I think this is the perfect time to tear down that patchwork shed and build a true shop building.
John, you are absolutely right, it is the perfect time to do that. I can easily justify the expense, considering all the money I'll be making with the new building. Oh, wait, I just realized the only things that make money in our house are the investments I would have to cash in. I do have an upgrade in mind for the electrical. I can finish wiring the workshop and add a connection to the emergency generator or bury some conduit. Or both!
I think you and I are in the same boat. Your 25-foot metal building at the new residence is all you need now that you are retired. If my building was less attractive to termites I would be very happy.
I like the bucket cart and; a bucket vacuum? Did you get that at the HD also? Looks like a great thing for a wood shop. Bob you amaze me with your ability to find new ways to spice up a shop. How about a vacuum bucket after burner made with the weed torch so you can **** up the termites and blow them (to H---), into the furnace, at the same time. Caution, do not place the flame end inside the garage while in operation, and do not use alcohol operating machinery. May be a good idea not to let the neighbors know you have it either.
Bobby, my old wet/dry vacuum that clogs up every time I use it was going to get the cyclone separator, along with a home-made cart of some kind. I took Google shopping for a "two bucket cart" and it found a bunch of expensive solutions along with the "Bucket Buddy" at Home Depot. Unfortunately they aren't sold in stores and are out of stock online so I checked Amazon, where it was also out of stock. Of course Amazon has multiple sources so this popped up:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JBGJC7G/?tag=atomicindus08-20
At $60 all five of my "You can build that cheaper" enabler brain cells were yelling at me but my one "You can't handle another project" brain cell won out. Liane fertilizes that brain cell so it is pretty strong. I needed that little piece of plywood for the second table saw cabinet drawer so I added the buckets, lid and "Bucket Head" vacuum to my list. The whole mess came to less than $100.
Last September I bought the Chinese Knockoff for about half the price of a real Dust Deputy ($26.99 vs $49.99). Because the Bucket Buddy has a real small hose inlet, I had to buy a couple of adapters but overall I'm happy with the performance.
Bob: not sure if you have the room or like this idea, but several members have built their miter saws into their benches which might be something you could do and then you'd have yours out of that covered area that you could use for something else even though it looks like a good set up now.
also have you found any live termites yet or just their trails and damage?
also don't feel like the lone ranger having to tear up things you built or repaired 20+ years ago cause as soon as my deck is snow free (or sometime soon after) i'm tearing it apart and wish I would have used screws and not listened to my bride who for some reason wanted me to nail it down.
have a great day in the perfect weather in your part of the world while I get ready for another snow storm.
cheers
Drives, for the moment I'll have to live with the folding miter saw stand. It allows me to put the saw away inside the dry shed after each use. I do want to build another cabinet for the 12-inch miter saw that allows me to drop the saw down out of the way and roll the cabinet under one of the workbenches. Of course, the workbench/workshop repair is a higher priority at the moment. I do have the Craftsman 10-inch Radial Arm Saw built into one of the benches so I have that tool always at the ready. My 10-inch miter saw is also easily set up with a Workmate and roller stands. Like you I have pretty much maxed out the available space in both the garage and workshop.
I found live termites about six months ago and I sprayed termiticide in some of the exposed galleries. I also set off bug bombs on three occasions. So far all I have seen during this tear-down is their droppings.
Fortunately I used screws for everything I added to the workshop but the original structure has nails. I have a few reciprocating saws and one will have a metal cutting blade to fix the nail problem.
I spent more than enough time dealing with snow when I was younger so I am enjoying the return to normal Florida weather (winter chill in the 60s seems to be over). I do have to plan for a little of the white stuff -- one of our hedges is in bloom and will be dropping it's petals.
Bob, glad to hear your monitoring of Ellie has allowed you to hopefully nip the issue in the bud. I hear you about "spending the children's inheritance." Specialized health care can be expensive, whatever the species.
We've had two canines with CA issues over-time, and I don't regret for one second the cumulative 'into five figures' costs of care. Fortunately we were both working at the time, and had the discretionary income to do the right thing for our canines. Now in retirement, if the need arises again, it's just another budget item, as our 'quality of health' is directly related to the health of our great little companion.
The first-time we took our shetland sheepdog into the vet, and got the referral to the canine oncologist, the oncologist told us, "it's an expensive process." I said, "it's like buying a used Toyota," when we were digesting the cost of the treatment.
