Above 1200 Sq/FT The ASYLUM - Happy 40th Birthday to Me! (Est. 2005)

shopnut · Dec 4, 2014

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 23 of ?)…

FINDING A PLACE FOR THOSE PESKY BENDPAK CASTERS
Many 4-post lift owners opt to buy the caster set so they can move the lift around if needed. I plan to move mine a couple more times as a finish up this place and then I’m sure it will get move occasionally as the years go on and projects change. All in all, the casters will generally just be taking up space somewhere. I want them out of sight, and because of their low frequency of use, I don’t necessarily need them readily accessible either.

I was going to store the casters in my soon-to-be-built south wall cabinet, but this space will offer very easy access to the contents. I figured storing them there would be a waste of prime restate and found a different spot to stash them. They will reside behind the nesting workbench I just showed you.

This is how they were temporarily stored, which was a complete waste of space, not to mention a waste of a rolling cart

But at least they were easy to move out of the way. Now if I was really smart, I would bolt them all together and use them for a rolling cart for something else around the shop and just steal them temporarily when the lift needs to be moved. Maybe someday I will figure out a dual use for them.

Here they are, positioned end to end, when I was measuring them for a custom built wall rack.

The rack consisted of these simple wood parts cut from 1x4’s and 2x3’s.

The 2x3 hangers have a lip that will keep the caster frames from sliding off.

Here are a couple of shots during the trial period.

Of course, raw wood wouldn’t do (this is the Garage Journal, you know), so a coat of black paint went on.

Man, I hate waiting for paint to dry! Final pictures and a few extra comments are on the way to wrap this project up.

ODIS · Dec 4, 2014

Nicely done! Have not moved my lifts in the last couple of years, but when it does come time to move them, no better way to do so than with the casters.

Agree with you on the drying part of paint!

Ody.

akdiesel · Dec 4, 2014

shopnut

The caster holder turned out great. They do take up a lot of room due to their shape.

taumac · Dec 4, 2014

Re: The ASYLUM - Turning a Crazy Vision into a Lakefront Gearhead Getaway: Year 6

I got a idea for a dual purpose. What about a big flat bed dollie? Similar to those at HD or Lowes. You can put a handle on it to move stuff around shop.

Have a good one, Gerard

tinbender 66 · Dec 5, 2014

Man, I thought I was OCD, but you win! You are such an............engineer. I get a lot of enjoyment from visiting here. I seem to have turned into a "lurker" lately 'cuz not much going on at my place lately, but it's coming.

tinbender 66 · Dec 5, 2014

And NO, it's not copper urinals lol.

shopnut · Dec 6, 2014

ODIS - Thanks. I've only moved mine when it was empty, but they say you can do it with a car on it too. Need to try that next. I try to paint the parts right before I leave the Asylum. That way, they have a week to dry without me trying to rush it.

akdiesel - Thanks. They are definitely one of those oddball items that needs to be dealt with.

taumac - It would be nice to have a number of different uses for the same set of casters. I only move something big even other month or so.

tinbender66 - I win! I win! What? There's no prize for winning? Oh darn, you mean all of this was for nothing? :sad:

Looking forward to you moving out of lurkerville, no matter WHAT you're working on!

shopnut · Dec 6, 2014

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 24 of ?)…

FINDING A PLACE FOR THOSE PESKY BENDPAK CASTERS
With the black paint finally dry, it was time to permanently mount the racks on the wall. Most of the weight bears directly down on the floor (actually on that yellow baseboard), so only two screws per rack were needed.

And with casters hung.

The caster wheels stick out from the wall quite a ways, but luckily my rolling bench was suited perfectly for this and the wheels protruded into recesses in the back of it. Things were so tight, however, that I had to swivel the bottom wheels up and pin them together to clear the bench when it rolled up tight to the wall.

One last detail I wanted to point out is a simple little divider added to make it easier to position them (and because of the recess in the bench for the wheels, it’s important they’re in the correct spot). You just hang them up there and then slide each one until it hit the middle tab. BTW, those white pieces are magnetic sheet to protect the lift columns from getting scratched when the casters are installed.

Lift casters, welcome to your new home!

Okay, one less thing to store in the South Wall Cabinet – I guess it’s time to update my inventory list!

shopnut · Dec 9, 2014

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 25 of ?)…

STORAGE FOR SMALL SHEET GOODS
I could have took the easy route and just mounted filler panels on each side of the drawer cabinets, but I just couldn't let that space go to waste. So I decided to hinge the filler panels so I could store things there.
This is the space I'm talking about:

First, I needed a means of holding the wheels in the track since that blue tape wasn't going to last forever (although, it lasted longer than I thought it would).

