Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT The **** Shack
- Thread starter bdbecker
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
Thank you! Always happy to see another Iowan on GJ!
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Well, I rolled the dice on some windows for the garage today...
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Its always been in the plans to add windows to the north wall so I can get some more natural light in the garage, along with giving me a better view of the yard so I can keep an eye on the kids. I've kept my eye out for a deal on some appropriately sized windows for the last few years and today was (what I believe to be) the big payoff. I stopped by my local ReStore during my lunch break and found that they were clearing out their inventory of fixed pane windows by marking them down to $20 each. I've actually had my eye on these for awhile now, so when the price was cut, I couldn't resist any longer. They are new (dusty, but new) double-pane vinyl windows with low emissivity coating.
Here's the rub... these windows are meant to be installed vertically, not horizontally like I plan to do (the weep vents are on the short side) and the tan color is not going to agree with the new paint scheme. But, at $20 each, those are two issues I'm willing to try and work with. Since the windows are fixed pane, there won't be any issues with function from installing them sideways. I believe I can move the weep vents to the long side by cutting some new slots and filling in the old ones with epoxy.
The color is the bigger question. I don't believe going from tan to the light gray will cause any issues with deformation due to heat absorption, but getting the paint to stick might be a bear. There are some primers for vinyl that seem to get good reviews, so again, at $20 each, I'm willing to try and make it work. I know, I know... we just talked about how you shouldn't paint vinyl windows a few months ago - the irony is not lost on me.
I guess I've got my next project figured out - reframing the north wall so I can cut some holes in my garage once the weather warms up. Since the I have to take apart my work bench and move it out of the way to do this, I might as well sheet, insulate, and paint since I'm going through all the effort. I'll more than likely have to replace at least a couple of rows of my newly painted siding on the north wall to allow for the window installation. What did I get myself into?
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Big projects usually are derived from big deals. Goodluck! I agree that painting the vinyl will be the hardest part. My advice is minor but super helpful: when I did my windows I bought a magnet on wheels that I could roll around the work area (and yard) to pick up lost nails. Works awesome and saved me some flat lawnmower tires I'm sure.
nicholam77
Well-known member
The axe is really cool 
Adding windows is a great idea. Especially to see the kids. Looks like a big job, looking forward to seeing how you work it out!
Adding windows is a great idea. Especially to see the kids. Looks like a big job, looking forward to seeing how you work it out!
Unruh
Well-known member
$20 for windows! This will be a great project. Also if I had some type of award for you on that axe, I’d give it to you!
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
That should really brighten up the shop.
Thanks fellas!
Not much for updates this week. Most of my shop time has been focused on cleaning off the north wall in preparation for re-framing and finishing, so not really anything that interesting to take pics of. I am a little annoyed with myself at how much garbage I've squirreled away over the years and have vowed that the trash can will be full when I bring it out to the curb for the next several weeks.
Not much for updates this week. Most of my shop time has been focused on cleaning off the north wall in preparation for re-framing and finishing, so not really anything that interesting to take pics of. I am a little annoyed with myself at how much garbage I've squirreled away over the years and have vowed that the trash can will be full when I bring it out to the curb for the next several weeks.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
No matter how much you throw out, more will take its place.
XJSuperman
Well-known member
Did you get shoveled out this morning? I had 3ft tall drifts in front of my doors but in other spots I could see the grass peaking through.
Over the last few years, I'd bet I'm still net-negative on the overall amount of stuff in the garage.
The other thing to note is that the quality and usefulness of the "more" that does make it in is definitely higher. This is mostly due to how picky I've become about what I allow through the door over the last few years. A perfect example is the SawStop. While it does take up a lot of space, it is a fantastic machine that is earning its keep. Had I not gotten rid of a bunch of unimportant items, I would not have the space to store and use it.
Yep. I don't mind this fluffy stuff because its easy to move. Drifting wasn't too bad, but there are no grass blades to be seen around here - just a one foot thick blanket of snow on everything. I was also the first one out and about this morning getting the front driveway cleared off so we could go to work.
Truth!
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Garages abhor a vacuum.
We dodged the bullet on the latest round of winter storms. The system just clipped us with a little bit of drizzle and a very light dusting of snow that melted off by mid-afternoon yesterday. It looks like you guys out east are in for quite a mess - stay safe this week.
