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rubberrodder

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Tacomatose Wa.
Jeremy B.
Awesome frikkin' bench top! Keep one of those cabinets open for diving into in case of earthquakes, meteor showers, or falling space junk. That thing is going to be indestructable. :thumbup:
 
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JeremyBurke

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good score on the cabs and that awesome fir. this will turn out nice I predict.:thumbup:

Madoc1: Thanks I hope your confidence in my skills isn't misplaced :fingersx:

Polyurithane works good with 3 or more coats. Also recomend tempered masonite on top as a sacraficial replaceable top.

Caddyman: Thanks for the tips. I was thinking either some sort of Poly, Varnish, or Epoxy. Time it takes to get a good workable finish may end up deciding the whole thing. By the way that is a nice looking car in your aviaar what is it? I'm assuming Caddy but which one?

I thought your avatar was a '63 Fairlane. My dad had a 63 Fairlane stAtion wagon. I remember riding home with him from the dealer with it.

Good luck in the shop with the new cabinets and bench top

Captain: Thanks for stopping by. I think my little '63 is going on the permanent never finished project list. Someday hoping to get back to her and get the brakes working.

Good to see you are pushing a head and working on the bench top, the hand planing in going to give it a really cool look.

Crazy: Thanks. I hope it looks good when finished. The tops are so good looking all planed up it should force me to paint the nasty beige and orange cabinets sooner. I am hoping to have another update Tuesday night/Wednesday. Also is that your 911/912 in your avatar? because ouch.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Thats a great job on the bench top and lovelly pieces of timber.:thumbup:

1/2 cup: thanks. We PNW residence are spoiled with lots of good timber that's for sure.

Jeremy B.
Awesome frikkin' bench top! Keep one of those cabinets open for diving into in case of earthquakes, meteor showers, or falling space junk. That thing is going to be indestructable. :thumbup:

Rubberrodder: Thanks. Yeah we mechanical engineers have been known to over build things on occasion. However, there was a violent :scared: 3.3 earthquake epicenter-ed just 2 miles from my house less than 2 months ago. You can never be too safe. :thumbup:
 
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JeremyBurke

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Well guys I did it. I successfully made it through the night without taking off the clamps. I was very tempted but I managed not to do it. I know it would probably been fine since it had been 24 hours but it gets chilly at night here still and I want these thing to be rock solid. They will come off tomorrow and then out comes the plane again.
 
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JeremyBurke

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For any that have been following since the beginning, I have updated the first page project post with pictures and plans for some of the things that are coming up. Feel free to jump back to page one for the updates and make comments or corrections to my plans as you see fit.
 

drivesitfar

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Jeremy: you are amazing. for the little amount of extra time to work on your garage with a full time job and a big family and your limited funds not cutting into the family's portion to do your garage you have a done a lot in a very short time.

I'm happy to help in any way i can and not that easy considering we live 3 hours apart. those cabinets and lumber are turning out better than i would have imagined since i saw both in their raw state on craigs as we were talking about them. your talent is amazing. i like the raw wood look if you can keep that and find a treatment to make it work for your needs because would be a shame to cover it up with a formica or hardy board. hopefully there is a better treatment than several coats of Vera thane available.

i usually try to stay away from this side of the Journal (i call it the dark side) because I'm usually ok buying a few tools and helping or learning how to use them over on the general tool discussion. now i need a car project, a new garage shop rebuild and probably a new house if i stay over here too long.

great job and well thought out and who would have guessed you were an engineer.

keep up the great work and looking forward to seeing more progress and seeing it eventually finished.
 

metalhead140

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Love the score on the metal cabinets and the work building the massively solid benchtop. Going to look great when it's done, and should last forever.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Jeremy: you are amazing. for the little amount of extra time to work on your garage with a full time job and a big family and your limited funds not cutting into the family's portion to do your garage you have a done a lot in a very short time.



I'm happy to help in any way i can and not that easy considering we live 3 hours apart. those cabinets and lumber are turning out better than i would have imagined since i saw both in their raw state on craigs as we were talking about them. your talent is amazing. i like the raw wood look if you can keep that and find a treatment to make it work for your needs because would be a shame to cover it up with a formica or hardy board. hopefully there is a better treatment than several coats of Vera thane available.



i usually try to stay away from this side of the Journal (i call it the dark side) because I'm usually ok buying a few tools and helping or learning how to use them over on the general tool discussion. now i need a car project, a new garage shop rebuild and probably a new house if i stay over here too long.



great job and well thought out and who would have guessed you were an engineer.



keep up the great work and looking forward to seeing more progress and seeing it eventually finished.



