Reorganization, it's like a renovation.

[GirlnAgarage]

Okay, I've got to ask....
If you take the top drawer out... ...will the new miter saw fit? Does the new miter saw sit at the right height for the wood to be level on the top of your work bench???? Did you have that in mind when you made the bench???

You have to understand that I probably do as much woodworking as I do "garage" stuff. A LOT of the woodworkers recess their miter saws so that long stock sits across the workbench.

Have you been talking to Rick? Did he put you up to asking me that? (Rick seems to be able to read my mind, it's uncanny)

Matter of fact it did cross my mind. It might just fit in the width. But there are several other little hurdles I'd have to clear. The full 10' top is one piece, I'd ave to cut it up (just after putting it all together). And I'll need to build in a slightly wider piece for the saw to sit in, since it's sliding.


I'm halfway tossing the idea of building a folding miter saw bench on the opposite wall. Biggest pain would be moving the saw over there when I'd need to use it.

When I wanted this saw and when I began working on the garage I didn't even think of how I'd store or mount it.

 

[mdbeck1]

Have you been talking to Rick? Did he put you up to asking me that? (Rick seems to be able to read my mind, it's uncanny)

Matter of fact it did cross my mind. It might just fit in the width. But there are several other little hurdles I'd have to clear. The full 10' top is one piece, I'd ave to cut it up (just after putting it all together). And I'll need to build in a slightly wider piece for the saw to sit in, since it's sliding.

...not reading your mind... ...and I haven't talked to Rick. I just noticed that you had that drop down in the center of the bench and wondered....

...another think I've seen done is the miter saw is mounted on a piece of plywood so that it can be pulled out... ...and other tools are mounted with the same size piece of plywood to fit in the same slot... You could store it on a shelf of your workbench when the other tool is in place.

I'm halfway tossing the idea of building a folding miter saw bench on the opposite wall. Biggest pain would be moving the saw over there when I'd need to use it.

When I wanted this saw and when I began working on the garage I didn't even think of how I'd store or mount it.

How about a fold down table on the other side of the garage (or one that the miter saw folds down???)? I think I saw some plans in one of the woodworking magazines.

Oh, and put the saw toward the door so you can cut long stock easily (put it AT LEAST 8 feet from the wall).

 

[Outlawmws]

SNIP

How about a fold down table on the other side of the garage (or one that the miter saw folds down???)? I think I saw some plans in one of the woodworking magazines.

Oh, and put the saw toward the door so you can cut long stock easily (put it AT LEAST 8 feet from the wall).

This!

You may or may not need to make it folding, but IIR you said the shelving units are going away. Make a lowered extension to the bench on the door end so you have the ability for full length extension in either direction (with a little help from one of those roller stock supports in the driveway.)

 

[Red Leader]

When I wanted this saw and when I began working on the garage I didn't even think of how I'd store or mount it.

Seeing as how I can barely get around my garage due to all the woodworking tools...one hardly ever does

 

[GirlnAgarage]

...another think I've seen done is the miter saw is mounted on a piece of plywood so that it can be pulled out... ...and other tools are mounted with the same size piece of plywood to fit in the same slot... You could store it on a shelf of your workbench when the other tool is in place.

This is my first initial thought, keep it stored on a shelf.

How about a fold down table on the other side of the garage (or one that the miter saw folds down???)? I think I saw some plans in one of the woodworking magazines.

Oh, and put the saw toward the door so you can cut long stock easily (put it AT LEAST 8 feet from the wall).

This idea is bouncing around in my head. I checked out the woodworking sites for ideas and they look pretty easy to knock out.

This!

You may or may not need to make it folding, but IIR you said the shelving units are going away. Make a lowered extension to the bench on the door end so you have the ability for full length extension in either direction (with a little help from one of those roller stock supports in the driveway.)

Yup, the Rubbermaids are going away. Three of them are suppose to go out the door tonight. Put them on CL, but the last couple of days were spent doing the CL dance. I swear, technology and instant communication has completely enabled the bad manner of not keeping ones word or commitment.

