Something just clicked…..

[Strouty]

I guess things are OK, so far the shop is still here.

It is noticeably cooler, but that is expected earlier in the morning. I will have to see how it does as the day progresses. It was cooler in the shop than my office that had the AC set to 74, so I guess that is progress.

 

[dlcwent]

I guess things are OK, so far the shop is still here.

It is noticeably cooler, but that is expected earlier in the morning. I will have to see how it does as the day progresses. It was cooler in the shop than my office that had the AC set to 74, so I guess that is progress.

I'm thinking about leaving the overhead doors closed today, at least until the sea breeze kicks in.

 

[Strouty]

I would be waiting a long time for a sea breeze. I checked the thermostat and it said 73, outside is low 60s so I opened up the door, I have a few hours of cool air. It flows very nice with the fans going!

Over the last few months I have been trying to figure out how I am going to reorganize all my cabinets and storage. I talked with Joe from Motorhead Extraordinaire about the options from Lista, Ryan actually posted about his Lista Storage Wall and that is where I think I am headed. Joe did a few renderings of what it would look like, I was thinking about the bench, but now I think I would be better off with the shallower shelves next to the deep ones. Just so you know I can't go with deep shelves the entire way, I have to leave clearance for my electrical panel. Here is the area it would be going, basically from the blue cabinet to the wall where the panel is. He did a generic configuration, not sure how I will set things up yet. The best part is it allows me to use my existing lista drawers as well as the newer style ones. You can adjust the shelves to your liking and they have roll out shelves that hold 440 pounds. The entire unit is like small pallet racking, very modular and that is how I like things.







I would be selling the beige cabinet to my father, the blue one would become drawers for the new unit and another cabinet that I have would also go into it as more drawers. I would also be selling my blue card file cabinets and my gray rotabin. He wants the big green vidmar, but I think it would be nice to keep, I would put it under the pallet racking in place of the small gray cabinet and the rotabin.

 

[Strouty]

I just called the freight company and my zoro orders are out for delivery this morning. Supposed to be the first stop, so who knows. It will be nice to get it over and done with, then I can get on with the rest of my day. I was going to order some more steel, but the guy who gets me deals is on vacation for the week, the nerve of some people!

 

[bczygan]

This thread is inspirational.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks Bill, I would not have started it without your threads. I think of you and how much work you put in, then I realize I have it easy.

 

[bczygan]

Thanks Bill, I would not have started it without your threads. I think of you and how much work you put in, then I realize I have it easy.

Au contraire Pierre, You are the one to amaze me with the scope of your work.

Been catching up with reading the thread the last couple of days, and you have made so very much progress, through the blood (Real blood) and heat.

And it has re-inspired me to keep beginning again, every day.

Strouty, It's what you do.

You just keep forging ahead.

I'm taking a page out of your book.

It's hot and humid here today, but I've already emptied the E350 Econoline van and taken it up to the shop to be looked at.

Now I'm going to do some work in the yard, even though it's supposed to rain. I can work around it and come in to do things when the rain comes.

Recently we got a nice cast aluminum patio set. I just set it up.

I'm going to reorganize the auto supplies shed and take all the woodworking things and get them in one place.

Then I'm going to gather all the camping supplies for a soon to happen camping trip.

You've given me the idea that I can do it.

Bill

 

[Strouty]

Bill, I know you can do it. It even sounds like you have Julie on board (for the most part), a nice camping trip is always a good way to reflect and relax.

I just got my zoro order unloaded, in the process of making a mess right now, except this is like a Christmas, except hotter.

I figured it would be heavy, but the air conditioner is REALLY heavy. I may sidetrack my plans for this evening and have my buddy help me install the AC. I need to get an outlet and the proper wire, so I can see an early afternoon errand run. The shop is doing well with the fans going full blast, but it is still humid and that drags on me. I keep sneaking to the office, today I got smart and set the AC in there higher so it doesn't feel quite as good, that way I get back to work sooner.

 

[Strouty]

Christmas has been ruined, well not totally, but there was damage to two items and I did not find out until after they left. I even investigated some of the torn cardboard, but until you took it all off, the damage was not obvious because of the sun's glare. Now I have to hang out and wait for the shipper to pick up one of the knaack boxes. I am unpacking the air conditioner now. Looks like I can use the old 30 Amp circuit fro my lift, I will tap into the box and use it as a junction to continue on to the wall with the AC in it. I do need to go and pick up an outlet, but the local place should have one. The floors are starting to get damp, so I know it is humid!

