A Man's Garage is What He Makes It

[Bob Heine]

1970's CMan Radial Arm Saw Model No. 113.199250. Came with a whole box of blades.
This was the odd one of the lot and I don't know how much use (space?) I have for a RAS. I found out this one qualified for the Emerson Electric recall, sent in the S/N and received a new blade guard and table top:

I have that model Radial Arm Saw with the same base. I replaced the rear legs of the base with some bevel-cut 2"x4"s that allow the saw to move closer tho the wall. It's a very handy tool but takes up a lot of space. I'll try to take a picture of mine tomorrow.

Congratulations on scoring an awesome set of Craftsman equipment -- I think of hammers and screwdrivers as tools.

 

[Drebs]

man you **** on that craftsman haul. you should check out "Fergus" shop on here. he has one long workbench and put his ras in the middle of it. would save space and make it easy to cross cut long stock

 

[Bob Heine]

CK.
With some beveled legs, the saw fits up against the wall pretty well:

The legs are just scrap 2"x4" screwed into the original leg locations. To add extra stability and gain a shelf under the saw, a couple of furring strips and leftover 1"x12" shelving are screwed to the legs:

 

[flybefree]

Wow...love that you bought the entire set of tools...it's like a dream came true and we gwt to see it! Subscribed.

Shaun

 

[ckadams00]

Thanks for the info Drebs, I did check out his bench and you're right, that is a good way to go. While checking out his thread I got to see his SWEET light set up - nice.

Bob - I like what you did with the rear legs. They look a little thin but with the added shelf you installed they probably hold up well - I like that you can place the saw against the wall - the thing takes up a ton of space. I don't know if I'm keeping it or selling it. Doesn't look like I could get more than $100 for it (if I'm lucky) even with the new blade guard and table. Still, two reasons I don't know if I'll keep it: one, I don't know how much I need it, and two, if I do decide to use an RAS I would rather find an old Dewalt or Craftsman that has more style.

Flybefree thanks for the kind words - more updates to come I promise!

 

[SpeedinLemon]

They're not Lista but for $25 for the lot . . . .[/I]

This style cabinet is extremely handy. The depth is perfect and they can mount under a workbench or up on the wall....Unfortunately mine didn't survive the fire, but I'll be looking for a replacment.

Great work so far on your shop. Great find on the Craftsman tools....I really like that burnished finish on the chrome....and that several of them match is really cool! I'm subscribed and looking forward to updates!

Chris

 

[ckadams00]

Flybefree what's the story with the plane in your avatar? Is it a T-28?

 

[ckadams00]

Lots of snow and low temps in the NW suburbs of Chicago this weekend so I guess I won't be painting anything - more work to be done on the inside cabinets. Hope to have some progress photos by the end of the weekend. In the meantime, here is a great little grinder I added to the "CMan collection" just recently cleaned up: works like a top!

Before . . .

After . .

Can't wait for my 3M EXL wheel to arrive!

 

[cdg132]

Lots of snow and low temps in the NW suburbs of Chicago this weekend so I guess I won't be painting anything - more work to be done on the inside cabinets. Hope to have some progress photos by the end of the weekend. In the meantime, here is a great little grinder I added to the "CMan collection" just recently cleaned up: works like a top!

Before . . .

After . .

Can't wait for my 3M EXL wheel to arrive!

that looks really cool!

 

[Victorymike18]

These are 30" high Case steel cabinets from the 60's - 27 drawers that are 13" deep and about 3" high...

Like a couple other guys on here, I also have this cabinet in grey. It was "donated" to me by my Father-In-Law and I consider it to be one of the essential items to have for garage organization.

Those "Whirl-A-Tool" cabinets that you grabbed are really nice too, especially since they look to be in great shape.

Your workshop area has a lot of potential, but you are going to have to put a lot of effort into maximizing the layout to avoid any dead space. It's actually a fun challenge to have, with so much opportunity to be creative.

Good Luck!

 

[Red Leader]

Lots of snow and low temps in the NW suburbs of Chicago this weekend so I guess I won't be painting anything - more work to be done on the inside cabinets. Hope to have some progress photos by the end of the weekend. In the meantime, here is a great little grinder I added to the "CMan collection" just recently cleaned up: works like a top!

Before . . .

After . .

Can't wait for my 3M EXL wheel to arrive!

Great resto on the grinder! Reminds me of my '46:

 

[ckadams00]

That is a good looking grinder!