If I go with a bench on the opposite wall I'm gonna need to go with a folding top. DHs car will be pulling in on that side. The narrower I make it the less reason he has to park wider into my half. I'll be keeping him honest with my small bench in the middle of the garage

Seeing as how I can barely get around my garage due to all the woodworking tools...one hardly ever does

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Worked on building an overhead storage rack for the pvc pipes taking up space. I even used my new saw. It was nice. Easy to use. Smooth. Not as loud as my circ saw. Except for the fact that the saw would not cut a perfectly straight 90* miter cut (0*). I tried adjusting the fence, but it only moves front to back, not in any kind of arc around the table. Even tried adjusting the table. Thought I got it close. Then I tried a sliding cut and got this.

Think the thing is not square?

I'm kinda miffed a $300 saw looks like it has a QC problem. What should I do next?

 

[Outlawmws]

Girl, there is setting the gauge to 0 deg, and calibrating the saw to 0 deg. Two different things...

Take a shot or three of the back hinge assembly, and I'm betting there will be a couple of set screws to adjust. This should have been listed in the "Do this first" section of the instructions (I know, I know "instructions"? )

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Can do you one better, here's the parts diagram

http://www.evolutionpowertools.co.uk/us_parts_pdfs/rage3.pdf


Good call about calibrating for 0*. I did actually do that. But that didn't solved the problem. The issue doesn't seem to be the base-to-table but rather the head-to-table. And that isn't looking like it's adjustable.

To get to the three mounting bolts that holds the head to the table I have to remove a shroud. But one of the bolts to remove the shroud has a cast piece blocking the bolt. Looks like to prevent folks removing it

 

[Outlawmws]

There should be something roughly adjustable between these three interfaces. the pic had too much shiny black for me to tell much from that unfortunately.

If not, I'd return it as defective.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Yup, that's exactly what the pic is. What isn't in the diagram is the shroud. It sits directly on top of #44. That's what is in the pic.

I'll be calling the tech line in the morning. Love the saw, but this is annoying.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I'm an idiot. If I tilt the head I have access to the bolt :tard: Gonna see if I can get this thing straight.

Oh, last night the CL buyer who wanted the shelves was able to meet. So got three of those out of the way. The fourth is on the verge. Think I'm gonna clean up the stationary bike and get that listed too. Really, we just need to have a garage sale. A lot of individual things popping up that would make decent driveway clutter for some cash.

 

[nkachur]

That bolt only adjusts true zero when tilting the blade. To correct this problem there is probably an adjustment in the piece that the parallel bars move thru. I would go thru the manual or get a hold of customer service as this should have been adjusted prior to packaging at the factory.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Got it taken care of http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131378

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Sold that 4x4 piece of leftover 16ga. It was taking up good space and I had no immediate plans for it. I kept a few smaller pieces for a random project. But really, for smaller items I'll be using lighter gauge. Couple that with what I got for the shelves, made $90 on CL this week. Not bad walking around change

Need to hang the overhead cubby storage I cobbled together. Then I'll clear a little bit more. Nice to see steps in the garage looking like progress.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Mounted the overhead rack this afternoon. It was a little tricky but it's up. PVC pipes are off the floor and put away.

Going up here

Using this scrap stuff taking up space on the floor

I seem to have misplaced the pic of the framed out rack

My jig to hold up the rack while I drill holes and screw it to the studs

Up and done

One of my signs that'll go up. So true.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nice little materials rack!

Girl, I see some potential wasted space you may be able to use. You have a bit of space just above that rolling garage door at the front of the garage. hang some fairly heavy ply from, maybe 2X6's under hung, and you should be able to use that for sheet stock? Sort of a wide flat U shape.

ps: I like the poster!

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Nice little materials rack!

Girl, I see some potential wasted space you may be able to use. You have a bit of space just above that rolling garage door at the front of the garage. hang some fairly heavy ply from, maybe 2X6's under hung, and you should be able to use that for sheet stock? Sort of a wide flat U shape.

ps: I like the poster!

