My House/Shop Projects

[TZ1893]

Hello all, I've been a long time lurker, final created a membership, and now it's time to toss my hat into the ring and contribute something finally. Quick background, just bought my second house, which will need a fair amount of work(same as the last one), so this thread will detail a lot of the various projects around the house, setting up the temporary shop in the basement and I'm sure whatever else I scheme up along the way.

So first things first, time to upgrade my mobile base for my Dewalt DW746 Table Saw. This is what I had been working with in the old shop.

Very simple, picked the saw up off of CL and the casters from Rockler, needed to move it around right away so that was the quick and simple solution. Couple 2x4s screwed together, casters attached with the supplied screws, and then the saw held on with lag bolts in the corners. Time for an upgrade...

The new base will be 2"x2"x1/8" angle, the casters will go on 2"x1/4" bar stock with a piece of 1 1/2" x 1/4" bar stock connecting the two casters together.

Bulk of the base welded up, coped instead of mitered since I don't have a real accurate way of cutting miter joints at the moment. Here's one outside corner weld.

Ground everything flush, added the corner posts and welded the caster brackets on. I apologize for the lack of pictures here, but it was late and I was just cruising along. Once I had it all done, couldn't resist putting it together

Not too shabby, took everything apart and welded in the bars tying two casters together on each side. Also, I added a handle so that it's easier to pull up. The way these casters work is that when they are in the lowered position, the base rolls around, once you lift them up, the base sits flat on the ground. The drawback is that it's pretty awkward dropping them one at a time, everything wobbles around, hence connecting the two together so that you can drop one side at time.

Cross piece and handle added, couple coats of rattle can primer, paint, and clear. Ready to rock and roll.

Got the saw down in the basement, slid right in, maybe a 1/16" of play inside the base, so whooray accurate measuring, ha. Got the saw all put back together as well, made a new extension wing, got the dust collection all rigged up, new blade installed, checked the run-out, got the fence squared up etc. Ready for the next project, rebuilding my router table that didn't fit up the stairs when I moved...

 

[TZ1893]

Alright, apologies for the big delay between posts, busy with work and everything blah blah, a thousand apologies. Started and almost have the router table complete. To summarize, the base, back, top, middle dividers and recessed panels on the sides are all 3/4" birch plywood. The base is made up of two pieces screwed/glued together. The rails/stiles for the sides are 5/4 pine with mortise/tenon joints, the plywood panel got a rabbet joint so that everything is flush on the inside of the sides. I cut the hole for the router lift with a jigsaw and the dust collection port with a hole saw, finished them off inside and out with a 1/4" round-over bit. Everything except for the recessed panels got stained with General Finishes Dark Cherry that I had left over from my master suite remodel at my previous home, the recessed panels got a coat of General Finishes Early American. Excellent stuff if you're ever looking for a good stain. Everything then got 2 coats of poly, then sanded with 400 grit, grade 3, grade 0, and grade 000, with a final top coat of poly after that, giving everything a super smooth finish.

In the router bay, I made some angled sides to help direct dust to the port, just some 3/4" birch plywood, mitered on 3 sides and a corresponding end pieces to close it up. All the joints in the router bay were caulked to seal up any small gaps.

For the doors, I used 3/4" pine, with 1/4" plexiglass for the panels. I probably could've just used 1/4" plywood or something, but I like being able to see inside of the router bay when everything's running, and I felt it would look unbalanced with one solid and one clear door. Same stain/finish technique as everything else. Also drilled a pattern of holes in the plexiglass to allow for airflow.

Finally, started making the two large bottom drawers. Again, they're just 3/4 pine with the base being 1/4" birch plywood. I went with half-blind dovetails on the drawers, the front of the drawers will get trimmed out to be flush with the upper cabinet doors and to mimic the recessed sides. The insides/outsides of the drawers will get the same stain/finish as the recessed panels, and then the drawer faces will get a coat of the darker stain to match the sides.

Plan to have the drawers finished by the end of the weekend, so they're will be another post sooner rather than later. Thanks for looking.

 

[TZ1893]

Hello all, got the drawer boxes assembled, stained/sealed outside and in, I also have their face-frames all glued up. I used haunched mortise and tenon joints for the frames. I'm unsure if I like building the drawers like this yet or not, I like the look of the cabinet without an overall face frame, but I'm not crazy about how the drawer faces attached to the drawer boxes. We'll see how it looks in the end, this was something new I decided to guinea pig.



In other exciting news, finally had the large maple tree removed from my backyard. It was a nice old tree, probably older than the house. However, it hung over both my neighbors' and my house and was developing a split in the crotch, nice or not it's not worth the risk.



It took the contractor three days all together with removing everything and grinding the stump, but overall he did a pretty nice job. He definitely had his work cut out for him with the stump, he ended up grinding almost a 20'x20' square to get all of the surface roots. Glad it's done, one less thing to worry about in spring when I start working on the outside.

