Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The 12-Gauge Garage

[Jack Olsen]

I've looked at those, and my gut reaction (which is certainly not expert in any way) was that they'd only really be useful if they happened to be positioned exactly above where the fire breaks out, and if the fire happened to put up enough heat straight above it to trigger them.

I'd rather see something that works without my having to guess where the fire is going to break out. But that might not exist at any kind of reasonable price point.

 

[reinhardt]

wow, after reading that thread on fire extinguishers i ran out and hired a full time fireman. ok, maybe i made that up.

ben

 

[Bad Karma]

would it not be better to get those valve and plumb them into a continuous water supply (like in comercial buildings). I dont see those completely stopping a fire, just slowing it down...

Fire is my biggest fear in my garage especially since the garage is attached to the house.

 

[markviii]

Referring back to our 1930's thread when responding to questions has become a bit difficult for us as well. The index (and test!) is in the works. The fire extinguisher discussion/pictures started on pg. 85, post #1689. Warg from Sweden responded because he had just gone through some fire safety training.

Jack--You're thread is on my 'favorites' list, as well.

Chris

 

[darkbuddha]

The 1930s Garage is one of my favorites -- but nowadays it's become a big book without an index or table of contents.

I was just gonna say, you might start indexing yours too. I've read and follow every update on your garage now, but for new folks, and for referring others to specific stuff in your garage, it would be very nice to have an index rather than searching through 31 pages (now!).

 

[Jack Olsen]

You're probably right. My thread is a pamphlet, compared to the 1930s Shop's thread. But I could put links on page one to some of the salient sections of the thread.

 

[SpeedCoach]

Jack -

I've seen you make mention of using aluminum flashing around your welding/grinding stations as a fire prevention. Did you just use the stuff on a roll from the home center? The largest i've found is 24" tall (which could easily be "stacked" to achieve desired height, I suppose) - is this what you used?

 

[Jack Olsen]

That's exactly what I used. Here it is before it got paint.

Odd but true, I used the same stuff to make the wing for my race car.

 

[Oggy]

Not sure how reliable, but seems affordable... if they work ok.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product...=basic&keyword=fire&sortby=newArrivals&page=1

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product...=basic&keyword=fire&sortby=newArrivals&page=1

Easy? Yes. Simple? Yes. I can imagine how ticked off you'd be after you smacked that valve off and got your shop covered in dry chemical. I've cleaned up from an accidental discharge, the dry chemical gets everywhere, you'd need the valve covered. A remote system with covered valves much like what's in most hotels rooms would be more appropriate for a garage.

 

[SpeedCoach]

Odd but true, I used the same stuff to make the wing for my race car.

Thanks jack

using that for the wing is ingenuity at it's finest. I've learned that racer's tend to find a way!

 

[MReynolds]

There was also a recent thread by E-Tek about the paper wheel cover in his shop catching fire while he was welding that makes me wish there were a simple system we could put together that would act like a sprinkler system (with foam, water, whatever) that would work automatically. Our shops seem especially vulnerable to fire, but the building code (in the U.S.A., at least) is much better for commercial buildings than residential ones. I wish that the economy of mass production made it possible to install some kind of automatic system that's reliable and affordable. But I don't think one exists.

Although the codes are different business vs. residential here in the USA, there are companies providing just such a system for residential usage. I've been following this company for a few years after reading about them in the newspaper. If and when I ever build a new house, I'll be putting this system in.

BlazeMaster Fire Sprinkler Systems

 

[ZTFab]

Garage looks awesome as always Jack.

I really like the new sink.

I wish my shop was plumbed so I could run one.

 

[bczygan]

Thanks.


The garage is 20'6" deep and 19' wide, with a little 3'x6' alcove where that sink is. I used to say I had 440 square feet, but in fact it's... 407.5.

That's not even very big for a suburban two-car. But it now has eight work surfaces in it. Four are wood (one plywood, one a solid-core door, one Birch butcher block and one Maple butcher block). Four are steel (two are 1/8" steel, one is 3/16" steel, and one is 1" steel). There's also a 1/8" thick steel table suspended from the ceiling which can be lowered down for a ninth work surface that's 36"x72".

So if there were any kind of 'index of performance' award for the most work surface in the smallest garage, I might have a shot at it.



I think you can do a lot in a small shop if you take the time to work out how you're going to use it.

