Above 1200 Sq/FT Ernie's Place

[StormcrowAz]

Just read through the thread. Great shop space and I see you put it to good use! Lot of info there, so I hit the high points. Forgive me if my suggestions/input has already been covered.
…….
Last but not least, got a VA or NC plate? I can mail you a couple if you like.

Contrary to your moniker…those are some good ideas, thank you! I already have North Carolina, but do not have Virginia. Appreciate the consideration!!


And speaking of plates…her family came over this past weekend to celebrate Christmas and the in-laws found this at an antique shop and thought I should have it:
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Evidently during war-time when resources were scarce some states used pressed soybeans to make their license plates. Pretty neat and happy to add it to the collection!


Finished off the shop water heater project. The old water heater located in the corner, kind of cluttered.
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The small unit on the wall allowed me to get the welder out of the way and in its own spot. Not a huge deal, but nice none the less
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Unfortunately it's not putting out hot water, only warm water. Pretty sure I followed factory protocol. Need to figure out what's going on.

 

[njhoudini]

Is it possible that your flow rate is too high for the unit? Does it work better if you reduce the hot water flow?

 

[Finallygotit]

I understand this may be a silly question but did you check to make sure both legs of the 220v circuit are live?

 

[bad_idea]

I already have North Carolina, but do not have Virginia. Appreciate the consideration!!

PM me your address and I'll mail one out to you. I know I have a couple off the old cars out in the shed somewhere. I moved from VA to NC last year so I have a couple VA plates laying around.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Is it possible that your flow rate is too high for the unit? Does it work better if you reduce the hot water flow?

Not only possible, but highly probable. After some reading this is one of the major causes. I’ve ordered an in-line flow restrictor, due in next week. Let’s hope that does it!

I understand this may be a silly question but did you check to make sure both legs of the 220v circuit are live?

Not silly at all, considering my answers is “No”. Figured brand new breaker and new 8-gauge wiring should be running smoothly, but stranger things have happened. I’ll give it the 9-volt test when I get home and touch my tongue to both leads and see if I get a tingle. ;-)

PM me your address and I'll mail one out to you. I know I have a couple off the old cars out in the shed somewhere. I moved from VA to NC last year so I have a couple VA plates laying around.

Will do, thank you very much!!



So while I’m waiting for that part to arrive, I thought I would work on another project I’ve had on the back burner for a while. Attempting to make an aluminum box for water storage. I’ve been using a CPAP now for a while and it has a little humidifier thing that you have to detach and fill up with a few ounces of water every night. Thought it would be cool to make a reservoir of sorts and plumb it directly into the CPAP tank. That way all I have to do is open/close a valve for filling. Yes, I’m lazy. I have all the components and plumbing for it, so started with the tank itself. Aluminum .055” thick and bent two sections that need to be welded together.
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That’s as far as I’ve gotten so far. Not sure my meager TIG skills (running test beads on .125” plate) are up to this task yet. This stuff is significantly thinner and the sample test coupons I cut up to practice on are looking rough. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[njhoudini]

As with all things CPAP, make sure you can clean it easily once in a while. Hope the flow restrictor gets you running hot!

Sent from my LG-H918 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[StormcrowAz]

As with all things CPAP, make sure you can clean it easily once in a while. Hope the flow restrictor gets you running hot!

Yes, the plan is to make a separate cradle that attaches to the wall for the tank to sit in. That way I can take it down for cleaning. A removable cap/lid on the top leaves the 8” x 8” opening free and clear to easily reach down inside. Thanks!


But again I got frustrated with the welding, so put this aside and started working on the next project, Fastener Storage. Making mine out of metal instead of wood (inspired by "soj's" build). Started with a mock-up of the slide assembly:
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1.5” angle iron to hold the cases and 0.5” square tube for the connecting cross-brace. The half inch tubing is left-over drops from the fence panels and I have a lot of them. Riveting the slides in place - if it works on an Airstream, hopefully it holds up here.

The Mrs. got me these Fireball fab tools for Christmas:
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So I put them to use making the top and bottom of the cabinet frame
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Put the band saw to work cutting the square tubing. Then notched the ends of the tube so it would sit flush against the bottom of the storage case. Hoping to mitigate any bowing of the plastic case due to heavy nuts/bolts.
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Cut another 70 pieces of angle iron. My poor chop-saw is so neglected now.
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Then I got side-tracked…I saw where someone else here (can’t recall who/where I stole the idea from) made a nice base for their drill press that had casters and leveling feet. The base was made from angle iron, and since I was already cutting angle iron, and since I did have some extra…might as well cut the base pieces now, right?
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So that’s all cut and welded up. Still need to figure out the wheels and levels. Project creep into other projects…

 

[Finallygotit]

........The Mrs. got me these Fireball fab tools for Christmas:

Project creep into other projects…

Love the gifts your wife got you. Are those cast iron?


