Bare's Garage thread...

[bareass172]

Big thanks for Drivesitfar for pointing out to me that this section of the forum exists. I'm embarrassed to say I've been a lurker and member of this forum a long time but it all moves so fast I usually stick to just a couple of sections. Anyways, I think it'll be neat to be able to share my personal space and maybe get some ideas from you all along the way.

First few pics are just the general layout of the space. Forgive the clutter but I started rearranging the entire space last year and then had to take a break from it when I had shoulder surgery. Now that I'm recovered enough to work I'm back finishing the space but I still have a lot of things moving around before settling into their home. Most of the stuff in the front left corner of the space (left of pic 3) is waiting to be sold except the welder and bandsaw and the parts bike is going away one part at a time. Several months of not being able to really work also means a lot of half-finished projects are laying around here and there... It's getting there! That's what most of you all say too, right? It'll be done one day?

The bench on the far right of picture 1 is on wheels so I can roll the entire thing out if I need to work outside. Cabinets in picture 2 are leftovers from re-doing the kitchen. A scuff and spray paint and they work great. Table top is homemade, just a stack of 2x4's biscuit joined together with a 1x4 edge banding make the perfect depth. Lathe in pic 3 is just getting set in place. I've been running it but I finally got it bolted down and plan to build a backsplash with shelves behind it soon. In the meantime, enjoy my cardboard box backsplash.

 

[bareass172]

I can't believe I'm doing this, but here's my main box drawer by drawer.
As with many of us, some drawers are setup well and others always seem to be a work in progress towards a way we like. My allen drawer is like that, but since I keep my Bondhus on top the box I'm not in here much.

My "misc" drawer has become a catch all for random stuff and tools I keep in case I need to "make" a tool (notice the HF drivers in the bottom left).

My wrench drawer is completed with an entire set of Bonney wrenches. I still have the original tool roll packed away.

Pliers drawer has stuff I should probably junk, but it all fits and strangely I do use most of these at least once a month.

My ratchet drawer is decked out with my daily use stuff, my extras are in my overflow box.

 

[bareass172]

Organizing the socket drawer was great at first, but of course once you add a socket everything is off. It's a piece of melamine with handles so I can easily pull the entire thing out if necessary and take it to a task. Crowsfeet are lobster claws courtesy of Cman. They are US made, but they are awful. They're conveniently out of the way on a rail with magnets to hold it in place.

My electrical drawer is hard to see everything, but tons of connectors, inductive tach, various test leads, LoadPro, the TPI case is actually my SnapOn meter - uber nice. I also have my old Fluke and one of my clamp meters buried in there.

Next drawer is my old Cman HSS US made taps/dies, my Cman thread restorer set, and some junky air tools that somehow just keep running after being abused time and again. Some Rolocs in there, spare taps/dies, my butane soldering iron, carbide burrs, and misc bits.

Last drawer has also, to a degree, become a catch all. Cheap impact, various hammers, some pullers, stethoscope, and my precision gauges, calipers, mics, etc.

 

[bareass172]

Now we get into what has become my true overflow box. This was my original stack a friend sold me 20ish years ago. Craftsman top, SnapOn bottom.

Top is cluttered but mostly everyday users and some consumables like utility blades and scrapers. Small right drawer is old rebuild kits (I'm a packrat for parts), middle is some CAT5 and cable tools, left is a mix of feeler gauges, and valve adjusting tools.

Moving down, left drawer is temporarily holding lathe tooling until I get the box I want over by the lathe. Right drawer is punches.

Next down is again temp lathe tool housing, right side is a set of chisels I bought when I was a teenager and a mortising but. I have 5 nice sharp chisels but for some reason I always reach for the piece of **** wrapped in electrical tape. When I was a teenager I worked construction and the older fellow who taught me the ropes gave me that chisel.

File drawer! A hodge podge of old Cman, new Cman, a couple China ones, a lot of Bahco and, well... Whatever I find at sales, if it's American or REALLY cheap it probably comes home.

Ratchet overflow. I hope one day to have this MUCH more full as ratchets kinda speak to me the way old vises do. I'm drawn to them. And yes, those are the Kobalts with the light in them, lol... The big guy in the top right was my first SO ratchet and I love it. 1945 date code, so first production run post-war. I think it has 2 teeth because you need about 37 feet to swing a tooth with that long handle. But it just oozes cool...

More lathe overflow, a couple of planes, the collet spindle for my Delta drill press, and an awesome Cman box that contains a flaring tool and the spring type tube benders.

This drawer is overflow "pliers" and except the channel locks I use the term "pliers" very loosely. These are mostly ****, I keep them in case a friend says "I need XYZ" because for many of them **** tools are better than none.

