What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[PassnThru]

Finished the paint on the screen doors. Painting isn't my favorite thing. Bulky items especially as it took 6 painting sessions to finish. Primer one side of both doors - let it dry - flip - primer other side. Same with the finish coats times 2.
Removed the carcass of mouse number two - the other one was last night. I had a trap out just in case and then noticed Thursday that it no longer had bait. That's a bad sign. Rebaited and added a second - bam on mouse 1 Friday and mouse 2 last night.

 

[rburke65]

I have had good results stuff a raisin under the trigger of the standard mouse trap. The raisin is a little chewy and the have to work getting it loose. Boom! No free lunch

 

[kaymccampbell]

Trying to get the metal bench clear, so I can refurbish a motor.
Vacuumed crud off the metal shop floor. Got the trim racks purged, organized, and put the new stuff up on them.
Moved the metal lathe, shear-brake-roll, hydraulic press, and a bunch of little stuff. Put away a ton of tools. Started to repair a broken floor light. Put down my work mats again. Dragged the blast cabinet off the bench. Made legs for it from bed frame. Improved the hopper, so it drains better. Plenty left to do.

 

[Outlawmws]

Dragged out the Xmas decorations boxes. Started de-Christmasing...

 

[kaymccampbell]

That's next weekend.

 

[Klokwerk]

Measured for a couple new tool cabinets. And planning for a new 240v circuit.

 

[tarmy]

Serviced wifey’s 2018 Honda Pilot. Oil, diffs,******,rotate tires, filters….pretty much everything. Listened to the various games to pass the time.

 

[npp]

Trying to get the metal bench clear, so I can refurbish a motor.
Vacuumed crud off the metal shop floor. Got the trim racks purged, organized, and put the new stuff up on them.
Moved the metal lathe, shear-brake-roll, hydraulic press, and a bunch of little stuff. Put away a ton of tools. Started to repair a broken floor light. Put down my work mats again. Dragged the blast cabinet off the bench. Made legs for it from bed frame. Improved the hopper, so it drains better. Plenty left to do.

My garage is a pig pen,what I need is your energy.

 

[56vette461]

Started to take down Christmas exterior decorations. 54 degrees in the garage so I'm not hanging out here for too long. Besides, its college bowl games today, tailgating in the family room is in order.

 

[kaymccampbell]

My garage is a pig pen,what I need is your energy.

Just walk in there and put away one thing. The first thing you see. Do that every day, and in short order things will be better.

 

[npp]

Just walk in there and put away one thing. The first thing you see. Do that every day, and in short order things will be better.

Forgot to mention that I’m a procrastinator but will take your advice.

 

[sweetk30]

Stripped down a pair of twin pump & motor curtis air compressors. There 30 years old and recently went threw a flooded utility room but sat with water in them to long and there service life was not the best .

They were es-30 pumps that do 14cfm @125psi . Not sure if i can fix 1 or 2 pumps up but with water in the heads / cylinders / crank cases i am real doubtful.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Checked the front brakes of moms 2017 Camry. They grind when you stop from about 35 or above. Pads are all good one pad has 5mm the rest are at 6 and the rears are all at 8mm. They are the OEM pads with 27,000 on them. Not sure what the issue is. So what I’m going to try is taking the pins out and putting new grease on them to make sure that’s all good then might put a new set of pads on it since the front wore a little uneven with that one pad. I watched videos on YouTube and all the people on there for the 2017 and all of them were replacing pads at about 6mm so maybe these have an issue that I’m unaware of. Unfortunately she won’t let me test drive it or anything so I’m not sure if the pedal has pulsation or anything or not. I also applied anti seize to the lug studs and wheel mounting surface. Might go to Napa or Auto Zone and get some pads tomorrow or order some Raybestos ones from somewhere.

 

[HPRifleman]

Put chains on the rear wheels of the lawn tractor.

First decent snow of the season today. I plowed the driveway with bare tires this afternoon and got decent traction but there was plenty of spin when backing up. After putting the chains on I plowed again this evening. A big difference in being able to push snow into a pile and then back out of it. The chains are staying on until March.

 

[smackey05]

My 69 Mustang had a bottom seat frame which was broken. Someone had a bolt in it holding it together and the pivot point was wrong and causing me to lean right when I was driving it.. It ended up being a huge project but I am almost done.

 

[rharman]

Made progress on a much much much needed clean out and organization for my "workshop". Still more to go, but getting closer!!! I had to quit the "what if I need this" mentality and just get rid of stuff I don't use and have not used for years.... If ever.

Part of my motivation is getting a shop smith (to be stored against the peg board) in the next few weeks. Yes, it takes up a foot print, but can give me a chance to try my hand at some woodworking and get it out of my dad's shed.

A lot of people trash talk ShopSmith. I've had mine (510) for 35+ years. Always wanted one since I was a kid - a neighbor had one and I was entranced by it.