Finally, thought I'd share my recent Craigslist score. I've been looking for a bandsaw for awhile now, got beat out on a few and then wasn't really finding anything worthwhile. All of a sudden this gem popped up and I was lucky enough to snag it.

BRAND NEW Grizzly GO555LX, the guy bought it for a project that never developed, never even took it home from his work, was still all boxed up and sitting on the pallet it was shipped on originally when I went to check it out. Best part, HALF the price of what they are new, I couldn't believe it but wasn't passing it.

Got it all assembled, which went pretty quickly, I've got the riser block ordered for it already and a resaw blade, it'll be nice for cutting down 5/4 lumber for 1/2" drawer boxes, plus I have a few ideas for a couple art-related projects. Thanks for checking in, until next time.

 

[TZ1893]

Greetings all from Milwaukee, been busy so it's time to update. First off, I finished the drawer faces for the router table and got them all mounted. So that wraps up that project.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, if I did it again I'd do a few things differently. Most important thing is that it's up and functioning. With that said it was time to sneak in a quick project for the bandsaw. I recently ordered and received the 6" riser block kit from Grizzly, took an evening to install and then readjust the tracking and guides.

With the extra clearance, I decided a resaw fence would be the next logical accessory. However, they're not cheap and with the upcoming house projects I decided it would be best to just make one, as an added challenge I wanted to make it without using any type of structural hardware(nails/screws etc.) Started out with a 1x10 of red oak I had leftover, ripped an 8" piece for the actual fence and then two corresponding pieces that fit snuggly around the bandsaw's fence. These are all sliding dovetail joints which will work great once glued up.

I went with three supports, one on each end and one in the middle. They use a sliding dovetail on the backside of the fence, and then lock into the top piece that wraps around the actual bandsaw fence with a haunched tenon. The top piece obviously has three mortises cut into it. Everything was done on the router table except for the radius' on the supports, which were done with the bandsaw.

After the mock up to assure proper fit, everything got broken down, sanded to 220, then sealed twice, buffed and sealed again, giving it a smooth, durable finish. Hopefully have it assembled tomorrow or the next day. The only other thing I think I'll add is two set screws on the backside of the fence to keep it locked in place, we'll see. Thanks for checking in.

 

[zcar751]

Nice work. It is good to see some wood working going on with some of the projects. I made a table out of a solid core door that I slide my table saw under so it doesn't become a work table. That way when I want to cut something I don't have to clear off the saw as a start to the project. Keep the projects coming.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Absolutely first class work and many thanks for posting.

 

[hunterguy86]

Solid work on that router table. Looks great. Were you able to save any of the maple from that tree for future projects?


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[TZ1893]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

zcar751 - I actually just picked up a solid core door on CL for free that I plan on using as a bench top as well. Any picks of yours?

1/2 cup - Unfortunately I was not able to save anything from the tree, free space is tight around here and the tree guy wasn't shaving anything off his price since he wouldn't be taking as much. All in all, I just couldn't justify keeping it around, so away it went.

Now just a quick update, I finished up the resaw fence. Very happy with how it turned it. One last addition was to add set screws to the back piece of the fence as a precaution to keep the fence from sliding while cutting. To be honest, I could've left how it slides over the fence a little looser, but it still slides on without a lot of force. I think I would change the way I glued it up, maybe rip a board the same width as the fence and glue it up over that or something...live and learn. Most importantly though is that it sits nice and square.

Onto the next project, it's time to start working on the master bedroom. The walls are all in pretty good shape, especially since they are plaster/lathe. However the closet was goofy, and the lady would like a built-in organizer. So the overall scope of work will be to remove the closet, build the wall down to match the height of doorway/windows, build the organizer, make/redo the baseboard, hang a new door, trim the windows, add crown moulding, replace the light fixture and paint. I plan on working my way around the house, doing pretty much the same in every room, minus the closet work. The biggest hurdle will be protecting the hardwood floors. We had them re-finished before we moved in since the guy could do the whole house without being hindered by us living there. I pulled the closet apart and removed all of the trim Sunday, cleaned up and pulled all the drop clothes I had laid down temporarily. Then Monday evening I put down some butcher paper/drop clothes to have a more permanent protective layer. Tuesday night I got the small wall section to even out the space above the closet installed, started rocking tonight.



Hopefully have some more pictures before the holiday, if not happy holidays everyone!

 

[TZ1893]

Happy New Year everyone, busy last couple weeks but still plugging away slowly but surely. Christmas came with two awesome CL scores for free. First was a solid core door that I plan on using as a workbench top. I rough cut it, stripped and sanded to 120. I will do the final cuts so it ends up being 70 1/2" x 26 1/2", then it will get wrapped in 3/4" Walnut giving me a 6' x 28' workbench/assembly table.

I'm very excited to have a nice, flat, solid work surface finally. Also, since I haven't had the opportunity to paint a logo or really anything in awhile, it will be great to work on that.