The black board was added, as well as a little shelf with lip for hold the raw stock.

I then added the white filler panel to keep sheets from falling between the uprights. All these pieces were just scraps I had laying around.

Then the door was started. I needed a 3/4" spacer anyway, so the 1x1 made for a nice preassembled door.

And then all the black trim was added.

Here it is mounted with 3 screws to the rolling cabinet frame. I might add that having the cabinet on wheels really made this job easy.

shopnut · Dec 10, 2014

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 26 of ?)…

STORAGE FOR SMALL SHEET GOODS
Here is one storage spot all finished up.

And with the types of stock I plan to store in it loaded. Eventually, I will store scraps of plastic, aluminum and sheet metal in the total of three cubbies I plan to build. Two down, one to go. Large sheet goods will still store in my built-in “plywood pocket” discussed many years ago.

Stepping back a little bit to see both. Although I think it may have looked fine painted yellow, I picked the aluminum tileboard for this small door to match the door above the window. I’m sure I broke some interior design rules with the conflicting horizontal and vertical lines in this wall of cabinets, but hey, it’s mine, and it’s still all about using every bit of space available.

I decided to add a black highlight around the drawer pulls and figured the best way to do this was with 1.5" wide magnetic material because it can be removed easily if I really don't like it. The material is somewhat brown and normally coated with white vinyl, but a quick spray will make it any color you wish - in this case it will become black and then get sandwiched between each drawer and pull. Here are 4 pieces cut to size along with the roll of raw material. For painting, just lay a sheet of craft paper down on some sheet metal and stick it to it - holds it perfectly flat for an even coat. I used plastic paint because it seemed more appropriate, but have had good luck with just plain old enamel paint in the past.

The next job is spraying the visible part of the cabinet with a fresh coat of black while painting the mustard yellow drawers on the bottom with the proper shade. All will look like the shallow drawer on top when it is finished. After that, it’s on to making more strips of black for the bottom four drawers. I'm hoping for nice weather on the next visit to the Asylum.

shopnut · Dec 15, 2014

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 27 of ?)…

PAINTING THE DRAWER CABINETS
The weather was perfect for painting so I took advantage of it. But I needed to clear the cabinet drawers out before that process could begin. Here is one drawer with the little boxes removed so you can see the rack system.

Wire racks and box numbering cards removed.

I got an offer on some of the electronic parts ($110 for the contents of just 13 of those little boxes), but I figured I may be sitting on a lot of it for a while so I bought some cardboard boxes to store it all in until it's gone. Each drawer empties into 2 of these 20x20x4" boxes.

With the drawers empty, it was time to prep them for paint. A few dents needed to be pounded out and then a quick wet sanding with 400 grit sand paper scuffed them up for the fresh coat.

Since I have many drawer fronts to paint without getting overspray on the other parts, I rigged up this stand to slide them in.

Here is the first drawer slid in and ready for paint.

And the fresh coat of the yellow on just the front and side edges.

While one was tacking over, I wet sanded the next. Eight drawers were painted this way during this work and I think it went fairly well.

akdiesel · Dec 16, 2014

shopnut
You have got more camo'ed cuby holes than anyone I know of. Did you make a map to find what you may need in the future. If for some reason you come to work in the shop one day drunk or somewhat loopy (wait, your already there) you wont have a clue where any thing is. lol
It does look great though.

shopnut · Dec 17, 2014

akdiesel said:
shopnut
You have got more camo'ed cuby holes than anyone I know of. Did you make a map to find what you may need in the future. If for some reason you come to work in the shop one day drunk or somewhat loopy (wait, your already there) you wont have a clue where any thing is. lol
It does look great though.

LOL. I don't have to worry about thieves stealing anything - they won't be able to find anything!!!

A map may be a great idea if I ever develop the "old-timerz" disease. Or I could just skip the map and everyday might be like Christmas!!!

Thanks for stopping in and keeping this naturally born loopy guy from talking to himself

shopnut · Dec 17, 2014

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 28 of ?)…

PAINTING THE DRAWER CABINETS
The tattered black paint of the cabinet housings just wouldn't look right next to the bright new yellow, so I painted the front exposed portions with a fresh coat of black. I cut a piece of cardboard to fit in there snugly and keep overspray from getting on the drawer slides.

Here are two 12” tall modules drying.

Before I left, all 8 drawers were carried up to the office so they could dry the rest of the way in peace for the next week or two.

The cabinets will be installed very soon, so they were placed next to their respective cubby hole.

