Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The Time Machine: Rebuilding a PNW 1.5 car garage from 1946

[yhprum]

Great idea for the welding table!

 

[larry4406]

Nice folding fab table! Is that one of the Harbor Freight units?

Coffee has not kicked in yet, and I am having trouble understanding the bottom wall mount hinge. Looks like parts of gate hinge.

How do the prop rod legs store when table is folded down?

 

[xtremek]

Nice table. Are you going to keep the bolts at the bottom, or change them to pins so you can fold it down?

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Nice folding fab table! Is that one of the Harbor Freight units?

Coffee has not kicked in yet, and I am having trouble understanding the bottom wall mount hinge. Looks like parts of gate hinge.

How do the prop rod legs store when table is folded down?

Correct- Harbor Freight.

Basically I turned left gate hinge into what you see on the right of your image by drilling out the pin- I didn’t know they made them that way already LOL

It’s likely the rods will store horizontally resting on top of the table hinges as they stick out from the wall a couple inches. The rods are long enough I wouldn’t be able to fold them into the table, so a few minutes of setup will be needed.

Nice table. Are you going to keep the bolts at the bottom, or change them to pins so you can fold it down?

See the last response ^ . It only takes a minute to lift up the table and slide in the rods. I feel having them longer makes it easier to set up than shorter ones. The way the table base is designed from Harbor Freight made it easy to do what I did, but if you wanted to fold up the legs, you’d probably need to redesign the table base as well. I was looking for something I could use with minimal effort. Other than the welding, cutting the steel straps, and drilling holes, everything else was hardware store bought or something laying around, in an effort to save time more so than money.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

One thing to elaborate on, I haven’t figured out all the work spaces yet, but the thought I had was, a couple of the fold down work spaces could share the same prop rods, that way I only have to make a pair of them. Whether or not that’s what happens is to be determined lol.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

Very nicely done. Looks fantastic.

The rods are long enough I wouldn’t be able to fold them into the table, so a few minutes of setup will be needed.

if you wanted to fold up the legs, you’d probably need to redesign the table base as well

Years ago I built a folding workbench for my garage. The legs were too long to easily fold under if the top was hinged down, so the top was made to fold up instead. The hinged legs just hung there. With a 2x4 on the wall to space out the hinges & give everything room to turn, it would stay in place while folded up, but I still used a homemade turn button to latch it there..

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Very nicely done. Looks fantastic.




Years ago I built a folding workbench for my garage. The legs were too long to easily fold under if the top was hinged down, so the top was made to fold up instead. The hinged legs just hung there. With a 2x4 on the wall to space out the hinges & give everything room to turn, it would stay in place while folded up, but I still used a homemade turn button to latch it there..

I considered that as well, but in this area I’m planning some pegboard for tool storage, so I need the table to fold down. Good idea though!

 

[captain14]

I’m not a welder or play one on TV, but do you need a heat shield on the wall behind the table?

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

I’m not a welder or play one on TV, but do you need a heat shield on the wall behind the table?

Likely yes, exploring inexpensive options, and will know more when I can visually see how much space the peg board takes up

 

[Just Puttering]

in an effort to save time more so than money

Awesome…laying down 16+ feet of nice looking weld bead to make your own I beams in order to save time.

Great solid looking table!!

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Awesome…laying down 16+ feet of nice looking weld bead to make your own I beams in order to save time.

Great solid looking table!!

Well the I beam part was non negotiable, so I had to save time elsewhere lol

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Worked on the welding table a bit today, but it was wayyyyyyyy too nice out, so I took the car over to my brother’s house, a 40 mile round trip through downtown Portland, on I5, across bridges, etc. Fantastic day.

 

[xtremek]

Some days you just have to play hooky.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Pretty much ready to pull apart and paint this thing- I got the holes laid out and drilled tonight.

 

[xtremek]

Nice

 

[M.Brane]

He wanted a fold down fixture table with style.

 

[zanyad]

He wanted a fold down fixture table with style.

Well done, and with style in spades!

 

[Thisistimm]

Jeez that’s a lot of welding to make that I beam lol. Looks good though.

When you make your metal back splash to protect from welding make sure to curve the corners in deco form, engine turn the entire thing and lay a nice border with brushed enamel to keep up the vibe

Kidding but in a do it do it! Kinda way lol

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Jeez that’s a lot of welding to make that I beam lol. Looks good though.

When you make your metal back splash to protect from welding make sure to curve the corners in deco form, engine turn the entire thing and lay a nice border with brushed enamel to keep up the vibe

Kidding but in a do it do it! Kinda way lol

You’re in my brain again

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

I got the table pulled apart, painted, lag bolted, and leveled. It’s STOUT. I’m happy.

 

[pickles]

I love this. Someday I’m going to need to steal this design and build my own copy.

