ARFLY's micro shop

[ARFLY]

We got moved into our new house in June. We actually started living there in April, but it took awhile to get everything moved. My shop area is part of a one car garage and measures 10'x12'. I know, really small. There will be a lot going into it, and I am just getting started on it. This is what it looked like last week.

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This is the shop today.

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The paint is still drying which is why there are some weird looking spots on the floor and walls. There is so much to do in there. I still have to make the work benches, wall cabinets, hang peg board, make a rolling cabinet for my table saw and so much more. I am also getting rid of the overhead door and building carriage style doors. That will free up some valuable space. It is all going to take time. I will keep you all posted as it progresses.

 

[The Cobbler]

wow, 10' x 12" is really small
sorry, couldn't resist

 

[captain14]

Pictures?

 

[ARFLY]

Are the pictures not there. They show up on my computer and IPhone.

 

[metaldad]

the pics are there

 

[ARFLY]

Ok, thanks

 

[captain14]

The pictures are here now. When I looked before, nothing.

 

[ARFLY]

I haven't had a lot of time to work in the shop. I have been working on our family room and building a new office in the house and then football, soccer and now basketball. I have been getting the work bench figured out. That has been a challenge, but I have finally settled on what I will be doing. The bench will be made of 3 HF 44" tool boxes and a HF 7 drawer side cabinet. I bolted it all together and it takes up the entire wall. I am using planed down 2x6's for the top with an MDF base set into the top of the tool chests. I hope to get this finished before Christmas.
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[Stas26]

I haven't had a lot of time to work in the shop. I have been working on our family room and building a new office in the house and then football, soccer and now basketball. I have been getting the work bench figured out. That has been a challenge, but I have finally settled on what I will be doing. The bench will be made of 3 HF 44" tool boxes and a HF 7 drawer side cabinet. I bolted it all together and it takes up the entire wall. I am using planed down 2x6's for the top with an MDF base set into the top of the tool chests. I hope to get this finished before Christmas.
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Good tool boxes? The brand name of this - "US GENERAL"? can you show more of this?

P.S. Your nickname implies that you are a pilot?
P.S.S. "My shop area is part of a one car garage and measures 10'x12"" - it's mean 10 feets * 12 feets?

 

[ARFLY]

The tool boxes are sold by Harbor Freight. They are inexpensive and decent quality for the price. My shop is 10 feet by 12 feet.

I'm not a pilot. I live in the state of Arkansas in the USA. I am a fly fisherman and fly tier.

 

[Lone Star Blaze]

Will this be used as a fly tying area? If so I can’t wait to see pictures my teenage son makes plastic lures and paints hard plastics so if your using this space for fly tying I’d love to see it I have been curious about fly tying

 

[ARFLY]

I won't be tying flies in there. I use to tie commercially, but not anymore. I tie flies in the office I have been building.

 

[HSpencer]

ARFLY

Welcome to a fellow Arkansan! You are going to have a great place! Some of my very favorites are the smaller shops. I like the way your going with it!!

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[ARFLY]

Thanks Herb. It is a small space, but it is a dedicated space and I can do what I want in there. We have always lived in rentals and never really had a dedicated work space. In rentals it is also usually frownd upon to paint, and hang shelves or peg board. Here I can do what I want. By spring I hope to have the shelves and all the other stuff done.

I also checked out your page. You have a nice garage as well.

 

[premodern]

I enjoy seeing tiny workshops and seeing the creative ways people use the space and organize things. Actually, it is refreshing. I look forward to seeing it progress.

~Hans

 

[ARFLY]

Thanks premodern and welcome to garagejournal. I started gluing up the top for the workbench today. Not the most fun thing to do, but a big step towards getting it finished.

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[ARFLY]

Ok so the top is all glued up. I started the sanding process on it today. As you can see from the pictures, I have 3 44" chests which aren't really 44" and a 7 drawer end cabinet. The top is 12' long. I am thinking about getting a top chest and putting it on the cabinet closest to the garage door. That would still give me over 8' of work surface. I have also thought about getting a second top an putting at the other end. It would be symmetrical and I would have abot 5' of work surface between the 2 top cabinets. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Cris B]

You can never have enough work surface.

Keeping it clutter free is the challenge.

 

[nicholam77]

The small builds are my favorites. Bench and colors look great so far. Looks like a clean place to work with. Looking forward to seeing what's next!

 

[ARFLY]

Haven't had much time to work on the shop. Here is what I have been spending my time working on.

This is the built-in entertainment center I built in the family room.

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This is one of the 2 closets I built at my brother-in-law's house last week.

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This is the new office in our house I am working on. It has floating desks that go around 2 walls, tons of shelving/storage space, mail drop slots, and peg board for holding things like scissors and such. I have a little more trim work and then a lot of painting. The office is a 6'x7' space that was almost unusable before. I am looking forward to getting this done.

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[EOC_Jason]

I really like those slots you added in your desk design, especially the angled ones.

Where did you get the bull-nose shelf's? I've looked at Lowes & HD and they don't carry it, but it seems like every new home in the area has it. I'm guessing Meeks stocks it? I've been wanting to add another shelf in my pantry at the top for extra storage.