Before I tore the cabinets apart for painting, I tried a wider black strip behind the aluminum drawer pulls and I think it’s a winner. The 1.5" strip matches nicely with the other trim. Now it’s time to finishing making 16 of them for these 2 stacks of cabinets.

jbmatth · Dec 18, 2014

That is looking fantastic, there are just so many cool things you've done here that we can all learn from. Keep up the good work, and I'll be watching in the background.

shopnut · Dec 19, 2014

jbmatth said:
That is looking fantastic, there are just so many cool things you've done here that we can all learn from. Keep up the good work, and I'll be watching in the background.

Thanks so much for your kind words and following along. Nice people like you are why I keep posting here. It's a test of patience, but I'm really looking forward to getting this whole wall of cabinets completed.

shopnut · Dec 19, 2014

SOME SMALL ORGANIZERS TO FIT IN THE MAIN WORKBENCH…

I really like the Stanley organizers. Their removable bins make it a snap to juggle parts around as your storage needs change. And being able to take each bin out and dump the contents into a larger bin is handy too when you realized you picked the wrong size initially. Harbor Freight sells some very similar ones at a cheaper cost, and they are pretty good too. But I started collecting the Stanley versions years ago so I intend to stick with them for commonality and because the higher quality is still within my price range.

One thing that bothers me about the Stanley range, however, is that they don’t sell the smaller version anymore. And the smaller one is what I like to use for items that get carried to the jobsite, such as drywall screws. I have enough to fill two small recesses in my main workbench, but I would love to find 2 more somewhere because there’s room to squeeze one more on each side.

The ones I bought at CostCo Wholesale many years ago were red, and that just wouldn’t do here in the Asylum, so I’m in the process of buying more of the larger 25-compartment organizers to steal the yellow parts from.

Luckily, the old and new cases are made exactly the same way and the latches and handles can be swapped.

Mission accomplished.

And here they are loaded in the workbench. Soon I will build a rack to make pulling each one out individually easier. Now I’m on the hunt for 2 more of these discontinued organizers – anyone have a couple they would like to sell?

Here is one of the donor organizers (not to be confused with organ donors

). Perhaps the different color bins will come in handy for distinguishing between parts someday.

And here is a metal file cabinet I bought for $50 to store them in at the city garage. The sliding drawers were perfectly sized to a allow stacks of the organizers on each side (got really lucky, to be honest!). I will need to build racks for inside this cabinet as well, so each case can be pulled out individually.

The projects never end! (but I wouldn't have it any other way!)

shopnut · Dec 24, 2014

A COLLAGE FOR 2014…

Better late than never, right?

I thought I better get this created before the year is gone (and just where did the year go anyway?)

Highlights for year 2014 included the 4-post lift installation, building of the powered door system, completion of the jib crane, and the construction of the compressor cabinet.

I also spent a lot of time during the latter part of the year organizing things, and just recently, installing many of the new (to me) yellow drawer cabinets. But I will take credit for that stuff next year when it is finished and final pictures are snapped.

I was able to put a ton of time into this place throughout the year (which I am very grateful for) , but updating the collage always reminds me of just how little progress it may look like to you guys since there are never very many pictures to add to it. If you are following along closely, or if you work on these types of projects yourself, there is no doubt however that you know how much effort goes into them behind the scenes.

Merry Christmas to my friends here on the Journal.

bj383ss · Dec 24, 2014

Merry Christmas!

You have accomplished more in your garage this year then most people do in their whole life. Love the collage. I need to make one for my 64' truck restoration.

Bret

E.rodz · Dec 24, 2014

LOOKING AWESOME SHOP NUT! i have to stop in from time to time and check out progress.looks like you made some milestone leaps this year! keep it up and some day you can work on one of your cars too! :rocker:

ODIS · Dec 24, 2014

Always enjoy your thread!

Always impressed by the detail put into the projects.

Always impressed with your creativity, energy, planning, and execution.

Will look forward to reading many more informative posts on the projects you choose to share here.

Season's Greetings!

Best,

Ody.

taumac · Dec 26, 2014

Re: The ASYLUM - Turning a Crazy Vision into a Lakefront Gearhead Getaway: Year 6

I do admit I really enjoy the about Asylum but I just read through your city garage thread and was very impressed. Great storage ideas in there.

shopnut · Dec 28, 2014

bj383ss - Thanks. I'm lucky to have ample time in the shop to accomplish nearly everything that I want. I make the most of my time there, knowing that I will have plenty of time to recuperate in the days that follow and then I start getting ready for the next work/plat session.

The collages are nice for a quick reflection and summary of what was done and when. I plan to print them out and line my stairway with them someday. I never thought to create some for the vehicles, but that’s a great idea.