I'm thinking something like my paintings but more like an old ad/showcard, something where I can add some lettering because that stuffs all pretty cool. It's a work in progress haha.
Now for the second score, since the house is all stacked lannon stone, this coming summer I'd like to add a few short retaining walls/planters. One running the length of the house in the front, one around the back patio, and finally across the backyard where there is a slight hill up to the garage. I've been keeping an eye out for stone on CL and was unfortunately getting beat out on a lot of it. My luck changed though and I found a guy 10 minutes away who wanted to take down a large wall along the side of his house. Three trips and a couple hours later I had this sizeable pile next to my driveway. I wasn't able to stack it at the time because I was trying to beat the rain we got that day, barely did as it was.

The next day was a little nicer, so I stacked it in a halfway descent pile and got it back in a corner. It's not pretty but it's a little more out of site for the neighbors and doesn't look like as much of an eye sore. I'll split the larger pieces over the course of the winter/early spring in preparation for when I build the walls in late spring/early summer.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Great scores

The stone looks fantastic in a build.

Regards

 

[d.mcfarland]

Those paintings are awesome!

 

[ilovevocs]

Great scores



The stone looks fantastic in a build.



Regards

X2!!!!

 

[jar944]

Nice

 

[TZ1893]

Been busy but time for an update...

First, lots of progress on the master bedroom. Got it rocked, mudded and textured. I'm not much for installing drywall, but I'm pretty happy with how well the seem blended in. I used Durabond for the first coat and than just regular mud for the next two. The knockdown spray worked well two, glad I went a little heavier because I don't think it would've matched as well. The whole room and closet got two coats of Killz primer, ceiling got two coats of white and then three coats of color on the walls. Maybe could've went one shade darker with the color, but with the dark floor and the dark trim I'll be installing, the lady wanted to stay light, so light it is haha.



We want to go with oil rubbed bronze for any hardware/fixtures. Switch plates were no trouble to find, nor was the cold air return cover. However, the baseboard heat register has proven to be illusive, especially in the style we're looking for. Also, everything I've found has been on the pricey side, I'd rather save the money for the trim/crown. I tried the local thrift hardware stores, not sure what else you'd call them, they sell second hand building materials that come from homes being demolished in the area, but no such luck there either.



Now there's nothing wrong with the one we have, no dents etc, but there did appear to be multiple layers of paint on it. So I said screw it, we'll just reuse them(I'd like them to match throughout the house). After disassembly, I did a quick round of electrolysis on the hardware and the back damper flap.
After letting everything soak, I cleaned it up with a scotch-brite pad and hard bristle brush, saw it was just sheet metal so I shut it down there.



On my way home from work today I stopped at the sandblasters and got a cabinet for a few minutes. Everything cleaned up real nice.



I'll shoot some high build primer on it tomorrow at work and then it might sit for awhile. I need to decide how I want to go about getting the finish, I know I could prime, paint it a copper/bronze color, then do a flat or satin black and hand rub it, clear it from there. However, I need to dig through my old notes from college and see if there's some kinda way I could patina it, or some chemical process to give it the desired finished, we'll see.

Finally, just to save this from being some boring housework post, here's a picture of the mobile base I made for my Delta drill press. 2 x 2 by 1/8 angle iron for the base, 2 x 2 x 1/8 square stock for the legs. Where the casters attached, I over drilled a hole on top and then slightly under drilled a hole on the bottom. Then, I dropped a rod coupling in and welded it in place. This gives the threaded casters a lot more to screw into rather than just welding a nut in, or at least that was my thought process. Even though it is pretty complicated, it has a nice wide foot print so it's very stable, the legs also don't stick out any further than the motor in back, or the table in the front so no trip hazards, storage issues. There is also a cross piece on the base so you can bolt the drill press down to it, it's missing in the picture though, haven't put them back in since we moved. It's just a rattle can finish, buffed it out once and cleared a couple times, didn't go too crazy since it's just in the shop.

Thanks again for looking everyone, hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Great work on the mobile base, luv it.

 

[TZ1893]

Thanks 1/2 Cup

Quick update, got the top for the layout table/tool chest done, I've got a couple different ideas and I'm not 100% sure which direction I'd like to take it yet. For the time being though, I have a large, flat surface to work on for the first time in a LONG time. I scored this piece of walnut from a local guy, it was rough cut but for $10 you can't beat it around here. Resawed/squared it all up and finally ripped 1-7/8" strips out, about a 1/8" wider than the door. Predrilled holes every 4-1/2", then glued and screwed the sides on. Let that sit for 24 hours and used a flush trim bit/router to trim the sides down, since I had everything out, I also added a 45 degree chamfer to both the top and bottom. After that it was a sanding, staining, sealing, buffing marathon. Took it all the way to 1200, got a very nice, smooth finish to it, I'll just scuff it one more time and then steel wool/wax it to really polish it off. Also knocked in all of the button plugs, I probably would've done something different but I picked up a couple 100 count bags of them for two bucks a piece at a sale, so screw it, use'em up.


