Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Tom's Neighborhood Workshop

[nicholam77]

Wow, the floor turned out incredible! Jealous!

 

[DeeDubz]

Floor turned out nice OP.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Wow, the floor turned out incredible! Jealous!

Floor turned out nice OP.

Thanks guys! It's so nice to have that step done.

I've got a few more things cooking at the moment guys, working on the next steps of the shop fitout. My boys have been helping me get the main workbench made. I should have more to share today.

 

[jollygreengiant]

That floor turned out really nice! It must feel really good to have it done after all the problems you've had with it.

Is it slippery at all when it's wet/damp?

 

[Quarter Life Crisis]

I love to see when a plan finally comes together. Lots of work into that floor, and it paid off. Beautiful!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

That floor turned out really nice! It must feel really good to have it done after all the problems you've had with it.

Is it slippery at all when it's wet/damp?

Oh man, you have no idea! It's so nice to have it done and I'm very pleased with it.

I've not had it hosed down yet, but I'll have to try it. I'm suspecting it won't be too bad since I've wiped it down with water since the floor has been installed. Didn't seem too slick then so we'll see.

I love to see when a plan finally comes together. Lots of work into that floor, and it paid off. Beautiful!

Thanks QLC! I'm so stoked that it's ready to go. I'm really happy with the look. I may do it different if I were to do it again, but I'm super happy with it and I think it will go perfectly with what I have planned in there.

 

[fouckhest]

Hey Tom - finally getting all the way through your thread, been a fun adventure to catch up on! Kind of funny, around the same time you switched jobs, I did the same, also a fully WFH position; personally still getting adjusted, but I am only 1 month in.

Garage/Shop is looking great, flooring came out awesome, I wish I had been following earlier, I would have certainly recommended the company I used (v-seal), but it looks like everything worked out in the end.

Love your home office, I am sure you saw my TV stand in the basement, we certainly share similar taste in décor, lol

Looking forward to continued progress in the shop!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Hey Tom - finally getting all the way through your thread, been a fun adventure to catch up on! Kind of funny, around the same time you switched jobs, I did the same, also a fully WFH position; personally still getting adjusted, but I am only 1 month in.

Garage/Shop is looking great, flooring came out awesome, I wish I had been following earlier, I would have certainly recommended the company I used (v-seal), but it looks like everything worked out in the end.

Love your home office, I am sure you saw my TV stand in the basement, we certainly share similar taste in décor, lol

Looking forward to continued progress in the shop!

Thanks for taking the time to go through it, and good to have you here!

WFH was a bit mixed for me at first. I loved the idea of all that flexibility but worried about not interacting with people. It's been a good change though. Allstate is great to work for and the people I've interacted with are tremendous. Just need to get a little more familiarity with the job and I'll be off on this career path.

Best of luck in your new endeavor though! I know having the dedicated office space was a big deal for me. Keeps me in the right frame of mind and provides that separation. Thanks, I'm really happy with how it turned out. Not quite done with it yet but it's mostly there. Yep, I did see your TV stand and I loved that. You and I do share that taste it appears haha. Love the industrial look.

Thanks for the comments on the workshop! I'm happy with the floors and even happier now that I've had some time to work with them. I was worried they'd look like trash once they had sawdust/dirt/shoe scuffs etc. but they don't. Just looks like well-used industrial flooring, which is perfect.

I need to get another update out, things have changed dramatically!

 

[cros13]

Floor looks great Tom!

Also like what you did with your office space.

And really digging your brothers Camaro! I'm up to the point of rewiring the zed, or starting the process, and I've been putting it off for the longest time. I really don't want to rewire the entire car from scratch, rather, upgrade the existing harness and get rid of all the glass fuses and fusable links, for a more modern setup. Even though i'm pretty confident wiring everything, still, the last thing you want to do is let all the smoke out of all the boxes.

Rudi.

 

[XJSuperman]

I made it all the way through tonight!
First, the floor looks great, that was indeed quite a journey to get it looking like that.
Now this is gonna sound bad, but you're garbage can saga had me laughing. I realize it probably scared the **** out of you, but dang it sounded funny on my end. To add to my bad image, the repeated mentioning of PPE stands out. I don't wear it nearly as much as you from the sounds of it. I despise face shields unless I really need it for overhead work under a vehicle, and don't grab a respirator until I'm doing something especially dusty. Maybe I am getting a little too comfortable doing rust removal? Its becoming a hobby of mine at this point. Growing up in OH and living in Iowa now has familiarized me with vehicular cancer. I can't imagine living somewhere like MT where there is none.
Anyhow, your progress on Sandy is really coming along. I applaud your effort to reach a pristine quality resto, though I don't quite understand it for this build. Its certainly looking good regardless. Can't wait to see the bumpers and armor on it.

The house looks great too. I'm sure the family loves the working from home aspect. You get to spend so much more time with them that way.

 

[Cris B]

What a great read. I enjoyed the adventures in flooring (I have this journey ahead of me). The end product looks really good. You must be excited about moving the stuff back in.

A few years back I had a job interview in Bozeman which I flew over from the UK for. I did not get the job but had a great couple of winter days in Montana and loved the exploring the state.

I look forward to seeing how your build evolves

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Floor looks great Tom!

Also like what you did with your office space.

And really digging your brothers Camaro! I'm up to the point of rewiring the zed, or starting the process, and I've been putting it off for the longest time. I really don't want to rewire the entire car from scratch, rather, upgrade the existing harness and get rid of all the glass fuses and fusable links, for a more modern setup. Even though i'm pretty confident wiring everything, still, the last thing you want to do is let all the smoke out of all the boxes.

Rudi.