 

[Ruffgeezer]

Read this from start to finish today, can I say I hope the shoulder has improved and the redundancy was short lived - I had similar a few years back but was lucky enough to find work fairly promptly.

I do like your 90% rule, perhaps something I can aspire to rather than "f**k it, that'll have to do."

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Read this from start to finish today, can I say I hope the shoulder has improved and the redundancy was short lived - I had similar a few years back but was lucky enough to find work fairly promptly.

I do like your 90% rule, perhaps something I can aspire to rather than "f**k it, that'll have to do."

Thank you - I ended up having a torn labrum in my shoulder, but by the time I had an MRI/got it diagnosed, it was "fine", so I'm just gonna live with it. It hasn't been bothering me too much, so that's good news.

 

[Thisistimm]

Looks great man.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

I keep finding myself stuck in a loop figuring out what’s next- no matter what, I’m missing at least one critical tool station for each project. For example- shelves- ideally I’d have the welding station set up and the table saw set up. I have one of them, but not both. Same goes for workbench, peninsula, etc. I’m slowly figuring out a method though.

I want a shelf system that complements the jointer table, without the labor of making everything. I can’t get away from all the labor, but I’ve been evaluating shortcuts. One day, I was looking at shelving in Lowe’s and saw these ClosetMaid brackets. I like the stamped shape they have, and figured I could make something work using them as a starting point. So, I bought a couple in each size to take home and scheme.

Fast forward to today, and I forced myself to figure it out. Now that I have proof of concept and templates, I can build the remaining 12” brackets relatively easily. Maybe a full weekend type project. Welding them to the art deco stacked strap is a bit of a challenge due to the different thicknesses, but I’ll get better at that as time goes. The top hole/fastener will be covered by the shelf itself, and the bottom one will be visible.

 

[xtremek]

Nice looking brackets. I remember when I had that kind of time. Yeah, kind of jealous.

 

[Thisistimm]

I think it’s less of a having time to make the garage which you make projects in be fancy and it’s more the garage is the project.

Still, it’s hard to find time to do much of anything some times.

While completely ridiculous and nothing you have ever seen in a real shop from the era it’s these little details that will make the entire space feel cohesive and special to people who get a chance to wander around it.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Nice looking brackets. I remember when I had that kind of time. Yeah, kind of jealous.

I think it’s less of a having time to make the garage which you make projects in be fancy and it’s more the garage is the project.

Still, it’s hard to find time to do much of anything some times.

While completely ridiculous and nothing you have ever seen in a real shop from the era it’s these little details that will make the entire space feel cohesive and special to people who get a chance to wander around it.

Thank you - it's like Timm says - the garage is the project being worked on right now, so I ignore everything else falling apart in my life and needing attention until the garage is done or I get too burnt out to keep working on it lol - or something falls apart bad enough I need to stop working on the garage and go fix that something. For the most part, when I set aside time to make something, I try to make it good enough I'm not coming back later (90% rule). For things like the garage, it will be a creative space, so I want to feel inspired when I'm in here.

This stint of unemployment has been a double edged sword - I have time to catch up on projects, but funding them is ambiguous as I'm not sure how long I'll be without work. Getting the T on the road was a MASSIVE win. If I could get the garage pretty much wrapped up before I'm back to work as well, that would also be fantastic. I just need to stay motivated, keep my body healthy, put my head down and turn the music up until it's done lol.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Mid project motivation picture:

 

[Thisistimm]

Let’s see what kind of jig you came
Up with to have those all the same.

 

[M.Brane]

Lightening holes appear to be a theme.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Let’s see what kind of jig you came
Up with to have those all the same.

For the stamped shelf brackets, after I had the first measured/marked/drilled, I used it as a template by clamping the remaining brackets to the template, drilling through them by using the template as a guide.

For the bases, I just cut them all the same size, marked/drilled/plug welded from the back using some magnets to line them up, then marked/drilled the mounting holes through.

 

[Thisistimm]

There ya go, easy enough.

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Nowhere near done, but conceptually I’m getting somewhere.

 

[Thisistimm]

Man… some stainless ribbed edge trim line a dinner counter would be perfect on that shelf….

 

[Thisistimm]

Looks great btw

 

[FullRaceMerc]

Man… some stainless ribbed edge trim line a dinner counter would be perfect on that shelf….

Sounds good. Makes me think of some of the T-moulding from my bench top making days.

Search results for "T moulding"

www.outwater.com

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

Man… some stainless ribbed edge trim line a dinner counter would be perfect on that shelf….

Sounds good. Makes me think of some of the T-moulding from my bench top making days.

Search results for "T moulding"

www.outwater.com

Once again you guys are in my brain - ordered some fluted shelf stiffeners late last week!

 

[Tim_with_a_T]

More progress:



(I still need to restore the grinder, but I had to set it in place to see what it would look like.)

 

[yhprum]

This garage project is really turning out sweet!