, because you did not like how the clear coat came out, would you have finished the metal differently?

Hey thanks... I welded 1 inch tabs on all the legs where I knew the wood would sit flush with the top then I drilled holes and used screws to attach...(i'll try to find a pic for you). The clear coat came out bad cause it was freezing in my garage and cause I rushed it Xmas eve to finish it to surprised the wifey in the AM... would i do it differently...ummm hard to say... the whole point of this project was to make the wood distressed and keep the mill scale intact and keep the coloring from the heat of the welds intact and grind down the welds while trying to not grind anything else around it, to give it a modern-distress look... so when that failed I tried to wet-sand the clear coat but I sparyed it on thick so I tired the wire brush...and it worked too good taking off the clear coat and the mill scale off... but all part of the learning process... If i could do something differently it would have cleaner "Mig like Tig" welds so that I wouldn't need to grind at all... maybe one day

Had no idea you had a full feature thread. You are a busy guy!

Keep up all of the hard work, you are learning very fast, and your work improves every time.

Some mentioned that you had "tenacity". I couldn't think of a better word! Your hard work is paying off, everything looks great!

Hey thanks a lot that's high praise from a guy with a great blog that was a huge help when learning how to make the top for this table.

 

[colt zantop]

That coffee table turned out bad a$$! Nice work

I use a method called stitch welding with mig and it will give you the "look" of tig kind of. It's just layering spot welds basically. Not super strong like a single mig pass but for non structural...it's fine.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

That coffee table turned out bad a$$! Nice work

I use a method called stitch welding with mig and it will give you the "look" of tig kind of. It's just layering spot welds basically. Not super strong like a single mig pass but for non structural...it's fine.

Hey thanks!

I don't do too much structural so I'm real curious about the stitch welding technique... If you have any pics please post them.

The Mig like TIG look is supposedly achieved by slowing down the wire speed and making a cursive "C" it gives you the stack of dimes TIG look... I can only achieve it once in a while, it's like a mythical unicorn.

 

[Alexbn921]

Table turned out nice. I bet the wife is happy. One of a kind and you get a story to tell about it.
Plus it justifies all your future tool purchase.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Table turned out nice. I bet the wife is happy. One of a kind and you get a story to tell about it.
Plus it justifies all your future tool purchase.

Hey thanks! I'm always looking for a reason to justify a tool purchase, trying to sell her on the benefits of why I need a TIG welder at the moment... Not going too well, but she has to go to sleep sometime.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Hot Chop shop]

So I guess I gotta make two end tables to match the coffee table?
So here we go again... Man I hate the mess of saw dust in the garage...Same old Same here... Glue the boards... The cut to size...

then let the wife help with the distressing part... She went a little crazy beating up the wood... Did a light sand then did the rusty vinegar stain...

Then did the dark stain...

Did I mention I hate the mess that wood makes????

So a couple coats of poly in the AM then back to the world of metal and the quest for pretty MIG Ike TIG beads... Until I get to TIG like TIG

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Aaaaaarggggh I ran out of metal to finish... I'm about 30 inches short...

 

[ct71rr]

Wow! The tables are very nice!

 

[cagullett1]

What kind of wood are you using and what stain are you finishing it with? The tables are turning out awesome!

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Wow! The tables are very nice!

Hey thanks! but now I gotta make people use coasters, cause i consider it my fancy furniture

What kind of wood are you using and what stain are you finishing it with? The tables are turning out awesome!

Hey thanks.
its Alder wood and I used espresso stain and a few coats of Semi-gloss Poly clear.

 

[Hot Chop shop]

Wood done...

Metal next...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Hot Chop shop]

So looks like I have to reset the "this many days since last fire" in the garage board... Had a rag soooooo far away from where I was welding, I had used it to clean the metal before welding... One day I'll learn... But the worst part was I looked at the fire and looked over at the extinguisher on the bench then back to the fire then back to the extinguisher and thought man these extinguisher are not cheap and I decided to get it outside on the driveway and stomp it out....

Anyways test fit on the end tables went okay... Still have to weld tabs for the wood to rest on and do lots and lots and lots grinding to clean up my welds then wire brush the steel then clear coat it... then on to the next project...

 

[MSRTom]

Loving the furniture, especially the combination of the steel and wood work. Giving me some good ideas!

 

[OHSCrifle]

Cool thread [start to finish] HCS. I am enjoying it with you. I want a welder someday and you're doing it the right way - just learn as you go. I'm no weld expert but your groove weld and others look pretty good. Better every time.

What's the word on the new house? Are you trying to get a short sale or something - otherwise it seems like you'd know faster, right?