Thanks Rudi! Both projects took a bit to figure out little problems, but then came together in a hurry. I'm really happy with the progress on both honestly.

That Camaro is a killer build! 650-ish HP on that 572. He's got non-sticky tires on the back so it spins through every gear, but he kinds has to do it that way for now because he's pretty sure his diff would explode. I'm sure that car will show up in the thread again.

I don't envy you that level of wiring for sure, and I love doing 12v wiring. 'd probably just do it from scratch if it were me. It's a pain in the *** but as we discovered in my BIL's car, sometimes piecemeal repairs can be an even bigger headache depending on the situation. The good thing you have going is the Datsun is a pretty simple car with not a whole lot of wiring comparatively, so either way you go it's probably not as dreadful as you're thinking.

I totally get your wariness though. Frying something important would really ****.

I made it all the way through tonight!
First, the floor looks great, that was indeed quite a journey to get it looking like that.
Now this is gonna sound bad, but you're garbage can saga had me laughing. I realize it probably scared the **** out of you, but dang it sounded funny on my end. To add to my bad image, the repeated mentioning of PPE stands out. I don't wear it nearly as much as you from the sounds of it. I despise face shields unless I really need it for overhead work under a vehicle, and don't grab a respirator until I'm doing something especially dusty. Maybe I am getting a little too comfortable doing rust removal? Its becoming a hobby of mine at this point. Growing up in OH and living in Iowa now has familiarized me with vehicular cancer. I can't imagine living somewhere like MT where there is none.
Anyhow, your progress on Sandy is really coming along. I applaud your effort to reach a pristine quality resto, though I don't quite understand it for this build. Its certainly looking good regardless. Can't wait to see the bumpers and armor on it.

The house looks great too. I'm sure the family loves the working from home aspect. You get to spend so much more time with them that way.

Thanks for all the comments XJ!

Yes, the floor was quite the saga, but I'm quite happy with the outcome. As I've said, I'd probably end up with something a little different if I were to do everything over again, but I think it's great as-is.

Trust me, the garbage can thing is hilarious. Getting hit in the face (or welding helmet) by a barrel because of my own bad decision making is a great story. And a lesson I won't soon forget!

The older I get, the more insistent I get about PPE. I know a guy who didn't do a lot of that, and over his time tinkering in his shop (50+ years) he caused a lot of damage to himself. Nothing huge in any one instance, but it really added up over time. By the time of his death, he was nearly deaf and had poor vision. He'd been working around loud compressors and machinery his whole life and almost never wore safety glasses or face shields. He had **** embedded in his eyes multiple times, and it damaged his vision. His hands were scars on scars from incidents with tools and welding spatter. Having grown up with him as a bit of a mentor, I didn't want to end up that way in 50 years. Every incident where I hurt myself because I wasn't wearing proper PPE just reinforced it. So now I try to be diligent about it.

Man, I can't imagine living in a state where everything is so infected by tin worm. I hate rust so much. I hate how insidious it is and how it hides absolutely everywhere. I hate how much work it is to repair. This truck has convinced me to never buy another rusty project again. I've done it once, and once is enough. Montana is great for that because it's dry in the summer and we don't salt the roads in the winter. It's not as dry as California or Arizona, but rust is almost never a thing here.

Sandy is coming along, though a lot slower than I wish it would. I'm definitely not aiming for a perfect restoration, but I'd like it to look good. I won't be beating the snot out of it as a rock-crawler, it's more of travel machine, so it's more about making it presentable vs. a restoration. Though I know I'm in the minority with the body work. I suppose I'm strange in that way. It will be a killer build once it's done.

I'm enjoying the WFH, and my wife and kids really like it. More time with everyone and I'm able to get some more stuff done during down times. Downside is I don't leave my house a whole lot these days, but I try to balance that out. There's positives and negatives, but on the whole I think it's a good fit for me.

What a great read. I enjoyed the adventures in flooring (I have this journey ahead of me). The end product looks really good. You must be excited about moving the stuff back in.

A few years back I had a job interview in Bozeman which I flew over from the UK for. I did not get the job but had a great couple of winter days in Montana and loved the exploring the state.

I look forward to seeing how your build evolves

Thanks Chris!

I am so happy to have stuff back in the workshop. It was much more difficult than it should have been, but I guess now I'm somewhat of an expert on concrete floor coatings, so there's that.

Bozeman is a gorgeous area of the state for sure. The mountains and wildlife in that area are incredible, and winter there can be really beautiful. Expensive as hell these days unfortunately, but definitely a beautiful part of Montana. I spend a lot of time in the Paradise Valley region southeast of Bozeman, and pass through there several times a year as my mom and dad live up in the NW corner of the state.

I'm a bit of an anglophile to be honest. Thanks to a lot of British TV, I have also assimilated a lot of that slang and vernacular. It sounds a bit silly I'm sure from an American. When I visited the UK several years ago I put it on my list to visit again, I need to get more exposure to the car culture the next time I go because I align with it more than I do with the American car scene if I'm being honest.

Glad to have you along for the ride!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

MOVING IN, PART 1

The workshop is looking a lot more useful and a lot less sparse these days.

As soon as the floor was reasonably set, I started working on getting the pallet paneling on the wall. It was pretty warm out and the floor had been curing for about 60 hours, so I was comfortable with walking around and getting some stuff done. I started by dragging in my Pile O' Lumber and sorting out the pieces into matching widths. Then I brought my compressor and brad nailer in and got to work. Didn't take too long to have a few courses up on the wall.