Pretty happy with how it turned out, maybe the plugs are a little much, been drawing up the layout for the cabinet it will sit on but it's a slow process. Trying to get the most out of the space with tools you have, tools I'll probably acquire in the future, etc. It'll be awhile before that's finished.

In remodel news, we got our new ceiling fan in finally, so that's installed. I changed all of the outlets out since they were all chipped/worn/painted over from the previous owner. Also got the two windows trimmed out. Now this is rough, just installed piece by piece without nails or anything just to test fit, everything stayed put on it's own so I'll call it a success. The apron, sides, and head casing will all get corner guard pieces on them(not pictured) but that will wrap the whole thing and make it look like a stand alone piece. The stool, fillet and cap all got router/bull-nose treatment as well. Tomorrow starts the next staining marathon back in my finishing corner.


Thanks for checking in, more to follow as usual.

 

[Richard Cranium]

nice work, thanks for posting

 

[jar944]

Now this is rough, just installed piece by piece without nails or anything just to test fit, everything stayed put on it's own so I'll call it a success. The apron, sides, and head casing will all get corner guard pieces on them(not pictured) but that will wrap the whole thing and make it look like a stand alone piece. The stool, fillet and cap all got router/bull-nose treatment as well. Tomorrow starts the next staining marathon back in my finishing corner.


Thanks for checking in, more to follow as usual.

Looks good. I just did a similar trim on a set of pocket doors.

 

[TZ1893]

JEEZ, almost 6 months and no posts, time to get back in the swing of things here, although it isn't completely unwarranted. I made a career change back in February...switched jobs, switched unions, but am in a much better place now and happy to be an Operator with the IBEO Local 139. So, with all the challenges that come with any career switch, progress on the house lagged drastically in early spring but I've been getting back in the groove over the last few weeks. I needed to finish tree removal in the backyard and replace the two window wells that were separated from the house.



For the window wells, I dug around the old ones and pulled them out once I had enough dirt removed. Then cleaned everything out until I had roughly a 2'x4' hole. I scored the bottom few courses of lannon stone around the window wells and chipped it out so the new window wells would sit evenly against the house. Then I used a hammer-drill to drill all the anchor holes, put a little bit of waterproof adhesive caulk in each hole, and used 1-1/2" nail-ins with 1" washers to anchor the new wells. Finished it off by spraying the exposed hardware with underbody coating, backfilled, and mortared up the inside. Tadaaaaa job done.



I'm a little light on pictures of the whole install, but I have more from when I did the front one that shows everything a little better.

The 14 arborvitae's were an eye sore IMO and made the backyard look small, plus the ones furthest from the house were grown up into my neighbors cable/phone line.



Cut them all down, took the brush to the city dump, managed to get six of the stumps out with my truck. Unfortunately my truck didn't have the balls to get the remaining seven, so off to Home Depot I went, picked up their little rental excavator and an hour later they were all out and loaded on the trailer. Had a few hours left on the rental so I used it to spread out the four yards of topsoil I brought in to even everything out, my boss-lady even got on there and spread some dirt, since it's not often we have a hoe in our backyard haha.



So that about wraps up the backyard for the time being, I used some lannon stone from that wall I took down last fall as edging. Dug a few inches down and brought it up/set all the stone in 1/4" TB so they'll stay put. We've since added a few plants and got some mulch in there. The grass grew as well haha. Thanks for looking, more to come, sooner rather than later now though.

 

[TZ1893]

Well with the backyard done it was time to move out to the front. The planters hadn't been touched in some time, someone had put in edging bricks a long time ago and the previous owners just tossed some lannon stone pieces over the top of them. There was one stump to dig out as well, which was a DO'H moment for me since I forgot about it when I had the mini-ex, but oh well. Dug/chopped/pulled the stump with my truck. I'm not sure what kind of tree or plant it was, but it had quite the wide root base, battled with them all over that side of the house. Also removed all the old edging, and dug up all the Hasta's to save for other parts of the house.



Since I'm digging stuff up, I went ahead and changed the window well out since it was pulled away from the house and rotting away. I did the same process I used in the back, haven't had any problems so I guess that's good.



More to come...

 

[TZ1893]

With the window well finished and backfilled, I switched over to running the downspouts out. My gutters go to three downspouts, two for the front half of the roof, and one for the whole back. Since the whole backyard pitches towards the house, one of the first things I did when we moved in was reroute the single back downspout to the front yard. I just wrapped around the side of the house, dropped it down to below the windows, and then ran it at an 1/8" to the front, put me about 18" of the ground in the front.

For the run-out from there, I just used a full stick of Sch. 35 with a 90 and a ghengis adapter to tie in, they're all bedded in 3/8" to keep them solid. I did the same for each one, the middle downspout got a wye dropped in and a separate upright for the sump pump discharge, left myself an air gap as well incase it would ever get plugged.

For uniform sake, I pulled a string line across and made sure they are all even with each other. All three of them ended up 10' from the house, with 1/16"-1/8" of pitch. My front yard drops about a foot from the front of the house to the road so everything should run away.