 

[ckadams00]

I should probably rename this thread "the A.D.D shop" because I'm working on several things at once. My wife asked me this weekend how many times I was going to rearrange my shop, and I said "when it is done", which is to say it never will be. She also noted that I have maximized the space of the shop to the limit - high praise, but not at all accurate.

OK, put in some time this weekend spurred on by some great suggestions from this group. Came up with a few ideas of my own as well.

I'm going to tackle this is stages, which probably means I will create a lot of work and re-do things, but I'm ok with that since this is how I have fun on the weekends. Since this is the space I have to do work in, I can't wait until it is "perfect" and I have some storage/dust issues to tackle immediately.

This weekend I started framing in some basic cabinets. I don't think these will be permanent (see above) but they will work much better than open shelves.

Painted and placed a couple of the "whirl-a-tool" cabinets - they fit the space perfectly.

Several people suggested I move the wall cabinets "up" to maximize space. I actually think I am going to leave them about where they are - I have clearance underneath for items such as my 6gallon compressor and shop vac, and I have about 24" of pegboard above them. If I moved them up, they would bee a bit too high to reach, and I'd lose the pegboard in favor of more "height" below, which isn't necessary.

I did love the idea of rerouting the sump piping - hadn't even occurred to me and it is such wasted space. I purchased some elbows and 2" PVC and will be repiping next week. I am also going to build a 2x4 frame base over it and place the steel cabinets on top. This will also give me about 18" of storage underneath - I have been trying to figure out where to store all my powertool cases so they are not underfoot.

 

[bluebolt]

Lots of snow and low temps in the NW suburbs of Chicago this weekend so I guess I won't be painting anything - more work to be done on the inside cabinets. Hope to have some progress photos by the end of the weekend. In the meantime, here is a great little grinder I added to the "CMan collection" just recently cleaned up: works like a top!

Before . . .

After . .

Can't wait for my 3M EXL wheel to arrive!

What colors and brand of paint did you use?

 

[ckadams00]

Rattle can Rustoleum "Hammered Light Blue". I like the dark grey on the Cman machines but I have done two in this color and I REALLY like the way it looks. It is worth the $4 to get a can and try it out.

 

[ckadams00]

In between some cabinet work in the shop this weekend I also started to tackle the CMan cabinet saw I purchased last fall. I was going to wait until spring when I could work outdoors but this baby has been nipping at me for months and I couldn't wait any longer (especially since Red Leader is getting ahead of me!). I decided to tear down the undercarriage, scrub it, paint it, and wire wheel all the steel parts. The table is still "as purchased" but from what I've read I don't want to attach this until I have help anyway.

Time for a bath!

I LOVE wire wheels!

Just for fun while the parts were soaking in Evaporust I also took my grinder to part of the cabinet (only finished half).

Still a long way to go but it really made me feel like there is going to be an awesome tool at the other end! Here is the finished undercarriage/trunion until I can get the table cleaned up.

 

[Wingnut65]

CK, Nice work on the restorations. That grinder looks fantastic and the saw is coming right along with it. Congrats!

And, BTW, Wow on your instant C-man Collection. Those machines are just sooo cool. And even better that they work, or will work again. I saw you already got a You ****, so I won't even mention it.

As far as when your shop will be finished, it all depends on when people stop posting great ideas here on GJ. When the ideas stop, the shop can be finished. And since that will never happen, just keep on improving perfection. After all, because of us, your shop is nothing like what you originally planned when you bought the place. And that is not a bad thing. Keep up the good work.

BTW, flybefree's plane is a 1951 Navion. Designed by North American after they finished the Mustangs and the lines of the Navion are similar, only on tri-gear like the T-28.

Subscribed!

 

[Red Leader]

As far as when your shop will be finished, it all depends on when people stop posting great ideas here on GJ. When the ideas stop, the shop can be finished. And since that will never happen, just keep on improving perfection. After all, because of us, your shop is nothing like what you originally planned when you bought the place.

SO true, Jeff. When I first joined, I only had plans to insulate and add receptacles. Then, I thought about lights. Then I thought about walls. Then I thought about paint. Then I thought about shelves. Then I thought about everything else I haven't done. It is enough to make one go crazy.

And it has. There's a reason why we have builds on here called 'The Asylum'.

hee hee

 

[Red Leader]

Great work on that cabinet saw! It is going to look fantastic when it is done. It already does. On mine, the paint is in pretty good shape, but it is this odd texture...it literally feels like 80 grit sandpaper.