To avoid damaging the floor, I did do all the cutting on my back porch instead of in the workshop. It was a bit more back and forth, but I didn't want to put any scratches on the floor if it wasn't fully cured properly. I suppose that was kind of pointless because my 4 year old determined it was the perfect time to ride his tricycle in the shop. Anyway, by the end of my working day I had made some pretty solid progress up the wall.



My big goal was to get the paneling to about 40" up the wall, that way I could focus on getting the main bench set up and put into place. Full disclosure: I cheated a bit. The pallet wood I had on hand was enough to cover a big chunk of the wall, but less than I had anticipated. A lot less. I had a small pile of wood I just couldn't use because it was an odd width and I couldn't get a full course out of it. To speed things up, I bought a few sticks of 1x4 low-grade lumber from Home Depot, as well as about a dozen cedar fence slats.

Great thing about a distressed pallet wood wall, I can use the cheapest, lowest quality lumber available, sand it a bit, and stain it so it can go up on the wall. Speeds things up a lot. And I don't need to pull more frickin' pallets apart. So the pallet wood wall is a mostly pallet wood wall.



I'm sure you've all figured this out by now, but I'm a ***** for Minwax Jacobean stain. It's like my Frank's Red Hot. I put that **** on everything.



Before too long though, I was able to hit my goal and get started on the workbench.



For the bench, my original plan was to use a 72x25x1 chunk of butcher block, but I couldn't find any at Home Depot. I also suddenly remembered my Costco shelves-turned-workbench were 77" wide rather than 72", so I needed a new plan. I ended up buying a sheet of 1/2" birch ply and a few sticks of 1x2 poplar.

I started by ripping the birch ply in half and then trimming both halves down to measure 24x77.



I did a few passes to square up everything before laying down a thick layer of glue on each half. I then dropped one half on top of the other, located every clamp I own, and clamped them together. Mental note: I need more clamps.



While that was drying, I cut the poplar sticks to length with 45 degree miters before calling it a night.

The following afternoon, I came back out to the workshop with the most important accessory: a glass of Buffalo Trace.



While sipping amber goodness, I measured out several spots and drilled a number of pocket holes. With those done, I ran a bead of glue along 3 of the 4 edges of the bench top, lined up the poplar strips, and secured them with the pocket screws.



Now, I say that, but in reality I was only able to get the front strip screwed on. The sides tried to tear out both the plywood and the poplar, so I abandoned that and, as the glue was drying, I ran over to my brad nailer and used that to properly secure the sides. More on that in a second. Luckily, it all went off pretty well and was looking the way I envisioned.



Unfortunately, my brad nailing skills aren't perfect, and I sent two brads at a diagonal through the top of the bench. Dammit.



I snipped them off with some side cutters and used a pin punch to drive them well below the level of the top, then dropped a bit of glue in the holes and filled them with sawdust, creating a pretty decent patch. Hey, it's a workbench, so perfection really isn't necessary.



To be continued....

 

[jbmatth]

It was great to meet you yesterday, and thank you for the hospitality. I'll tag along this thread and try to keep up.

JB

 

[wreckdiver1321]

It was great to meet you yesterday, and thank you for the hospitality. I'll tag along this thread and try to keep up.

JB

Great to met you and have you here as well JB. It was a lot of fun.

 

[Bob Heine]

Mental note: I need more clamps.

Tom, I don't recall ever seeing "I finally have enough clamps" anywhere on the GJ!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

MOVING IN, PART 2

With the glue drying on the bench top again, I had to knock out the frame/legs. There is a 1/2" lip on the cross pieces that allows the shelving to be inset. I planned on using these to create center supports. It took me a minute to figure out what material I should use to make the supports, but after a second I realized the scrap pieces from the top would work perfectly. A few cuts with the track saw and I was ready to go.



There were metal supports making this span previously, and the 6' cross pieces have a series of four slots that these center supports sit in. Using these slots, I was able to use a 90* drill adapter and drive a series of screws from inside those cross pieces, thus securing my plywood center supports in place.



I then trimmed the uprights and shot some paint on them to clean them up.





Since the cross pieces are a friction-fit on the uprights, I wanted a way to secure it all together so I could avoid accidentally detaching the bench top from the legs. That would be a bummer. To avoid that, I drilled a few holes in the horizontal supports on the upright legs and used a couple strips of the poplar as a spacer.



With that done, I hefted the bench top into place and used a few light taps of a deadblow hammer to get it in place against the legs.



My supervisor thought this was excellent work.



I used the rest of the evening to attack the top with a palm sander. As you can see from pervious pictures, I had a fair amount of squeeze-out. I also did a little filling with glue after the fact. Also despite my best efforts, the poplar was not perfectly flush with the birch ply, so it needed some serious sanding to clean everything up and even it out. I started with 80-grit, then moved to 120 after it was evened out and cleaned up. Then a quick blast with the air to clean off the dust and it was ready for finish.

I ended up doing three coats of Minwax Tung Oil because I had seen it recommended for bench tops, but more importantly I had some. Here is the final look after round three.



The supervisor was even more pleased with this work.



With the oil drying nicely, I took the boys to Home Depot to work on tool storage a bit.

My original thought for this bench was to add two cross pieces below the bench top, put the shelving in, and set a 44" Harbor Freight top box underneath. This would give me a generous amount of extra storage, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was missing something important: leg room. I want to have the ability to sit on a stool at this bench and work on things, and having a shelf underneath would mean I'd have to sit with my legs 90* from my torso. That didn't sound comfortable, so I shifted gears and opted for a different solution: two 26" Husky roller chests. At only $129 each, they were a steal compared to the US General, and I'd have even more storage. Win/win.