On the bench, there's still the epoxy in there, but rivets were added so I wouldn't worry about it popping back again. I used a quick smear of Bondo where any gap existed -- although there was only a sliver of space in a couple places. There's a slight lip formed by the upper edge of the aluminum being higher than the work surface -- to keep water from spilling over. I wasn't thrilled with how consistent I ended up keeping the height of that little lip, but I don't anticipate any big problems.

I also did a quick and dirty job on the paint line between the semigloss black for the counter/bench top and the tan steel backsplash -- I did it by hand and it's not very clean. You know how it gets when both sides are wet and you're too impatient to wait for one to dry so they'll stop bleeding into each other? That was me.

But as I remind myself in those moments, it's a garage, not a kitchen.

Here are a few more pictures.

Oh Man, Jack.........you make me sick! Your garage is so much nicer than my house!!!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Garage looks awesome as always Jack.

I really like the new sink.

I wish my shop was plumbed so I could run one.

Thank you.

For those of you who don't know, ZTFab is very well known in the world of welding, and is great at design and fabrication -- and can MIG weld like nobody's business. Here are a couple of examples -- and remember, they're MIG, not TIG.

Although the codes are different business vs. residential here in the USA, there are companies providing just such a system for residential usage. I've been following this company for a few years after reading about them in the newspaper. If and when I ever build a new house, I'll be putting this system in.

BlazeMaster Fire Sprinkler Systems

I would love to do it, too. I just there were a viable 'poor man's' solution for this -- like valves that had been disallowed from commercial use for some odd technical reason and a kind of foam that was as cheap as air.

But there isn't.

 

[Bad Karma]

those welds look like "tac-tac-tac"

 

[ZTFab]

Thank you.

For those of you who don't know, ZTFab is very well known in the world of welding, and is great at design and fabrication -- and can MIG weld like nobody's business. Here are a couple of examples -- and remember, they're MIG, not TIG.

Thanks for the compliments Jack.

 

[ZTFab]

those welds look like "tac-tac-tac"

No, they are all continuous welds.

No manual pulsing, "triggering", or goofy machine settings.....just a lot of time behind the torch.

I can explain more in the fab section if you have any questions. I don't want to ruin Jack's thread.

 

[mdbeck1]

No, they are all continuous welds.

No manual pulsing, "triggering", or goofy machine settings.....just a lot of time behind the torch.

I can explain more in the fab section if you have any questions. I don't want to ruin Jack's thread.

I don't think it would RUIN Jack's thread but it would probably be more appropriate to start a new one.

How about "Welding 101 with ZTFab"????
I'd love to learn but lack the equipment. Maybe I should take a class at the local VoTech???

 

[Call me the Breeze]

No, they are all continuous welds.

No manual pulsing, "triggering", or goofy machine settings.....just a lot of time behind the torch.

I can explain more in the fab section if you have any questions. I don't want to ruin Jack's thread.

Those are some of the most beautiful welds I have ever seen. Do you own a grinder? Have you ever used it?

 

[ZTFab]

I don't think it would RUIN Jack's thread but it would probably be more appropriate to start a new one.

How about "Welding 101 with ZTFab"????
I'd love to learn but lack the equipment. Maybe I should take a class at the local VoTech???

Ya, ruin may not be the right term. Perhaps De-rail would be more appropriate.

After all, this thread is about Jack's hard work and beautiful garage, not mine.

I'll start by posting some pics of my work and can answer questions about my techniques if anyone has any. I am definitely not the best weldor out there and am constantly learning which is why I enjoy my job.

Yes, local Vo-Tech or Community College classes are a great way to get time behind the torch without spending a ton on equipment. It can allow you to practice, learn, and figure out what process(es) you are interested in. Then you can buy the right equipment for what you want to do.

Those are some of the most beautiful welds I have ever seen. Do you own a grinder? Have you ever used it?

Thanks...yes, I own a ton of grinders and sanders. They are used to prep the material for welding, not grind the weld afterward. As I always say, 90% of a good weld is all in the prep.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Here's a link to ZTFab's shop.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87159

It's pure function -- with some great ideas for storing stock and hardware. You could pretty much do anything in there.

