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My house has a patio area that partially covered by roof and partially covered by open beams. My wife and I like it a lot, except that we recently got concerned about our two-year-old playing there during the day -- we didn't like him out in the direct sunlight that much. So I tacked up some...

I've got a pair of projects coming up where I'm going to need small quantities of steel and it would be better for me if I didn't have to get them cut by my supplier (I'd only have to **** weld them back together) -- and I'd rather not pay the fee to get them delivered. Instead, I've been...

I live on a pretty tiny parcel of land, and the one spot in the garage goes to my track car. I recently got a sedan, since I've got a kid and getting him into and out of the back of my old coupe was getting old. I got a car small enough to fit in my very narrow 1925 driveway, but it was still...

I have a workbench at the front of my garage. The only thing that's bugged me about having it there is that I can't suspend any lights over it because the garage door needs to open and close. One other thing about me? I'm frugal. So even if I could suspend lights over the bench, I didn't...

Impulse ebay purchase. Since there were no other bidders, I suspect it might be a paper weight. It's clearly going to need a new set of jaws -- if it's worth keeping. I can't make out the three-character marking on each jaw. Does anyone recognize it? Jaw Length: 4", Max. Opening: 5"...

I'm thinking about putting some fluorescent fixtures on the ceiling of my garage. I'm guessing I can get more light for less cost than with the pair of halogens I'm currently pointing up at the ceiling. Here's what I need: cheap, warm and bright. By warm, I mean as low a color temperature...

I've got a 1951 Craftsman 3-wheel bandsaw that I'd like to get up and running again. Job one is finding a motor for it. I need a 1725 rpm enclosed 110v motor anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 hp -- with a 3-inch pulley on it, if possible. I don't care about authenticity nearly much as I do about saving...

I'm not even sure if that's what they're called. I'm thinking of the kind of electric light that attaches to a bench or a desk and has a round head at the end of an arm you can articulate. I think they come with an O-shaped fluorescent bulb and sometimes have a magnifying lens at the center...

I actually have the right tool for this job. I picked up -- really cheap -- a Hougen magnetic drill press on ebay a while back. But it was really cheap, and sold as-is. When I plugged it in, the electronic magnet part didn't work. I suspect I'll be able to fix it, but that will involve some...

This is a long thread. I won't try and stop anyone from reading all of it. But for a more-concise tour of the place, it'll only take you 10 minutes to go through this video: And here are some recent pictures. If you go through the thread from the beginning, you'll be able to see the...

I got a decent price on this Lyon 14-gauge cabinet on eBay. But the problem was that it was 10" too tall for the space I'm putting it. So I took it into the garage today to bring it down to my size. First, I got rid of the bottom section. Most of the height reduction came from losing the...

It wouldn't have ever bugged me, except I got a middle section for my tool cabinet and it came with the ball bearing slides. I know I should have gotten the ball bearing drawers in the first place, but I was young and poor. And now I'm still poor enough that I don't want to sell the old ones...

Nice and clean in the good old days: The center of my garage is useable space, since I only park one car in there. When I built my 'Compliance Station' a couple of months back, I also added a new cabinet to the center. It looked like this. It's a heavy-duty cabinet that stores a lot of...

Neither is the ultimate compressor. Neither is two stage. But I'd be grateful for any guidance, or to know if there are any meaningful differences between the two. In this corner, the Husky Pro at Home Depot. It's a re-badged Campbell Hausfeld (you can get the C-H for $400 at Tractor...

All right. I'm not a blacksmith, and don't have plans to get a forge anytime soon. I recently learned to weld, and built a bench that I could pound stuff on. While I was working on that, I ended up making an impulsive purchase of what I'm sure is a useless lump of cast iron -- what...

My garage has a lot of work surfaces. I've got a main general purpose work bench, a fold-down wood working bench, a counter by the sink, a drafting-table-style bench, a small portable welding table and a larger fold-down welding table. I've also got a lot of storage, thanks to some big...

I'm willing to jump into a projects that I've never even seen someone else bring to completion, much less ones that I've got the correct experience or training for. I guess it's a blessing and a curse. (And in a little bit, some of you will be able to tell me which side of that is going to...

Budget and space were my constraints. I had an 84-year-old garage, that was wasting away as storage for boxes of junk from three successive moves. I went at it in a week of hard lifting (and carrying, to a rented dumpster) and my rule was that I could build new storage with whatever wood and...