Then I finished up with lannon stone edging again, all set in 1/4" TB. I had really large front planters at the last house, and although they look nice, they're a PITA to maintain. So this time around I just went 2' off the outside of the house, pulled and followed that. Scored some plants at a Memorial Day sale and got woodchips for free from the city. Call this project complete, just need to get the grass to grow.


Next up will be to knock down the small patio retaining wall thats crumbling and rebuild it. I plan on extending it up so that the wall caps are even with the window sills. Also, I'm kicking around the idea of building a column at the front corner and incorporating the mail box, carriage light and address plate into it. We'll see how it goes.

 

[TZ1893]

Finally, on a non-house related, probably much more interesting note to most of you here at at GJ, I scored some new tool box additions recently. Up until last summer I had an older Craftsman box, pretty cramped for space with only a handful of drawers. I wanted to upgrade to a Snap-On box for awhile, after some research I really like the older KR557/537 combos. They've got a good variety of drawers, and since I plan on moving everything from brushes to power tools into this box, having a variety is primo. Got lucky and found one that wasn't in horrible shape on Craigslist and scooped it up. Only major problems were some dents in the large flip-up door, missing locks and the horrible Budweiser sticker(sorry this is Milwaukee not St. Louis).

Got it home, got it cleaned up, got all the slides working properly, organized the tools in it and that's how it sat. I've had my eye out for side cabinets and the very hard to find KR547 mid section since I picked this guy up. There'd be a side cabinet every once in awhile on Craigslist, but the seller would never want to split it up from the main boxes. Well as luck would have it, I finally found one, and in damn near excellent condition, plus for $100 bucks, then a few days later, I find another one, for $50! Now before I get a bunch of "you ****", the second one is in pretty rough shape, not un-repairable but there are some pretty goobery welds on there and a lot of dents to work out, but it'll be a fun project. To cap it off, I found the unicorn 47! It's in okay shape, I probably paid too much for it, but since this box will follow me for the rest of my life now, it's okay. haha.

Definitely considering doing the whole works on it eventually...repaint, tops for the sides cabinets, you guys know how it goes, 1000 different ideas. But I'll keep you posted. Thanks for looking and have a good week.

 

[TZ1893]

Weather's been good so I've continued working outside. My front porch had a small lannon stone wall around two sides that was in pretty rough shape, far past trying to save it. So I knocked that down, well actually I was able to pull the individual stones apart, most of the mortar just fell off after a quick tap with a hammer. I plan to rebuild the wall and incorporate a carriage light, address plaque and the mailbox, more then likely I'll build a block wall and with a lannon stone face, but that's another days project.



With that done I changed gears and went to the East side of the house. The sidewalk along this side was cracked, heaved and mostly back-pitched towards the house so it all needed to go. The window wells were also pulled away from the house and rusted out, they'll get replaced too.



First things first, grab the sledge and and go to town.



Pulled everything out, wheeled it down to the trailer and off to the dump it went. Caught a little bit of flack from the city dump king because people don't usually bring that much concrete, but everything got resolved thankfully.



With that done and evening plans approaching, I called it a day. Sunday, I dug and changed out the two window wells on that side. 5 down 3 to go, well actually 2 and an egress window. Since I think I've documented my window well process to death, we'll skip it and just go to the finished product.



Since that sidewalk is pretty much unused, I'm not going to put it back, but my plan is to use some of the wider/flatter lannon stone pieces from the front porch wall and make a little path. Next up will be removing the sidewalk from the front porch to the street and re-pouring it. It's sunk/cracked, so 50' to go haha.

Oh and another good Craigs score and new project. I've had an eye out for a small mixer for awhile, there will be enough upcoming projects involving mortar/concrete, and mixing in a bucket or wheelbarrow gets old fast. So I picked this guy up for $20 bucks.



The base is pretty janky, but the drum and mechanics are all good. According to the tag it's a Sears-Roebuck, haven't really researched it a ton. I'll weld up a wheeled base for it, like the ones you see on most paddle mixers. Gotta love adding in another project before you can start another HA. Thanks for looking as always.

 

[Fixed]

It's cool to see your projects, motivates me to do some of the stuff on the list for my own house!

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[1/2 Cup]

Your place is looking fantastic, thank you for the update.

Regards

 

[TZ1893]

Alright time for an update, over the last week I tackled the front sidewalk. Last Friday I was fortunate and got out of work early since it was a holiday weekend, so what better way to start it off then by coming home and busting out 50ft of sidewalk!



2 1/2 hrs of sledge work later and I had this.



The next day(Saturday), I hauled everything to the dump, took two trips and it's not very efficient handling everything three times(into the wheelbarrow, into the trailer, onto the pile at the dump), but it's what I have to work with at the time. All said and done I ended up with this.



I pulled two strings parallel with the house/front porch as guides and dug the grass out on either side to make room for my forms, worked out well because I was able to use what I dug out to fill in where the walk was on the side of the house.