And to get the thread back on the track of my 'prettied up shop for a suburban dad', here are a few more pictures.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Jack,
I was putting away Christmas decorations today (in my garage) and got to wondering about your storage sheds and what's REALLY in them. Dare I ask for a candid set of photos of their contents? Let me explain why I am being so pointedly nosy and yes I understand if you DON'T want to post the photos:

All of us admire your garage and are amazed how you've managed to create an admirable looking space that is both efficient AND in which you actually build stuff, repair stuff, etc. The garage looks great and obviously works. Since I have a similarly small garage I want to distill lessons from it. I also wonder how much you thought all this out in advance and how much you "stumbled upon" or learned by doing it "wrong" a few times (for these purposes) before figuring out how to do it "right"?

Here are my ideas based on YOUR garage and I wonder if you agree/disagree or what you would add:
1. Get rid of extraneous stuff
2. Organize like things together
3. (Most important?) Put the things you use IN the garage, close to where they will actually be used in the garage.
4. Consistency in design, i.e. your use of color: green, red accents, dark bench tops, the Strong Hold cabinets.

There are a lot of details like not hanging posters, stickers, etc, how many/which tools to display; all of which I think is personal taste though I think less is more in this regard.

Anyway, I'd like to hear if there are more "lessons" in your opinion.

 

[Jack Olsen]

That's an interesting question, Dan. It's too dark (and I'm too lazy) to go out and take pictures of what is in the shed sections now, but I'll tell you it's not pretty.

The biggest section has my MIG welder, stick welder, Oxy-AC tanks, as well as some extra steel stock and a Proto toolbox filled with overflow clamps and other welding-related stuff. The next one over has car-related stuff -- fluids, oil, some race-related stuff, as well as old batteries and oil waiting to be recycled. Next to that is a section with boxes of office stuff, mostly. I also have some old aluminum flat stock there. The last one has really miscellaneous stuff like Christmas ornaments and some of my wife's office furniture for when she has an outside-the-house office that isn't furnished.

I keep extra wood and steel stock along the other side of the house. But here's the part where the lesson is. The back yard (which is only about 25'x25') is stacked like a junkyard with overflow stuff from the garage. It's got stacks of half-cut-up steel stock and old cabinet carcasses, some old baby-related stuff from when our kid was a baby that's waiting to be given away or thrown out. There's an old office chair sitting back there that's also waiting for the day I rent a dumpster to clean it and all the other stuff out, finally.

It looks like Sanford & Son's, right now. And I guess that's the lesson. There will always be a need for some kind of overflow storage of stuff that's either just come in or is about to go out. If you keep the garage neat and well-organized, then you need to find another place (or a concealed place, if it's in the garage), where you can keep an inventory of stuff that's of the moment and constantly changing.

Otherwise that stuff ends up... just sitting out in the garage. That's not the end of the world. But it makes your garage a lot less functional as a work space and more useful only as a place to store stuff until you have the time to deal with it. For me, it's important to be able to go out and do something on short notice and not have to move a bunch of stuff in order to get started. So there are some cabinets in the garage itself and some other storage areas around the house that I've set up to deliberately accommodate the short-term-storage-type freight that most people (including myself, until recently) just stack out in an empty spot in the garage, turn out the lights, and forget about.

If your garage's floor space ends up being storage space, then it's not going to make very good work space. I guess that would be the lesson I slowly learned. There's a certain amount of psychology involved in having a place where you feel good about working on stuff. And clutter -- whether you're tripping over it or simply having to look at it sitting on the shelves all around you -- works against the psychology of really enjoying doing the sort of things we all want to enjoy doing in a garage.

I don't know if I've said that in a way that's particularly lucid. But the idea is that a garage is a tool, in a lot of ways -- unless you let it become a storage unit. If it's a tool, it works best when it's unobstructed and clean. You can get started on a job the instant you walk out there. You know where everything is. There's a clean place to lay out a project and a space to set your beer, if you're so inclined. To me, that (along with the right tools) makes a garage into a useful shop.

Tonight, my two year old broke a little 1930's style metal push car that he loves running around the house on. We were able to go out there together and pull off the broken steering wheel and grind it clean and set it up for welding. I didn't have to move anything out of the way or worry (too much) about him hurting himself while I got it set up. He has his own face mask and ear protection he wears out there and we both know where it's kept. I welded the piece with him back inside the house, but it was easy to do and easy to clean everything back up when I was done. It was a little thing, but it was another way the work on the garage continues to pay off for me.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Jack,

You've GOT to stage a picture and have the wife get a shot of the two of you 'suited-up' and ready to fab on that push car; I'm LMAO just at the thought of it!