I'm still thinking what I'm going to do with mine. Eventually I'd like to do a full restore and paint it a classy 1950s seafoam green. I'd like to do that with all the tools, actually. NO WAY am I going to touch it until the shop is done though...I have had enough of bumping and dinging and scratching and scraping up the restos I do while I'm out there doing dumb stuff and swinging boards around.

This affects some more than others so it seems

 

[ckadams00]

BTW, flybefree's plane is a 1951 Navion. Designed by North American after they finished the Mustangs and the lines of the Navion are similar, only on tri-gear like the T-28.

PM'ed him . . .love to hear more!

 

[Wingnut65]

FYI, flybefree actually started a post about planes and has his there in Post 1 of Show us your plane(s)!

And pix of my former Navion are in Post 90, both after modification by Andrew and after restoration and its story.

 

[ckadams00]

Wingnut thanks for the link I hadn't seen that (there are way too many cool threads on here). Wow what a cool bunch of planes. I come from a whole family of Army/AF pilots and never went that route, but sure am in envy of their jobs.

Pilots always seem to have the coolest stories . . .

 

[ckadams00]

Sometimes CList is a wasteland with guys asking $600 for an old rusty CMan 8" tablesaw that is missing an extension wing. Other times, you run across people who either don't know or don't want what they are selling:

This was $100. Granted I had to take it apart and haul it up a flight of stairs, and I only weight 165. Still, it works like new - 6 1/8" by 48" deck. This is about as good a jointer as I could want for the hobby work I do.

Now I gotta figure out where to put it and how to explain to my wife that I have two 6" jointers. I don't know whether I'm keeping this or keeping the CMan to restore. I know there are guys who have two (or three or four) table saws but I haven't heard of two jointers (for hobbyists). . .

Good problem to have . . .boo hoo, right?

 

[Red Leader]

The only thing dumb on the old Crafty jointer is that the end piece that bolts onto the fence is pot metal, at least on mine it is. This makes it very susceptible to breakage, also like mine

 

[ckadams00]

A couple more weekends of shop work under my belt. The tight space can really slow things down sometimes, but we have 80 degree weather (!) here in Chicago this whole week and what a pleasure to finally open the windows and shop door.

Last fall I picked up seven department store light fixtures from fellow GJ and OWWM member Eric Clayton and finally was able to understand how to install them in parallel. Took some learning about ampherage and wiring diagrams, but they look great! These are 35w spots and each can be swiveled 360 degrees and adjusted about 15 degreen up/down - so I can point the spots to individual machines and work surfaces. I'm going to keep two or three of my old 4' T8 fixtures as well to light the overall shop. This gives me 408w in my 170sq ft space - so if my math is right it is pulling 3.5amps on a 15a circuit. The outlets above my bench are on a separate circuit.

I built a riser and moved my parts boxes to one end of the shop - will post photos of that later. That gave me about 7' of clean floor space and I lined up my scroll saw, band saw and drill press. I'll be adding casters to these so I can pull them out a little and have plenty of room to work with them.

As you can imagine, the rest of the shop is a complete disaster from shuffling everything - next weekend's project!

It was so incredible out this weekend I spent a good deal of time working on the cabinet of my table saw:

Ready to go - internal parts out and ready for refinishing:

Stripped to the bare metal with an angle grinder and flap wheel. Soaked the feet in evaporust.

Rustoleum self-etching primer is awesome!

Still need another coat, but it looks great from 10 feet away!

Finished the saw assembly a week ago - atteched it to the table top. I will attack the tabletop rust once it is on the saw cabinet.

Won't be long before this baby is ready to go.

 

[-Brent-]

The machinery looks fantastic. Really nice work.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Lights look spiffy!

With casters on your shop tools, you'll have plenty of dancing room in your shop. Looking forward to more pics of your progress.

 

[twangnut]

nice spot...love the old craftsman drill press

 

[Wingnut65]

Table saw is coming along great. And those three in a row are perfect. I just love their style!

Progress really looks great. Nice and bright!

 

[ckadams00]

Thanks for the comments. Lots of progress the past two weekends (the weather helps. . . .a lot!). Next up, cleaning up, finishing the table saw, ceiling insulation and covering, etc. etc. etc. Picked up some fantastic finds at a tool sale this weekend as well - those photos next.

 

[Red Leader]

Requested pics

As you can see, the badge is held on from behind by some small circular sheet metal discs. You could probably make some

 

[Red Leader]

A couple more weekends of shop work under my belt. The tight space can really slow things down sometimes, but we have 80 degree weather (!) here in Chicago this whole week and what a pleasure to finally open the windows and shop door.