Drives: thanks for your kind words. I wouldn't worry to much about the dark side corrupting you. I've seen enough from you on the vises thread to know you are pretty far into the vices this place makes. Besides whether you venture over or not I will turn you to the dark side.

Love the score on the metal cabinets and the work building the massively solid benchtop. Going to look great when it's done, and should last forever.


Metalhead: as I have said I'm not thrilled about the color but the price and stoutness of the cabinets is well worth the paint it will cost me to make them look good.

Guys I am pretty tired right now so I can't do a proper post on my progress but a lot was made. Here is a sample photo of how I spent the last 1-1/2 hours.


Shavings

I planed so hard it squeezed out a pine cone. :dunno:
 
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metalhead140

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Metalhead: as I have said I'm not thrilled about the color but the price and stoutness of the cabinets is well worth the paint it will cost me to make them look good.

I'd be painting them too, but they'll look great painted up, and paint is a small amount of work and money in the scheme of things, particularly for the end result you will have!
 
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JeremyBurke

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Workbench

Workbench Part 5 of ????

So here are the pictures of the progress from last night. I spend about 1-1/2 hours planing this section. These beams were a little more warped than the bigger ones so it was harder but in the end I think it turned out pretty well.


Just unclamped


Planing long section 1


Long Section almost done


Completed From end 1


Completed from end 2


I will still need to sand them and cut them to length before I lay down the finish. I think I am down to either Epoxy or Polyurethane. My only concerns are cure time for epoxy giving me enough time to work everything smooth. With Poly I am concerned it won't really help with strength like Epoxy does and with the checking that I have in the top in a few spots Epoxy might be better for that reason. Maybe Ill start a poll in the tips and techniques section to solicit advice. Feel free to chime in below if you have ideas or advice.
 

madoc1

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spicewood, tx
Jeremy I would contact west systems or other boat building epoxy producers. they have epoxy that will not set too fast and has a pretty fair pot time. if you have any wooden boat people around you I bet they could help . also systemthree.com has good stuff. westsystem.com.

jim
 
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JeremyBurke

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Jeremy I would contact west systems or other boat building epoxy producers. they have epoxy that will not set too fast and has a pretty fair pot time. if you have any wooden boat people around you I bet they could help . also systemthree.com has good stuff. westsystem.com.

jim

Jim: Thanks very much for the tip I will look into that.\

Cheers,
Jeremy
 

christopher.layton

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Hood River, OR
Hello from just across the river! You've got a really nice looking bench going there, Jeremy, I'm envious of the big timbers.
Assuming things haven't changed since last time I was there, Crosscut sells west system epoxy. I have had good experiences with it as well, and you'd definitely have enough time to coat that bench.
I'm always a proponent of linseed oil and wax. It's nowhere near as hard a surface as epoxy, but it is much easier to repair should you drop something heavy on your bench.
 

Crazy Backyard Builder

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SoCal.
Crazy: Thanks. I hope it looks good when finished. The tops are so good looking all planed up it should force me to paint the nasty beige and orange cabinets sooner. I am hoping to have another update Tuesday night/Wednesday. Also is that your 911/912 in your avatar? because ouch.

The 911 is not mine but it is an original picture by a friend of mine on his way home on day. He lives up by you near Portland.

It is a great and sad photo all at the same time !
 
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JeremyBurke

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Hello from just across the river! You've got a really nice looking bench going there, Jeremy, I'm envious of the big timbers.
Assuming things haven't changed since last time I was there, Crosscut sells west system epoxy. I have had good experiences with it as well, and you'd definitely have enough time to coat that bench.
I'm always a proponent of linseed oil and wax. It's nowhere near as hard a surface as epoxy, but it is much easier to repair should you drop something heavy on your bench.

If you are looking for big timber take a look at farm sales that is where I got mine both sets (3) 14' 4x8's and 2 7' 4x10's were in barns for upwards of 20 years each. Thanks for the tip on Cross cuts. I think I found a boat place closer to me that carries it as well so I am headed there soon.

The 911 is not mine but it is an original picture by a friend of mine on his way home on day. He lives up by you near Portland.

It is a great and sad photo all at the same time !

I love 911 and dream to someday own one but for now it is only a dream.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Jeremy, Do you have a build thread somewhere on the Fairlane? I'm interested to see what your plans are and follow the work.