The next time we returned to the oncologist for the current furry fellow needing care, I reminded the doctor of our reasoning for the cost of being similar to buying a used Toyota. She responded, "I'm afraid this is going to-be a step-up in cost, to a Lexus!" Actually the cost wasn't as-bad as that, but the care is definitely expensive. I hope Ellie gets-out the door with less-invasive procedures, and lower costs.
Since you like to wrench-on the vehicles, I'm gonna show a fix I decided to make, I wish I'd done-it a long time-ago! I have a '09 GMC pick-up I bought new, and over-time, the headlights developed cataracts. I put it-off, doing the sanding, until I finally decided, "time to fix it or to buy replacements." While it would be easy to go through Rock Auto for replacements, as I did with my wife's Camry, after one go-round sanding them, and when they got foggy-again, I just bought new aftermarket; I decided to once-again use the 3M kit I had for the first Camry headlight 'intervention.'
The sanding disc in the 3M kit is probably-about 3" and after using it for awhile, I decided I had better uses for my time. I broke-out my D-A pneumatic sander, and a 600 wet-or-dry, and resumed. Much-better! I continually wiped-off the residue frequently, and soon switched to an 800 grit. After I got done with that, I could actually see through the lens, and in an A-B comparison with the untreated lens, I felt-like one of those infomercial guys, touting the miracle product he's selling: "just look-at that transparency, folks!" Sand it and forget it!"
I did the opposite side and while it's not-done, it's much, much better than it was. I have to visit the body supply store to get some 1000 and 1600 grit wet-or-dry pads for the D-A, and once I use them, I'll try a polishing compound on a foam pad, the foam pad I'll make a trip to Harbor Freight, and pick a free gift for my troubles.
The dog was out of the Science Diet food/kibble, so last night after it got dark, I went to Pet Supermarket. As I turned out of the driveway, I saw light in-front of my vehicle again! I hadn't realized how-much the haze of the headlight lenses had affected my night-time vision. I had recently been thinking, "man, I'm not seeing so-well at-night, I've gotta get to the opthalmologist for a new-pair of glasses!" That, or sand-down your headlight lenses. When you take a look at the before/after, you'll see (again, as I did!)
Driving-around as I had been it was like having one headlight out, or worse. I still have-to finish things, but at-least I have my nighttime illumination nearly-back to normal.
I also replaced a failed relay for my WOLO airhorn, which had stuck on, creating an exciting minute in traffic, until the fuse popped. It spontaneously stuck 'on,' leaving me in the middle of the road, with drivers giving me the stinkeye at my continually-blaring horn. You need a good horn in south Florida, if-only to alert the texting driver drifting into your lane to get-off facebook, stop vaping, and pay-attention to the SUV's path before we "meet by-accident."
Philip, Ellie spent Friday at the Vet's office getting a thoracic ultrasound. It took all day because the procedure is done in a mobile lab that makes multiple stops. Her enlarged heart is working fine and the mass that showed up on the X-ray is pneumonia, not cancer. I think we outsmarted ourselves this time. When Ellie's normal breathing problems escalated into really loud and scary stuff, we took her to the vet and he prescribed a tranquilizer, which worked really well. She wasn't making scary sounds so we thought we had it cured. Well, the tranquilizer kept her from coughing so the infection in her lungs got worse. Ellie has gotten an antibiotic shot and we are giving her daily antibiotic pills for the next six weeks with visits to the new girl who claims to be a Vet (she looks like she's about 12 years old). Ellie is a spoiled and picky eater so I have to grind up her pills in a mortar and pestle and cook them into egg whites with a little butter. I tell Liane that the coughing is a good sign (it still wakes us up).
Our 2004 PT Cruiser is the first car I've owned with plastic headlight housings. I started sanding and buffing the PT Cruiser headlights when the car was four years old. It works well but requires annual re-buffing. After the PT spent a year outside in 2017 the fading accelerated, so I decided to spring for new housings. At $40 each I figured it would save me some time. After two years in the sun the plastic is still clear but the driver side lens looks like it has cracks in the coating.
If you are going to spray clear on the lens, 800-grit scratches are perfect for adhesion. If you are going to just polish the plastic to a high shine, a few more steps in the grit makes polishing faster and easier. I like to go 800, 1500, 2500 and then either 3000 or 5000. If you take it to 5000, polishing takes seconds, not minutes or hours. The finer grits are meant to be used with water.
