Above 1200 Sq/FT Eastern Washington Workshop

[Jayman17]

Slodat, nice improvements/rehab that you did there. Shop looks great and you have some very nice machinery in there. Enjoy your workspace...

-Jay

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

I have been watching for most of five years and both your shops are turning out very well.
I like how your setting your shop up with a large floor space and machines around the edges. Looking forward to seeing your next project.
Great work!

 

[slodat]

Thanks for following and cheering me on guys!

I got the roll up door seal installed and trimmed it out with floor tile. Words don’t express how happy I am to have this done. It’s a different place!!

 

[slodat]

It rained like crazy last night. I am quite pleased to report there's not a drop of water inside the door! Seal worked well. I'm sure the 1/8" or so ledge it's on helped. I'm kind of in awe of how this bay feels now. It's nuts to think about how it started!

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice, what an improvement!

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice, what an improvement!

And it's dry too!

 

[dfiler2]

That does look great! What type of flooring is that?

 

[harley jim]

Your shop has come a long way Slodat it's looking great

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[slodat]

Thanks guys!

The flooring is called Lock Tile. I ordered samples from a few companies. I'm happy with the tile. It's quite rugged and still looks great after almost 3.5 years.

 

[xtremek]

The place is looking really good.

 

[slodat]

This is happening right now...

 

[250]

I bet that will come in handy from time to time.

 

[slodat]

And, done! This thing is awesome! Got the lift, delivered and installed for less than a cheap import. I wanted (and needed for insurance) an ALI certified lift. Cheapest I found that was certified was around $4k installed. I’m under $3k and this lift will still be good 50 years from now. Looks like it was made in ‘95 based on the serial number. It’s a little dirty. I’ll give it a good cleaning and that will be the end of that. Needs a few miscellaneous parts. Mohawk has them all.

This is a huge milestone. I’ve never had a lift before!

 

[rixtrix1]

Good deal on the lift, and the shop is looking fantastic!

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Your lift looks like the towers are further apart than mine. That will come in handy when you need to access the inside of the car and not have the doors hit the towers.
Sounds like you got a great deal, your going to enjoy placing the project your working on at the ideal height.

 

[ODIS]

If I could find a used Mohawk 2 post lift, would buy it even if there was no current location to install it. They are one of the best lift’s in the market with great customer service.

You will love this lift!

 

[Bob Heine]

The lift is the cherry on top. Being able to service the cars, rotate tires, track down the inevitable leaks and cleaning the underside without taking a bath would justify it for me.

 

[slodat]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! It’s so nice having this forum for all the inspiration, support, ideas and camaraderie.

Spent the day cleaning the lift. Went through many cans of brake cleaner cleaning out the old funky red spray lube and crud. Then I dropped the hydraulic reservoir for a fluid change. The old fluid looked good and there wasn’t anything worth mentioning in the bottom. Fresh fluid after wiping everything down. I used 30W non-detergent oil on the chain at the suggestion of the guy that installed the lift. If nothing else the chain looks a lot better.

This is as clean as I’m going to get it. Anything more would involve paint and the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Once I get the arm lock springs from the manufacturer, this project will he complete.

I moved my jointer, planer and scroll saw over so I could align the gantry with the hoist. Ready to lift a rig!

 

[slodat]

My ‘98 Nissan Frontier pickup was bouncing around something fierce. Took a look and the rear shocks had separated at the piston/lower eye. Both shocks. Ordered a wholesale close out priced set of four Gabriel shocks for $65 shipped from Rock Auto. I put the rears on immediately and saved the fronts for when the lift was ready to go.

First time using the hoist:



I comfortably sat on a stool and replaced the front shocks. In a few minutes. I’m going to enjoy this kind of stuff, a lot!

Shocks were original Nissan:




22 years and 213,000 miles. They were ready to be replaced. It drives a lot better. I only drive the truck around town, so it rarely sees more than 30mph.

 

[xtremek]

Nice lift. They do make life easier.

 

[slodat]

I orderd a few things for use with the new hoist:
Lisle 11102 drain
Lisle transmission drain pan
Lisle no-splatter pad
Two Sunex 3/4 ton support stands.

I have a lot of Milwaukee M18 stuff, so I'm looking at their tripod lights for one to use under the hoist. It came with the standard Mohawk steel lift pads. Looking at rubber pad options. My Mohawk parts order already shipped.