Instead of shoveling snow all weekend, I was actually able to get in some really good stretches of QST. I didn't do any work on the garage, instead I chose to knock out a couple of projects I'd been meaning to get to. The first project was to build a bench top sanding table for Wife. She's really gotten into making jewelry and household items out of clay and concrete this winter. With that hobby, she's been using a Dremel quite a bit, which creates a bit of a mess with dust in her craft room.
I picked up a bank of computer fans with a variable speed control off Amazon and mounted it to a 1/4" piece of plywood. This was mounted in a simple wood box I made out of a piece of pine panel I had in inventory. I also installed some supports for air filter.
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I had to settle for **** joints for this box. I wanted to practice mitering the joints on this project, but don't have a miter gauge for my table saw and haven't built the crosscut miter sled yet (have all the boards cut, just need to build it). I tried cutting a couple samples on my miter saw but wasn't too happy with what I was getting (all the trips in and out of the garage during the deck project must have knocked something out of alignment). Not wanting to waste any more time on it, I just settled for **** joints, glue, and pin nails. It'll be plenty strong, just not as pretty as I would have liked.
The air filter just drops right in the top, sitting a few inches above the fans.
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The top was made out of a piece of pegboard, and is held on by a pair of aluminum angle pieces. With a little tweaking, the top slides in and out with just the right amount of friction to hold it in place while still allowing for easy access to the air filter.
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As soon as I turned on the fans, my biggest concern for this project became a reality - there is just too much resistance in the pegboard to draw as much air as I would like. It does well with just the filter in place, so I know the pegboard is the main issue. I'm going to try adding holes and/or slotting the pegboard to open it up and hopefully increase the draw. I will also go back and seal the perimeter of the fan board with some silicone to make sure that the air is only drawing from the top.
The next project I worked on was making a couple of charcuterie boards. For this project, I used a piece of 1" thick red oak, 12" wide. After trimming some damage off the ends, the boards ended up being 22-23" wide. I added a small chamfer to the top edge with the router to give it a nice finished look. The handles are cabinet/drawer handles. I also added some nail on furniture feet to the bottom. For the finish, I used iron acetate (rusty vinegar) to darken the wood and then topped it off with a couple of heavy coats of Howard's butcher block oil.
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These boards will be put up for sale. Wife used to have an Etsy shop where she sold her handmade jewelry and was pulling in a decent amount of money until she shut it down when we moved. Now that she's re-caught the side hustle bug, we are going to join forces and also sell some of my projects. Some long time readers may remember that I setup a business with the state a few years ago with the intention of making and selling items to earn some extra cash on the side. I never really did much with that for various reasons, but I have kept it active all this time. With her support and encouragement, its time to give it another go. We figure worse case, we can offset some of the costs of our hobbies. Best case, maybe we can earn enough to pay for another trip to a warm beach where we can sit around and sip mango-tangos for a week.
Instead of shoveling snow all weekend, I was actually able to get in some really good stretches of QST. I didn't do any work on the garage, instead I chose to knock out a couple of projects I'd been meaning to get to. The first project was to build a bench top sanding table for Wife. She's really gotten into making jewelry and household items out of clay and concrete this winter. With that hobby, she's been using a Dremel quite a bit, which creates a bit of a mess with dust in her craft room.
I picked up a bank of computer fans with a variable speed control off Amazon and mounted it to a 1/4" piece of plywood. This was mounted in a simple wood box I made out of a piece of pine panel I had in inventory. I also installed some supports for air filter.
View media item 110067
I had to settle for **** joints for this box. I wanted to practice mitering the joints on this project, but don't have a miter gauge for my table saw and haven't built the crosscut miter sled yet (have all the boards cut, just need to build it). I tried cutting a couple samples on my miter saw but wasn't too happy with what I was getting (all the trips in and out of the garage during the deck project must have knocked something out of alignment). Not wanting to waste any more time on it, I just settled for **** joints, glue, and pin nails. It'll be plenty strong, just not as pretty as I would have liked.
The air filter just drops right in the top, sitting a few inches above the fans.
View media item 110068
The top was made out of a piece of pegboard, and is held on by a pair of aluminum angle pieces. With a little tweaking, the top slides in and out with just the right amount of friction to hold it in place while still allowing for easy access to the air filter.
