Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Woody's Works Garage

[drivesitfar]

TX: i don't think TORONTO, ONTARIO isn't nearly as cold as THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO is. just a guess because i've only been to Toronto in August, but i've seen Woody say many many times that he gets to -30+ degrees every winter in his hometown.

DJL: i bet when those areas go to electric cars it will be simple to put chargers in the parking lots since there is already plug ins for warming up the engine blocks there now. thanks for information and still not quite sure how that would work.

 

[dlcwent]

Denwood, glad Drives explained that. Andy has asked some of us to show support for Drives daughter. So although I've done just that, Andy is the "Drive"ing force behind it. I just wanted to give credit were credit is do.

 

[Denwood]

TXUSA, I think shop time is a bit of cathartic relaxation for all of us It would be a lot easier to just drop cars at the dealer, but I do like having a look at them from time to time to check on any issues, touch up the rust treatment etc.

DJL1967, block heaters here are standard as yep, it does get down below -25C in winter. Toronto almost never sees that kind of cold! Thunder Bay, all the time. Even with synthetics, a block heater makes cold morning starts a lot easier on the battery. For most vehicles, a 700 watt or so heater is installed in place of one of the engine block frost plugs and a cord brought out front. On my Audi, they factory install a shielded receptacle in the front valence..and then charge you $100 for the cord :-( I run a timer that limits block heater time to about 90 minutes in the morning. A vehicle parked in the shop (even with heat turned off) never needs to be plugged in as the shop and vehicle residual heat (when parked) keeps things warmer than -10C regardless of outside temps and wind.

Drives, thanks for the explanation...I'd missed the story of the bride-to-be at 2 yrs old. She's an inspiration for me too

Sublime, I try to keep busy

DLC, note my signature! I'll be tuning in to that thread like a whole lot of other folks to see how this all plays out. Drives, there is no shortage of great Karma for you and your family With the rather negative media storm brewing out there these days, Drive's thread reminds us of all the decency that I believe every person intrinsically harbors.

 

[drivesitfar]

WOODY: thanks for the good words. always puts a smile on my face after reading all of your posts ever since i started following your thread and adventures maybe a year or two ago.

cheers and best of luck with the rest of the basement remodel!!

BTW i really didn't have a budget on my daughter's WEDDING/DANCING CHAIR, but if i did it's out the window now so wondering what casters you might recommend that might be quieter than the 5 inchers i bought and have on it now if money wasn't an issue?

thanks

 

[Denwood]

Drives, call these guys ( http://www.casterworldbc.com/ ), point them to your GJ thread, and ask for suggestions: 1 604 942 8300

We've purchased a few hundred from them for our LEAN workstations..all on casters. We use the version with four holes in the base..makes for a nice stable base.

 

[winnipegtibook]

How about Manitoba? Our capital city is colder than Thunder Bay, last week we were even colder than anyplace on earth. Go figure

 

[Denwood]

Winn, pretty much tropical this week at -2C

 

[G20-Budo]

Winn, pretty much tropical this week at -2C

Not exactly tropical, but here you go Denis (and it's in C just for you).

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: personally i don't understand how any of you can live with temperatures so EXTREME. you with the minus 30+'s and G20's with his 120+'s in their summer in the desert.

i guess you'd get used to it just like i barely know it's raining even though it rained 2 inches the last two days. or that we don't see the sun for maybe months at a time here in MY PARADISE.

thanks for the tip on the casters and i sent them an email and provided them a link for the WEDDING CHAIR THREAD and haven't heard back from them yet. they might only be a 2.5-3 hour drive, but with the boarder in between us that always makes things a bit more difficult. i'm thinking that might even get worse with Trump's new policies so i hope it doesn't effect your business in any way.

i found another local caster source yesterday that i can drive 90 minutes to his shop so i picked up a few more casters and we'll see if that helps. yes PRTOTO TYPE #1 is getting new casters today and some adjusting now that the bride has sat on it with her wedding dress for altering.

how is the CAT ADOPTION coming along or is it already home by now making all of you smile even more?

cheers

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: sorry to bother you cause you are probably flying around the world promoting your products, but i was wondering if you know anything about painting aluminum. do you? check out the WEDDING CHAIR thread cause Management wants the aluminum painted so when the dress gets pulled up there isn't any shiny metal showing.

hope all the projects you have going are still pushing forward and as always wishing you the best.

cheers

 

[Denwood]

Kyle, Drives..it's been rather nippy out there..but this results in good progress on the renovation, and several new products at work

A new rescue cat (Severus is more like a dog!) at home, wife out of town, and two busy girls + business = extra busy guy this week!