Thanks! You're right about the space there over the garage door. I think that's the next area I may target. I've got a thread going on car ramp storage and I'm considering putting them up there. My biggest concern is the room I have to work with. My ceiling is an 8'er..actually about 8'3" and the door frame is about 7' IIRC. So, the frame I build up there I need to build with the narrowest lumber I can, maybe a 2x2 or a wider 1x. Don't want to lose valuable room in the framing, but I need the frame to be strong. What do you think?

 

[rbgearz]

You could use some angle iron. Strong but doesn't need alot of space.

 

[Outlawmws]

That was why I was thinking the under hung idea, but rbgearz idea with the angle angle is also a good thought. some old bed framing lengthwise and the same cross wise, and you would only lose about and inch and a half, and it could be skinned with even some old plywood paneling. total thickness, maybe 1-3/4"? use the same style strapping as the garage door is hung with. Quick little welding job.

 

[tinbender 66]

That hold-up-the-rack jig looks exactly like something I would do..

Seriously........Nice job. The closer I get to the south end of my garage the more I need to think about similar storage options. It's a mess down there.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

That hold-up-the-rack jig looks exactly like something I would do..

Seriously........Nice job. The closer I get to the south end of my garage the more I need to think about similar storage options. It's a mess down there.

Up in that corner it's really easy to get stuff up and forgotten about, which is really nice. I didn't realize how nice until I look up there and think "Oh yeah, stuff I'll need sometime but ain't in the way now"

Next pile of stuff I'll get hidden will be the scrap metal on the floor. I figured I'll build a wide but shallow roll out drawer to fit under each side of the workbench. It'll be something similar to the ones in the pic. They won't be as tall as I only have 6.75" total height to play with. But I can easily store all those small scraps in that unused space.

Also I think I'll go ahead and fab up some garage door overhead strorage. It too will be shallow and wide with only 8.5" to play with. I plan to store all my creepers (cardboard boxes) up there and out of the way.




Got the DP in it's place. I will have to stabilize in the near future. If you look close you can see the shims I stuck under it. There is a high ridge in the floor and won't let the base sit level

I got DH started on a project of his own: turn the failed upstairs office/guest room into whatever room you want. We just talked about it yesterday afternoon and he's already got it dimensioned out and the furniture picked out (I'm impressed at his selections too). Now THE BEST part, he's been up there cleaning it out Who says women don't know what they're doing

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Decided it was time to start running the new outlets. Got my plan started here om the thread EMT surface mount outlet plan.

Got the city permit on Friday and picked up the supplies today. I'm running on a 20A circuit. Grabbed the industrial/commercial receptacles. I liked the gray plus I think they'll hold up better in the garage.

Now shown is all the wiring, fittings, conduit and tools. Bench is a mess right now. It's a little tough to work in the garage after it gets dark outside. I really need to get new lights installed asap.

First step in getting the new outlets in is mounting all the boxes and conduit. Starting with the ceiling outlet.

I planned to install a 4x4 extension box with a GFCI outlet. From here the protection would run to the rest of the outlets in the circuit. The first problem I run into is the original gang box in the ceiling is cramped with the installation of the garage door motor support. A 4x4 box won't fit. Instead I installed a 4x2 extension box. I backed it with a mud ring since the drywall was cut generously which left a very noticeable gap between it and the box. I thought an inspector would surely ding me for it.

Extension box not installed but you can see the gap on the original box. It is the same gap.

Here's the mud ring and extension box installed

I hope this is ok. Tomorrow I'll continue working. I need DH to hold up the conduit along the ceiling while I mark the lengths to make my cuts. Then it's verticals, boxes and horizontal runs. I'm not rushing as I'm not certain how I should put the pieces together between, the conduit, fittings and boxes. I want to make sure I don't end up installing a piece just to remove it to get another piece in place.