With those in my shop, I dragged in my main toolbox, that black Craftsman in the previous photo. I got that box as a Christmas gift from my parents when I was 16. That box has lived in six different garages now and has had countless amounts of work completed out of it. It's not the best box by any means, but it's got some significance to me. I do plan on eventually replacing it, but I will always own it. Perhaps it will be my kids' box some day.

Anyway, by this point the tung oil had dried and I was able to drill out the holes for my Forward bench vise. I used another chunk of scrap wood on top of the bench to keep from tearing out the holes, then picked out some hardware at Ace before securing the vise to the bench. My wife helped me move it into place and I finished it off by moving my new Husky boxes, air compressor, and stool into their new homes. Starting to look like something!







To be continued...

 

[gearhead1960]

Tom,

From the angle in the picture it looks like the static face of the vise jaws lines up behind the front of the bench. Is this an optical illusion? Or will rotating the vise 90* give you the ability to clamp something long and vertical, but have to work from the side?

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice work so far Tom, I like the wall behind the bench, starting to really come together at this point!

I'm a big fan of the Husky boxes, the two I have, have been great.

 

[jbrentd]

That's some great progress. I really like the workbench and the pallet wall. If your wife ever asks why you need more clamps, just show her that picture!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Tom, I don't recall ever seeing "I finally have enough clamps" anywhere on the GJ!

Ha! Great point. I am making it a point to pick up one or two clamps each time I go to the hardware store.

Tom,

From the angle in the picture it looks like the static face of the vise jaws lines up behind the front of the bench. Is this an optical illusion? Or will rotating the vise 90* give you the ability to clamp something long and vertical, but have to work from the side?

Mark, you are correct.

Unfortunately, the cross pieces going between the uprights wouldn't allow me to get the vise right up against the edge of the bench top without going through the poplar. It's something I'll likely tinker with later. I may end up just going through the poplar anyway, or moving the vise closer to the side so I can rotate it when I need that ability. As of now, no orientation will allow what you're describing.

Nice work so far Tom, I like the wall behind the bench, starting to really come together at this point!

I'm a big fan of the Husky boxes, the two I have, have been great.

Thanks Marc! I'm really pleased with how it's coming out. I was worried about the random color arrangement, but It's really cool looking. Once I reach the ceiling I can actually get the air system set up. Then maybe hang up the TV.

These Husky boxes are OK, not great. They're a bit light duty, so they have a tendency to move around when I open them. I'll probably build a platform to set them on and get them off the wheels to solve this problem. Otherwise I really like them.

That's some great progress. I really like the workbench and the pallet wall. If your wife ever asks why you need more clamps, just show her that picture!

Ha! She's well past the point of asking why I need the tools I bring home...

Thanks Brent, I'm super pleased with how it's all shaping up!

 

[wreckdiver1321]

MOVING IN, PART 3

As I don't have the time to build my cabinets along the north wall yet, I needed a temporary storage solution in order to get everything moved into the workshop and out of my wife's garage. To facilitate that, I started by building one of the industrial shelving racks I have. This is destined to become another bench at some point, but for now I need the storage. Have I mentioned I love these shelves? I get them at Costco and they're rated for 2,000lbs.



I largely emptied toolboxes and storage bins onto a tarp in the middle of the floor, then sorted out things I needed for now, things I needed later, and things I didn't need at all. Meanwhile someone was cruising through the shop on a bike. Maniac.



I did run out to pick up another HDX bin and, uh... requisition... a few large milk crates. A little sorting, stacking, moving, and shifting, and I had everything finally in the workshop.



I repurposed one of my dumpy old Waterloo rolling chests by setting my welder on it and filling it with welding/grinding stuff. I need to make a lower frame for it so it can also house a gas bottle, as well as some better casters. Also a handle for pushing it around. But for my welder, grinders, and gear, it's exactly the right size. More on that when I get working on it.

Then it was a few days' worth of organizing and arranging to get everything the way I wanted it. Meanwhile, I broke out the sawhorses and got back to cutting paneling pieces. I would organize for a while, get tired of that, then work on paneling for a bit before it was a lot of work to continue, then go back to organizing. Before long, I reached the wall cabinet and the switches/outlets. My trusty DeWalt oscillating tool was positively invaluable here, allowing me to cut around everything pretty easily.





On Easter, I moved Sandy back into the shop finally, marking the first vehicle to drive on the new flooring. Other than a couple tricycles, of course. With her nestled in her new home, it's really starting to look like an actual workshop.





On Easter, I had the great pleasure of meeting and hosting @jbmatth for a few hours for dinner. It was great to get together with another GJ'er and talk shop... literally.

Talking of the floor, it's holding up really well with all the traffic. The melting snow and rain is obviously making it really muddy, but I've discovered it's easy to just hose the floor down for a few seconds and squeegee the water out. Works extremely well.



As for the organization, I cut new drawer liners for my entire main toolbox and started to get everything arranged neatly. I picked up a magnetic rail from HF and put my Ernst rails to good use finally. I ended up boxing up about half of my screwdrivers and most of my wrenches as "not needed". Not to mention a ton of sockets. I picked the best of the best and put everything else in a box. Then I rearranged the entire box to be nice and organized. Behold my OCD!





If anybody has a way to wrangle all my socket extensions, please let me know. Every time I open this drawer, they roll around everywhere. Really bugging me.





Once I was satisfied (mostly) with that, I sorted out the box of cast-off tools. I made two new piles of tools, one for "house" tools that will go into a toolbox that will stay in the attached garage for quick home repairs or projects, and another for "truck" tools, which will live in a tool roll in my Land Cruiser. I didn't end up with a completely full set of tools for either, but I'm most of the way there. My plan is to slowly upgrade my workshop tools and move the "lesser" tools to the truck tools. On that note...