 

[markviii]

I second that!

 

[aqr81]

Now that would be good!!

 

[HSpencer]

Jack, that was an excellent analogy on the storage of extraneous items. Let's face it. We are all in the same boat on that subject. I read of your baby items, and just the other day I found our daughter's baby bed stored up the attic of my garage. Our daughter is now 39 years old!! Do you think I should have been a little more proactive on that? Yup. But the baby bed, and millions of other "now junk" was out of sight--out of mind. I am slowly doing what you have done, getting things in the shop that are useful and functional--only. I found I have way too many woodworking machines, both stationary and bench. I am selecting the ones I "will" use, and disposing of the others, or putting them in my own storage shed. What drives me insane is having a tool, yet seldom using it, yet not being able to use it without digging it out of somewhere. I love your tablesaw storage. I am also interested in your band saw on your bench.
Right now (this morning) it is 5 degrees here, and not too amiable for working outside or even in the shop, so I am just reading the website. Thank you for your thoughts on useful storage!

 

[Hemihead2]

Years ago, I took a course in systems engineering. For my term project, I decided to design a better storage system. After following the process of determining requirements, etc., I discovered instead that I needed a better system for throwing stuff that I wasn't going to use away.

 

[Jack Olsen]

All right. I found the little clicker for the camera. So here's a quick re-creation of the father-son car repair.

He's actually pretty good with a screwdriver -- considering he's two. Of course, I might be biased.

Here's the wheel. The sleeve came loose from where it seats itself -- it was just a compression fit. So we ground it down and then Dad welded it.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Hello Jack,I see you have not only mastered the ability to create a great garage but also a little clone!
He is absolutly adorable.
Enjoy it before he becomes a teenager.LOLL

 

[akpro]

The image that came to mind, when looking at the 2nd picture was that was a classic Norman Rockwell scene!

 

[cbacres]

Jack,

I also appreciate the way you put into words describing a shop. You just have to get it to a point where you can wallk in and do a fix without clearing off a surface or digging something out. I can't tell you how many times I've walk out to do something look around ended up just relieving my fridge of a few beers.

I'm on a serious run now to really get it together. Lots of good ideas and things to motivate building a functional shop. It's functional now, just takes more effort. I had to rely on it in 09' when I was out of work. It helped pay the bills.

Enjoyed reading your build and you have a great shop. Keep your son involved, I think it's the greatest thing to have your kids be able to be mechanicaly inclined. I wished I'd spent more time with mine out there.

Craig

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

"He's actually pretty good with a screwdriver -- considering he's two. Of course, I might be biased."

Well Dad, have you started welding up his first toolbox yet? Get on it! And don't forget to do his initials with a pretty nickel-rod bead!

He sure is a good looking little guy, congrats to you and your wife.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the info Jack.

I had an inspiration last night: Inasmuch as you ARE a writer, how about writing the garage equivalent of "The Gold Plated Porsche"? In your case it would be titled, "The Gold Plated Garage" of course. Reflections on life while relating the trials and tribulations of starting off with a somewhat bedraggled garage and ending with a magazine worthy one?

Oh and P.S. Your little man has grown up quite a bit since I saw him. He's a truly cute little boy. EXCELLENT you spend time with him in the garage...heck, ANYwhere. I've never regretted a minute I spent with my son and he'll be 30 (EEK!) on his next birthday.

 

[TLCDino]

Awesome pics, Jack. Your son is very cute. I am trying to break in my daughter. She is three. Tonight we sanded my new (to me) StrongHold cabinets. She is a good helper be struggles to be effective sanding with one hand and holding her ear protection with the other.

 

[darkbuddha]

I just thought I'd give you a little credit Jack... inspired by your recent updates, I finally got the cheapo kitchen cabinet uppers mounted on the walls. It only took me a year.

 

[shopnut]

+1 on what everyone said about your boy.

I also like the little Porsche crest on his car! Did he put that on there to be just like Dad?

 

[JMURiz]

Cute picture, BTW what car is that? Too cool, I think I want one and I don't even have kids yet.

 

[SpeedCoach]

2011 is young - but my nomination for picture of the year!

 

[kbuhagiar]

2011 is young - but my nomination for picture of the year!

I second that!