View media item 110069
As soon as I turned on the fans, my biggest concern for this project became a reality - there is just too much resistance in the pegboard to draw as much air as I would like. It does well with just the filter in place, so I know the pegboard is the main issue. I'm going to try adding holes and/or slotting the pegboard to open it up and hopefully increase the draw. I will also go back and seal the perimeter of the fan board with some silicone to make sure that the air is only drawing from the top.
The next project I worked on was making a couple of charcuterie boards. For this project, I used a piece of 1" thick red oak, 12" wide. After trimming some damage off the ends, the boards ended up being 22-23" wide. I added a small chamfer to the top edge with the router to give it a nice finished look. The handles are cabinet/drawer handles. I also added some nail on furniture feet to the bottom. For the finish, I used iron acetate (rusty vinegar) to darken the wood and then topped it off with a couple of heavy coats of Howard's butcher block oil.
View media item 110070
These boards will be put up for sale. Wife used to have an Etsy shop where she sold her handmade jewelry and was pulling in a decent amount of money until she shut it down when we moved. Now that she's re-caught the side hustle bug, we are going to join forces and also sell some of my projects. Some long time readers may remember that I setup a business with the state a few years ago with the intention of making and selling items to earn some extra cash on the side. I never really did much with that for various reasons, but I have kept it active all this time. With her support and encouragement, its time to give it another go. We figure worse case, we can offset some of the costs of our hobbies. Best case, maybe we can earn enough to pay for another trip to a warm beach where we can sit around and sip mango-tangos for a week.
Jeff Ivers
Well-known member
Those trays look really nice!
Unruh
Well-known member
I may be shooting some questions your way about the etsy shop. I wanna sell some of my wands on there, but don’t know the first thing about it.
Thanks Jeff!
It's interesting what difference having the right tools and a little more practice and confidence can make. Last year when I made the first charcuterie board for Wife, it wasn't a difficult project per se, but it did require a fair bit of attentiveness on my part to not screw things up. Making these two boards took less time and they came out a lot nicer.
I don't know much about Etsy either - Wife is the pro on that subject. Once we get up and going, I'd be happy to share whatever I learn.
If you go public with selling stuff, you will want to follow the laws for your area as far as taxes and reporting income goes. In Iowa, it's actually pretty easy to setup a sole proprietorship, which is one of the simpler ways to get started if you are just wanting to sell a few things here and there.
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There comes a time in life when a man realizes that they've finally made it.
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Earlier this week, that day came for me when I received my very first McMaster-Carr catalog. Not a hand me down copy, a brand spanking new, never been flipped through by someone else's dirty fingers copy of the catalog to end all catalogs. I waited to even open it until after the kids had been tucked into bed. Once I was sure they were asleep, I poured myself a glass of brandy and retired to my easy chair to aimlessly leaf through the thousands of pages of all things industrial and mechanical. It doesn't get much better than this fellas.
View media item 110142
Earlier this week, that day came for me when I received my very first McMaster-Carr catalog. Not a hand me down copy, a brand spanking new, never been flipped through by someone else's dirty fingers copy of the catalog to end all catalogs. I waited to even open it until after the kids had been tucked into bed. Once I was sure they were asleep, I poured myself a glass of brandy and retired to my easy chair to aimlessly leaf through the thousands of pages of all things industrial and mechanical. It doesn't get much better than this fellas.
harley jim
Well-known member
LutzTD
Well-known member
awesome. How did you get on their catalog list? I have a much older vintage. Actually, I didn't think they still gave those out. So desired they sell on Ebay. I use the online version mostly now, but usually, it is to take advantage of their 3D cad downloads. I always buy from them for the first builds and then the bean counters cost reduce them out.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
**** and alcohol??? What?? You have my attention.
LOL... Key word being "parts".
They still distribute catalogs if you spend a certain amount with them. We buy a lot from McMaster at work so they send us a copy of the catalog every so often. I just asked that the next time one comes in if I could have it. I don't know what that threshold is but between the specialty items for one-off projects and the regular consumables I order from them, I'm sure I exceed it several times over.
Their website is probably one of the best out there. Simple, intuitive, and easy to narrow down right to what you need. It honestly doesn't make sense to use a paper copy anymore. This is more of a trophy/novelty than anything else.
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Not a lot for updates over the weekend. I've accepted a new position at work so I've been trying to both learn a new job and train my replacement, which means some extra hours on the weekend to just keep up with everything. Probably going to be like this for awhile, which kind of stinks because it cuts in on the shop time, but long term, I know its going to be the right move. I did sneak out to the Shack for a little bit of hole drilling therapy.