You can see my choice for my new shop wrenches: Hazet. They're extremely well-regarded and frankly I just love the way they look, so I've started by filling gaps in my wrench rail. Once all the gaps are filled, I will start slowly replacing the most commonly used wrenches with the Hazets until I have a full metric set. I'll take the same tack with my fractional set, though I've not decided which manufacturer to go with yet. I do find plenty of USA Craftsman at my local pawn places so I may go that route. I'm not in a hurry though since I almost never work on anything fractional.

I'm doing the same thing with Ko-Ken sockets, Knipex, Engineer, and Klein pliers, Tekton ratchets, etc. It'll be a slow process.

Now we're all caught up. My next steps will be finishing all the paneling, getting the air compressor plumbed in, and working on more lighting. Plenty more to come, so stay tuned!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice progress Tom. In regards to the extensions.

Turn them perpendicular to what you have now, and arrange them right to left, tallest to shortest by 1/2-3/8-1/4. Works well in my box.

 

[XJSuperman]

Its really coming along now, wow. What was JB doing up in your neck of the woods?
For the socket extensions, just turn them 90deg. Prevents rolling every time you open or close a drawer.
EDIT: Marc beat me to it.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Nice progress Tom. In regards to the extensions.

Turn them perpendicular to what you have now, and arrange them right to left, tallest to shortest by 1/2-3/8-1/4. Works well in my box.

That may be what I do, but I'm planning on picking up a 21" long 1/2" ratchet, which would basically span the entire bottom of that drawer. I'd like the extensions to not run into that. I may just fiddle with it a bit once I pick that ratchet up.

Its really coming along now, wow. What was JB doing up in your neck of the woods?

Thanks XJ!

JB is helping our Conoco refinery here in town with their turnaround process. I believe he's in town until early June.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

That may be what I do, but I'm planning on picking up a 21" long 1/2" ratchet, which would basically span the entire bottom of that drawer. I'd like the extensions to not run into that. I may just fiddle with it a bit once I pick that ratchet up.

Either run the extensions to the top of the drawer for the "base" or flip/flop your wratchets...should help with that issue. Or in the world of garagejournal, let me help spend your money and buy a bigger box

 

[zmotorsports]

Not sure how I missed this thread before but just got caught up.

You've created a nice looking place for you and your family Tom. You should be proud and hopefully will be able to enjoy it for a long time.

Subscribed and following along.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Not sure how I missed this thread before but just got caught up.

You've created a nice looking place for you and your family Tom. You should be proud and hopefully will be able to enjoy it for a long time.

Subscribed and following along.

Good to have you along for the ride, Mike. Thanks for stopping in! Looks like you and I have some similar pursuits in a similar part of the world.

Thanks for the kind words. It's coming along for sure, but as always it's a work in progress. Got a lot of plans!

Either run the extensions to the top of the drawer for the "base" or flip/flop your wratchets...should help with that issue. Or in the world of garagejournal, let me help spend your money and buy a bigger box

Ha! I do actually plan on going to a bigger box at some point. Here's the main contenders:

Craftsman 26.5"
Husky 36"
Milwaukee 36"
Husky 41"
US General 44" top + US General 44" bottom
Husky 46"

The Craftsman is obviously a similar size to my current box, but with different dimensions. My OG Craftsman box is 24" deep, but the top boxes are only 12" deep. The top box has a removable plastic toolbox for "load & go" capability. I have literally never used the plastic box in 14 years, so It's a massive waste of space. The new Cman is the same width and height, but the top box is deeper at 16". It's not a huge bump in storage, but definitely a useful upgrade. In full disclosure, I like the looks of this one more than any of the others.

The next three all have a common problem: the "hutch" on the top of the box. There will be overhead cabinets above the box, 18" deep and hanging down 24" from the ceiling, giving me 72" from the floor to the bottom of the cabinets. That big hutch, while useful space, would require me to actually remove the lid in order to really use it, because the lid will run into the overhead cabinets. Seems a shame to need to do that.

The 36" Husky is actually about the perfect size and a great price, but has another problem: I like keeping my sockets in a drawer no lower than about waist-high. I can deal with putting them in that top hutch, but I'd have to remove the lid like I said, which is riveted on with a continuous hinge. Removing that will leave my sockets out for dust and other junk, which isn't ideal. The drawer layout seems a little discombobulated too, so organizing it might be an exercise in frustration.

The 36" Milwaukee fixes the hutch by giving me a legitimate socket/ratchet drawer, and it's well made. I really like the side-mounted power strip vs. up in the hutch like freaking everybody else. However, I'm not a fan of the aesthetics. The flat paint and bumper thingies really make it look like nothing else, and not in a good way. On top of all that, it's the 2nd most expensive.

The 41" Husky solves the upper hutch problem for a similar price point to the cheaper boxes. I still have the annoying hutch, but that wide drawer on the top of the bottom cabinet would perfectly accommodate all of my sockets and even my ratchets and torque wrenches. Perfect! Downside: I want a red one.

Next, I've had a lot of time checking out the 44" US General boxes, and I really like the build quality, size, and drawer layout. They don't have the top hutch so I think they make the best use of the space I have available, and the price is really good for the quality and size. This set is the front runner at the moment, though that is subject to change.

Finally, the 46" Husky addresses the socket storage problem and offers an absolute crapload of storage, but it is at the absolute maximum of what my toolbox space can accommodate. I'd like to not completely jam that space full, and when you think about it I'll have an absolute crapload of enclosed storage with my cabinetry plans. So while the massive size would be nice, I'm not sure it's needed for what I have/what I need.

So there you go, that's my incredibly long-winded response to what was frankly a joke.