Changing the oil on the Frontier was pretty easy with the truck in the air. No more rolling around on my back on the floor/creeper!



Tried out the jack stands. They work great. Very happy with all of the lift stuff I got.



The funnel pad is really cool. No splashing oil, no concern about dropping the drain plug down the hole and convenient spot to let funnels and filters drain out into the collection container. The Lisle waste oil drain is highly recommended here on GJ. I am very happy with it!

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Those are some great additions for the lift.
Years ago I had to replace my wife's clutch out her Subaru and needed her help pulling the trans. After we got it out she asked " how much is a trans lift and I said don't know"
and she responded "lets go buy one, I'm not lifting that to put it back in"
We got one at HF and have used it about 40 - 50 times, it stays in my storage shed when not in use.
So I would recommend you think about a trans jack if you work alone, it makes life so much easier.
I would like to see what your going to do for light when working under a project.
I have a under hood light that kind of works.
Thank you for sharing.

 

[slodat]

I’ve had the stainless Costco toolbox and first generation HF 44” box for over 12 years. When the gen2 HF boxes came out I knew then I’d like to get some and repurpose the old boxes.

They had been in this spot since I first moved into the shop.





I picked up the HF 56” box over the weekend, moved the red HF box over by the router and moved the stainless box down the street to use there.





Everything in the stainless box fit in the 56, but it wasn’t quite laid out right.



Harbor Freight didn’t have another 56 in stock anywhere near me. But the closest store had a 44. I picked it up and swapped my mill tooling off it.





This worked out well for the tooling. That 56 went next to the new one.



I’m wanting to get all of the tools off the walls in the upholstery bay and into boxes. The deeper drawers on the 56 boxes are a must for this.

Only thing left is I think I’m going to put two of the 44’s under the long bench. The shallow drawers hold so many things. Once they are in I’ll probably rework the wall above the bench and get rid of the pegboard.

I really like how much this cleans up the bay esthetically. Of course the organization is awesome and the real reason for it all. I love starting a project in a clean, organized shop.

 

[86turbodsl]

Never had a lift before and you start with a Mohawk? Well done sir! I'm officially jealous.

 

[slodat]

I got lucky finding a used one the day I happened to look. Deep down, I had been holding out for a Mohawk. I wasn't going to pay the price of new, though. As far as I'm concerned they live up to the hype for sure!

 

[rixtrix1]

Never had a lift before and you start with a Mohawk? Well done sir! I'm officially jealous.

I got lucky finding a used one the day I happened to look. Deep down, I had been holding out for a Mohawk. I wasn't going to pay the price of new, though. As far as I'm concerned they live up to the hype for sure!

I think a 'You ****" fits nicely here! Call me jealous.

 

[slodat]

I think a 'You ****" fits nicely here! Call me jealous.

I’ll take it! I was pretty damn happy when I saw the Craigslist ad for a Mohawk lift.

 

[xtremek]

I wish I could get my shop this organized. It's a struggle since I always have several projects going on at the same time.

 

[slodat]

I spend a lot of time in my shop. Every day. Literally. It is uncommon for me to not go to my shop in a given day, at least for a few minutes. This has a lot to do with it. And, the work I do is creative to the core. I have had a mental image of what I want this bay to be like esthetically for over a decade. As it is taking that final shape, I am seeing how valuable that will be to me creatively. It's feeling really dialed in. Once the long bench is reworked I will be done with the inside of the shop for what I expect to be quite a while. I do want to finish painting the exterior of the building this year. Lots of other stuff to work on now that the shop is feeling really good.

 

[lilscorpion]

I spend a lot of time in my shop. Every day. Literally. It is uncommon for me to not go to my shop in a given day, at least for a few minutes. This has a lot to do with it. And, the work I do is creative to the core. I have had a mental image of what I want this bay to be like esthetically for over a decade. As it is taking that final shape, I am seeing how valuable that will be to me creatively. It's feeling really dialed in. Once the long bench is reworked I will be done with the inside of the shop for what I expect to be quite a while. I do want to finish painting the exterior of the building this year. Lots of other stuff to work on now that the shop is feeling really good.