 

[Outlawmws]

Is that a cut hole in the plate you are using to adapt the box on? That may not fly with the inspectors. (raw cut edge can chafe the wire insulation)

You can get a 4x4 box that has a 2X4 box opening for it on the back, if needed you can also get a short 2X4 extension box. The mudding gap should not matter to the Electrical inspectors.

When I did my garage (also in conduit) I put two boxes on the rafters and put in them a single twist lock receptical. then I made up 2 short "extensions" the had a box on one end with std duplex receptical, and a twist lock plug on the other for the ceiling boxes.

These were positioned so one was on each side of the race car I had back then. These are still the most used outlets in my garage, as one is within arms reach of my vise, and the other has my welder and another extension cord with a 4x4 box hung on my welding cart.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I planned a 4x4 box.

But looked again and got this - no room for a 4x4 box

So I tried a 4x2 instead. But that gap looked pretty ugly.

I thought maybe I can close the gap with the original plan of the 4x4 mud ring (that was to support the 4x4 box), which brought me to this

I took everything down as I'm still messing with it. Not sure which way I can go with this. I'm not real happy as it's the very first piece I need to get sorted before I can move along. This house makes simple projects frustrating.

 

[Outlawmws]

Ah, I see now, I didn't realize the plate had an open hole for the box face. That should be fine.

Is the Garage door opener on a dedicated circuit? Is the circuit breaker 20A?

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Ah, I see now, I didn't realize the plate had an open hole for the box face. That should be fine.

Is the Garage door opener on a dedicated circuit? Is the circuit breaker 20A?

Yup, 20A circuit. Right now the gdoor is the only thing on it. I asked the guy at the city office if doors are required to be on their own circuit and he said no in the 'that's a dumb question' tone. I didn't think it was that dumb a question. I've read other municipalities across the country do require it.

 

[Bob Heine]

Extension box not installed but you can see the gap on the original box. It is the same gap.

Hi Girl,

Your solution looks fine but if it really bugs you, it should be reasonably simple to replace your single-gang box with a 2-gang box. Based on the bolt locations on the garage door motor mount, your rafter should be on that side of the installed box (opposite the gap).

I can't actually see the mounting method on the original box but it looks like the standard blue plastic contractor unit that nails to the rafter from the side.

The other popular mounting method is nailed to the face, through a flange on the face of the rafter.

If you want a square box in there, you should be able to hacksaw the mount off the original box. Once you have the old box out, you can carefully cut the sheetrock for a 2-gang old work box and have one of these fit more tightly.

 

[ChristopherLutz]

Girl,

Love the whole thread and, thank you for the pictures, posting and explanations along the way - enjoyable to read and educational.

I must admit, I don't totally follow the 4x4 commentary.

Are you looking to put in 4 plugs or 8? The solution you've documented looks like one outlet (with two plugs).

FWIW - I don't think your dedicated circuit question for the doors is dumb at all. Mine are on dedicated and I've expanded the box to more outlets because most of the time it gives me yet another dedicated circuit in the garage. (meaning, the only time it's not is while the door is in use).

So - I hung a retractable extension cord from the ceiling and now have a 20amp (mostly dedicated) extension cord.

I sure like the look of surface mount electrical in the garage.....I have a bunch going to added flourescent lights.

Good luck.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Bob, read over your suggestions and I'm going to act on it. Heading over to Lowes now to grab a 2gang box. Got my list, hope they've got the parts. Last night I received some good suggestions from machine punk about relocating the gdoor brackets. It makes good sense. Got up this morning wit the intent to run over and grab new brackets then ran into your post. What I like is that it keeps the projects in the electrical mode. I don't have to mentally switch gears. Granted its not a huge switch but I'm already getting irritated running into roadblocks. Like I said in my other thread it's frustrating to fix another thing in order to work on an intended project I just wanted outlets


Christopher, appreciate your time on my thread. You're across the lake from us. Small world

I'm planning the ceiling receptacle to remain a duplex (2 plugs). It will be a GFCI outlet. By using a 4x4 sized box I will have adequate room for 1incoming wire set and 2 outgoing wire sets, plus the pigtails needed for the connection.