With the strings set for my height and edge guide, I was all set to backfilled, but being a holiday weekend, and a Sunday, every place for stone was closed, even my go-to landscape supplier that is ALWAYS open was, so I had to idle for two days until after Independence Day.

The Tuesday after, I had 2 tons of 1" TB delivered and got to it after work.



I had it spread and leveled out in a few hours, I left it an inch high so that it would settle to my final height after compaction. All of our plate compactors are *******/scattered about the city at work, so it was easier to run to Home Depot and rent one, crappy that you have to rent it for 4 hours when I really only needed it for 1 but what are you going to do. Here's the end result...



Also, before I backfilled, I dug up and removed the carriage lamp. I've never been a fan of it just hanging out in the open there, and I'd like to put a new one up but as part of the front stoop wall. After a little bit of digging, I was able to pull it out by hand, cut the wires and then reroute them over the stoop which will work out great since it's already wired into a switch inside and everything. Thanks for checking in, I'll finish up with the pour pictures on the next post.

 

[kbs2244]

I like the thinking ahead on the sump pump outlet
The air gap will also prevent any back siphoning.

 

[TZ1893]

Carrying on with the front sidewalk, I forgot to mention in the previous post that sidewalk had settled about 3", which worked out in my favor because I was able to just raise everything up with the TB and only had to dig out a little of the one side to get it square with the front stoop/house.

With the strings set, I ran the form on the stoop side, then went and set the opposite side by leveling/measuring across for proper height/width. The sidewalk pretty much follows the grade of the front yard from the curb to the stoop, then last piece directly out from the stoop I set level with just a little bit of pitch away. Also picked up a roll of mesh and added it in for extra strength. After that I just added felt along the curb and along the stoop, marked out where my joints would go and was ready for concrete. The boss lady asked that I do a radius in the corner off the stoop so that it looks like the sidewalk purposely ends, made that out of a piece of 1/4" masonite.



Had concrete set up for 7:30am Saturday morning, myself and a buddy of mine I used to work with finished and my father wheeled since he hates finishing. I was unfortunately only able to get one picture during the pour since the three of us were all busy, but everything went well.



Mixer didn't show up until almost 8, but we were all wrapped up by 10:15am, but that was about the issue. Weather was perfect, and everything went smooth. Since we picture framed everything I was happy to have my buddy's help so that we could hop back and forth between floating, edging, jointing, brooming and edging again. After it cured few a few hours I sealed it and then stripped the forms this morning. So here's the finished product...



I'm very happy with how it turned out, the wall on the stoop is next and then it'll be time to replace the patio in the back. Thanks for checking in, more to follow as always.

 

[TZ1893]

Been awhile but that doesn't mean that I've been up to nothing. It's been pretty hot humid here, man I do not envy you guys in warmer regions, so I migrated back to the cool depths of the basement. I stumbled across a video by the Down To Earth Woodworker a few months ago about an outfeed table that he built. It got me thinking about the table top I had made earlier that was just sitting on top of a folding table and about how I'll loose my storage shelves this winter when I gut the basement. So I took his idea and tweaked it a little so that I have no only an outfeed/assembly table, but plenty of storage with it. This is what resulted...



The top sits on four T-Nut leveling feet that I got at Woodcraft and they allow me to adjust the top so that it will be level with whatever machine I have it next to. The feet recessed into 4x4's that are in each corner of the cabinet. The sides slide into dado's on each leg and then I have a few pocket holes/screws anchoring everything together. The doors slide in dado's behind/in front of each other, and there is a single shelf inside. Clamps are stored on the back on pegs, hardware bins on one side and a bar for short clamps on the other. I'll get some more pics up soon.

In other news, got the footing poured for the front porch post. It has a frost footing underneath, so I dug down to match it, drilled some rebar in and then made simple loops to tie everything together.





I tried using the mixer I got a few weeks back for it, however it didn't work very well. It sits too low to dump into my wheelbarrow, so I'd end up dumping it on the ground, which in turn ends up all over the A-frame base. Plus it's a bear to move around on just the one single wheel. So guess what project started next...





For better stability, I left the front axle solid and then made the axle pieces, they'll link to a central point with some threaded rod and then the tow handle will come off of there. The base is constructed of 1-1/2"x3"x1/8" tube with 5/8" bolts welded on for the axles. Tires are inflatable ones that were on sale at Northern, rated for 300lbs a piece so that should be plenty. Since there will be a little less then 200lbs turning in the drum, I added the upper cross member and 4 supports at a 45 tying everything together. Most of the welds on the sides I ground down flush. As I've been going I've been giving all of the various gears and other pieces electrolysis baths to get off all the caked on grease/concrete. Once everything is set I'll sand blast it all and then prime/paint.

 

[TZ1893]

And one more thing, after kicking my own **** removing all of my sidewalk by hand, and handling it three times(into the wheelbarrow, into the trailer, offloading at the dump), AND with the back patio coming up. I started thinking about how I can make life easier. I hate renting machines, you never know what shape they're in, always in a rush to get them back, and it's kind of expensive. After scoping out CL for awhile, I found this guy.