Welder: I don't have a build thread for the Fairlane yet. The main reason is my progress is so slow that I would be ashamed of how seldom I would be able to post about it. Secondly I haven't had it that long and I am not really certain what my plans are. I can say for sure that for now it will won't be a show car. It will be a driver. I hope for it to always look stock from the outside, but i also hope to learn a lot from it. Someday I hope to upgrade the engine, transmission, suspension and brakes. However, for now, In the 10 months I have owned it all I have managed is to get in cleaned out a little, up on jack stands and get the engine running again after nearly 20 years. Next projects on the car get the brakes fixed and then fix the rust holes in the front driver and passenger side foot wells, and trunk as well. My boys ask me almost weekly when I am going to paint it. :confused: i don't even know a color. I will be posting updates here as it is part of the shop and will be a big part of what happens in here as well.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Workbench part 6 of ???

So I got a little time in the shop tonight. I had the long leg of the bench still on the saw horses so I marked it to cut the ends square using a large sheet rock square.


Squaring ends 1

I then broke out the track saw and cut the ends.


Track saw Cut 1


Track saw cut 2

Unfortunately the track saw blade isn't deep enough to cut completely through the tops on one pass.

Once I got it flipped over (man this thing is heavy :thumb up:) and cut the other side. It of course didn't line up perfectly.


Bench top uneven cut

So I broke out the router and the flush cut bit to even things up.


Router and Flush Cut bit


Bench Top Flush cut 2

It ended up about 1" shorter than I was hoping for but it is also 4 inches longer than the bench itself so it should work out fine.


Bench Top Length

Now I need to move it up on the cabinets (Does anyone wanna come over and help). Then bolt it down, and get some finish on it.

I would have done the short side too but my shop is right below my oldest bedroom and I didn't want to keep him up. I should be able to get to it this weekend. Hoping my next cabinet picture is of it all bolted together on the cabinets.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Thanks for the welcome. Guess I should start a thread on mine. I am retiring in 2 months (25 yrs LEO) and learned about an in ground lift here on GJ. Mine is on the way :D

My projects are a 6BT into a solid axle suburban, 87 elky getting a 5.3 and a 86 Samurai (my 4 yr old in avatar)

FBJR: I forgot to ask what kind of lift did you get? Please do a build thread so we can follow along.

Cheers,
Jeremy
 
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JeremyBurke

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General update

I didn't make a lot of progress this weekend. I was busy with some outside the shop stuff. My youngest had a birthday and I had to run and pick a few things up. I did get the long top moved into position.


Long top first set
Do you guys like how I staged it with prop tools just for the shots so it looks used. I mean no one would place tools on the bench prior to actually finishing it right.:bounce::bounce:

Let me tell you this thing is stout. I only moved one end at a time and it was still all I could do not to crust myself.

I also hung my other NAPA cabinet I was just tired of moving it around and never actually having it hung up.


Napa Cabinets Hung

The gap between the cabinets is because they hinge on the sides and not the front. However once I have it up there I hate it and am going to move them further apart. :mad:

I am hoping to get some more bench work done this week. But may have to postpone due to my wife's car needing maintenance.

Also I have an question for you all.

My tops are very well aged but I was concerned about movement over time if I only finish the top and not all sides. So is this a real concern? Should I finish the top, bottom, and sides of the bench top to really seal it? Thoughts?

And here is one more shot of my oldest after he helped me put a few magnetic tags on the drawers and found his spot in the bench.


Hiding spot
 

rubberrodder

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Tacomatose Wa.
Re: General update

Do you guys like how I staged it with prop tools just for the shots so it looks used. I mean no one would place tools on the bench prior to actually finishing it right.:bounce::bounce:
I got one of my two work benches moved this weekend and had it all cleaned off...for about five minutes. Just long enough for a picture to post tonight.:D
 
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JeremyBurke

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I got one of my two work benches moved this weekend and had it all cleaned off...for about five minutes. Just long enough for a picture to post tonight.:D

I think my benches have a tool magnet mode that draws tools to them. This wouldn't be so bad if it worked on cool stuff i didn't already own.

Looking good!

Thank you sir. I do try to muddle my way through
 
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JeremyBurke

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I did get to spend some time in the Hodgepodge garage last night but no Bench top progress to report. I drilled about 300 holes in little cedar disks. I am the dad in charge of making these

name tags
for my sons elementary school so all the first graders can make name tags for their "camp week".