 

[bareass172]

Overflow screwdrivers mostly. Some new Cman's that I warrantied before they closed my local store. Mostly nothing to write home about, but useful to grind if I need a specific one or give to friends in need.

Junk drawer - spare file handles, data cables for programming motorcycles, my old wrench coils (top left) from before I got my wrench racks.

Specialty tools, grinder/grinding stuff, carb sync tool and an angle driver (for moto!) for tuning carbs in tight spots.

My drill bit drawer - the one drawer that isn't overflow. Everything from the obligatory HF hole saws, cheap drill sets, all the way up to my nice indexes that are filled with nothing but old, wonderful, US made bits. Such a hodge podge in there.

Back to catch all drawers - glue gun, sticks, stapler stuff, string, and my old Cman tape reel. I love that reel.

Last drawer. My Milwaukee hole saws, Lang snap ring pliers set (love these), and some air tool garbage. I have my original set of wrenches from when I was a teenager, I retired them when I found a great old set at an estate sale. I hope to pass them on when I have a son. The hickory set at the bottom is Forstner bits that, believe it or not, I dug out of someone's trash after Katrina. They were under about 8-10 feet of water where they were and I was driving around after the water was down and people were throwing out their stuff. Everything was TRASH but when I saw this set sticking out I couldn't resist snagging them. Brought them home and a run on the wire wheel actually brought them back to life. Every time I open that box I smell that smell (anyone who went through this knows what I'm talking about) and I'm glad to have them as a once in awhile reminder.

 

[bareass172]

Pics of my Delta drill press. I pulled this out of a basement and it was rough looking, but I must admit that after taking it apart and cleaning it I was amazed at the condition hiding under the dirt. That is all original paint, not restored. I added a 3rd pulley configuration thanks to help from a great guy named Kurt Sierens. He's a member here and on other forums, super nice and helpful. It's his design and he was nice enough to send me the details so I could emulate the idea. The press was a "high speed" model when I bought it, so I bought the slow speed pulley on ebay and moved the high speed to the middle. The mount for it looks like an upside down tophat that slipfits into the column. The shaft is slightly off center so when you tension the motor, the cam action of the mount tensions both belts at the same time.

This is a work in progress still as you can see the mess of wiring sitting by it. I'm going to add a new LED flex light to it and when I add that I'll rewire some things. I also plan to fab the on/off push/pull rod for it since this one didn't have that when I bought it.

 

[bareass172]

Now we get into the kinda miscellaneous random stuff in my space. First pic is one I've been asked about before. 2" PVC, tail end cut about 25 degrees. Drill 2 holes big enough for a screwdriver to pass through and then smaller holes opposite that. Some short screws into the side of the cabinet, press the tube hard against the wall and you don't even need a bottom.

This is just some of my random junk I hang from the wire rack above my boxes. Most useful is the spring clamps. 2 bolted together and 2 that are connected with heavy gauge copper (what I had on hand). One clamp "mounts" it in place, the other can be positioned to hold things where you need them.

My Yost 32C, courtesy of EOC_Jason on here - thanks so much, I use the hell out of this thing!

I also did all my own under cabinet lighting! That was a fun and simple project. At the time (before parts cost came down) I paid a bit to do it, but it was a project I wanted to tackle and have the experience. Phillips driver, Cree LED's mounted on 6" sections of aluminum channel as heat sinks. The output is great! I do have to say thanks to the people on Candle Power Forums for some assistance.

This pic is the inside of my cabinet door just over my soldering/testing station. All my jumper leads neatly in one place. Solid core wire across the top, small bungee to keep them from swinging at the bottom. Simple and keeps them out of my way when not in use.

Last but not least was a last minute thrown together solution to having no way to organize my spare pegboard hooks. I can't walk away from hooks when they're cheap! This was slapped together by notching paint stirrers (one of my favorite scrap "tools") to slot together. For something I roughed out in a hurry on my bandsaw, I'm always amazed it came out so nice, lol...

 

[bareass172]

So that's it for now! I will admit that I have another shed in my backyard where I store most of my woodworking stuff. I have the usual compliment of those tools as I used to do a lot of woodworking when I was much younger. Sliding compound miter saw, table saw, plunge router, 1/4 sheet sander, orbital sander, belt sander, planer, biscuit joiner, kreg jig, upright bandsaw, regular 7-1/4" circular saw, and I'm sure I'm forgetting other stuff. It's also where I store my chainsaw, corded sawzall, tile saw, Rotozip, spare hand tools, and again I'm sure other stuff I'm forgetting.

I have a few misc extras laying around, stashed until later. I have a few vises tucked away in my cabinets and items I hope to get into and be able to talk more about later.