Drives, if you plan on keeping the chair, skip paint and go straight to powder coat. If it's a one time deal, wipe it down with TSP, prime and paint with whatever looks good at the hardware store. We powder coat anything that is not anodized...

 

[G20-Budo]

Dennis,

Well, it looks like spring is hitting us here in AZ now. Time for me to plant more things. I hope it warms up there soon for you. In the mean time, take care of the animals (and the kids) while the wife is out of town.

 

[drivesitfar]

WOODY: i've avoided having to paint the Wedding chair for now and mama is going to carpet it.

how's the basement remodel coming along? is the media room part of this phase or phase 2?

is it getting any warmer yet in the frozen northland you call home?

cheers

 

[Denwood]

Drives, it's cold here, but we're getting decent snow to keep winter fun The media room is part 2.

Drywall and paint is done on the basement reno. We reached a milestone last night firing up the basement laundry for the first time. I had to build a level base for the appliances, passing it's first test with flying colors. Lots of trim, cabinetry and countertop work to do yet.. The Missus is very happy

The heat pump dryer is very interesting. It used 800-1000 watts, vs 3000 used by the old dryer. The other efficiency (and a large one) is that heated air is not taken from the house and blown outside. The replacement air at -20C would normally get pulled in via air leaks, and requires heating. Alternatively, the heat pump dryer takes zero air from the house, and warmed up the basement 1-2 degrees C last night. This is good. The only downside is longer cycle times in heat pump mode. You can defeat this by enabling faster cycle options which uses 220V electrical resistance to boost the heat pump. This makes no sense, so we'll likely just use the Eco options.

Being a ventless dryer, you just plug it in to 220V and connect a small drain line for condensate produced during the drying cycle.

 

[PhantomEB]

Nice! That reminds me I need to get some of those flapper deals to put inline of my dryer vent...steal back some free heat into the laundry room.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Dennis, thank you for the update. I have to admit I have never seen a heat pump dryer before..

We do have a conventional dryer but its is rarely used.

Regards

 

[Denwood]

Phantom, if your home is ok with the moisture, than a trap diverter makes a lot of sense. When outside ambient is in the -10 to -20 C range, we run into mold/condensation issues if a reasonably efficient home exceeds 35-40% relative humidity...so can't do a diverter here without running into other issues.

1/2, hanging the laundry makes the most sense of course..and you sure don't need added heat at this time of year!

The nice thing about the renovated basement space is that our drying rack (lots of stuff never sees the dryer) will have lots of room..as opposed to sitting in our fireplace room pretty much in the middle of our main floor. I added return and supply in the new laundry room to make sure clothes on the rack would dry efficiently. The Missus wanted a separate room, (with a door!) so she could keep the laundry area a working space. I'll have some nice before/after pics in a few more days of work.

The shop has been tasked with cutting down (low ceiling) doors, and painting mill work. Did I mention I love the dust collection system in there?

 

[drivesitfar]

WOODY: i'm going to have to read over your thread some day in the near future cause our electric bills are climbing and we barely have one of our kids left at home. a dryer using a heat pump is another new one to me. your new laundry area looks great and very happy YOUR MANAGEMENT APPROVES IT TOO!!

best of luck with the rest of the project that sounds like it's partly done in the garage as i'm typing this.

cheers

 

[Denwood]

Drives, the heated shop is being used daily. The tools collection is getting great use, and the material collection is quickly disappearing. This is a good thing as every square foot in the shop reclaimed makes for a more efficient work space.

