Good day to you all, a few updates on the shop. It's very well insulated and kudos to the PO (twice removed) who built it. It stays cool as it only has two small windows, so there's minimal heating action from sunlight.
Dad's toolbox is all cleaned up and the sliders were coated with a moly lube which seams to work well. That was a big job. So many little nooks and crannies and just years of grime and dust to get rid of.
Dad had a lot of quality tools, but they were all heavily used. I sorted through thousands of tools and kept a few sets that had meaning to me and that I know I would use.
He had a lot of body working tools and he was really good at metal shaping. I've got a bead roller from him and a box of quality body hammers though they are really used. I wanted to display them (and use them) so I thought why not hang them all somewhere?
I'm still torn on whether that's too busy looking or not, but I really like the rubbermaid Fasttrack system that I have in my home garage. Sadly, they changed it from the wider more gray looking track to a more narrow whitish gray track. It's the same part number so I was bummed to see the change, but on the bright side I understand why they did it. To sell more accessories, as there is more tracks per sq ft now.
Here you can see how small the space in between the track is. Here's the older style:
Older style is better looking, but I had no choice as I checked Lowes and HD and both stocked only the new track under the same part number.
The track is really sturdy and versatile so I can hang pictures, tools, expensive parts that I want out of the way etc.
It's easy to install too, though I didn't have my laser marker so the screws aren't perfectly aligned. Usually I'm pretty **** about that sort of thing, but given that the approach was difficult as the bench is now secured to the wall, It was a trick to be leaning over a 4ft wide bench that was almost 4ft high.
I had to bust out the ladder despite the fact that I'm almost 6'6" with a 7ft wingspan.
Here it is installed:
This is super particular, but I might dab the ends of the screw heads with gray paint. I think most will be covered by track accessories anyway.
Anyone else run into the fast track changeup? I tried calling Rubbermaid and was stuck on hold for a long time. So I just gave up. I figure it might be supply chain related and they pivoted as the material seems more flexy, but also they want to sell more accessories. From a bean counter perspective, there's probably more than 40% more room now on a same sized panel for track accessories.
Also ordered this from Trick tools:
Dad's hammers all need restoration and new handles, so I thought instead for $329 I would buy a quality set I can use right away.
I'm also interested in this:
Price is quite high, but it's heavy duty and looks well useful with the interchangeable dollies and different accessories they offer.
I'm also on the hunt for a quality heavy duty English wheel in the Southwest, LA, PHX or southern Nevada area if anyone knows of one available. DM me
Until next time...