I've upgraded the fence to the 520 style and swapped out the motor for the PowerPro - that was the BEST thing I've done for it.

The only downside is it ***** for bevel cuts. I just use a track saw or circular saw. Bevels on the SS are just not doable (or, safe - in my opinion).

 

[kaymccampbell]

A lot of people trash talk ShopSmith. I've had mine (510) for 35+ years. Always wanted one since I was a kid - a neighbor had one and I was entranced by it.

I've upgraded the fence to the 520 style and swapped out the motor for the PowerPro - that was the BEST thing I've done for it.

The only downside is it ***** for bevel cuts. I just use a track saw or circular saw. Bevels on the SS are just not doable (or, safe - in my opinion).

I can't imagine why. Shopsmith machines work just fine. You do have to carefully plan your process, unlike having a bunch of individual machines that you can just jump back and forth on. If anything, it teaches preplanning and process.

I cut or processed every board in my house with a base model 500 Shopsmith and a 8" Black n Decker radial arm saw. Worked fine. I always wanted a 510, but there was never money in the budget for the upgrade. I still have the 500. Nowadays it's mostly a pen lathe and horizontal drill.

If you rip the board to width, then cut your bevel, the SS is no more or less safe than a tilting arbor tablesaw.

Have you built the concrete vibration damper for your SS? It makes a world of difference.

 

[BetterDays]

My garage is a pig pen,what I need is your energy.

Just walk in there and put away one thing. The first thing you see. Do that every day, and in short order things will be better.

We moved here 5 years ago and this is the first time it has been this clear. I still have more to go, but just needed some drive to purge items and start organizing. Far from done, but closer than before. Just like Johnny Cash, "one piece at a time"

 

[Lu-Max]

I had some minor warranty issues (paint and trim pieces) that needed repair and then waited for the paint to cure, after that I had the best local shop install PPF on the impact areas of my new Tesla. Now that those are finally complete I spent 2 days getting it ready to be my daily driver by protecting it from the elements. A thorough decontamination wash, Iron Buster, clay bar (not the PPF), DI rinse, then into the garage. Machine polished the paint with my Rupes until it glowed, then Gtechnic CSL (ceramic) and EXO on the paint, Halo (ceramic) and Gliss on the PPF, and DLUX (ceramic) and Gliss on the wheels and trim. Also treated the interior with Gyeon Leathersheild. A huge amount of work but now I don't have to do it again for 2-3 years, and my car looks amazing. Yes my arms are sore. The green tape was to protect the trim and glass from errant polisher wanderings.

 

[BMWBOB]

Just finished my wife's birthday present (the stand - didn't make the roller). all reclaimed: steel was from an old hay feeder, the chunk of granite was a store sample of our counter tops, and the wood was a window buck

 

[stonesfan68]

Finished the paint on the screen doors. Painting isn't my favorite thing. Bulky items especially as it took 6 painting sessions to finish. Primer one side of both doors - let it dry - flip - primer other side. Same with the finish coats times 2.
Removed the carcass of mouse number two - the other one was last night. I had a trap out just in case and then noticed Thursday that it no longer had bait. That's a bad sign. Rebaited and added a second - bam on mouse 1 Friday and mouse 2 last night.

I've installed some temporary bolts into the top and bottom of doors and then hung the door between a couple of saw horses. You can then paint one side, flip it, and paint the other all in the same session. It works great.

 

[stonesfan68]

Just finished my wife's birthday present (the stand - didn't make the roller). all reclaimed: steel was from an old hay feeder, the chunk of granite was a store sample of our counter tops, and the wood was a window buck

What is it?

 

[Copymutt]

Designed and built a dash operated hood latch for the 55.
Needed to create a larger latch receiver to hide the mechanism.
Used a heat treated large nail to interface w/ the latch pawls. The hardened nail created a better radius interface than the original stamped steel bend. Original is on top and left in pics.
Second pic is underside.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Filled the JD up with diesel and the squeeze bottles up too. Started a fire in the wood burner and brought in firewood.

 

[driftpin]

I like that Kawasaki also. Nice looking older bike.

Yes a clean KZ650. A good all-around bike, I'd say one of the best of the era when it was built. I had a KZ 440, a KZ550, a KZ750 (the four, not the twin), and three KZ1000's. Just a great time in motorcycling.

Is that a VMax next-to the KZ?

 

[Magnum440d100]

Been doing mostly inside/house work, but had to head outside to check fluids on my beater with a heater.

One of the things I’ve been doing inside besides CLEANING, is unpacking (especially from the 2019 move!).

Came across some cheap speakers from a stereo I had that no longer worked, but I kept the speakers for some reason. Well, those went into the garage and onto the free onyko receiver I picked up in San Diego last year. So once I rig up an antenna, I’ll have some sounds (I can still plug in my phone with a dongle, or better yet, I can hook up my laptop and play some tunes, as I have MONTHS of music on my laptop!