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Before pic for reference:
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Last weekend, I made a small sanding table for Wife. When all was said and done, it didn't work as well as I would have hoped. It pulled air nicely when just the filter was in place, but as soon as installed the pegboard top, it bogged down. So I needed to reduce the restriction the pegboard placed on the system. I did this in two ways - by adding 190 holes to the top and increasing the diameter of the existing holes.
The original 220 holes in the pegboard were 1/4" diameter. A single 1/4" hole is 0.049 square inches of surface area. 220 holes gave me a total of 10.78 square inches for the air to draw through. Opening the hole up to be 5/16" diameter gave me 0.077 square inches of surface area for each hole, for a total of 16.94 square inches. This was a 57% increase, but it still wasn't enough, so I decided to add more holes - 190 of them to be exact.
The additional 190 holes gave me another 14.63 inches of surface area, bringing the total up to 31.57. This made a huge difference, but it still doesn't pull air as much as I had envisioned. Wife thinks it'll work and is going to test it out before I make any more changes. I think I can increase the hole size to 3/8" before I risk making the holes too big for the top to be useful. This would increase the area to 45.28 square inches. If that doesn't work, I'll have to increase the fan power. The fans I have are middle of the range as far as flow goes - I was trying to balance flow, sound, and cost when I picked these. If all else fails, I'll forget about trying to use quiet fans and just go for some high flow ones.
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harley jim
Well-known member
I had a McMasters catalog at work I kept on my credenza with the King Architectural catalog, I never really used them at work as the web site was so good and I always liked that I could download the drawing and insert it in my drawings. I should have brought them home when I left. Like you said you could spend hours going down that rabbit hole.
Sent from my SM-A102U using The Garage Journal mobile app
Sent from my SM-A102U using The Garage Journal mobile app
bugnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Besides the McMaster, I enjoyed the new copies of MSC and Small Parts. All are.were good to thumb thru!
rlmartinson
Well-known member
I just finished the whole 50 page story and must say its amazing progress with the house and garage! I have to admit, part of my entertainment was guessing where you work and live. Not as a crazy stalker, but as someone who knows the area. Before moving to NH 3 years ago, we lived in Pleasant Hill and I worked in distribution engineering at MidAm.
I stumbled onto Neal Smith accidentally during work. I was inspecting the overhead power lines out there (very rural) and all the sudden I drive up on a tan building hiding in a valley and all the vehicles have gov't plates! I was kind of expecting Humvees to fly up and ask me what I was doing. Turns out it was just a maintenance building for the DNR. I took the family out there a couple times after that to see the buffalo roam and the displays inside the visitor center. Side note, the land was originally purchased by the power company to build a nuke plant, but that fell thru.
I hope to do more with our new house /garage here in NH, but it takes time and money...
GO STATE
ITech 2000
I stumbled onto Neal Smith accidentally during work. I was inspecting the overhead power lines out there (very rural) and all the sudden I drive up on a tan building hiding in a valley and all the vehicles have gov't plates! I was kind of expecting Humvees to fly up and ask me what I was doing. Turns out it was just a maintenance building for the DNR. I took the family out there a couple times after that to see the buffalo roam and the displays inside the visitor center. Side note, the land was originally purchased by the power company to build a nuke plant, but that fell thru.
I hope to do more with our new house /garage here in NH, but it takes time and money...
GO STATE
ITech 2000
What did you use for a template for the additional holes? I was thinking you may have offset a second sheet of pegboard to use as a guide?
Ed
When it comes to recreational reading, I'll always be a paper catalog/book/magazine/newspaper guy. Digital/online is great when I need to get right to the point, but that's not always what I'm looking to do. Wife bought me a Kindle for my birthday years ago and I hate to admit that I probably spent less than 10 hours actually using it.
Thank you for your kind words and glad to have you along for the ride! If you really want to know where I'm at, I'd be happy to discuss it in a PM. While I'm not worried about the GJ community, these threads are visible to the general public so I purposely omit a certain level of detail when posting.
So just to clear things up in case anyone was thinking how convenient it is that I married someone named 'Wife', that is in fact not her real name. Same goes for my kids Stinker and Buster, although that would have been kind of funny.