 

[Strouty]

Got the wire and the outlet for the 30 amp 230 volt plug, now the only problem is my motivation has left the building. I may end up having to resort to a 5 hour energy, hate to do it, but I have help tonight and getting the AC in will make everything better, much better.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: since you have a little office at the shop do you have running water? reason i'm asking is if you can put in a sink maybe you can buy a blender and make a protein or veggie shake to get a little more bounce in your step for late night work.

Congrats on wiring up the fans and good luck on getting the AC hooked up tonight.

good luck

 

[Strouty]

Drives: I am still working on water, at some point I will have a sink working, so it is a possibility. I do have a fridge and microwave and that helps, but running water is going to be a big upgrade. The tank that I was setting up for pressure washing will be for everything, I plan on collecting rain water and I will probably try and drill my own well, the water table appears to be fairly high and stays that way.

My buddy came over and while I was working on the air conditioner he took a look at my old volvo 940 wagon, as the magic 8 ball says outlook does not look good. I had essentially sold the car and was supposed to take payments, well after 8 months with no payments the guy tells me that the car doesn't run anymore and that he can't pay me. Luckily it was not a big confrontation, he just had me take the car back. Well the car had been trashed (he smokes and I don't), the windshield was broken, and it acted like the timing belt was broken (non interference motor, so this is OK). Well we found out today that the timing belt is not broken, but it appears that the car was run so hot that the engine lost compression. Basically the engine is junk, so now I need to decide what to do with it, I have a spare motor, but no real spare time. I can part it out, but again no spare time, it is worth nothing in scrap and it has about $1000 in new parts installed. I am putting it on the back burner for now, I don't need to decide until the snow gets closer and the non running car becomes an issue.

 

[Strouty]

Now for the fun parts! The AC is installed and working although I am going to shut it down for the night. So far very impressive, quiet and blows tons of cold air. I still need to fish wires and install an actual outlet, but at least I can get the shop cooled down a bit (well dehumidified at least).

Oh and I accidentally found a 50 amp 240 volt line in the wall, it was not where I thought it was going to be. So I also have to add a junction box and some new wire for that as well.

Earlier in the day I had started working on wiring up my T5HO light fixtures, I am getting tired of tripping over them. Here are a few pictures from various points in the day.

 

[rmalkow2]

Geez, water pump installed, AC working, lights going up. I have not made that much progress in my garage in months. Now I'm getting jealous of the progress. Keep up the good work.

 

[Strouty]

Thank you for the kudos.

Technically the water pump isn't fully functional yet, I did shorten up the garden hose today, so it should be all clear for take off. Tomorrow I need to finish and fix the electrical for the AC and the welder, I know if I don't it will stay that way for too long. Maybe after lunch I can get the pressure washer fired up. Probably won't get the compressor tank done, because I need to set up the crane for that. Who knows what will happen, I have ten things going at once, but I am seeing forward progress so far in almost all directions (a bit slow at times, but no one is perfect).

Another friend is supposed to come down later this week and drop off some steel for me, then I am selling him some I beams and maybe some other stuff. I would like to get the batteries out of the 5 ton and see if any are good. If two of them are still good, then I can rework the cables to make do, if not I am going to find a couple used batteries to at least get it starting without a boost every time. I am curious to see if my new booster pack has enough nut to start it without any batteries, according to the specs it should do it, but real world can be different.

I also had a great idea for the new 100' cord reel (I will post pictures tomorrow of all the stuff from zoro), I am going to put it outside in an enclosure of some sort, but the cool part is what I think I can do. I want to set it up so it is on a big hinge that will allow it to sit flat in the enclosure, then pivot out so it is easy to get to the side yard, but I also want the hinge to allow the reel to pivot around the corner of the building, that way I can use it out front as well. I have an image in my head of how it will work, I need to do a bit of drawing to see if it will work.

Anyways I am getting to worked up and may never fall asleep now, it has been a long day as I was up a bit after 4 AM. Have a good night guys.

 

[dlcwent]

Looks like you got a few things done yesterday despite the heat. Too bad about the unseen damage. I hate it when that happens.

When are you expecting to be up this way again?

 

[Strouty]

Still waiting on parts from Italy.

 

[Strouty]

I went to the electrical supply house this morning and picked up what I need to finish the wiring and fix my mess up. UPS freight is supposed to come by this afternoon to retrieve the damaged Knaack box. One of my customers has approval for a second tower, so I have more work! Hopefully I will also be ordering my lista storage wall today, but I have to wait a month for that, still excited about it.

Maybe I can even get a light hung up so I can see how well they work and start figuring my layout. I do need to shuffle things around outside, so maybe the pressure washer can be officially tested as well.