Thanks to everyone for checking out my space.

 

[bareass172]

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[53PontiacSD]

Nice run through of the toolboxes. Boy, I didn't realize mine was so unorganized. LOL Thanks for sharing. Billy

 

[Knyte Tyne]

Tools tools tools for days... I like tools... I think Im going like this thread. I think we all lurk longer on here than we actually post... Sometimes its just easier to read and stea... Um... Borrow... Ideas from others. Also until you get the hang of the whole photo hosting and uploading debacle it can be rather intimidating. Looking forward to seeing more bud.

 

[HSpencer]

Bare

A very fabulous garage and tool assortment. I hope you have great security as while I am not a thief, that drill press is worth a term in the big house---LOL!! Just kidding but I love it!! I am looking high and low for one just like it.
Great on everything and I will be following your shop!!

Best Regards
Herb

 

[bcoke]

Nice Tool Tour........will steal your wire tie storage idea.......simple but effective.......also like the test leeds behind the cabinet door.......ingenious.......I am still trying to put 10# of stuff in a 5# bag but getting there.........bobbycoke

 

[bareass172]

Thanks for all the kudos guys. I was actually planning to upload more pictures tonight of my drill press restoration and the 2 lathes and my phone decided to delete ALL the pictures I took of my newest lathe going back to when I bought it last year. This included all the tear down, fixing, and reassembly pics. FRUSTRATED!
Scanning my phone as I'm typing in the hopes of recovery!

I was thinking about it after posting this stuff and thinking about how much vintage stuff I have that I didn't even get to really post about - so in time I hope to get more of those tools posted also.

 

[ajohno]

Welcome Bare. Great photos of your tools.

 

[MacTexas]

I really like your tool assortment. Following for more pictures and ideas for my shop.

 

[drivesitfar]

BA: great start to what i think will be a great working man's thread. you sir have skills and i hope you can quit catching GATORS or whatever you did to injure your shoulder and stay healthy so you can do a few more projects and teach us some of your skills along the way.

i see you reserved a few posts in the first part of your thread for the pictures hopefully you can maybe find or take a few more of your projects and special machines. when you do edit those posts maybe make a new post saying you did so we'll know to look back at post # whatever one you tell us to look at.

HS is teasing about security, but we are on the internet so just be a little aware of that. so far i haven't heard of any issues and i hope there never is. the one thing most of us have going for us here on GJ is that we all own firearms and security systems to keep most of the idiots away.

hell i was looking at a foreclosure property yesterday and my wife is yelling at me telling me that a drone is checking her out that has a camera on it. there isn't a lot of privacy in the world these days, but thankfully because of this forum guys and gals all over the world will be able to benefit from yours and our posts and threads. and isn't it fun talking to guys in Europe early in the morning and Aussies and others late at night cause it's a 24/7 world now.

funny the Zip Ties holder has already been mentioned and didn't i tell you that you have some cool ideas to share.

good luck and i'll be popping in from time to time and if you need help just ask or if you need a quick answer you can try to PM me cause GJ is my social media other than my family.

cheers and thanks for starting your thread!!

 

[drivesitfar]

BA: i just read your little WTF are these tools thread and saw your finds on the garage sale thread and thought i'd post here since you have maybe forgot about this thread.

with all the cool stuff you are finding and bringing home either your ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS will have to really kick in or you'll need to build a bigger garage.

WELL DONE and post up pictures here when you have some time to of all your finds and how you put them away so you'll have your garage floor clean again.

cheers

 

[bareass172]

Drives - I haven't forgotten about this thread, and I want to keep adding to it, but times have been super busy of late. This is just the busiest time of year and I'm working crazy hours. I have so much cool stuff that I'm still working my way through, cleaning, organizing, and in some cases *gulp* selling to feed the habit. I have lots more I need to post about to ask questions, some items I don't have all the answers for but am sure other GJ'ers will. All in time!
In the interim, I have a lot of stuff jammed up in one corner to make space to get work done, lol...

 

[drivesitfar]

BA: if you'd like to get a garage gallery thread where you have a lot of members checking in to see what's new even showing off garage sale finds or little things like maybe a special tool you found to do a job or anything like that so you keep adding to your thread. i know you'll like member's responses (at least most of them) and it's sort of fun having conversations with guys all over the world isn't it?

cheers and hope all is well.

even posting pictures of New Orleans or other favorite spots that some of us have only heard and watched on TV would be great.

i was in Jackson in 2005 a few months after Katrina and wanted to drive down to New Orleans cause i've never been and the guys told me it was a WAR ZONE down there and not to go cause i might not come back so i didn't. were you there when Katrina hit and do you have any stories to mention?