So, I guess i'll finally compliment you on all of your ingenuity and hard work. You're garage is crazy awesome and truly deserves all of the praise it's received from the guys and gals on the GJ and the coverage it's gotten in multiple magazines. Great job man!
. How long is it safe to leave you car up there on the lift? I mean will the lift ever give a little and slowly start to come down or anything? Does it have safety devices on it to keep it from doing that? Probably stupid question, I was just wondering.Here's a thing with me. As soon as I discovered this board, I liked it. But the one place I was a little iffy on, right from the beginning, was the tool section. It seemed that some of the guys in there were a little bit precious about their tools -- almost like exotic brands and tool truck products were a kind of fetish.
But with a lot of things, the reason it bugged me is probably because there's a little of it in me, too. Even though I have a lot of Harbor Freight in my garage, I definitely can not cast any first stones. And it got worse today, after the mail man delivered the last of a recent ebay buying streak on my part. Here's an illustration.
This is my pegboard over my main bench. I keep the tools there that I tend to grab frequently. Early on, there were some Sears screwdrivers and Harbor Freight wrenches. Nothing fancy by any stretch.
Then I went and spent a little time on the tool area side of things. That led to some new screwdrivers (they were on sale!), and then some fancy-pants German wrenches (they're really cool!). I'm now thinking I don't even need adjustable wrenches up there because of these adjustable Knipex things.
So here's the same pegboard today:
And here's the brands called out. I'm proud to say my no-class-at-all metric/SAE dogbone wrench is still up there. But the rest of the board has gotten a much more European flavor, now.
I got most of the stuff pretty cheap, but that's still expensive by Harbor Freight standards. And the Mac wrenches are actually made in China, I'm pretty sure. But they definitely have a lot better fit and finish than the HF ones did.
I guess you could call it 'tool attitude creep' the way the tools up there have slowly been displaced with better ones.
But do all your tools have to be the fancy kind? (Or in my case, apparently, the fancy kind with red handles.) I've got to stop reading the threads over in the tool section that talk about the 'best' of any tool category. It gets expensive.
Looking good Jack. I have convinced myself that a scissor lift is more ideal for my size shop vs my current Twin post Weaver lift. I will be selling it to install a scissor lift (a larger one than yours since I work on my truck) in the same manner as you did.
...and congrats on the other new addition.
Just fantastic.
I love the creativity yours displays, like those cake baking pans.
I definitely think the retro inspiration started with your garage, and with the vintage of tools I started acquiring, the 50's theme seemed appropriate. I'm also a huge fan of the styling from the 30s-50s (think art deco and curvy chrome) as I think it is some of the most beautiful architecture, so one thing led to another
I agree, yours has a fresh, clean 60s feel. Although, I do think some of the designs are absolutely compatible with other eras with minor changes. Yep, I'm pretty sure I stole that folding table design from you (although mine might need to fold 'down' instead of up). I'm also going to steal that aluminum trim cabinet accent design if thats okay w/ you
Because if you want to talk 'ultimate' and 'extreme,' there are ones on this site that really fit the bill. In fact, there are a few Garage Journal shops that you could easily park all seven of the Popular Mechanics choices inside of, and still have room for a small fleet of cars.
)). It's your everyday 2-car garage that accurately demonstrates to the fullest ability what is possible when you get creative and are willing to pick up some new skills. A lot of the high $$ builds are awesome but out of reach to some of us, including me. However, to see something this cool, this fresh (and at a budget that is more in reach to guys like me), in a garage most of us either have or have experience with, make it all attainable and not just something we'll have to dream about forever. It is the pinnacle of the DIY resourcefulness. ).Thanks!
Red Leader, when yours is done it's safe to say it's going to get a lot of notice. You've got a very good eye, and you're making a shop that's going to be useful as well as retro and cool.
And you'll also have something that will inspire guys who aren't going to write huge checks for an enormous car hangar (not that I wouldn't have a very large shop if I had the mean to write those checks