Ahhhh...."Project (scope) creep", I know thee well.


Nice work Todd. Bet you spent a good bit of time standing over the band saw.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Love the gifts your wife got you. Are those cast iron?

Ahhhh...."Project (scope) creep", I know thee well.

Nice work Todd. Bet you spent a good bit of time standing over the band saw.

Hello Dan, yes those are the cast iron versions. I think the aluminum versions would be nice from a light-weight factor, but I like the durability of the cast-iron better.
And thanks! Yes, this project is turning out to be fairly labor-intensive.


And speaking of repetitive work…36 storage bins with 2 angle iron rails/holders each. So 72 pieces deburred, corners rounded, and surface rust cleaned off. 2 rivet holes drilled in each piece.
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I think due to the radius in the corner of the angle iron and just how the storage bin sits in place, I’m concerned about the bin slipping past the angle iron and pulling out by itself without extending the drawer slides. Unlike the wood version, I don't think there is as much positive engagement and/or friction involved with the angle iron set-up.
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To (hopefully) combat this, I’ve put a little bend at each corner of the angle iron to more positively trap the storage bin in place.
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The bottom two rows of bins are the larger sized versions, which poses a different challenge considering the angle iron is only 1.5” and these bins are 2” taller.
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More time in front of the band-saw, cutting some 2” tabs to weld in place to grab the storage bins.
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Oh, also almost finished with the drill press base
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I say almost because I’m not happy with the small casters. I think they are at their load limit as while the assembly does roll somewhat, there’s quite a bit of binding going on at the wheels. Think I’ll have to upgrade to a slightly more robust caster.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Tacked and welded up 35 (already had the one mock-up done) of these assemblies.
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Mocked up the bin placement for clearance, measurement of the vertical pieces, and rivet hole spacing.
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Cut and drilled the vertical pieces that the drawer slides will attach to.
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Quite a bit left to do, but feels like I’m making some good progress.

 

[StormcrowAz]

PM me your address and I'll mail one out to you. I know I have a couple off the old cars out in the shed somewhere. I moved from VA to NC last year so I have a couple VA plates laying around.

Received this in the mail yesterday, thank you bad_idea!! Your generous contribution lives on here at Ernie’s Place!
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[StormcrowAz]

Started assembly of the main framework. Putting the new fab tools to use and learning how to use them effectively.
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Once the basic box frame was completed, started work on the vertical sections that will hold up the bins. Using the mock-up assembly to measure the rivet-hole spacing.
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Of course I immediately tacked in the first piece upside down. I could have just turned everything over and pretended I meant to do that…but didn’t realize it until after the second piece was in place, in the correct orientation. I guess that’s what tack welds are for. And cutting wheels, and flap discs…

Used a couple of 1/8” drill bits to see if the spacing was correct and it looks good.
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Started on the next section that holds up the first column of bins
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Got it all tacked in and called it a night. Woke up this morning to the realization that I’ve been using the original mock-up assembly for fitment and I used a slightly different technique for the production of the rest of the 35 assemblies. Went out to measure and sure enough…the mock-up assembly is roughly .250” wider overall than the rest of them. So basically I’ll need to cut the tacks on the last few vertical pieces and re-do. Kind of a bummer, but not that big of a deal. Then realized that I also utilized the same mock-up assembly for the math on the frame itself. Which means overall the whole frame is .750” too long. Looks like I’ll be cutting a small section out of the middle and putting it back together.

 

[Finallygotit]

You'll get there Todd. We have all been where you are. That's the nice thing about working with metal, you can (usually) make it longer or shorter with not a lot of effort.


So, just how many bins are you putting in there? From the pics, it seems like a "few".

 

[StormcrowAz]

You'll get there Todd. We have all been where you are. That's the nice thing about working with metal, you can (usually) make it longer or shorter with not a lot of effort.


So, just how many bins are you putting in there? From the pics, it seems like a "few".

Dan,

True. Compared to the rest of the work done on this project a little rework isn’t a huge deal. It's frustrating making the mistakes, but you live and you learn.

There will be three rows of 12 bins. The bottom two rows will be the deep-size versions. Here’s the concept model:
Fastener Storage 2.0

Thanks for the input and interest!