The Neal Smith Refuge is really a neat place - I'm looking forward to spending some time there with the family once the weather warms up. I'm glad it ended up being a refuge given how beautiful the area is. Another interesting thing I learned about it is the oak savanna ecosystem. I'd never heard of it before and always thought Iowa used to be all grass prairie. Always something new to learn...
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Neal_Smith/wildlife_and_habitat/oak_savanna.html
I agree - Go State! ITech 2007
XJSuperman
Well-known member
The refuge on my shortlist of places to visit this year.
BD, did you see the drillpress on craigslist yesterday? 50 bucks for a nice condition full height (floor model) unit. He had over 30 emails in 1 day and sold it for $125 instead of 50. It was located in/near Pleasant Hill.
BD, did you see the drillpress on craigslist yesterday? 50 bucks for a nice condition full height (floor model) unit. He had over 30 emails in 1 day and sold it for $125 instead of 50. It was located in/near Pleasant Hill.
I did not see that one - sounds like both the buyer and seller were probably happy with that deal.
Right around Christmas, someone posted a big Dake arbor press for a stupid low price on Marketplace, I want to say $150 or so. It was a legit seller who just wanted it gone. I saw the ad within 10 minutes of it being posted but even then I was too late - someone was already on the way to pick it up and the ad was deleted within the hour. Hot deals go fast these days.
Not much to update, but I figured I'd check in anyway.
The new job is going as well as could be expected considering we are right in the middle of our busiest part of the year. Combined with material shortages and the last minute "we need it yesterday" orders, it's safe to say it's been a little hectic. The next 4-6 weeks will be rough, but I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel, which is encouraging.
The family is doing well. Buster is cutting teeth like crazy trying to get his smile ready for his first birthday next month. He's also pretty close to walking which I'm not totally sure is a good thing given his propensity for mischief. Stinker has figured out that if she does things extra work around the house (beyond her regular chores), I'm a sucker for giving her a few dollars for helping. Yesterday she spent over an hour picking up all the sticks in the backyard. I gave her $5, which gets her halfway to saving up enough to buy a set of roller skates. I honestly have no idea where the roller skate idea came from, but that's her current mission.
What else... oh yeah, the garage...
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Shop time has been limited with the new job (as expected), but the time I do get has been spent on clearing off the north wall in preparation for the windows. Over the weekend, I finished going through the last of the boxes that were on the shelves above the workbench and I'm ready to remove the shelving for good. After that, I'll have to do a little garage tetris so I can temporarily move the workbench away from the wall. Getting closer, one step at a time.
Until next time...
The new job is going as well as could be expected considering we are right in the middle of our busiest part of the year. Combined with material shortages and the last minute "we need it yesterday" orders, it's safe to say it's been a little hectic. The next 4-6 weeks will be rough, but I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel, which is encouraging.
The family is doing well. Buster is cutting teeth like crazy trying to get his smile ready for his first birthday next month. He's also pretty close to walking which I'm not totally sure is a good thing given his propensity for mischief. Stinker has figured out that if she does things extra work around the house (beyond her regular chores), I'm a sucker for giving her a few dollars for helping. Yesterday she spent over an hour picking up all the sticks in the backyard. I gave her $5, which gets her halfway to saving up enough to buy a set of roller skates. I honestly have no idea where the roller skate idea came from, but that's her current mission.
What else... oh yeah, the garage...
View media item 110834
Shop time has been limited with the new job (as expected), but the time I do get has been spent on clearing off the north wall in preparation for the windows. Over the weekend, I finished going through the last of the boxes that were on the shelves above the workbench and I'm ready to remove the shelving for good. After that, I'll have to do a little garage tetris so I can temporarily move the workbench away from the wall. Getting closer, one step at a time.
Until next time...
nicholam77
Well-known member
GeddyT
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I'm so stealing this picture and sending it to my wife. She'll get a kick out of it.
Computer fans for sanding box: Look into Delta computer fans. These things sound like a nearby jet when they're running, but they move a ridiculous amount of air for their size. I use them on dirt bike radiators because they only cost $10 and easily move as much air as the OEM Spal fan.
Edit: Doing a quick search suggests they've tripled in price since I last bought one (like everything else), but $30 isn't bad for moving 240+ cfm per fan, and it still probably wouldn't be louder then the sander she's using.
Brad,
It's been like two weeks since your last update. I imagine you took down those shelves, installed the windows, and probably rebuilt the motorcycle too.