 

[gearhead1960]

MOVING IN, PART 3

As I don't have the time to build my cabinets along the north wall yet, I needed a temporary storage solution in order to get everything moved into the workshop and out of my wife's garage. To facilitate that, I started by building one of the industrial shelving racks I have. This is destined to become another bench at some point, but for now I need the storage. Have I mentioned I love these shelves? I get them at Costco and they're rated for 2,000lbs.



I largely emptied toolboxes and storage bins onto a tarp in the middle of the floor, then sorted out things I needed for now, things I needed later, and things I didn't need at all. Meanwhile someone was cruising through the shop on a bike. Maniac.



I did run out to pick up another HDX bin and, uh... requisition... a few large milk crates. A little sorting, stacking, moving, and shifting, and I had everything finally in the workshop.



I repurposed one of my dumpy old Waterloo rolling chests by setting my welder on it and filling it with welding/grinding stuff. I need to make a lower frame for it so it can also house a gas bottle, as well as some better casters. Also a handle for pushing it around. But for my welder, grinders, and gear, it's exactly the right size. More on that when I get working on it.

Then it was a few days' worth of organizing and arranging to get everything the way I wanted it. Meanwhile, I broke out the sawhorses and got back to cutting paneling pieces. I would organize for a while, get tired of that, then work on paneling for a bit before it was a lot of work to continue, then go back to organizing. Before long, I reached the wall cabinet and the switches/outlets. My trusty DeWalt oscillating tool was positively invaluable here, allowing me to cut around everything pretty easily.





On Easter, I moved Sandy back into the shop finally, marking the first vehicle to drive on the new flooring. Other than a couple tricycles, of course. With her nestled in her new home, it's really starting to look like an actual workshop.





On Easter, I had the great pleasure of meeting and hosting @jbmatth for a few hours for dinner. It was great to get together with another GJ'er and talk shop... literally.

Talking of the floor, it's holding up really well with all the traffic. The melting snow and rain is obviously making it really muddy, but I've discovered it's easy to just hose the floor down for a few seconds and squeegee the water out. Works extremely well.



As for the organization, I cut new drawer liners for my entire main toolbox and started to get everything arranged neatly. I picked up a magnetic rail from HF and put my Ernst rails to good use finally. I ended up boxing up about half of my screwdrivers and most of my wrenches as "not needed". Not to mention a ton of sockets. I picked the best of the best and put everything else in a box. Then I rearranged the entire box to be nice and organized. Behold my OCD!





If anybody has a way to wrangle all my socket extensions, please let me know. Every time I open this drawer, they roll around everywhere. Really bugging me.





Once I was satisfied (mostly) with that, I sorted out the box of cast-off tools. I made two new piles of tools, one for "house" tools that will go into a toolbox that will stay in the attached garage for quick home repairs or projects, and another for "truck" tools, which will live in a tool roll in my Land Cruiser. I didn't end up with a completely full set of tools for either, but I'm most of the way there. My plan is to slowly upgrade my workshop tools and move the "lesser" tools to the truck tools. On that note...



You can see my choice for my new shop wrenches: Hazet. They're extremely well-regarded and frankly I just love the way they look, so I've started by filling gaps in my wrench rail. Once all the gaps are filled, I will start slowly replacing the most commonly used wrenches with the Hazets until I have a full metric set. I'll take the same tack with my fractional set, though I've not decided which manufacturer to go with yet. I do find plenty of USA Craftsman at my local pawn places so I may go that route. I'm not in a hurry though since I almost never work on anything fractional.

I'm doing the same thing with Ko-Ken sockets, Knipex, Engineer, and Klein pliers, Tekton ratchets, etc. It'll be a slow process.

Now we're all caught up. My next steps will be finishing all the paneling, getting the air compressor plumbed in, and working on more lighting. Plenty more to come, so stay tuned!

Tom,

#FabSpace has a nice little system he fabbed up that you can find here. Warning....this is a rabbit hole....

 

[gearhead1960]

Good to have you along for the ride, Mike. Thanks for stopping in! Looks like you and I have some similar pursuits in a similar part of the world.

Thanks for the kind words. It's coming along for sure, but as always it's a work in progress. Got a lot of plans!


Ha! I do actually plan on going to a bigger box at some point. Here's the main contenders:

Craftsman 26.5"
Husky 36"
Milwaukee 36"
Husky 41"
US General 44" top + US General 44" bottom
Husky 46"

The Craftsman is obviously a similar size to my current box, but with different dimensions. My OG Craftsman box is 24" deep, but the top boxes are only 12" deep. The top box has a removable plastic toolbox for "load & go" capability. I have literally never used the plastic box in 14 years, so It's a massive waste of space. The new Cman is the same width and height, but the top box is deeper at 16". It's not a huge bump in storage, but definitely a useful upgrade. In full disclosure, I like the looks of this one more than any of the others.

The next three all have a common problem: the "hutch" on the top of the box. There will be overhead cabinets above the box, 18" deep and hanging down 24" from the ceiling, giving me 72" from the floor to the bottom of the cabinets. That big hutch, while useful space, would require me to actually remove the lid in order to really use it, because the lid will run into the overhead cabinets. Seems a shame to need to do that.

The 36" Husky is actually about the perfect size and a great price, but has another problem: I like keeping my sockets in a drawer no lower than about waist-high. I can deal with putting them in that top hutch, but I'd have to remove the lid like I said, which is riveted on with a continuous hinge. Removing that will leave my sockets out for dust and other junk, which isn't ideal. The drawer layout seems a little discombobulated too, so organizing it might be an exercise in frustration.