It's a Bobcat 371, I think they were made in the late 70s/early 80s. Nice little machines, it's overall less then 48" wide and weighs less then 2000 pounds, so it will fit in the side of my 2 1/2 car garage, I can tow it behind Colorado, and it will fit in my 5 x 8 trailer. Plus it has hand/foot controls like New Hollands do which I've been running forever. Now before I get a bunch of "you *****" there are some downsides, aside from some cosmetic work, the original 14hp Kohler motor blew and the guy replaced it with a cheapo 10hp HF motor, so it's underpowered now, theres also a hydraulic leak somewhere on the underside that needs to be fixed. Regardless, I worked the price down and this puppies all mine. I've searching for 18-20hp Kohler to drop in it, anyone ever seen it done? Thanks for following along as always and for your comments, till next time.

 

[bonneyman]

Awesome work! My back is starting to hurt just looking at your refurbs.

 

[Fixed]

And one more thing, after kicking my own **** removing all of my sidewalk by hand, and handling it three times(into the wheelbarrow, into the trailer, offloading at the dump), AND with the back patio coming up. I started thinking about how I can make life easier. I hate renting machines, you never know what shape they're in, always in a rush to get them back, and it's kind of expensive. After scoping out CL for awhile, I found this guy.



It's a Bobcat 371, I think they were made in the late 70s/early 80s. Nice little machines, it's overall less then 48" wide and weighs less then 2000 pounds, so it will fit in the side of my 2 1/2 car garage, I can tow it behind Colorado, and it will fit in my 5 x 8 trailer. Plus it has hand/foot controls like New Hollands do which I've been running forever. Now before I get a bunch of "you *****" there are some downsides, aside from some cosmetic work, the original 14hp Kohler motor blew and the guy replaced it with a cheapo 10hp HF motor, so it's underpowered now, theres also a hydraulic leak somewhere on the underside that needs to be fixed. Regardless, I worked the price down and this puppies all mine. I've searching for 18-20hp Kohler to drop in it, anyone ever seen it done? Thanks for following along as always and for your comments, till next time.

That's awesome, I've always wanted to pick up something like that. Are you planning to keep it, or flip it once you finish your projects?

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[1/2 Cup]

TZ , great progress and a fantastic score with the Bobcat.

 

[TZ1893]

Thanks for the responses guys!

Fixed - I plan on keeping it, it'll be a handy thing to have around, plus I'm pretty sure I can find enough side jobs to use it on. On top of that, I'm an operator, so it's pretty cool to have your own machine, at least in my mind haha.

1/2 Cup - Thanks for following along, your feed back is always appreciated and I've enjoyed following your thread.

Bonneyman - Nothing a Bobcat can't fix HA!

Quick update...Since I picked up the Bobcat I've been searching for a replacement engine for it to get rid of the POS one that's in there now. Well I got lucky and found a nice older guy outside of Chicago who refurbs Cub Cadet tractors, and just happened to have an 18hp Kohler Command for sale.



Scooted down there this morning to ****** it up, it's mostly complete, missing the muffler, but it only has 249 hours on it so lots of life and the price was right. Getting a brand new one was out of the question because of their pricetag. Once the mixer is done, it'll be time to jump on that. I've gotta help a buddy build a field stone retaining wall at the end of the month and the Bobcat will come in handy no doubt.

Got a little bit done on the mixer as well. There is a shaft up at the top with a pulley and sprocket, the transition from the motor to the drum takes place here. Well the former owner of the mixer bubble gummed the shaft to a piece of plate, and then tacked a washer on the shaft to keep the spacing right, it all needed to go, so I started from scratch. Unfortunately I didn't take a before picture, sorry, but trust me it wasn't pretty.

I started with a 2"x6" piece of 1/4", drilled four 13/32" inch holes on center, then cut out the area between the holes with a tiny cut off wheel on my dremel tool. This way I'll have some adjustment to tension the chain and belt. I also just started to drill a 1" hole for the shaft to keep it centered, and drilled a smaller hole all the way through to mushroom a weld up from the back side. Round off the edges and tada....



Tomorrow I'll start reworking the motor mount, to replace this.



Might as well keep remaking everything since I'm going down that path now, thanks for checking in. Everyone enjoy your week.

 

[TZ1893]

So got the mixer all finished up, it was a whirlwind to complete unfortunately so not everything is documented thoroughly, but here's what I've got.



This is the motor mount plate, made out of 1/4", 4-1/2" hole in the middle for the motor to rest in. The oblong holes around it are all for the bolts that hold the motor in place, I drilled out each side then cut the middle out with a cut-off wheel on a Dremel tool. The other two are for the 1/2" bolts that attach it to the leg of the mixer by bolting through.



Quick and dirty handle, 1/4" again, tapped for the two 3/8" bolts and then a piece of 5/8" tube welded on, I cut the angle/filled the bottom of it so that it acts as a stop to keep the mixer from turning completely over.



