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I'm pretty satisfied with how this latest workshop project turned out. I picked up some van shelves for $50, mounted some casters to spacers, and fastened them to the bottom. It's moderately stable, has really convenient storage cubbies (as opposed to tool chest drawers), and it'd be pretty easy...

I've avoided machining for years now, knowing that it's a massive rabbit hole that many people never emerge from. This weekend, I made a bad decision and bought a milling machine: A simple little Grizzly G0758. It's powerful enough that I can bridgeport irons and mill rotors for high-speed...

Hey folks, Manchester Makerspace (a shared and member-run workshop in NH) has three drill presses, but the only vise we have is a massive milling machine vise. We need something a little more appropriate for the drill presses. Bonus points for donations (we're a 501c3 nonprofit, so donations...

I have a hard time remembering back to a time when I wasn't familiar with the concept of a Makerspace/Hackerspace, but I think most people have never seen one. I've been a member at two so far, Make It Labs in Nashua NH and I helped found the Manchester Makerspace in Manchester NH. Both have...

I'm finally adulting well enough that I can really look at garages, and the homes that come with them. One of my biggest considerations is being outside of all the 'cities' (that's what we call towns that have more than a few traffic lights on one stretch of road), but close enough to work that...

For the past few years, I've been pretty happy with my little aluminum Harbor Freight floor jack. You know the one: At race events, I've really found myself wishing I had more height though. I'm really looking for the ideal solution: Something low-profile enough to fit under a race car (I...

After a successful 2015 hillclimb race season, it's time to start building my 2016 car. That means re-organizing my workshop a bit, and planning out what I'm going to do over the next few months. Let's start with a little background. This is a small single-bay rental garage. My landlord is...

Comes with a human-sized tank, no idea if it works or not, I just pulled it out of the closet where it's lived since I moved in. The chimney had been closed off the whole time, so this is up for grabs to anyone who shows up with a truck. Fix it, scrap it, use it as sheet metal, I don't really...

I don't imagine this is a new concept by any means, but I couldn't find anything after browsing the forums and Popular Mechanics for awhile, so I grabbed a pen and paper and started putting my concept into a format that's easy to communicate. Because my space is SO limited (undersized...

I'm heading down to have a look at this Bridgeport tonight, and it looks like I have JUST the right place for it. I had been looking for a benchtop press, but ... come on, a $500 Bridgeport? How could I NOT get excited about that? I'm slightly concerned about it not being complete/assembled, but...

Over the past few months, I've been unintentionally equipping my single-bay (rental) garage with some basic fabrication tools. I upgraded from the 'training' old-harbor-freight FCAW welder (that was broken, it turns out) to a basic little Hobart 140 (no bottle yet, just flux core for now)...

On my small workbench is a sad old 2.5" vise that's been ogre-welded together enough times that you can't see the original surface around the base any more. It was given to me, so I can't really complain, but I've been looking for a real vise for awhile. Today I happened to be poking around on...

I had been looking for a stronger top box than what I currently have falling apart, and came across a machinists box on Craigslist for $25 last week. I just got around to taking some photos of it today, and I'm starting to fill it out nicely. I have a growing collection of taps, bits, and...

18x10 rental garage I know it's not much to work with, but this little garage is what's available to me at the moment. I had hoped to wait 'till I could afford to buy a house to pick up another Datsun, but found a very good starting point at an even better price, and couldn't pass it up. The...

I just started renting a room in a house, and have been given full access to the attached single-bay garage. Unfortunately, it's been a little chilly lately (17F right now) and the electricity can't handle running a space heater powerful enough to warm up the drafty space. I'm trying to decide...

I recently realized that I have more tools than I could fit in my small tool bag, so I went ahead and bought a toolbox for myself for my birthday: At only $40, it's about what you'd expect. Thin steel, sections of the inside are unpainted, and the drawer sliders aren't anything amazing...