The 36" Milwaukee fixes the hutch by giving me a legitimate socket/ratchet drawer, and it's well made. I really like the side-mounted power strip vs. up in the hutch like freaking everybody else. However, I'm not a fan of the aesthetics. The flat paint and bumper thingies really make it look like nothing else, and not in a good way. On top of all that, it's the 2nd most expensive.

The 41" Husky solves the upper hutch problem for a similar price point to the cheaper boxes. I still have the annoying hutch, but that wide drawer on the top of the bottom cabinet would perfectly accommodate all of my sockets and even my ratchets and torque wrenches. Perfect! Downside: I want a red one.

Next, I've had a lot of time checking out the 44" US General boxes, and I really like the build quality, size, and drawer layout. They don't have the top hutch so I think they make the best use of the space I have available, and the price is really good for the quality and size. This set is the front runner at the moment, though that is subject to change.

Finally, the 46" Husky addresses the socket storage problem and offers an absolute crapload of storage, but it is at the absolute maximum of what my toolbox space can accommodate. I'd like to not completely jam that space full, and when you think about it I'll have an absolute crapload of enclosed storage with my cabinetry plans. So while the massive size would be nice, I'm not sure it's needed for what I have/what I need.

So there you go, that's my incredibly long-winded response to what was frankly a joke.

I have the 44" US General in orange and really am happy with it. @Trapps also has the 44"....

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Tom,

#FabSpace has a nice little system he fabbed up that you can find here. Warning....this is a rabbit hole....

Oh hell yeah. That is a friggin' fantastic idea. Okay, I might have to try out something like that. Thanks for the link!

I have the 44" US General in orange and really am happy with it. @Trapps also has the 44"....

Good to know. They really seem like a great quality chest for the money, I play around with them every time I go into HF. I know @Trapps likes his. It's not an imperative right now, so I'm more focusing on getting the other bench and cabinets built, but it's one of those things I'm kicking around for the future.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

I have been in perputual motion of growing out of tool boxes for over 20 years

Every time I tell my wife "this should be the last one I need"...she just laughs.

 

[Trapps]

Garage and organization is looking great, Tom!

I have a modest (by GJ standards) socket set. I use the top drawer of a HF44 with Earnst/Tekton rails for the sockets. The rails are wide by just a few mm's to sit all flat front to back, so the rear-most rail sits on a piece of ½" plywood with some 2x tape allowing it to remain level.

When I bought the HF44's they were $379, but gen 1 so only 18" deep. Although I used the space behind them, I'd rather have had the 22" deep series. A few years in now and I have no complaints. I'd also consider 2x 26" and 1x 44" if I had it to do over. I like the deeper drawers...

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Garage and organization is looking great, Tom!

I have a modest (by GJ standards) socket set. I use the top drawer of a HF44 with Earnst/Tekton rails for the sockets. The rails are wide by just a few mm's to sit all flat front to back, so the rear-most rail sits on a piece of ½" plywood with some 2x tape allowing it to remain level.

When I bought the HF44's they were $379, but gen 1 so only 18" deep. Although I used the space behind them, I'd rather have had the 22" deep series. A few years in now and I have no complaints. I'd also consider 2x 26" and 1x 44" if I had it to do over. I like the deeper drawers...

That's a solid setup, @Trapps. My socket selection is positively minimalist in comparison, so don't feel too bad. Right now, with my 1/4 and 3/8 socket trays, one of the drawers is almost full. Another drawer houses the 1/2 socket trays, and that one is almost full. If I could set it up so I could fit all of my 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 sockets in one drawer, that would be absolutely ideal.

 

[bj383ss]

Tom been following along since your new floor came out. Garage is looking great. I am tired thinking about all you have done in the last couple of weeks.

My suggestion on the extensions rolling around is fill the drawer so full of tools they can't roll.

Bret

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Tom been following along since your new floor came out. Garage is looking great. I am tired thinking about all you have done in the last couple of weeks.

My suggestion on the extensions rolling around is fill the drawer so full of tools they can't roll.

Bret

Bret, thanks for following along! Nice to have you in the workshop.

Hahaha, it makes me a bit exhausted thinking about it too if I'm honest. I just keep plugging away because I want it to be the right work environment for me, as well as a cool place to hang out. It's getting there for sure!

Ha! That is a great piece of advice!

 

[zanyad]

I did a few passes to square up everything before laying down a thick layer of glue on each half. I then dropped one half on top of the other, located every clamp I own, and clamped them together. Mental note: I need more clamps.

Next time you may want to consider using some cauls to make sure the center is also clamped, like this (image from here):

TIL: cauls' working edges should be curved (see this tutorial on making some from 2x4's)

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Next time you may want to consider using some cauls to make sure the center is also clamped, like this (image from here):

TIL: cauls' working edges should be curved (see this tutorial on making some from 2x4's)

Noted! I have one more bench top to make so I'll give that a shot next time.

 

[nicholam77]

Wow, moving at the speed of light over here. It's all coming together great!

I'm enjoying the WFH, and my wife and kids really like it. More time with everyone and I'm able to get some more stuff done during down times. Downside is I don't leave my house a whole lot these days, but I try to balance that out. There's positives and negatives, but on the whole I think it's a good fit for me.

I feel the exact same way. In my industry (advertising) I do have some down days from time to time, and spending them at home actually allows me to get stuff done sometimes vs wasting away at the office. I do feel like a bit of a shut-in, but I think for anyone with little kids it's a huge benefit, like you said, get to spend a lot more time with the family on weekdays.

I'm sure you've all figured this out by now, but I'm a ***** for Minwax Jacobean stain. It's like my Frank's Red Hot. I put that **** on everything.

I LOL'd at this. I'm guessing a lot of people have a "Frank's Red Hot" when it comes to finish selection.