Final mock up before sandblasting/paint. The safety cage it expanded metal with 2" angle, 1/8" thick. I tried to match the angle of the belt with the angle of the cage, it's close but not perfect.



And the finished product. Blasted, coat of self-etching primer followed by 2 coats regular auto primer then a few coats of gloss black and clear. All just rattle can stuff. Doesn't look terrible, there are a few things I'd improve. Steering could be better, one of my tires is toed in a few degrees, I'd make the connection from the axle to the tie rod differently as well. Also, with the rear axle, instead of drilling the end plates, putting a bolt through and then welding it in place, I'd just drill and use a rod all the way. Always good to have things to improve though I guess. All in all, I used it Sunday to pour the front porch and it worked very well, lot faster then mixing by hand in a wheel barrow, course it was a few week detour from what I was actually trying to accomplish, haha.

 

[TZ1893]

Real quick, I got the front porch bump out poured as well. Like I said before, mixer worked out and it was a breeze.




1/2" rebar cage tied into the rest of the porch, forms are 3/4" plywood with 2x4 backing. Everything was anchored with duplex nails jammed with tie wire, easy to install/easy to remove. I made the forms as three overlapping panels, you can screw through and anchor into the 2x4 this way, combined with nails, it's a solid system. Got the conduit ran up, dumped it and have just been letting it sit so harden before I start on the wall. Thanks for checking in as always.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Despite the lack of attaboy responses, I am sure a whole lot of GJ'ers are really enjoying your posts. I really appreciate your following through to paint your rebuilt tools. Usually, once I get something so it will do the job at hand I put it to work thinking I'll get back to making it look nice. It's much nicer when everything sort of matches and follows a color theme. Keep up the great work, and thanks for posting!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Despite the lack of attaboy responses, I am sure a whole lot of GJ'ers are really enjoying your posts. I really appreciate your following through to paint your rebuilt tools. Usually, once I get something so it will do the job at hand I put it to work thinking I'll get back to making it look nice. It's much nicer when everything sort of matches and follows a color theme. Keep up the great work, and thanks for posting!

Well said..

 

[TZ1893]

Gahrajmahal - Thanks for following along, to be honest, attaboys' or not, I'm just happy to share. This website is awesome beyond words, there is such a wealth of knowledge and ideas here it's unbelievable and it's a great resource. What I'm sharing might not be as glamorous or interesting as some of the topics on here, but hell maybe someone stumbles upon it and gets an idea, or sees that it can be done by a normal dude or whatever, and it helps him/her out to try something new or get motivated. I guess that's all part of it. Anywho...stepping off the podium now haha, I like having everything painted as well, a consistent color scheme is a dream I have but I'm far from it. I hear ya though, it's hard having it all there and ready to rock, and then taking whatever apart to paint and playing the waiting game. My goal is to have it last as long as possible, finishing it out helps that I suppose.

Now back to our regularly scheduled update...

Been busy on the front porch, summer is winding down here so outside projects need to get wrapped up. Last weekend I got the block set. It's been a few years since I've laid block, and most of my experience is with goofy manholes/catch basins that we couldn't get a precast one for due to shape/time/whatever reason. So I'm by no means an expert, thankfully I was only going up three courses haha.



Overall it didn't turn out to bad, I mean not every joint is a perfect 3/8", and I did end up with a small wave in it where the post bump wraps back into the wall. I think when I tied everything it I bumped it out. BUT, it is plumb and flat across the top, I'll call it win. Before I built it, I predrilled holes for 5/8" rebar in every other core and each corner, I left them out until I had the wall built and then set them. I let the wall set up over night, and then next morning I poured the cores and set the lamp post. Also, the ladder bars I put between each course got left out about an inch so I have something to join the stone to.



Mixer worked awesome for this, one 60lb bag filled two cores so it made quick work of it.

Finally got to the fun part, with the lannon stone, for this I mixed my mud by hand in my wheelbarrow, I could've done it in the mixer, paddle mixer would've worked better, but it's also a fuss to keep it clean. With the down time between bags, it just worked out better to mix by hand.



Started on the inside for practice, worked up to the corner, then around and up. Skipped the end by the sidewalk because dumb-dumb here didn't bump the sidewalk out far enough away. Then worked my way around the front. My solution for the sidewalk end was to put a piece of 1" aluminum angle iron on the bottom to act as a shelf. Drilled four holes in it and then used nail-ins to anchor it to the wall. On this side I also cut stone into more of a veneer size pieces, so that they wouldn't stick out into the sidewalk.



For the cap, I looked into getting thicker pieces that would match the window sills, but I have all these nice flat pieces left over from the original wall. In the interest of saving a buck, I might just stick with what's pictured above. Any thoughts?

Thanks for checking in as usual everyone, and for all those following along, since the Bobcat is going to turn into more of a project then I initially intended it to be it'll be getting it's own thread. I think a lot of people on here will dig that project (no pun intended HA) so I think it's best to not bury in with everything else. Thanks again, keep ya posted.