Whoever invented European "hidden" hinges gets my thanks tonight. Mounting with one 1 3/8" shallow bore and all the adjustment options after mounting makes for nearly perfect doors

 

[G20-Budo]

.....and the material collection is quickly disappearing. This is a good thing as every square foot in the shop reclaimed makes for a more efficient work space.

This is what I'm now chasing..

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody; you'll have to take and post a few pictures of those hidden hinges when you get some time and sounds great. i bet the guy that invented those lived 100 years ago and i'm sure he heard you thanking him. i'd love to make or maybe invent something that was around after i'm long gone. i bet that is one really fun part about your business when you make something?

i can't recall you ever having heat in the shop so did you put a heat pump out there too or are you just using plug in type heaters? how warm does it get and i'm guessing you are painting some things out there which is amazing considering your outside temps are well below freezing.

always like seeing what you have to add on your thread and wishing you the best. sounds like your MANAGEMENT PERSON is very happy which is a very good thing.

cheers

G20: we are all striving to be as ORGANIZED as WOODY is and as we progress he just keeps setting the bar up higher and higher for us!!

 

[Denwood]

Drives, the shop is heated with a hanging Reznor gas heater controlled by the lowest tech mercury switch thermostat on the planet. I've modified it to allow setting lower, but only run the heat when I'm in the shop..it's normally off at the breaker. If a vehicle is parked, the shop stays about 10-15C warmer than ambient, so no plugging in a block heater. While you guys south were sipping coffee in your shorts this morning I was up at 7am blowing snow with the hungry Toro.

 

[PhantomEB]

Phantom, if your home is ok with the moisture, than a trap diverter makes a lot of sense. When outside ambient is in the -10 to -20 C range, we run into mold/condensation issues if a reasonably efficient home exceeds 35-40% relative humidity...so can't do a diverter here without running into other issues.

1/2, hanging the laundry makes the most sense of course..and you sure don't need added heat at this time of year!

I think so. It's only run a couple times a week, my laundry room is a good 15'x15'.

I also adding in hanging rods suspended from the ceiling for heavier materials like hoodies and jeans.

 

[txusa03]

I am not sure if this has been asked here. I just wanted to get your opinion on tracking and if you have a solution for combating tracking without your consent?

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technol...onal-information-vizio-consent-data-1.3980702

 

[JohnnieMo]

Drives, it's cold here, but we're getting decent snow to keep winter fun The media room is part 2.

Drywall and paint is done on the basement reno. We reached a milestone last night firing up the basement laundry for the first time. I had to build a level base for the appliances, passing it's first test with flying colors. Lots of trim, cabinetry and countertop work to do yet.. The Missus is very happy

The heat pump dryer is very interesting. It used 800-1000 watts, vs 3000 used by the old dryer. The other efficiency (and a large one) is that heated air is not taken from the house and blown outside. The replacement air at -20C would normally get pulled in via air leaks, and requires heating. Alternatively, the heat pump dryer takes zero air from the house, and warmed up the basement 1-2 degrees C last night. This is good. The only downside is longer cycle times in heat pump mode. You can defeat this by enabling faster cycle options which uses 220V electrical resistance to boost the heat pump. This makes no sense, so we'll likely just use the Eco options.

Being a ventless dryer, you just plug it in to 220V and connect a small drain line for condensate produced during the drying cycle.

Would you be able to post the model #s of your washer and dryer? Our washer is on its way out and want to find more economical alternatives.

The Samsung stuff integrates with Smart Things but I assume you knew that and went the road you did anyways.

 

[Denwood]

Phantom, we do air dry a fair bit of clothing, so I'm looking around for nice solutions to integrate drying racks into the final result. That's about as efficient as it gets If anyone has solutions they like on the built in or retractable hanging clothes rack department..I'd love to hear about them.

Johnnie, the washer is WFW87HEDW1 and dryer YWED7990FW0. There is a more expensive version of the dryer (WED9290) which includes a few extra buttons to force heat pump only modes. The version I purchased did not include those three extra buttons, but you can control behavior by choosing "less dry" and low temp options. This is not very clear as the manual does not differentiate. I ended up calling Whirlpool and chatting for some time to figure out these differences.