Can't wait to see how the garage area turns out... I have most of my stuff squeezed into the area of a one-car too, always looking for ways to make the most efficient use of space.

 

[ARFLY]

Like you said Lowes and Home Depot don't carry it. Meeks has it, but I buy it from TH Rogers in Pea Ridge. You could get it from them in Bella Vista also. They are cheaper and I think friendlier than Meeks. The MDF with bull nose edge comes in 12" or 16" widths in 16' lengths. TH Rogers also delivers for me at no charge, but I only live l.5 miles from them.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Yeah I've driven by the one in Bella Vista just off the highway countless times. I'll have to hit up that location when the weather is halfway decent. Thanks for the info!

 

[ARFLY]

You're welcome.

 

[jimgood]

Nice work. This is going to be a tidy space to work in.

 

[Finallygotit]

Subscribed!

 

[premodern]

ARFLY, you have accomplished a lot even if it isn't in the shop. I really like the office. Lots of storage and I like the floating top. How is it supported? I imagine you will be happy when all of the painting is finished!

Best,

~Hans

 

[ARFLY]

ARFLY, you have accomplished a lot even if it isn't in the shop. I really like the office. Lots of storage and I like the floating top. How is it supported? I imagine you will be happy when all of the painting is finished!

Best,

~Hans

The desk top is supported all around with 2x2's. I figured out the height to set it at and then put 2x2's all around the walls and attached those to the studs with 4" long screws. The desk is made of 2 sheets of plywood set on top of the 2x2 mounts and secured from the top with 2" screws. There is a 6" wide strip of plywood underneath the seam where the 2 pieces of plywood join. It is glued and nailed and makes the whole top one solid piece. Everything built above the desk top is attached to the wall. Everywhere there is a contact point with the desk top and the shelving, the desk top is glued and nailed to it from below. So basically it is screwed down and nailed up. It is fairly solid. Not sit/stand on it solid, but solid enough to hold a printer, router, all-in-one pc and paperwork.

 

[ARFLY]

Either the weather has been bad, or I haven't had time to work in the shop. So I haven't really got a lot done. Hopefully I can work in there this week and get things organized and cleaned up. I did pick up this Craftsman 10" contractor RAS today and got it into the shop. I am going to build it into a bench or cabinet.

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[EOC_Jason]

Nice! I think I have some spare parts that should fit yours, like that 2-piece clamshell on the column tube, knobs and whatnot.

Once you get the column & carriage tightened up (if they aren't already) be sure to level those rails before installing the table (and it might take a little tweaking after installing the table too).

If you ever decide to get rid of the base let me know, I would be interested.

 

[ARFLY]

I will put you down for the base at a future time when I get the bench/cabinet built for it.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Anything new?

 

[ARFLY]

I bought these cabinets today at Home Depot. I was going to make cabinets, and could have made them better, but it would have taken me weeks to get it done. This was just quicker and easier and I think they will function quite well with a little reinforcement.
View media item 81954I got 2 60" base cabinets, a 24" base and an 18" base. The 2 60's are going along the wall to the right. This is where the RAS will be mounted. I am thinking about putting a melamine top on it. Part of it will be set up as a down draft table so I can sand without making a huge mess. The 24" and 18" base will be to the left of the entry door. I will put a top on them and have a band saw, vise, bench grinder and maybe a drill press mounted on it. In the future I will get some wall mounted cabinets to put up.

Now for the big decision. How to finish the cabinets. Should I just leave them natural with a clear finish on them, stain and finish, or paint them. I originally thought I would paint the cabinets I put in there, but the wood is so nice that I almost hate to paint them.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I was at HD in Rogers yesterday... Might have walked right by you and never knew it... lol.

If the wood has a nice grain and finish, no reason not to leave it natural looking. I used the Pecan color polyshades a while back on a pine project and I liked how it turned out. It's the 2nd lightest color they make.

 

[ARFLY]

I was at HD 2 times yesterday, quite possible we did pass each other.

Is the pecan what you used on the drill shelf you made awhile back?

 

[EOC_Jason]

This is the pecan color...

 

[ARFLY]

That looks nice.

 

[ARFLY]

Nice weather today so I was able to get stuff out and work in there today. I got the first workbench top done and set in place. It is a small thing, but it feels like a big accomplishment. I also got the stuff to get the base cabinets set up. I got the bench top for the smaller one and the base top for the bigger one where the radial arm saw will go. I decided to go with a darker gray stain and stained the smaller workbench.

Here is the one that is done. I need to get the pegboard painted and mounted above this one. That HF cabinet above the tool box is coming down. It don't like it as it is kind of flimsy.
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[bczygan]

Very nice space!!!

Bill

 

[mbrew]

Nice space and nice work on the closets and the office too. I also used three of those HF boxes. The 44' is the measurement with the handles installed 42" without. They are changing that box. The new version is deeper and has larger drawers. I think it's an improvement but when I found out I had to hustle to buy one of the older ones so that everything would line up right.

I look forward to seeing your future projects.