 

[nine4gmc]

Waiting on some fine Italian marble for the floors?

 

[Strouty]

Waiting on some fine Italian marble for the floors?

Fine Italian antenna parts.

Marble would be way too slippery.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: nice work on the AC. also happy to hear you found a 50 amp 240 power to solve that need.

just curious on the holes you drilled in the metal siding. did you use a hole saw or a greenlee punch?

good news on the second tower at the same location. do you do the entire build or are you the general and sub out some of the work?

sorry to hear about the Volvo, but at least you know what the issues are now.

good luck and keep up the great progress

 

[Strouty]

Drives, the holes were done with a hole saw, it is only aluminum so no big deal. I have never punched on anything corrugated, I would think it would either mess up the metal or jam the punch.

I think you misunderstood what I was talking about, I "found" a 240 volt wire in the wall with a sawzall, now I have to repair the carnage.

As for the tower, I am going to excavate for the foundations, form them up, pour the concrete, then install the tower, antennas, and coax.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: i thought you did it with a hole saw, but since your siding is corrugated i didn't think a hole saw was easy.

i didn't see the wire hanging in a picture so your joke went over my head. did you get shocked?

 

[Strouty]

Just a little bit of a pyrotechnic show. The blade took it the hardest, the breaker did its job and I got lucky. The wire was on the opposite side of the stud bay, next time I will drill a few more holes first to investigate better.

 

[1/2 Cup]

That's a close shave Strouty, you wont know yourself with your new A/C.

 

[Strouty]

The funny part is when I turned it on this morning, it was in the economy mode and really wasn't doing anything much. I just switched it to "cool" mode and now it is really feeling good. I have to drill a hole through my top plate to fish the new wire down, then I have to open up the wall a bit to fix the 50 amp outlet for the welder. I may order a smaller through wall unit for my office, there was a nice 10k with heat option that would be nice as an all in one unit. I just don't know how effective the heat pump is, but I still may give it a shot.

 

[Strouty]

I just got the latest renderings for the lista storage wall, I won't have as many drawers to start out with, but I can add them later as I need them. I t looks like it will work really well, the tops are just under 7' so they will be another usable shelf.

 

[cat06]

The funny part is when I turned it on this morning, it was in the economy mode and really wasn't doing anything much. I just switched it to "cool" mode and now it is really feeling good. I have to drill a hole through my top plate to fish the new wire down, then I have to open up the wall a bit to fix the 50 amp outlet for the welder. I may order a smaller through wall unit for my office, there was a nice 10k with heat option that would be nice as an all in one unit. I just don't know how effective the heat pump is, but I still may give it a shot.

The heat /ac unit I have works real well. some of the new models you can set to a degrees like in your home. mine is older and to know the temp you need a thermometer.

 

[nine4gmc]

Nothing like a good shock in the evening to get motivated!!

 

[Trey T]

Those lista shelve style cabinets are awesome-looking; that's the way to do it!! Are you ordering the cabinets from Joe?

 

[Strouty]

The heat /ac unit I have works real well. some of the new models you can set to a degrees like in your home. mine is older and to know the temp you need a thermometer.

That is good to know, I don't mind being a guinea pig once in a while. I figure it may not work in the crazy cold temps, but I can always use my little oil filled radiator style that has done its job for the last several years.



The one thing I will say is when I start to revamp the walls and trusses I am going to move over to surface mount electrical. I only need to run the wire 10' in the wall, yet I found two extra 2x4s that I had to cut the drywall open and drill holes through. I also have plywood behind the drywall, so that makes things a bit complicated, at least until it is time to fix the drywall, then it will be easy and strong, but I am not replacing the plywood that I have removed, that is where I draw the line.

 

[Strouty]

I got the AC working on the permanent circuit (is anything ever really permanent?) and almost finished with the 50 amp circuit. In the middle of all of this UPS freight showed up to pick up the damaged knaack box, so that is done too. I am going to finish this up and head home, this took twice as long as anticipated, I am glad it is almost done.

 

[Strouty]

I buttoned things up and I decided to leave the AC running on econ mode all night. I just want to see how it feels in there in the morning.

 

[mdbeck1]

Thank you for the kudos.

Technically the water pump isn't fully functional yet, I did shorten up the garden hose today, so it should be all clear for take off. Tomorrow I need to finish and fix the electrical for the AC and the welder, I know if I don't it will stay that way for too long. Maybe after lunch I can get the pressure washer fired up. Probably won't get the compressor tank done, because I need to set up the crane for that. Who knows what will happen, I have ten things going at once, but I am seeing forward progress so far in almost all directions (a bit slow at times, but no one is perfect).