 

[rpcraft]

That is way more work than I am going to be putting into mine but for now it's only 6 short boxes and one deep box, lol. I'm just using scrap 2 x 4 with a router line cut across it and then a piece of scrap peg board scrap for the bottom rail/shelf, and then I am stuffing it in the bottom of a 70 dollar craigslist cabinet I picked up for my drill press station. I spent Wednesday night getting rid of all the **** inside it, which included a bunch of crappy turf grass for shelf liner, drawers which would not extend properly, and about a dozen or so 22 rounds. I would have kept them but to be honest they looked like they would foul up the chamber and I didn't feel like cleaning them off. I am tempted to take and put some of the soft close rails in and use a little sheet metal to make a shelf for them to sit on but it's more work than the cabinet is worth and I am still on the hunt for a proper roller tool box so I can keep the drill press station mobile and keep all my drilling stuff with it.

 

[seanc_mt]

Just stumbled on your thread. Do you have a build thread for your HF band saw with the cooling set up? Thats awesome!

 

[StormcrowAz]

That is way more work than I am going to be putting into mine but for now it's only 6 short boxes and one deep box, lol. I'm just using scrap 2 x 4 with a router line cut across it and then a piece of scrap peg board scrap for the bottom rail/shelf, and then I am stuffing it in the bottom of a 70 dollar craigslist cabinet I picked up for my drill press station. I spent Wednesday night getting rid of all the **** inside it, which included a bunch of crappy turf grass for shelf liner, drawers which would not extend properly, and about a dozen or so 22 rounds. I would have kept them but to be honest they looked like they would foul up the chamber and I didn't feel like cleaning them off. I am tempted to take and put some of the soft close rails in and use a little sheet metal to make a shelf for them to sit on but it's more work than the cabinet is worth and I am still on the hunt for a proper roller tool box so I can keep the drill press station mobile and keep all my drilling stuff with it.

Rprcraft – Yes, it has been a ton of work, but I’m hoping that it works out in the end and the long-term benefits will be worth it. I guess even if it burns up in a tragic fire I still have the experience and a lot of my enjoyment is in the project build itself. Thanks for stopping by!

Just stumbled on your thread. Do you have a build thread for your HF band saw with the cooling set up? Thats awesome!

Hello seanc_mt – Thanks! And I think I did document most of it. The unboxing of the band saw starts in post #209. You’ll have to wade through my squirreling and side-bar of other projects to see it through to completion. Let me know if you have any questions or would like different pics. Thanks for checking it out!

 

[sunsation288]

wow suscribed !!! , your fab/skill Great !!

 

[rattle_snake]

Assuming you had the entire weekend to work on the fastener storage project, can we see the finished and painted pictures yet?

 

[StormcrowAz]

wow suscribed !!! , your fab/skill Great !!

Thank you! It never really feels like I’m in the “great” category. Maybe somewhere in between “complete hack” and “hey, that’s not too bad”. But maybe I’m just my own worst critic at times. Either way, thanks for visiting!

Assuming you had the entire weekend to work on the fastener storage project, can we see the finished and painted pictures yet?

Bwahahaha! I wish it were so. It’s funny (kind of) how the things you need to do get in the way of things you want to do. So I did have a couple free minutes here and there but not quite an entire weekend. Some progress was made…

Cut out the middle vertical section and re-tacked in place to the correct width. Before I went any further I wanted to check how the slide assembly worked with it actually in there. Riveted it in place and while it’s a pretty snug fit, it seems ok. It does look like I’ll have to do a little plastic removal on the bins to clear the slide, nothing major though.
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Now I’m reasonably confident that I’ve got the right width down, it’s time to address the oversize condition. Measured, re-measured, and measured again…then cut off the end of the whole unit. Removed a small amount of material and welded it back together. It’s not 100% perfect like it would have been if I wouldn’t have cut it in the first place - but fit, form, and function is good.
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Overkill is overrated. Seeing as how there will be some amount of weight involved in this whole thing I figured it wouldn’t hurt to add some more structural support. So back to the band saw:
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I ran out of the 1” square tube so the supports in the back are angle iron. I riveted in some of the slide rails in each section, thought it might help keep everything lined up. So now everything is tacked and ready for the final weld.
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[Finallygotit]

That's going to be one seriously cool rack when you're done with it. And don't sell yourself short, you do have some mad fab skills.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Haven't really had much quality shop time this week, hoping to get at least an afternoon in this weekend. In the mean-time, the delivery guy has been showing up regularly.