I feel like we are living in parallel universes. I just ordered a new horn for the Cruiser. It gets a workout because it beeps every time we use the remote lock on the key fob. It tries to honk but like Ellie's coughing, nothing but a croak comes out.
An addendum:
About a month ago I had to replace one of the driving lamp lightbulbs, which I did from underneath the front bumper. Last week, the other driving lamp lightbulb failed, so I had another contortionist work job under the bumper ahead of me. But since I already had the grille off, I merely removed two 10 mm hex head machine screws for the headlight shell, and did the driving lamp bulb replacement from above-deck, while sitting in my comfy Harbor Freight stool. Quicker, easier, and no lying underneath the truck.
I looked up the auto body supply chain store by me since their closest branch closed, & will get my wet-or-dry D-A discs today to finish the headlights.
Unlike you I ended up taking the front end of the car apart to replace the headlight assemblies but like you, I've replaced the driving light bulbs just laying on the ground. The driving lights are below the front bumper and they exploded when I drove through one of those foot-deep South Florida "puddles."
Drift--Great job on the lights. But I have a few questions about technique. Just could not seem to grasp it all in your brief post. It would help if you could come north and demonstrate. As a matter of fact, I have a good candidate for you. I am sure you could clear a few things up.
Good one
Jim! I'm thinking of cleaning my 300 feet of shadow fencing but I'm not sure how to do it. You could come show me with a detailed demonstration. I can see most of the fence from a movable chair.
Definitely, please visit us and give a hands-on seminar. FYI-We have Ford and Chevy plastic. Lol.
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Stewart, does this mean you'll be coming south with Jim? I'd love to see your fence-cleaning techniques. I could set up a big stack of batteries so you can reach more boards.
Ah, you-guys! If I can do-it, you can, too! The #1 suggestion I have is to forget that ridiculous small sanding pad in the 3M kit, and just use something with surface area, like my elderly pneumatic D-A sander. As I mentioned, continually wiping-off the sanding pad from the accumulated residue will help to keep-cutting, and will greatly-shorten your time for the job, I used paper towels.
I thought I should go-to the auto body supply store for some finer grit paper than the 800 wet-or-dry I stopped-with. The counter guy suggested that I just use polishing compound now, that I didn't need to sand things any more, and to consider using some clear after being done with the polishing. I suggested lacquer as the clear, and he said that would work. he also said that whatever clear I used would probably eventually yellow, requiring another go-round with sanding. So, I think I'll stop with the sanding, buy a cheap Harbor Freight foam head for my D-A, and polish the lenses. After that, I'll see how I want to proceed. I looked at Rock Auto pricing for aftermarket headlamps, and they weren't too-expensive, <$100 before shipping, the pair.
I think there's some wipe-on treatment to provide some UV protection, but I assume the duration of the treatment lasting and being effective is inversely-proportional to the ease of use. I looked online, and 3M, Meguiar's, Turtle Wax and others all carry some sort of wipe-on or spray treatment, so I expect that you can get this from your local auto parts store, or Walmart.
Philip, I always get bitten by shortcuts. Anything that's easy or cheap turns out not to last. I have some high-solids polyurethane clear that has fantastic UV resistance. I saved the old headlights so I could sand them to 800 and then spray a full coat of clear.
I have a friend in Richmond, VA that sands the lens just as you suggest, with a DA sander using 600 to 800 grit paper (depending on how cloudy the lamp is) and then sprays it with automotive clear, and I've seen lamps he did over 5 years ago and they still look like new. Much better than polishing and lasts much longer.
Gil
Gil, that's what the pros on the SPI forum do and they all get years out of the process. These guys are doing headlights on Mercedes and other luxury vehicles and those customers provide a steady stream of referrals. If you are doing it for yourself, it doesn't matter if it lasts but if you are paying, the expectations go up quickly.
Bob: sorry I didn't mention that I wish you and your bride all the best with your FURRY FRIEND. I'm guessing you have a great VET that is doing his/her best.
prayers sent and some good luck too!!
I woke up to this today and I bet you haven't seen this stuff in a while. we didn't have any last year and this last week I bet we've had 18 inches.
Drives, our girl-child Vet is doing a great job. Ellie's tail is no longer dragging!
I haven't seen that white stuff since the DEA chased a Coke smuggler over our house. Oh, I see, you mean snow -- closest we get is the frost in the garage freezer.
I'm trying that next time I'm ill. I will report back, but I think we all know it won't end well. lol_hitti
Glad you are getting benefit of having the big items on wheels now. 