Hope you all got some time in the shop this week. I am hoping to get a few more things done this weekend. Cheers.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Bench Detour Part 1

It's important to the story that I explain part of the deal I have with my wife in regards to the garage/shop space. She gets to park in there, we live in Western Oregon it rains for 10-1/2 months per year. She has to shuttle the kids around all over the place and having to do it in the rain is a pain. So in order to keep the peace and make her hard job as a mom a little easier I try hard to make that happen as much as I can. She lets me take her spot often to work on projects and store upcoming projects but when I find one I try to clear it out of her way as soon as I can.

That is important because about a week ago I got a deal on some nice Lyon metal lockers to use in the Hodgepodge garage.


Lockers in the truck


Assembled Locker

I thought they would give me some good sturdy storage and yet another place to put stuff up off the floor to clear more space to work in the shop. However, since my storage location is my wife's parking spot I needed to take a break from the bench tops and get to work getting them up on the wall as soon as possible. So that is how I spent the little bit of free time I had this weekend.


Hanging the Lockers

I hope finish them up this week and then get back to the work bench and iron that one out too before summer break starts for the kids in 2 more weeks. :willy_nil

Hope everyone had a good weekend and a wonderful memorial day. If you were remembering a loved one my thoughts and prayers are with you.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Re: General update

I love these :thumbup: very nice!

Thanks Sunbimmer. I really like them but I have to say I don't think this is their final spot. Once I got them up there I am not too happy with the placement they may end up on the wall that next to the house instead. Its a process.:dunno:
 
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JeremyBurke

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Great job so far on the garage. I like the repurposing of the old craftsman. Looking foward to future post and projects. Keep up the good work.

Have a good one, Gerard

Florida GJers ( FGJ)
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=117
The 5 Stitches Garage
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211899


Thanks Gerard. I love that old Craftsman box. I sure would love to find its big brother. The PO of the box told me his dad sold the top for it in the 1980's for $25 full of his old tools. I wasn't buying tools then I was popping pimples but I wish I had.

Cheers and thanks for writing.
 

taumac

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JeremyBurke

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Lockers

I had a pretty low key weekend and mostly just chilled and wrestled with my boys and helped my wife get her garden planting started.

I had a little (1 hour) time in the shop and got another locker nearly finished hoping to finish the last one this week and then get back to the Bench project.


Lockers (2)

I only wish they went up faster. It takes me about 1-2 hours to piece them all together 1 side at a time up on the top of the ladder.
 
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drivesitfar

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Jeremy:I bet some of the members enjoying your thread have no idea how heavy those Lyon small lockers are. I'm betting close to 75-100 pounds for each cabinet? or did you happen to weigh them?

also i'd like to know and maybe the other members would too about how you mounted them. i'm guessing lag bolts into studs with washers to keep the heads from going through the holes in the cabinets. or how did you do that while you were 10 feet up on a ladder?

did you decide how you are going to finish that awesome bench top you made?

nice work and enjoying watching the process.
 
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JeremyBurke

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Lockers Questions

Drives: you are right they probably do weigh close to 60-70 pounds a piece. However, and this is both a blessing and a curse, they bolt together. So each side can be removed and bolted in place up on the wall.

Hanging the Lockers

So as you can see in the above picture I screw the back panel of the locker unit to the wall using lag screws and washers as you supposed. The tricky part is since it is tight to the wall all the screws that go through the back panel to connect it to the others have to go in before it goes on the wall. So that make 4 each for the top and bottom and 3 for the shelf.

The next piece to go up is the top of the cabinet also screwed to the ceiling using same lag screws and washers. The front then has to go on this is a little tricky because the front, top and bottom all interlock as well as being screwed together. So I have to pop and twist them together before I can screw them together. They share a side panel with the one next door so I only have to put in one of those. It also really helps to take off the doors for the install, it makes for easier access and drops the weight of the front by 10-15 pounds easy.


Lockers (2)
 
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taumac

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JeremyBurke

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Sounds like a tough project. I sure it will be well worth it when your finish. From what your describing it to bad you can't put them on a board to hold them up like you would normal cabinets. I wonder if French clet would help out?

Have a good one, Gerard

Florida GJers ( FGJ)
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=117
The 5 Stitches Garage
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211899

Thanks Gerard. I hadn't considered Cleats because I have to little clearance under the lockers to my garage door hardware. Plus I wanted to mount them tight to the ceiling.

However, some may remember that I didn't like how these ended up.

Napa Cabinets Hung

So I am going to go back and redo them with a french cleat. So thanks for reminding me about that option.

Also I love your garage thread and was wondering if you could offer any tips for painting my cabinets? I have a simple cheap gun I was planing on using and these will be perhaps the 2nd time I have ever used one of those. Thanks in advance.
 
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