Received the casters. Rated to 700lbs each and they seem pretty beefy.
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Also picked up some Snap On hinges for the Harbor Freight tool cart
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So far this has been my solution to keeping the lid open
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And last but not least - I pulled the trigger on a gate opener system for the front drive. It will be nice to keep the random solicitors at bay. This will be the next big project after the fastener bins have been squared away
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[fartymarty]

Today I just discovered and binge w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ read this thread. Great work! ..seems an inadequate comment after reading all those pages, but it's better than what I wasn't saying before I discovered it so...again, several times, Great Work!

I was going through it from the beginning and somewhere near the middle I started to wonder if the Mrs. even owned any footwear...then I see that somewhere around March of 2017 ya all were able to scrape a few pennies together and could afford to get her some shoes.

You did have me worried for a while though, that the shop came first and her feet a distant second.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Today I just discovered and binge w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ read this thread. Great work! ..seems an inadequate comment after reading all those pages, but it's better than what I wasn't saying before I discovered it so...again, several times, Great Work!

I was going through it from the beginning and somewhere near the middle I started to wonder if the Mrs. even owned any footwear...then I see that somewhere around March of 2017 ya all were able to scrape a few pennies together and could afford to get her some shoes.

You did have me worried for a while though, that the shop came first and her feet a distant second.

Hello fartymarty! Thanks for taking the time to visit and read through all this stuff! Her first always, but fortunately she doesn’t mind when I spend some time out there. Neither the wife nor I care to wear shoes much unless we have to. Lately I’ve been forcing myself to wear an old pair when working in the shop. Digging tiny metal shavings out of your feet is not much fun.


I did find a few free hours as expected and finished welding the cabinet up. It was a lot of one inch welds. Also managed to grind about half of them flush before it was time to quit.
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Primed all the drawer assemblies
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Threw on a layer of black on one side before I ran out of time and paint. Drug them all inside before it rained.
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[StormcrowAz]

Haven’t had a whole lot of quality shop time lately, but slowly getting closer to completing this rack.

Finished painting the bin holders
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Cut out some sections of 3/16 plate for the casters to bolt to. Tack welded all four together so I could drill four holes instead of 16
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Tacked, checked, and final welded the plates to the rack
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Still need to grab some plate material for the top. Hopefully this weekend I can get the rack painted and start riveting slides on.

 

[bad_idea]

Coming along nicely. Looks like a shitpot of work. I plan to do something similar once I get settled into the new garage.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Coming along nicely. Looks like a shitpot of work. I plan to do something similar once I get settled into the new garage.

Yes, it's been a lot of hours and work. All enjoyable, though. I for sure would have been done by now if I went with a static design that did not have the drawer slides. I like the drawer slide concept, so think it will be worth it in the long run.




Some good progress this weekend.

Primer
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Paint
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Now this next bit of work was really interesting. Hard to put down. One could say it was riveting. (sorry, I had to)
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Bought the Harbor Freight riveting gun for just this project. Considering how many rivets I popped it was well worth it. I did have to tear it apart and put it back together no less than three times due to the rivet shaft getting log-jammed in the head assembly. It has this little plastic cup on the *** end of the gun that’s supposed to catch the rivet shafts as they pass through the gun. After the third disassembly I took it off and just dumped the shafts out the front to make sure it wasn’t getting caught up in the internal works. Makes for more of a mess, but I would rather sweep those up than not have a functioning tool.

A lot of rivets later…
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Put the bottom four rows in just to make sure everything was lined up and would function as-intended.
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Left the rest of the bins out for now. I’ll need some elbow room clearance to stich weld the top on when I get it, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice!!

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice rack.

 

[bad_idea]

After the third disassembly I took it off and just dumped the shafts out the front to make sure it wasn’t getting caught up in the internal works. Makes for more of a mess, but I would rather sweep those up than not have a functioning tool.

We have the high dollar ones at work and I have had the same results with them.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Nice rack.

Thanks. I work out.

We have the high dollar ones at work and I have had the same results with them.

Glad to know it’s not just me then. Once figured out, it wasn’t so bad. Definitely better than the manual hand-pump riveter.



I went down to the metal yard and turns out their shear was down for maintenance. I picked up a piece of .125” sheet that was reasonably close to the size needed for the top and cut it to size. I tacked a piece of angle iron on the back to keep small parts from rolling off and falling behind the cabinet. I’m also on the fence about getting a thin sheet of aluminum and wrapping it around the sides and back to make it more cabinet-like. It would give me an excuse to get a set of Cleco fasteners. For now though, it’s good enough.

Ok, so here it is…the culmination of quite a bit of work and no small amount of money (albeit spread out over a year or so).

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I also did a little bit of cleaning for its new home. Before:

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After:
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The small red toolbox is where a good percentage of my fastener collection resides. The plan is to transfer that over to the new bins and further stock it with a good assortment of new nuts/bolts.