I kid!
I think I put away some tools in that same two week span. I did replace the battery in my Skylark this week after it died and wouldn't take a charge.
Garage Tetris is my life right now also, so I feel your pain! I am insulating and finishing the interior walls & ceiling, so all of my stuff is packed into the west half while I finish the east half. Then we'll reshuffle and repeat.
Ed
It's been like two weeks since your last update. I imagine you took down those shelves, installed the windows, and probably rebuilt the motorcycle too.
I kid!
I think I put away some tools in that same two week span. I did replace the battery in my Skylark this week after it died and wouldn't take a charge.
Garage Tetris is my life right now also, so I feel your pain! I am insulating and finishing the interior walls & ceiling, so all of my stuff is packed into the west half while I finish the east half. Then we'll reshuffle and repeat.
Ed
Sad to say but there has been zero progress on the garage.
What free time I have had has been spent trying to keep up with regular maintenance tasks. Last weekend, I did a brake job on the van. The brakes started squealing mid-February, but it was way too cold to dig into then. It was odd because the pads looked good. As it turns out, I had little to no rear brakes. I found a torn caliper boot on the driver side, causing the piston to be pretty rusty and sticky. On the passenger side I found one of the guide pins had rusted solid. New pads and rotors all around, a new caliper, and fresh fluid has restored the sports car like feel of the brakes on the Dodge Grand Caravan.
I did pick up a new tool for the job - a Motive Power Bleeder kit. This thing is the best thing since sliced bread. Took me maybe 20 minutes to flush and bleed the entire brake system by myself.
https://www.motiveproducts.com/coll...er-kits/products/chrysler-dodge-mopar-bleeder
Other than that, still running long hours at work. Finally getting in a groove, which feels nice.
What free time I have had has been spent trying to keep up with regular maintenance tasks. Last weekend, I did a brake job on the van. The brakes started squealing mid-February, but it was way too cold to dig into then. It was odd because the pads looked good. As it turns out, I had little to no rear brakes. I found a torn caliper boot on the driver side, causing the piston to be pretty rusty and sticky. On the passenger side I found one of the guide pins had rusted solid. New pads and rotors all around, a new caliper, and fresh fluid has restored the sports car like feel of the brakes on the Dodge Grand Caravan.
I did pick up a new tool for the job - a Motive Power Bleeder kit. This thing is the best thing since sliced bread. Took me maybe 20 minutes to flush and bleed the entire brake system by myself.
https://www.motiveproducts.com/coll...er-kits/products/chrysler-dodge-mopar-bleeder
Other than that, still running long hours at work. Finally getting in a groove, which feels nice.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
What is this free time you speak of?
Hey Brad,
I'm glad to hear that your Caravan is back to full sportiness! I had a good chuckle at that! As much as people make fun of minivans, they're extremely handy vehicles.
I have one of those Motive bleeders as well, and it definitely does an awesome job! Much easier than having one of my kids pump the pedal!
Ed
I'm glad to hear that your Caravan is back to full sportiness! I had a good chuckle at that! As much as people make fun of minivans, they're extremely handy vehicles.
I have one of those Motive bleeders as well, and it definitely does an awesome job! Much easier than having one of my kids pump the pedal!
Ed
nicholam77
Well-known member
I've always wanted one of those motive bleeders. I've never done brakes but I've bled my clutch about 5 times
Don't worry about reporting garage progress. Sometimes work and family take the front seat and that's just fine. We'll still be here when the time is right for your big window update.
Glad the new job is going well
Don't worry about reporting garage progress. Sometimes work and family take the front seat and that's just fine. We'll still be here when the time is right for your big window update.
Glad the new job is going well
What is funny is that I always thought I was busy before having kids, now I realize how much time I wasted. With this new role, I'd forgotten how fast time goes by during the day when you are on the production side of things. It seems like I blink twice and half the day is gone.
Admittedly, saying the DGC has sports car brakes may be a slight exaggeration. The pedal feel compared to what it was before I replaced everything, yes, its downright sports carish. Compared to an actual sports car, not so much. I forgot to mention in the previous post, Stinker had a ton of fun riding with me while I was bedding the pads. Nothing like 5yo little girl giggles to put a smile on your face.
