Been going hard at it in the workshop lately.
First on the docket during an evening putter, I decided all the stickers on my toolbox made it look really messy. I'd rather this be a cleaner-looking space, so a few minutes with a heat gun got them all cleaned off. Looking much better now.
I'm giving serious consideration to painting it, though I might forego that in favor of buying a bigger box sooner. I dunno. Not a top priority at the moment.
Next up, I spent some time playing with a gift left behind by the previous homeowners.
This Wen air filtration system looks to be pretty well-regarded, and with the amount of woodworking and painting I do, it could be a really nice addition to the workshop. So I took it down from the garage ceiling and tried to figure out a good method of getting it on the ceiling in the workshop. This ended up being less successful than I had hoped.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The filter is about 10" tall, so larger than a typical garage door opener. I wanted to get it as tight to the ceiling as I could, since my Land Cruiser is a tall brute and headroom is at a premium. So I spent a few minutes taking it apart, figuring out how to mount it, and where to locate it. Figuring I wanted it central to the shop, I decided to try mounting it behind the garage door opener. To get it closer to the ceiling, I removed the standard hooks and opened up the filter to see what was inside. Turns out, not much.
With that amount of space, running screws through the body so it was almost touching the ceiling was a pretty good bet. So a little measuring and hole-drilling, and I had new mounting points. I opted for six to keep the weight distributed. While there are only four original mounts, they are reinforced with more steel than the rest of the body. Since my new mounts didn't have that luxury, I opted for overkill. I also picked up some screws and fender washers for mounting.
With all the necessary pieces, I lined it up in the center of the shop and mounted it on the ceiling. I ran the cable along the garage door opener mounts and plugged it into the same outlet. I stood back and looked at it, feeling particularly handy.
As I stared at it, a horrible realization crept up on me like a bad rash. The distance from Sandy's roof rack to the bottom of the filter box looked a little small. Too small. Worryingly small. To confirm my suspicions, I dragged the floor jack over and raised her up, but not all the way.
Looks pretty close, doesn't it?
Really close.
****.
It's touching. That ain't gonna work. With a few curse words, I reluctantly disassembled the filter box and took it down. It's currently residing in my shed until I decide where else to mount it. Should I place it closer to the man door? Over the workbench area? Next to the heater? I'm not sure of the best location for it. It cannot go within the rectangle created by the lights. I need as much overhead space as I can get there.
Nothing like spending a couple hours doing pointless work, isn't there?
Anyway, it was time to move on to the next big thing: modifying my bench. During my work on the filtration system, I had a few screws get bumped and skitter off to the back of the bench, where they flung themselves into the dark oblivion behind the bench and tool boxes. To fix that issue, I decided to add another poplar 1x2 on the back. Unfortunately, I couldn't mount it upright as the frame of the bench sits a little proud of the bench top, so I would need to mount it horizontally.
No problem, cut it to length, glue it in place, and double-secure it with brads. Not the most finished look, but it's a bench. I'll deal with it.
While that was drying, I also decided to attempt to fix an issue pointed out by
@gearhead1960, the location of my vise. The static jaw is too far back to be able to clamp long items vertically, so I needed to move it forward and closer to the side. I removed the vise and tried out a bunch of different locations, eventually landing on an orientation I thought would work.
To fill the original mounting holes, I opened up the holes to 1/2", cut some doweling I had on hand to 1", slathered it in glue, and knocked it into place.
Not bad, I can live with that.
Next, I found the new home for the vise and marked the holes, then drilled them through the top. I lined the vise back up and dropped the bolts into the holes to ensure it was all lined up. Bolts dropped in just fine. Then I poked my head under the bench and swore. Loudly. The holes were such that I would not be able to get nuts on two of the bolts. I didn't want to have two lag bolts securing the vise to the bench, so I needed to move the vise. Again. ****.
Out comes the doweling and the new holes got filled. Once that dried, I needed to sand down the dowels and the glue squeeze-out from the new poplar edge band. I also needed to scuff up the top for refinishing. In my frustration and desire to get it finished faster, I took my handheld belt sander to the edge band and the dowel plugs. This was a mistake.
I sanded right through the first ply of the bench top. More swearing.
I walked away for about an hour, playing through the choices in my head on how to proceed. Needing a work bench and deciding it doesn't have to be beautiful, I figured I'd just finish it and get the tung oil on it. I can always modify it or replace it down the road if I feel it is necessary. Besides, the vise would be covering the majority of it anyway, so I decided to just run with it. Without the vise or finish on the bench, it sure looks ugly now.
You'll see I decided on a mounting method for the vise. I just snugged it up to the corner and opted to use a lag bolt on that corner, with the back mounts being bolts through the top. I may go to a longer bolt on the corner to make sure I don't damage that, but with the two bolts holding it down, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
As I was finishing the sanding process, I landed on a solution to the ugly bench top. When I build my other bench, the one which will house the drill press, I will build one closer to 5 feet in length rather than 6 feet. That means I can trim about a foot off this bench top and use it for the other bench. Lopping off a foot will remove the ugly section. Problem solved.
Anyway, I finished the sanding and scuffing of the top, then went to town with the tung oil, adding three coats.
I'll be honest, it doesn't look too bad with the finish on it. Not amazing, but not too bad compared to it unfinished. Depending on the angle you're looking at it.
With the vise mounted back up, that spot more or less disappears.
Good news: my bench extension worked out perfectly. I'll admit it's not the most elegant solution, but it works just fine. I may cut out a piece of poplar to even out the extension, or I might just leave it. Again, this top will be cut up to fit another frame in the future, so that's when I'll address it or not address it.
With another debacle over, it was time to get back to the wall paneling.
I pulled five more pallets into the workshop and cut the stringers off, forming another Pile O' Lumber to sand and stain. At first, I went back to using the belt sander like I had before.
After fighting with this for a few minutes thanks to the corrugated vacuum hose and the planks wanting to shoot off into oblivion, I looked at the bench vise and changed tack.
Aha! This works much better! Much less exhausting and painful on my back, plus a lot faster. Before too long, I was able to get a big chunk of the lumber pile sanded and stained. Slowly but surely, I added paneling to the wall, hitting six feet before I knew it. One of the real advantages to having a bench vise is being able to more easily and accurately cut the planks to length before they go on the wall. This setup is almost like having a miter saw. Almost.
Not really. But you get what I mean.
I made it all the way around the breaker panel and drilled a hole above it for my future electrical plans. More on that later. I also discovered that I didn't need to move the breaker box at all thanks to the design of the panel cover. I just needed longer mounting screws and I'd be good to go.
I also remounted my garage door opener switch in a slightly different location, closer to the door. Progress is coming along swift now!
That's where I'm at for now. I do have a big Pile O' Lumber that I still need to finish off. A little still needs sanding, most of it is awaiting stain, and some of it is ready to go on the wall. I'm pretty sure I have enough to finish off the wall, so I'm hoping to have that all completed by the weekend. Here's hoping!