When I say 4x4 I am referring to the size of the electrical box 4" by 4". The 4x4 fits 4 plug, the 4x2 fits 2. The covers of a 4x4 box come in several variations. One of which is a single GFCI receptacle.

Ok, I'm off to the store.

 

[luvit]

.
i've out of this thread for a long time.
these look so awesome!

mirar los cajones!

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Today I finished installing my outlets. My fingers hurt and I got skinned up knuckles but everything works I'll call tomorrow to schedule my inspection.


After spinning my wheels at the first box, I moved it over with a 4x4 deep. Now I could start laying conduit down the line

How one person with one arm jigs it up

Don't have picture but for the other side I used the extension ladder with a couple of wood blocks on the top rung.

Went down the line and got here. You might be able to spot my mistake. I didn't catch it yet

Start pushing wire. Was pretty easy on these straight runs

Estimated how much wire right on the nose. What you see dangling there was perfect for the outlet pigtails

I then wired the end receptacles. For some dumb reason I got the handy boxes that I was told NOT to get. Wired the first outlet and tried to put the cover on and the back of the outlet hit the inside edge of the offset coupling. I knew it as soon as I did that.

Called it a day. I got no sleep that night as my brain worked on that mistake all. night. long. Got up the next day, got the proper boxes. I go to grab new outlet covers and there are only two in the box Roll over to another store and got the final two covers. I came hoe and immediately pulled off the handy boxes and got to work. In the process of rehanging the boxes I had to cut off another 1/2" or so of conduit. Up until this point I was using a hack saw. That took forever. Why am I not using my awesome new saw for this? Well, the clamping system on it ***** and wouldn't secure the conduit. The saw blade would grab the conduit and pull it up and jam in the blade. It was crazy the first time it happened.

Anyway I finally got smart. Used square tubing and angle iron to secure the conduit. Worked like a charm

Now I'm thinking.


I pulled the conduit off the walls and quickly made my cuts. Put the wiring back in, secured and wired it up. Much better.

Next day I took on wiring the ceiling outlet. Here's my GFCI connection. I temporarily secured the outlet to the box via zip ties. Working overhead with one hand means dropping things, a lot. Wasn't going to 1) chance breaking the outlet and 2) hassle with it. You'll notice the tape and zip ties holding the wires together for twisting.

Worked well enough to get it done

I pigtailed the remaining outlets

The final two hurdles look like this. They were a PILL to get wired. Twisting 5 wires of 12ga is just a nightmare.

But it got done

Feels good, but kind of surreal to get this done. I cleaned up the garage. Looked like a tornado struck. I had to use the shopvac and I plugged it into an outlet on the wall. It felt weird using it a different way. No orange extension cord. Which outlet should I choose??

 

[Jack Olsen]

Looks great! Every time I see those drawers, I'm impressed all over again.

And electrical work is hard -- but you'll never regret having the improved service.

 

[psychobillycadillac]

Jack's right electrical is hard work. Especially when running inside conduit. Always seems theres never enough room for the hands to work in. Its looking great so far. I especially like the green stripe and the drawers on the bench.

 

[Outlawmws]

Looks good Girl! Question: Does your local code require a separate ground wire in Conduit? Here the conduit is your ground, and I only have to pull 2 wires, white and black.

BTW they make a tool called a wire fish. You feed it through the conduit, attach the wires through a long loop it has, and tape on, and then pull the wire through with it. (I know, why am I telling you this AFTER you are done?)

 

[ChristopherLutz]

Girl - turned out very nice. (Super Clean)

I'm curious about the ground fault recepticle. In your shopping/research did you discover some were of better quality? Our house trips them ALL the time and I can't really figure out why.

In fact, my wife's hair dryer trips it in our bathroom.

Our house is about 10 years old. Being that new, I'm thinking it could be:

- crappy builder grade products (we're now replacing lots of things due to low quality)
- incorrect wiring (the plug in tester shows "ok")
- something else?