E.rodz - I'm been fortunate to have a decent amount of vacation days earned through my years of service with my employer, so that helps with finding time to get things done in the shop. The finish line for me is getting this place set up so I can enjoy working on the cars. 2015 may just be the year!

Ody - You're too kind. The things you mention are exactly why this shop project is taking forever. But I don't know how to do things any other way

. I can't say I really mind, however, its all fun to me, whatever I'm working on. This is our retirement property so there is no rush. I'm hoping there will be little I will need to redo as the years go on. Happy New Year! I hope you are looking as forward to 2015 as I am.

taumac - Thanks for your support. I still spend quite a bit of time in the city garage (mostly evenings after work) and I need that place to serve my needs with the typical house reno/repair projects that come along, vehicle maintenance, and a long term bike restoration.

I'm currently working on this storage cabinet for all my fasteners so I can steal the one from the city garage that matches the new yellow ones at the Asylum. I will give a full report in that other thread soon. Here's another peek at the progress:

don long · Dec 29, 2014

ShopNut
I wanted to stop by this morning and wish you a happy new year.
And let you know how much I have enjoyed your garage transformation this past year.
It has been an eye opener for me

Thank you for so freely sharing this past year

Don

E12-535iTurbo · Dec 30, 2014

don long said:
ShopNut
I wanted to stop by this morning and wish you a happy new year.
And let you know how much I have enjoyed your garage transformation this past year.
It has been an eye opener for me

Thank you for so freely sharing this past year

Don

The same accounts for me. Thanks for sharing! You know I'm still working on that compressed air cooler we were discussing before.

Happy new year! I'm hoping to see some automotive action in 2015!

taumac · Dec 31, 2014

Re: The ASYLUM - Turning a Crazy Vision into a Lakefront Gearhead Getaway: Year 6

Happy New Year. Best in 2015.

shopnut · Jan 1, 2015

don long - Thanks so much for the personal wishes. It's my pleasure sharing my trials and tribulations here on the GJ, and I'm just glad some people are enjoying it and/or taking away a few tidbits to help them in their endeavors. Wishing you the best in 2015

E12-535iTurbo - Thanks for stopping in. I'm still waiting on some updates on that system you're cooking up. I stumbled upon some of my cooler notes from when I was deciding on which type of cooler to pursue and perhaps you might benefit from it. I will try to get a post pulled together summarizing it. As a side note, the compressor has seen some action lately and it continues to work great. Happy New Year to you and yours.

taumac - Thanks and the same goes right back out to you. Perhaps 2015 will give us Floridians a chance to meet in person.

And I would like to wish everyone else a very prosperous and healthy NEW YEAR!

2014 went out with a big bang for me (and I'm not talking about some New Year's Eve bash) - I have tons to update you guys on as soon as I can pull everything together to make a coherent story.

Wingnut65 · Jan 1, 2015

Happy New Year, Shopnut! The 2014 collage says a lot. Several big projects and many little ones all marked as Done! And it did not include any adventures in the healthcare system! :thumbup:

Not sure why, but now I seem to have the urge to go sort out my hardware and fill my empty storage bins. But my bins are boring clear color...

shopnut · Jan 1, 2015

Wingnut65 said:
Happy New Year, Shopnut! The 2014 collage says a lot. Several big projects and many little ones all marked as Done! And it did not include any adventures in the healthcare system!

Not sure why, but now I seem to have the urge to go sort out my hardware and fill my empty storage bins. But my bins are boring clear color...

Sorting hardware is exactly my sideline project over the next four days. Boy, do I lead a thrilling life!!!

shopnut · Jan 1, 2015

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 29 of ?)…

FINAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FIRST SET OF CABINETS
This is the fun part, time to see the fruits of my labors.

Here are the cabinets, ready to accept the yellow drawers and drawer faces. While it was apart, the slides were lubed.

Upper cabinet finished, complete with black outline around the drawer pulls.

And the bottom 4 drawers re-installed.