Totally agree on the usefulness of a minivan. I've been casually shopping for a replacement vehicle to the van, but keep circling back to just getting a newer Grand Caravan with lower miles. I'm really tempted to customize it a little bit to really make it my own...
https://www.journeysoffroad.com/dodgegvlift.html
I've always wanted one of those motive bleeders. I've never done brakes but I've bled my clutch about 5 times
Don't worry about reporting garage progress. Sometimes work and family take the front seat and that's just fine. We'll still be here when the time is right for your big window update.
Glad the new job is going well
You won't regret the ~$60 for the Motive bleeder. I have a Mityvac hand pump bleeder as well which works great for motorcycles, but can take quite awhile on cars. Someone else on GJ mentioned the Motive so then I had to get one too. Now I've got the right tools for both jobs.
I'm not too worried about garage progress - at the end of the day, its just a hobby. Progress will happen when it happens. If I can get the windows installed before next winter, I'll be happy.
I managed to get in some good QST last weekend. I didn’t accomplish anything monumental, but was able to knock out a few side projects that have been nagging at me.
The first item on the list was to find a home for my growing f-clamp collection. When I was building the seed box for Wife, I discovered during the glue up that I was really lacking in the clamp department. Over the last few months, I’ve been working to resolve this issue by taking advantage of Harbor Freight’s 20-30% off anything under $10 sales. After rolling around a number of rack ideas and not liking most of them, I finally settled on installing a piece of scrap ply under my workbench for them to hang on. Long term, I’ll find a more easily accessible home for them, but for right now it gets them off the workbench without spending a ton of time or effort on a different solution.
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One thing I’m starting to understand is why craftsman go the extra mile on shop furniture projects like this. I could have very easily just ran some screws through the scrap board and called it a day. Instead I measured out and predrilled the screw holes, and chamfered the edges with the router. Not because I had to, but because it was an opportunity to practice on something where making a mistake wouldn’t matter.
Next on the list was getting a frame on one of Stinker’s art projects. Last summer I finally went through the decades old pile of paint cans we inherited with the house and got rid of anything that wasn’t needed. Before the old paint was taken in for disposal, I figured we could have a little fun with it and turned Stinker loose on a piece of scrap plywood. I stuck the painting up on a shelf so it could dry safely and kind of forgot about it until a few weeks ago. I came up with two ideas of how to frame the picture, one being thin strips of wood stained or painted a dark color, the other option being brushed aluminum. She chose aluminum. The material is 1x1 aluminum angle miter cut and attached to the back of the board using countersunk screws. I am very pleased with how well it came out, but more importantly, so is she.
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I got the kerosene heater all cleaned up and ready to go for next year.
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I also added a new tool to the mix a few weeks ago – an Evolution R185CCSX+ track guided circular saw.
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https://www.evolutionpowertools.net/products/r185ccsx
My hand-me-down Skil 5150 circular saw has served me well for years and will always have a place in my shop, but there have been a number of times over the last few years where I wished I had a higher degree of accuracy. Me being me, I have a really hard time justifying the money for something like a Festool saw. Not that I don’t think they are worth it, but more because that kind of expense would blow my fun money budget out of the water, leaving little room for other improvements.
I started looking at alternative saws on the market and found that Evolution makes a couple models that are generally well reviewed. Being very happy with my Evolution miter saw, I knew I’d found the right option. However, by the time I figured out that I wanted this saw, they were sold out/backordered everywhere. They R185CCSX can be found, but finding the R185CCSX+ was impossible. There are some subtle differences between the two models that made me want to hold out for a ‘+’ version. I figured I was just going to wait until they came back in stock until one day until I stumbled across a random pair of them on the shelf at a local Menards. Not only that, they were marked down and there was an 11% rebate sale going on which ended up saving me nearly $40. The Evolution uses the same track pattern as Festool and Makita, so I also picked up a couple 55” sections from Powertec.
I'm a little behind on updates, but there is some good stuff in the works. A little teaser for one project - I purchased another piece of woodworking equipment. I haven't seen it in person yet (my Dad picked it up for me) but even if it needs some work, it'll still be a pretty sweet deal.
The first item on the list was to find a home for my growing f-clamp collection. When I was building the seed box for Wife, I discovered during the glue up that I was really lacking in the clamp department. Over the last few months, I’ve been working to resolve this issue by taking advantage of Harbor Freight’s 20-30% off anything under $10 sales. After rolling around a number of rack ideas and not liking most of them, I finally settled on installing a piece of scrap ply under my workbench for them to hang on. Long term, I’ll find a more easily accessible home for them, but for right now it gets them off the workbench without spending a ton of time or effort on a different solution.