Anyway - the surface mount stuff looks fantastic, I thought the tape/zip tie idea on the twists was genius.

Thanks for documenting

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Looks great! Every time I see those drawers, I'm impressed all over again.

And electrical work is hard -- but you'll never regret having the improved service.

Thanks Jack It's a freeing feeling. I don't have to keep my power tools attached the one front wall outlet. No more tripping over the orange extension cord that never gets put away because it is always plugged in. Now there's power in the corner of the garage I need to work at.

Jack's right electrical is hard work. Especially when running inside conduit. Always seems theres never enough room for the hands to work in. Its looking great so far. I especially like the green stripe and the drawers on the bench.

Electrical definitely is hard work. In the middle of making connections I couldn't hep but think of the electricians who do this for a living. I have a lot of respect for those guys.

Looks good Girl! Question: Does your local code require a separate ground wire in Conduit? Here the conduit is your ground, and I only have to pull 2 wires, white and black.

BTW they make a tool called a wire fish. You feed it through the conduit, attach the wires through a long loop it has, and tape on, and then pull the wire through with it. (I know, why am I telling you this AFTER you are done?)

Thanks buddy! I don't remember or *think* it was required by 2005 NEC (which is what our city goes by), but I ran a ground anyway. For my own peace of mind. I figured rather be safe than sorry.

I found pushing wire wasn't bad at all with my layout. I got the fish line because I didn't want to regret not getting it. But it was a little difficult for me to work with one hand. I started pushing the wire and it went without a fight. I do appreciate you telling me though. What if I didn't know?

Girl - turned out very nice. (Super Clean)

I'm curious about the ground fault recepticle. In your shopping/research did you discover some were of better quality? Our house trips them ALL the time and I can't really figure out why.

In fact, my wife's hair dryer trips it in our bathroom.

Our house is about 10 years old. Being that new, I'm thinking it could be:

- crappy builder grade products (we're now replacing lots of things due to low quality)
- incorrect wiring (the plug in tester shows "ok")
- something else?

Anyway - the surface mount stuff looks fantastic, I thought the tape/zip tie idea on the twists was genius.

Thanks for documenting

Thanks CL. For the GFCI I didn't do much research really. These are Cooper brand industrial outlets from Lowes. I thought I"d make that small jump from the regular residential outlets.

About the hair dryer tripping the GFCI, mine does that a lot too. Our house was built in '85 and then updated some time in the mid 90s when a subpanel was installed (that's when the GFCIs went we think). I don't know if tripping GFCIs is inherent to hair dryers or if the circuit itself is heavily trafficked as it runs through the house. I did learn that GFCI outlets do wear out. If you get one that you can't reset, it may be the outlet itself that needs replacing, if the rest of the wiring checks out (no shorts in the circuit). The ccrappy builder theory is a very viable possibility. If your house was built in the boom of the last 10 years it could be. Workers were trying to get things up as fast as possible - quality, fast and cheap - you don't get all three. We're in a similar boat, cleaning up after the POs and/or builders. Seems like there is always a surprised. We cannot wait to build. We intend to be in a financial position so we can tell our contractor, "We'll be up your ****, but we'll pay you well" Hopefully your outlet might just need replacing. Connections get loose with use, especially if they're back wired. The prongs constantly moving the metal in there creates the condition.




Gave the inspector's office a call and left my message for request for the P.M. part of the day. Now I'm nervous. To relax I think I'll make a nice plate of eggs, bacon and tortillas. That'll help.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Got my green ticket - outlets done!

 

[Outlawmws]

Got my green ticket - outlets done!

 

[GirlnAgarage]

You can say that again!


Since getting the bench done and my tools sorted there's a different feel walking into the garage. Things have a place. I have work space. With the outlets done it's feeling a lot closer to the reorganization I had hoped. Now it's feeling like a space I can work in rather than the space I have to work on. Almost close to parking DHs car too (the original goal)

 

[ChristopherLutz]

So...now that you have a place to work - what kind of cool projects are you going to tackle?