Last fall I picked up seven department store light fixtures from fellow GJ and OWWM member Eric Clayton and finally was able to understand how to install them in parallel.

Eric is the guy that found and purchased my 110.24561 20" Craftsman scroll saw for me.

An incredible man he is

 

[shopnut]

I'll be adding casters to these so I can pull them out a little and have plenty of room to work with them.

This is a good plan. Shops of all sizes can benefit from tools on casters if the layout needs to be reconfigured for the job at hand. Everything in my shop is on them and I wouldn't have it any other way. Depending on the flatness of your floor, you might also plan for some type of screw-down stabilizer feet if the tools are wobbly. Casters can also make clean-up time a bit easier.

The new lighting looks great. If possible, make sure the lighting and the large power tools are not on the same circuit. It can really be a tense moment when a tool blows the breaker and takes the lights out with it. There you are, standing in the dark waiting for the tool to stop spinning, hoping you still have all your digits and your workpiece isn't ruined. This may be even more important in a basement shop with limited exterior light shining in. If individual circuits aren't possible, consider switching on some battery powered LED emergency lighting when running the big equipment.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Wingnut65]

... If possible, make sure the lighting and the large power tools are not on the same circuit. It can really be a tense moment when a tool blows the breaker and takes the lights out with it. There you are, standing in the dark waiting for the tool to stop spinning, hoping you still have all your digits and your workpiece isn't ruined...

That sounds like a voice of experience. I can just see shopnut now standing in the dark, tool winding down and he's planning his next wiring project in the Asylum. And it is a great idea. I put my lights on a separate circuit from everything else.

 

[shopnut]

Wingnut65 - Yes, I talk from experience despite every book I read warning me about it. Before I installed all the final wiring in the Asylum, I was running my drill press on the temporary light circuit the builder had installed (only one close to the post my press was mounted on), and POP - Lights Out! Luckily there was some ambient light, but I could see how this situation could have been much worse, given different conditions (think table saw in dark room).

I'm betting ckadams00 already has this issued covered, but it's just a good word of caution to all GJ readers.

 

[ckadams00]

Eric is the guy that found and purchased my 110.24561 20" Craftsman scroll saw for me.

An incredible man he is

I know! I thought that was incredibly cool of him!
Thanks for the pics - I thought those were what I was looking for. Should be able to find some or make them no problem. Thanks for the help!

Shopnut - I can't imagine the tense few minutes that situation would create. My lights are on a separate circuit from the tools. When the addition was put on our house (previous owners) this shop space was extended out from the original foundation to support a kitchen extension on the main floor. That's why I'm wedged in a 26'x 6' space. It was professionally wired though, and they did a great job. The lights are on their own circuit - currently pulling about 3.5A on a 15A breaker. I don't need any more light - this leaves room for a plug in heater in the winter without exceeding the 80% load reccomendation.

Along the top of my workbench I have a 20' run of conduit with 4 outlets on a GFI. This is only 15A, but I've never needed more than one thing plugged in at a time.

Once I get the shop set up the way I want (does that ever happen?) it will actually be a good space. I've spent a lot of time considering where I do each type of work - that's why the scroll saw, drill and bandsaw are in the shop. For sanding, grinding, table saw, large layout work - I set up in the driveway.

 

[Red Leader]

For sanding, grinding, table saw, large layout work - I set up in the driveway.

Hmm, that's actually not such a bad idea. However, since my driveway is about a 10 degree downgrade, no can do

 

[Wingnut65]

Your driveway is 10 degree donwgrade...? That is a mountain for us!

 

[ckadams00]

Hmm, that's actually not such a bad idea. However, since my driveway is about a 10 degree downgrade, no can do

It's not always easy - takes some extra time for set up and clean up. Sometimes it's windy or raining. And the winter is basically unworkable - so I need to approach my projects "seasonally". It's just a different way of working, which I am adapting to. For example, the past couple of months I was rebuilding motors, obviously working on the table saw parts, etc. I put off the painting and sanding projects until I can get outside, but then I have unlimited space and don't have to worry about sawdust and paint.

. . .it's not like there is a shortage of "projects"!

One thing I have learned from this site is that everyone adapts to their space, funds, and resources - the learning and encouragement on GJ is awesome.

 

[flybefree]

CK, I can't get over how awesome it is that you got the whole "family" of tools from one place/time...I even told my Dad it would be like a dream come true for me. Keep up the good work.

Shaun