 

[Finallygotit]

Really. Nice. Job!

 

[j p smith]

Awesome job Todd!!!!!

 

[bad_idea]

Looks terrible there. You already have my address, go ahead and send it to me. I'll dispose of it for you.

Looks good. Glad to see I'm not the only one that has a couple random sacks of concrete sitting in the garage.

 

[drivesitfar]

Storm: I love your sense of humor and your cool organizer so i'm subscribed for more.

VERY WELL DONE!!

 

[StormcrowAz]

Really. Nice. Job!

Dan – As always…thanks for the props and thumbs up!

Awesome job Todd!!!!!

Jeff – Thanks! Good to hear from ya! It looks like you’ve been having fun with Razors. I’d love to build one if the project list ever gets sparse. Not holding my breath, though…

Looks terrible there. You already have my address, go ahead and send it to me. I'll dispose of it for you.
Looks good. Glad to see I'm not the only one that has a couple random sacks of concrete sitting in the garage.

Yeah, yeah…the end of the rack I had to cut off and weld back on didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped…but I’ll go ahead and live with it for now and probably won’t be shipping it off any time soon.
And yes…like most projects I tend to buy a bit more than I need because I hate making repeated trips for supplies. Not usually a big deal with angle iron, tubing, nuts & bolts as those get used regularly…but I really haven’t had a bunch of need for Quickcrete. So there it sits because I can’t justify throwing it away as the: “I’ll use it some day” mentality sets in.

Storm: I love your sense of humor and your cool organizer so i'm subscribed for more.
VERY WELL DONE!!

Drives – Thanks for following along! I don’t post as much as I should (outside this thread) but I do lurk quite a bit and admire the time and effort you put into your work. I know it’s been a while now, but I always found your daughter’s wedding chair build to be particularly inspirational and heart-warming. Thanks again!

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice job Todd. I assume all the bins will magically fill and organize themselves (for free) and you will know exactly were everything is in them immediately.

I was much more lazy and had harbor freight build me a 44 chest to put HW in. I like that the bins in your setup are removable and can be taken to benchtop or wherever, dumped out, etc. Again nice work.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Very nice storage idea. I can see this forever quoted in GJ like "Steevo's" is. Good work.

 

[Brian R]

I'm green (well really black and yellow) with envy. That rack was really well done.

 

[StormcrowAz]

Nice job Todd. I assume all the bins will magically fill and organize themselves (for free) and you will know exactly were everything is in them immediately.

I was much more lazy and had harbor freight build me a 44 chest to put HW in. I like that the bins in your setup are removable and can be taken to benchtop or wherever, dumped out, etc. Again nice work.

Justin – Thanks! And free…hahaha! I’m actually researching a good label maker to help in organization/recognition and seems like the Brother P-touch is a standard go-to.

Very nice storage idea. I can see this forever quoted in GJ like "Steevo's" is. Good work.

Turbo – Thank you! Flattering, but Steevo’s 44” toolbox bench build was an original, I think? I’m just another copy-cat, original design credit going to soj for his wood cabinet build, which there has been quite a few other variations made based on his work.

I'm green (well really black and yellow) with envy. That rack was really well done.

Brian - Thanks for the compliment and stopping by!




So while I slowly start to stockpile nuts and bolts…it’s time to move onto the next project. The gate opener install. Started with the easy stuff…mounting the control board and battery box
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The post-mounted bracket is supposed to have minimum of 4.5” of clearance between the gate and vertical center-line of the bracket. Of course the 2” x 3” tube the gate hinges are welded to are at least an inch shy of that. So I still had some of that same tubing left over from the gate install, and cut a couple pieces to size for the bracket to attach to. I was originally going to weld the bracket to the tubing, but got to thinking that would make any future adjustments or removal/maintenance problematic. Instead I drilled holes in the tube and welded nuts on the inside for the bracket to bolt to.
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This will in turn get welded to the original gate post. I’m sure that’s probably plenty strong enough, but I’m concerned because this piece is directly where the push/pull force of the opener will be transferred to. I cut a few pieces of angle iron, drilled holes, and welded to the sides for additional expansion anchor points. Overkill maybe…but makes me feel better.
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The install kit for this was designed to attach to a wooden gate post (or they have a tube-frame brackets, too) so the bolts were about 8” long. I figured instead of going out and buying (even more) bolts I’d just use what they gave me and cut ‘em to size.
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Hopefully this weekend I can squeeze some time in to weld those extension pieces on and temporarily wire everything up for a trial run.