It's maybe hard to see in this picture, but I'm toying with the idea of black strips slid in the pulls to tone down the silver (see the top 4 pulls). If I make them out of metal, little black magnetic labels with silver lettering could get stuck on it. The alternative is sivler labels with black lettering. Still pondering on this.

taumac · Jan 2, 2015

Re: The ASYLUM - Turning a Crazy Vision into a Lakefront Gearhead Getaway: Year 6

That looks great. I hoping we all us Florida guys can get out from the keyboard and do something together. That's one purpose why I made the FGJ group. U havnt been that sucessful cause its not a thread but a group and doesn't get seen to often or pop up like a reply on a thread. Thinking of a plan B to make it easier.

akdiesel · Jan 3, 2015

shopnut

Those cabinets and drawers look great.
Happy belated holidays.

shopnut · Jan 4, 2015

taumac - Thanks. They are finally all the right shade of yellow for you

. I haven't checked out the FGJ group, need to do that.

akdiesel - Thanks. The holidays were great - 2 1/2 weeks off with no agenda. I actually got to the point I had to keep asking my wife what day it was. I love losing track of time. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind.

shopnut · Jan 4, 2015

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 30 of ?)…

MORE PAINTING ON THE DRAWER CABINETS
I'm trying to get all the drawers painted yellow so they have ample time to dry. But the office is getting sort of full!

I've had a 4-drawer version of one of these cabinets in my other garage for about 20 years. It was painted up to match the craftsman stuff in there (red/black) so it was time to move it to the big shop and give it the black/yellow treatment. The first step was to paint interior drawer black (I had cheated last time by just painting the perimeter). These particular drawers have more dividers spot welded in than the others.

And now black (except the masked off face).

Here are the other 3 waiting for paint.

The next step will be to paint the faces yellow. I figured painting yellow over the red will be easier that trying to paint it over black, otherwise I would have just given the entire drawer a shot of black.

Meanwhile, I also painted some more black magnetic strips to highlight the drawer pulls. Finding a place to let them dry was easy - they will stick anywhere!

Okay, it's time to let more paint dry - arg!

taumac · Jan 4, 2015

shopnut said:
taumac - Thanks. They are finally all the right shade of yellow for you . I haven't checked out the FGJ group, need to do that.

Yep, its the right shade and looks good too. The FGJ was a group I made for only Florida folks to post events, swap garage stuff, and each other out on projects and get together in some fashion. I did have a idea in my head of what I wanted like a car club for garages.

shopnut · Jan 6, 2015

taumac said:
Yep, its the right shade and looks good too. The FGJ was a group I made for only Florida folks to post events, swap garage stuff, and each other out on projects and get together in some fashion. I did have a idea in my head of what I wanted like a car club for garages.

Sounds like a good idea. Car guys are a little different in that they can drive their project/passion to the various events to meet with people. Not so easy to do when the passion IS the garage.

shopnut · Jan 6, 2015

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 31 of ?)…

FRAMING WORK ON DRAWER CABINET SET NUMBER 2
So it's on to cabinet set number 2 of 3. All 3 will be stacked up the same, two of the 2-drawer cabinet modules on the bottom and a 4-drawer module on the top. This will keep the shallow drawers with all the small bits within easy reach and nearer to these aging eyes

.

I have a bit more room in this space, so I decided to add that recessed garbage can I mentioned earlier. It will reside nearest the door and there will still be room to stash something in behind it.

The extension will just "hang" off the rest of the framing and will move with it. Here, the scrap of plywood creates a gusset to keep it from sagging.

Rough framing for the trash can.

Some filler boards. this is where all those little scraps of lumber come in handy.

Here's the start of the door for the other end. It will cover a third little bit for small sheet goods.

With the door installed and tileboard attached, everything is now ready for black trim.

shopnut · Jan 11, 2015

GETTING THE SHOP ORGANIZED (Part 32 of ?)…

WORK CONTINUES ON DRAWER CABINET SET NUMBER 2
All the black trim is now added. Even though it was a bit wide, I decided to go with full black around the trash can rather than leaving some tileboard showing and I think it was the right decision.

After the slides were lubed up, the bottom drawers went in.

Next came the drawer pulls. This picture shows the separate black magnetic strip I used to outline the pulls and blend them better with the rest of the cabinets. You can buy rolls of magnetic material in just about any width and paint it to the right color. I used black paint specifically for plastic because the facing on the sheet is vinyl

All four shallow drawer fronts ready to go on.

Here, you can see the upper drawer fronts and the 8 pulls ready to be installed. Also note the black magnetic material is applied to the lower 4 drawers.

GO PACK GO!!! (kickoff time!)

taumac · Jan 11, 2015

Re: The ASYLUM - Turning a Crazy Vision into a Lakefront Gearhead Getaway: Year 6

Looking good sir. Well done. [emoji20] My Bucs aren't doing ****. Next year although we been saying that for years now. LOL

Have a good one Gerard

rmalkow2 · Jan 11, 2015

Just finished skimming all 158 pages over many days and stopping along the way to read a number of posts in more detail. Totally awesome shop and building of your dream. Looking forward to continuous improvements.

Above 1200 Sq/FT The ASYLUM - Happy 40th Birthday to Me! (Est. 2005)

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