Another friend is supposed to come down later this week and drop off some steel for me, then I am selling him some I beams and maybe some other stuff. I would like to get the batteries out of the 5 ton and see if any are good. If two of them are still good, then I can rework the cables to make do, if not I am going to find a couple used batteries to at least get it starting without a boost every time. I am curious to see if my new booster pack has enough nut to start it without any batteries, according to the specs it should do it, but real world can be different.

I also had a great idea for the new 100' cord reel (I will post pictures tomorrow of all the stuff from zoro), I am going to put it outside in an enclosure of some sort, but the cool part is what I think I can do. I want to set it up so it is on a big hinge that will allow it to sit flat in the enclosure, then pivot out so it is easy to get to the side yard, but I also want the hinge to allow the reel to pivot around the corner of the building, that way I can use it out front as well. I have an image in my head of how it will work, I need to do a bit of drawing to see if it will work.

Anyways I am getting to worked up and may never fall asleep now, it has been a long day as I was up a bit after 4 AM. Have a good night guys.

Hmmm...

This looks kind of like you're avoiding finishing the pressure washer, which is keeping you from finishing the compressor, which is keeping you from finishing the ......

Remember that the goal a short time ago was to FINISH the compressor. It will make assembly/disassembly much faster (impact wrench). That will speed up a lot of other operations.


Oh, and if you're going to set up power outside to run the battery charger you might THINK about putting compressed air out there as well. It comes in handy when airing up tires and taking stuff apart.

 

[Strouty]

My goals changed when the temps and humidity started rising (adjusting priorities is allowed, right?), so the only thing I am avoiding is the heat, or at least trying to make it so I can avoid it.

Compressor is still high up there on the list, but tomorrow and Thursday I am out most of the day to make some money. My real goal should have been "to become more productive" and I am achieving that for sure. I also totally agree that once the compressor is done, a lot of other things will become easier for sure (like being able to use the plasma cutter again!). Adding exterior air would be a good idea, right now I am going to have to use the current setup (can go about 40' out the front doors), as the shop gets revamped and I put the compressor in the final location, then I will plumb exterior air. I have big plans, but I really do not know what my timeframe is because my work schedule is erratic and I really don't know how long it will take to do certain upgrades. Once I get the building drawn up and have the engineer design things, then I think I may be able to figure better timelines and placement of things. I should just draw up a rough design to show you guys what my plan is.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: how was the temp in the shop this morning since you had the AC on low all night? those Lista cabs would solve anybody's storage issues so if you do get them i sure hope you don't have to deal with the scratch and dent shipping guys that seem to show up at your shop often lately.

have a great day and the progress you are making is inspiring me too.

cheers

 

[Strouty]

Drives, it was awesome this morning. The AC definitely did its job, I had it set at 75, but I may drop it down a bit to see how it handles it. Yesterday the shop thermostat never went above 78, but I had the AC unplugged a bunch while doing the final steps of the wiring. I am supposed to be helping a buddy this afternoon, so I won't be able to give it a good test. Friday may be when I can really try it, I should be here earlier and all day.

The lista cabinets are very nice and if the shipper scratches or dents them, I will have no one to blame but me. I will be picking them up in Massachusetts when the order is ready. I feel it is a good system to invest in because of the flexibility it will offer. When I rearrange the shop, these cabinets will be moved, but they will be the core of my stockroom. I am probably going to get more of them later as they offer much taller units, so I can go almost to the ceiling with them.

 

[Strouty]

I ordered the lista storage wall this morning, now I have to wait a month. Not fun, but it should be worth it.

Just for mdbeck1 I am going to try and finish up the pressure washer setup today. Of course I added to the list when I bought a 50' hose reel for it. That part can wait for a bit, I just need to be able to use it for the time being.

I also found out today that the boat deal is most likely not going to happen, so I am back to square one with that as well. I am starting a mental list of winter projects that I can do to make money in the spring, getting the boat trailer back together and getting the boat running is one of them, I just don't know if I want to do it. Back burner for now, reassessment in a month.

 

[nine4gmc]

Eh, fix the boat(Break Out Another Thousand) when it cools off some and sell that hole in the water come spring!! You can do it, don't let it sit there and depreciate.

Anything big happening today over here?

 

[Strouty]

Nothing yet, I am working on cleaning up the remnants of yesterdays projects. Putting a list together of stuff I will need to fix the holes in the wall. Now that the AC is working, I really don't want to go outside.