View media item 111512
One thing I’m starting to understand is why craftsman go the extra mile on shop furniture projects like this. I could have very easily just ran some screws through the scrap board and called it a day. Instead I measured out and predrilled the screw holes, and chamfered the edges with the router. Not because I had to, but because it was an opportunity to practice on something where making a mistake wouldn’t matter.
Next on the list was getting a frame on one of Stinker’s art projects. Last summer I finally went through the decades old pile of paint cans we inherited with the house and got rid of anything that wasn’t needed. Before the old paint was taken in for disposal, I figured we could have a little fun with it and turned Stinker loose on a piece of scrap plywood. I stuck the painting up on a shelf so it could dry safely and kind of forgot about it until a few weeks ago. I came up with two ideas of how to frame the picture, one being thin strips of wood stained or painted a dark color, the other option being brushed aluminum. She chose aluminum. The material is 1x1 aluminum angle miter cut and attached to the back of the board using countersunk screws. I am very pleased with how well it came out, but more importantly, so is she.
View media item 111513
I got the kerosene heater all cleaned up and ready to go for next year.
View media item 111511
I also added a new tool to the mix a few weeks ago – an Evolution R185CCSX+ track guided circular saw.
View media item 111518
https://www.evolutionpowertools.net/products/r185ccsx
My hand-me-down Skil 5150 circular saw has served me well for years and will always have a place in my shop, but there have been a number of times over the last few years where I wished I had a higher degree of accuracy. Me being me, I have a really hard time justifying the money for something like a Festool saw. Not that I don’t think they are worth it, but more because that kind of expense would blow my fun money budget out of the water, leaving little room for other improvements.
I started looking at alternative saws on the market and found that Evolution makes a couple models that are generally well reviewed. Being very happy with my Evolution miter saw, I knew I’d found the right option. However, by the time I figured out that I wanted this saw, they were sold out/backordered everywhere. They R185CCSX can be found, but finding the R185CCSX+ was impossible. There are some subtle differences between the two models that made me want to hold out for a ‘+’ version. I figured I was just going to wait until they came back in stock until one day until I stumbled across a random pair of them on the shelf at a local Menards. Not only that, they were marked down and there was an 11% rebate sale going on which ended up saving me nearly $40. The Evolution uses the same track pattern as Festool and Makita, so I also picked up a couple 55” sections from Powertec.
I'm a little behind on updates, but there is some good stuff in the works. A little teaser for one project - I purchased another piece of woodworking equipment. I haven't seen it in person yet (my Dad picked it up for me) but even if it needs some work, it'll still be a pretty sweet deal.
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nicholam77
Well-known member
I definitely do this for practice. Arguably a few of the "shop furniture" things I've made have been overcomplicated and taken way too much time. But that experience helped the "real" projects down the line go so much smoother. A lot of that stuff I was trying for the first time, better to try it out in the shop!
I've found with the exception of large cabinet carcasses, a bunch of 6" and 12" F-clamps can handle most tasks. I've heard the harbor freight ones are a good value... from the pics they look beefy.
I hadn't seen that Evo saw but it looks pretty sweet! I think a Festool saw probably isn't "worth it" for the majority of people. Unless you're breaking down cabinet grade plywood all the time, it's just way too expensive.
The Evo will work great I'm sure. Nice it has a dust port! I've seen good reviews on the Powertec tracks, too. I actually wish they made a 110" track that's more affordable than the alternatives because I've found connecting tracks is a pain. Using the Powertec / Makita / Festool / Triton rail platform will open the door to a lot of accessories if you so choose down the line. Even just having the tracks is handy... could make baseplates for other tools like router, jigsaw, etc. Or just use as a long straight edge in the shop.
Looks like it comes with a multi-purpose blade? I'll reserve judgement for your review, but if cutting plywood you might want to consider a nice 50-60 tooth crosscut / finish blade if you can find one that fits. Should cut like butter with no splintering.
Maybe you've seen me use it but some rigid foam insulation makes a great backer surface to cut on.
Nice job on the picture frame. I actually like her painting haha, it's like an expressionist landscape! Would fit right in a contemporary gallery
Looking forward to the next new tool reveal!