Lois fantastic. The black boxes added something cool too (obviously space for tools, I mean style, class)

 

[slodat]

One of the reasons I went to the 56" tool boxes is I wanted to get things off the wall. There are a lot of ways guys organize wrenches in their drawers. I didn't like the typical rails, mostly because I don't really have sets of wrenches. I have a collection of stuff I've put together over the years. So, I wanted something modular. Toolbox Widget's vertical wrench organizers seemed to fit the bill. Overall they do a good job at the intended function. Even after the current 20% off, I feel like they are priced about double what they are worth (to me). I obviously bought them, so take that with a grain of salt. I will design and 3D print my own size labels so that all sizes are visible from the top. Their tags are only twelve sizes, leaving a lot unlabeled. I'm happy to have the wrenches off the wall and in one drawer.

 

[xtremek]

I've never been a big fan of having my tools on the walls, they seem to take up way too much room. My taper bits and collets are in racks on the walls, but they're stacked so they don't take up too much space.

 

[lilscorpion]

I like that they’re in lengths so you can cut and stagger as needed to Tetris
your various sets together to optimize space. I don’t really like that the magnets hold the wrenches vertical obscuring the size etchings on the wrenches. Maybe I’ll like ‘em more when you get labels on them.

The best solution I’ve found are the ez red racks. Though the wrenches lay at a ~30* angle, they’re still sitting up enough to once my various sizes and sets together. They do need to be screwed down if the drawer bottoms aren’t metal.

Edit: After looking at it again, I think you have a **** ton more space because the wrenches are vertical.

 

[slodat]

There are about 110 wrenches in that one drawer. Two full sets of Craftsman metric and SAE with singles of a a few sizes, a set of stubbies and stubby ratchets, and some regular length ratchets. I have a full set of wrenches and ratchets in my tool cart in another bay of the shop also. The remainder is going down the street so I have enough down there for whatever comes up.

Almost all of these:


The vertical piece yields a very dense drawer. I doubt I get to a label anytime soon and I think I’ll be ok with the labels I have.

 

[Balor]

There are about 110 wrenches in that one drawer. Two full sets of Craftsman metric and SAE with singles of a a few sizes, a set of stubbies and stubby ratchets, and some regular length ratchets. I have a full set of wrenches and ratchets in my tool cart in another bay of the shop also. The remainder is going down the street so I have enough down there for whatever comes up.

Almost all of these:


The vertical piece yields a very dense drawer. I doubt I get to a label anytime soon and I think I’ll be ok with the labels I have.

soldat where did you get the peg board hooks from?

 

[slodat]

I've never been a big fan of having my tools on the walls, they seem to take up way too much room. My taper bits and collets are in racks on the walls, but they're stacked so they don't take up too much space.

The pegboard is really convenient, especially for wrenches, and bigger odd shaped stuff. I just hate looking at it. And, I want to do something else with the wall space. I’m loving seeing it all in drawers already!

 

[slodat]

soldat where did you get the peg board hooks from?

They are Durahook pegboard hooks. I found them at Fred Meyer here in the northwest. I highly recommend them if you are using pegboard. They have a screw that holds them in place. When you go to remove the tool, the hook doesn't move. And, they don't screw up the pegboard holes when you rearrange things. I have a TON of them I doubt I'll be using going forward..

 

[slodat]

I like that they’re in lengths so you can cut and stagger as needed to Tetris your various sets together to optimize space. I don’t really like that the magnets hold the wrenches vertical obscuring the size etchings on the wrenches. Maybe I’ll like ‘em more when you get labels on them.

The best solution I’ve found are the ez red racks. Though the wrenches lay at a ~30* angle, they’re still sitting up enough to once my various sizes and sets together. They do need to be screwed down if the drawer bottoms aren’t metal.

Edit: After looking at it again, I think you have a **** ton more space because the wrenches are vertical.

The Toolbox Widget vertical wrench holders have a dovetail type thing on each end. They slide together. The magnet is on the bottom to hold it stationary in the drawer. When you have a row of them linked up, loaded with wrenches, they stay still even slamming the drawer around.

 

[250]

+1 on the durahooks.

Those wrench holders look quite interesting. Good idea to file away.

 

[slodat]

Ernst socket rails came today. I was about to buy another set of the Hansen socket holders and did some searching on GJ to see what guys were using. The Ernst rails get rave reviews. I ordered the rails with the magnets on the back. I like them. These, like the wrench organizers, really help with storage density.



Final on the wrench drawer:


The wrench organizers hold up the big crescent wrenches.