The dryer looks to use about 900 watts in heat pump mode and the low temp/less dry cycle options seem to work very well to dry a full load of clothes in about an hour. The old dryer used around 3000 watts. Our old washer/dryer is gone already (sold in one day using Kijiji) and we have another project now to convert the old space into a nice mud-room space that the missus approves of. I posted a pic of that mess earlier which will make for a great before/after series.

I wasn't so concerned about automation on the appliance stuff, although that might makes sense to schedule drying during off peak power times. As it is, there is a delay timer on both appliances so you could do it manually.

Tx, that's an excellent link, and quite a topic of discussion. On the Philips Hue side of things, I don't have an online account at all...so the information they have there is pretty generic. That said, these days if you use a cell phone (even with no data), or with geolocation, email, surf the web, use a bank card, visa etc. etc. you are already very "trackable". There was a case recently in the news about law makers looking to extract voice information from an Alexa (Amazon's voice control automation box) that was in a house where a murder had occurred.
I honestly don't lose a lot of sleep over this stuff, as it's so pervasive. I will say that clear and defined legislation to address these issues is sorely needed. Technology tends to move much faster than legislation to regulate and/or control it...a general weakness of our pace of progress. On the automation side, using a device like Vera (100% local processing) and smart themostats like Ecobee (where you can allow or deny sharing your data) as well as a HUE with no online account would mitigate some of these concerns. Most of the lighting at the office uses overhead "dumb" sensors which control the lights and save a lot of power without any need for connectivity. These, in that environment are easy to manage and save a ton of power too.

I'm finding the "internet of things" makes it much easier to manage and control the business and home sites. The fact that we've cut from 15 to 35 percent of power use by using automation would suggest there are massive implications to the grid that could be very easily realized. With respect to those ends, I'm ok with some tracking. One might argue that posting up results here is testament to that

 

[txusa03]

I'm finding the "internet of things" makes it much easier to manage and control the business and home sites. The fact that we've cut from 15 to 35 percent of power use by using automation would suggest there are massive implications to the grid that could be very easily realized. With respect to those ends, I'm ok with some tracking. One might argue that posting up results here is testament to that

You brought up some good point and that is impressive that you see a 15-35 reduction in power usage.

I have had my ecobee for 5 months now and have saved myself almost $40 (total since registration). According to their statistic (on the ecobee portal) my home is top 18% on the most efficient scale compared to other in Texas. I am not sure I know what that mean until I look into what that scale does and how they came up with the number.

I also like that ecobee is physically allowing you to turn on/off the tracking/sharing info.

My sprinkler is connected to my Wi-Fi and has access to local weather and will water the lawn based on percentage of precipitation on days that I set it to water.

 

[tjpavlov]

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/watch/ask-toh-future-house-offerman

I saw this on tv last week and thought of you. It discusses the Sense energy monitor. Have you ever considered something along these lines? I am thinking about putting one of these in. I don't know whether I would actually save any money, but I think that it sure would be interesting (sort of like my Nest thermostats).

 

[Denwood]

TJpavlov, that's a very interesting article. "Sense" is great technology. Essentially I've replicated the results by plugging in a "Kill A Watt" and/or using either of these devices that measure power use..but also allow to control that circuit:

Aeon Labs DSC06106-ZWUS - Z-Wave Smart Energy Switches
SmartThings Outlet.

Both of these devices report power usage, but unlike the "Sense" system are circuit specific. That said, about 30 minutes with a Kill a Watt and you know pretty much everything in terms of both phantom and active power...but not the 220V devices.

Our power utility provides power use data daily, so essentially I can track how effective changes are on a daily or hourly basis. This one was from last night. We ran a wash, then dry cycle (using the new heat pump dryer) starting at 11pm. You can extrapolate about 700 watts during the wash (the washer + on demand water heater), then about 900 watts drying cycle, for the last hour of the day.

TXusa, it sounds like you are well along with respect to efficiency. I've seen the watering system and have been quite impressed with them. Your Ecobee uses weather (we have nine of them at the business site) to manage set backs etc. as it learns your building behaviour. I used the Ecobee data in fact to set very aggressive set backs at the business to drop both power and gas consumption. This is the power data savings comparison over the three sites that have received the automation treatment. You can see how dramatically the daily kwh averages have dropped!