Now, I say that, but in reality I was only able to get the front strip screwed on. The sides tried to tear out both the plywood and the poplar, so I abandoned that and, as the glue was drying, I ran over to my brad nailer and used that to properly secure the sides.

Do you mean the boring bit was tearing out the wood when you drilled the holes? It can leave some fuzzies going across the grain, but should be able to sand them off. If it was an issue when driving the screws... the workpieces need to be clamped. Doesn't matter the orientation of what you're doing, if you're driving pocket screws without the pieces clamped together so they can't move, it's going to be a struggle. One of the downsides of pocket screws.

I think brad nails + glue is plenty strong for that type of edge banding anyways, and probably faster / easier, unless you don't like the pin holes the nails leave.

Unfortunately, my brad nailing skills aren't perfect, and I sent two brads at a diagonal through the top of the bench.

Pretty sure that's happened to everyone! Even holding the nail gun perfectly straight, occasionally a brad just wants to go sideways. Nice job fixing it, though.

Also despite my best efforts, the poplar was not perfectly flush with the birch ply, so it needed some serious sanding to clean everything up and even it out.

That's tricky especially with such long edges. A biscuit joiner would help align and get you to a closer starting point, but I get that's not a tool that makes sense for everybody given their cost. In the end it looks like it came out good! Like the look of the tung oil, too.

I agree with using cauls to apply some pressure to the center of the plywood lamination... now that you have one bench you could alternatively just set something heavy in the middle like some weights or a tool box.

Speaking of tool boxes your organization looks fantastic! I don't have anywhere near has many hand tools as you but organizing them is something I've put off for about 5 years. Smart to do it at the beginning before stuff "piles up".

Can't wait to see what's next.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Wow, moving at the speed of light over here. It's all coming together great!

I feel the exact same way. In my industry (advertising) I do have some down days from time to time, and spending them at home actually allows me to get stuff done sometimes vs wasting away at the office. I do feel like a bit of a shut-in, but I think for anyone with little kids it's a huge benefit, like you said, get to spend a lot more time with the family on weekdays.

I LOL'd at this. I'm guessing a lot of people have a "Frank's Red Hot" when it comes to finish selection.

Do you mean the boring bit was tearing out the wood when you drilled the holes? It can leave some fuzzies going across the grain, but should be able to sand them off. If it was an issue when driving the screws... the workpieces need to be clamped. Doesn't matter the orientation of what you're doing, if you're driving pocket screws without the pieces clamped together so they can't move, it's going to be a struggle. One of the downsides of pocket screws.

I think brad nails + glue is plenty strong for that type of edge banding anyways, and probably faster / easier, unless you don't like the pin holes the nails leave.

Pretty sure that's happened to everyone! Even holding the nail gun perfectly straight, occasionally a brad just wants to go sideways. Nice job fixing it, though.

That's tricky especially with such long edges. A biscuit joiner would help align and get you to a closer starting point, but I get that's not a tool that makes sense for everybody given their cost. In the end it looks like it came out good! Like the look of the tung oil, too.

I agree with using cauls to apply some pressure to the center of the plywood lamination... now that you have one bench you could alternatively just set something heavy in the middle like some weights or a tool box.

Speaking of tool boxes your organization looks fantastic! I don't have anywhere near has many hand tools as you but organizing them is something I've put off for about 5 years. Smart to do it at the beginning before stuff "piles up".

Can't wait to see what's next.

Thanks for checking in, Nick!

Yeah, the WFH change has ups and downs, but it's largely a good setup for me. I have to give Allstate a lot of credit for the way they structure their WFH employees, I don't feel really isolated or anything. It's really nice to be able to jet out to the shop for a bit to tinker every so often too.

Ha! I'm glad you got a laugh out of that. I laughed to myself when I thought of that analogy and had to include it. Wife thought I was nuts laughing for no reason.

In regards to the pocket screws: They bored just fine and since it was on the underside of the bench I didn't care about cleaning them up. What was happening was the screw was separating the plies of the plywood, and then they were just at the absolute maximum length, so if I horsed them in too much they'd start popping through the sides. For what I'm using it for, I figured the brads and glue was good enough. I'm planning on adding another edge band to the back of the bench now too, because the wall is about 2" from the back of the bench. Nothing rolls when I drop it, but losing something behind the bench because it doesn't go back far enough would be really annoying. Anyway, I'm debating how to secure it. Probably will be just brads and glue so I don't have to take the damn top off.

I was really pleased with the bench top repair, it worked better than I anticipated and you barely notice it with the oil on it now.

Yep, I knew there would be some sanding involved to flush everything up and make it clean. I'm not a woodworker at all, so this is largely making it all up as I go. I'd like to get better, and I suppose I'm doing that through trial and error. That being said, I'm really happy with the end result of the bench.

I have plenty of exercise weights, so next bench will likely get weight stacked on it. Good thought.

Ha! You say that about organization, but remember this box has been with me for 14 years. You should have seen the madness before. I had two wrench drawers - one metric, one fractional. No racks, trays, or anything. Just wrenches thrown in a drawer. My 1/2" socket drawer was like that too. Just a collection of sockets rolling around. I had my screwdrivers just jammed in one drawer with no rhyme or reason. I had a "random" drawer... So yeah, I did a lot of work out of a mess of a toolbox. Since I had the time and wanted to get everything cleaned up, I decided to organize it while I was getting it all moved in. You always have to do some rearranging anyway after a move because everything gets jumbled.

Thanks for the feedback on the woodworking man, I really appreciate it. As I get more into it and make more things, I'll appreciate and even solicit it more. You're lightyears ahead of me in that realm.