 

[Outlawmws]

Magnum, if you want an easy to make and very hi gain antenna, look up a J-Pole build.

 

[Magnum440d100]

Magnum, if you want an easy to make and very hi gain antenna, look up a J-Pole build.

Will do!

For now, I’ve gotta find a way to safely scale this monstrosity, to not only hook up the antenna for OTA channels, but to see what else is up there, or what else I can put up there!

Just not gonna climb it right now, as it’s friggin ICY! Don’t need to die because I wanted TV channels. I have streaming I can deal with!

 

[larry4406]

Pre-positioned the snow blower in the attached garage from the detached barn. Started first pull. Hoping the weather liars are wrong about what’s coming in the wee hours tomorrow morning.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Magnum, if you want an easy to make and very hi gain antenna, look up a J-Pole build.

I started a thread on them years ago. Alot of guys added some good information about them.

j-pole antenna thread

I know J-pole antennas have been talked about many times before and I've asked about them. I'm hoping to be making one in the next few weeks. Maybe we can get a collection of "who" used "what" plans with links, pictures of your J-pole antenna and how/where you mounted it. Let's see if we can...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[DGersic]

I've installed some temporary bolts into the top and bottom of doors and then hung the door between a couple of saw horses. You can then paint one side, flip it, and paint the other all in the same session. It works great.

The last set of doors I did here, I made a clothesline from 1/4” cable strung tight between my garage walls. Screwed some temporary hooks in to the door tops, and hung them up. Access to all four sides at once.

 

[ste6168]

Got my hot water heater to drain, previous owners mustn’t have ever drained it, thing was full of sediment! Wasn’t a fun task, thankfully in the garage and not the attic.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Checked the garage temp (yesterday). Just above 40 Degs with a 19 deg ambient. The two HVAC vents in our 3 car are just enough to stay above freezing. It gets down to somewhat below zero F, but not that often. Lowest we've seen during the last 8 years was near 20 below IIRC.

Now you're going to get blitzed with "You're not supposed to have HVAC vents in your garage" posts...

Tommy

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Just walk in there and put away one thing. The first thing you see. Do that every day, and in short order things will be better.

I just started that process. Normally my garage is a disaster by December. Any new stuff, tools and project car parts all get stacked up on the bench and around it on the floor. Last Spring I felt overwhelmed. Not letting that happen again.

Tommy

 

[BetterDays]

Contemplating this project
30+ yr old tiller.
The tines will engage, but kicks out of gear under load. Need to research what is needed to repair.

Little room to work on it, so I need to raise it and make it mobile. Might be a fun project for the wife and I.

 

[PassnThru]

Contemplating this project
30+ yr old tiller.
The tines will engage, but kicks out of gear under load. Need to research what is needed to repair.

Little room to work on it, so I need to raise it and make it mobile. Might be a fun project for the wife and I.

That is very similar to an old Craftsman tiller that I have in my shed now. It was on my wife's side of the family and one day I borrowed it and spent more time getting it running again than I did using it. That spring you see between the top and bottom of the belt - make sure you get the tension set right on it. If it is set right - does it have a lever that you pull down to engage the belt? If so, I seem to recall that there was some interference at that junction between the two functions where the idler pulley, which jumps with the engine, was catching the transmission control and kicking it out. I had a problem with the belt slipping until I tightened that spring - and then I had a problem with it kicking out of gear. I recall having to put a little more bend in the transmission control to get clearance and it didn't kick out of gear anymore.

 

[BetterDays]

That is very similar to an old Craftsman tiller that I have in my shed now. It was on my wife's side of the family and one day I borrowed it and spent more time getting it running again than I did using it. That spring you see between the top and bottom of the belt - make sure you get the tension set right on it. If it is set right - does it have a lever that you pull down to engage the belt? If so, I seem to recall that there was some interference at that junction between the two functions where the idler pulley, which jumps with the engine, was catching the transmission control and kicking it out. I had a problem with the belt slipping until I tightened that spring - and then I had a problem with it kicking out of gear. I recall having to put a little more bend in the transmission control to get clearance and it didn't kick out of gear anymore.

Great feedback and thank you! It is a Roper (Craftsman) brand. It is definitely kicking out of gear (from engaged tines/fwd to just fwd)

 

[LeonardY]

Old one would heat up the wire just using a shop vac on it.

You have to pull those all the way out when using them.

 

[LeonardY]

Took down all the Christmas decorations on the house. Went through the tubs and tossed a bunch of old light strings. Stowed them away for another year.
Funny how the one family that doesn't put up lights whines about us taking them down.

 

[niget2002]

Hooked up a small bird bath heater into a container in the chicken pen to keep the water from freezing.