 

[neilc]

I bought a Sense and was going to install it till I realized if you have two breaker panels you have to have two Sense units.

I'm still debating it, but it was getting expensive so I returned the one I had purchased.

The TOH video was pretty cool when you realize it was audio engineers that figured out they could read the analog power signal on the line -

 

[Denwood]

Neil, the Sense power analysis reminded me very much of why X10 and powerline networking don't work so well! Being able to visualize the power "fingerprint" of various devices I could see being a tremendous tool for troubleshooting too.

I've taken on Bret's Seinfeld philosophy with respect to daily work tasks. So rather than getting caught up in the project, I'm just trying to take on at least one task every day.

This was in November:

Below is progress as of today. The closet doors ended up being a lot of work as I cut them down top and bottom to 76",(requiring 8 new door header/footer inserts) and had to build them out 3/4" as they close over a bulkhead. The ceiling is not level either, so it took some work to get them presentable. Bottom line though, the Missus is smiling

Some trim, ceiling paint, network cable termination, and the office nook will be ready to go.

I have a lot of panels to cut down for the new mud room upstairs, as well as the theater space so I finally pulled the trigger on a track saw. The shop will never be big enough for a decent out-feed solution for the table saw..and a track saw can be used on-site in the basement with excellent dust management. One of my buds has a Festool track saw and loves it, particularly for complex panel work in his dedicated home theater build. I've been using a clamped straight edge and Rigid 7 1/4" saw to break down panels which is slow, and not all that clean with respect to cut quality. There is no dust management with that solution as the skillsaw has no provision for a dust port/vacuum system. This should be here in a few days with a 59" and 107" track:

 

[bj383ss]

Basement is looking great Dennis. Look forward to how the office turns out. I bet the saw will be awesome. At some point I will get one. Probably the Grizzly version. Glad the chain is not broken...

Bret

 

[Denwood]

Bret, I suspect the words "unbroken chain" will become somewhat of a meme here

 

[drivesitfar]

WOODY: that exact track saw or a FESTOOL if i ever have any tool funds again is very high up there on my NEW TOOL LIST. i hope it works for you as good as it has for the other members i've seen cut metal and/or wood with theirs.

your basement project is really shaping up and you are doing a great job with customizing everything. i bet the off sizing and out of level issues on a 100+ year old home has even you shaking your head or maybe pulling what hair you have left out.

good luck with that

speaking of UNBROKEN CHAIN. guess what happened this last weekend. more pictures and words on the thread about the WEDDING CHAIR when you have some time to check it out. this is the groom's parents and only picture i had of the bride and groom handy.

 

[Denwood]

Drives, I commented on the chair thread, but I have one word for you here:

Outstanding!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Drives, I commented on the chair thread, but I have one word for you here:

Outstanding!

Dennis, you have nailed in one..

 

[1/2 Cup]

Dennis, your basement is looking fantastic..

A track saw is most certainly on my bucket list..

Regards

 

[Denwood]

1/2, the track bits should be here in a few days so I'll have some comments I'm sure. Looking forward to launching into the theatre project shortly.

 

[Grumblebum]

You'll love the track saw Dennis, my dad has the festool equivalent and has made us kids a number of countertops, vanity tops, chopping boards etc with it over the years.

The Reno downstairs is looking good. I have a 6 line retractable clothes line in the garage that we use when it's raining etc, about 36 lineal meters of line. Assuming that you should be able to get something similar there that might help if you have a little wall area to stretch it across.

Cheers GB

 

[Denwood]

GB, anyone with a track saw seems to like it...so good to hear your Dad is happy with his Festool. After reading a few more reviews, it looks like Makita (less expensive) or Festool (more expensive) are the other two that consistently get good reviews.

With respect to the drying system, it's either a retractable setup like you describe, or a few built in drying racks. If we go the drying rack direction, I'm liking the idea of pull out racks that would retract under the laundry countertop / basket storage unit.