Workshop 88

[Mr. 360]

With the house having been wrapped up (at least siding and windows) the other day, I had a couple minutes of down time out in the shop, so I popped open the old electric motor that came with the small belt driven grinder I have.

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I blew out about 100 fly shells, some mouse turds, and all kinds of grassy stuff stuck in cobwebs. If I had tried to run it without cleaning inside I'm sure something would have caught fire. (I didnt have my camera with me at the time, so I didn't take pics of the guts).

I took parts to the wire wheel for a cleaning, sprayed wd40 into the guts to take off old grease, sanded off the rotor and stator, which had surface rust, and cleaned out the bushings. I re-oiled everything once I was happy and gave the contacts a light sanding to freshen the surfaces. Tossed it all back together and grabbed a 20" length of wire that I cut from some computer years ago (I know it sounds gross, but I keep an eye out on garbage day for large electronics, then cut as much cord off as possible to rewire old tools). I wired on the new plug and gave the motor a test spin.

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It's suuuuper buttery smooth and quiet when it's running. No vibration to speak of, and very little resistance. The wiring 'box' on the back had no cover, so I snipped one out of sheet steel to fit. I also packed the end of the bearing with grease, might make a cap to hold it in there.

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I ended up destroying the old pulley pulling it off, it was so rusty. I replaced it with a nice aluminum one from my great grandfather (I saved his collection of pulleys). This is a smaller pulley so the grinder will run a little slower, maybe if I find a stepped pulley I will toss that on.

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Gratuitous Spec Shot. Yes, it's upside down.

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Still have to clean the rust off the base and give the body a coat of paint, and wire in a switch, but good progress for now.

My only Issue with it so far is that when I plug it in, there is a pretty decent pop and blue flash at the back end of it on startup, then its fine. I'm figuring it's a poor or not quite tight enough connection in the centrifugal switch or starter contacts (much like points on an older car). These have sat for a few decades without use, so they may be a bit corroded, I haven't yet cleaned em. A piece of fine sandpaper folded backwards on itself and then pulled through the points might do the trick.

 

[Mr. 360]

In other news, Remember that ugly house I moved into (pic from when we had home inspection in early 2013).

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BAM!

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I know this isnt 'the house journal,' But I quite like this little house. It's much like the garage... small, but yet it seems to fill our needs perfectly for the time being. I had wanted to reside and install windows myself, but life has a way of throwing more onto your plate than you can chew. So, we paid to have that done. Otherwise, on this house I have:

-Upgraded from 60 to 200A service
-New front and back doors
-New laundry tub area (included because my wife likes it)
-Renovated the entire back hall (adding closet, beadboard, crown moulding)
-Lights front and back
-A few closets got worked over
-Bathroom is in a never ending work-mode
-Removed old hideous decks that were painted with latex house paint
-Interior doors
-The list goes on... doesnt even include what's been done in the garage

I'm sure like a lot of DIY homeowners, there are times it feels like I'm not making progress, but looking back at the last year and a half, I'd say it's coming along well. Next week my wife's folks are coming over to help paint the inside, so that'll make a huge difference. I picked up some on sale paint at the same time, for use in the garage. Someday when that's buttoned up I'll paint it too.

 

[CallousedCal]

Great update! Now you just need a porch/awning back there so you can sit out back and swat skeeters like the rest of us haha!

Like you said, sometimes you don't feel like you're moving forward but look at that change. Those baby steps really add up. Bonus points for bringing the grinder back to life. Those old westinghouses will outlive most of us with proper care.

 

[Nolift911]

Great update - lots of work done.

I like the house inclusion and small projects - all blends in my mind.

Everything comes out of the garage for everything we do...

 

[1/2 Cup]

The house looks fantastic Eric
They are a constant work in progress if yours is anything like mine, one project will generate 5 others.
Nice job on the grinder motor, it looks like it came from washing machine originally.

Regards

 

[Shockwave179]

This is awesome, went through the entire thread today. Keep up the good work and continue to inspire.

 

[captain14]

Eric,

The work on the house looks great. How many contractors did you "interview" before deciding on this one? Any big prices differences? I know there was a big price range when I had my HVAC system installed. One company actually made it a point that they "soldered" the coolant lines to the outside unit. How else would they connect them if they were under pressure? Fancy picture and all.


What are the plans for the back door area? New deck with a seating and dining area? An overhang of some sort for the door?

Thanks for sharing with us .

 

[Bob Heine]

My only Issue with it so far is that when I plug it in, there is a pretty decent pop and blue flash at the back end of it on startup, then its fine. I'm figuring it's a poor or not quite tight enough connection in the centrifugal switch or starter contacts (much like points on an older car). These have sat for a few decades without use, so they may be a bit corroded, I haven't yet cleaned em. A piece of fine sandpaper folded backwards on itself and then pulled through the points might do the trick.

If you have an elderly friend nearby, I'm sure they still have an ignition point file. I have one left (goes well with my dwell meters).

 

[Papastruck]

Great update - lots of work done.

I like the house inclusion and small projects - all blends in my mind.

Everything comes out of the garage for everything we do...

Amen. Keep the updates coming, love this thread.

 

[Mr. 360]

Great update! Now you just need a porch/awning back there so you can sit out back and swat skeeters like the rest of us haha!

Like you said, sometimes you don't feel like you're moving forward but look at that change. Those baby steps really add up. Bonus points for bringing the grinder back to life. Those old westinghouses will outlive most of us with proper care.

Thanks, it feels good looking back and seeing progress. Just gotta look at the list of to do's and tackle one thing at a time. I've been contemplating swapping the grinding wheels off the little belt driven unit and swapping for buffing wheels, but we'll have to see. I mounted it all up yesterday and then realized I had the motor running the belt backwards (I always do something like that).

Great update - lots of work done.

I like the house inclusion and small projects - all blends in my mind.

Everything comes out of the garage for everything we do...

Amen. Keep the updates coming, love this thread.

Perfect, that's kinda how I feel, glad others share the same train of thought.

The house looks fantastic Eric
They are a constant work in progress if yours is anything like mine, one project will generate 5 others.
Nice job on the grinder motor, it looks like it came from washing machine originally.

Regards

Thanks, I have found the exact same thing on this house. One project leads into several.

Interesting thought on the grinder motor. When I found it it was sitting in a small shed that was in a bad way. you can see the little cast iron unit down the very end of the bench in this shot. Not too many old pics of it from when I found it. I wish I fought to keep some of the other old motors but most got thrown out (such as the GE in the foreground).

https://scontent-a-ord.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1910018_32749230448_7901_n.jpg?oh=10288c8fdf72aef4fdfae7c248687851&oe=55026CB4

Here you can just see it at the far left end of the shed, in the window.

https://scontent-b-ord.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/1929816_31713035448_3143_n.jpg?oh=500b9ae83ca0ed44265ee05d8c981135&oe=55441221

This is awesome, went through the entire thread today. Keep up the good work and continue to inspire.

Thanks, glad to hear that people are having as good a time reading as I have writing it.

Eric,

The work on the house looks great. How many contractors did you "interview" before deciding on this one? Any big prices differences? I know there was a big price range when I had my HVAC system installed. One company actually made it a point that they "soldered" the coolant lines to the outside unit. How else would they connect them if they were under pressure? Fancy picture and all.


What are the plans for the back door area? New deck with a seating and dining area? An overhang of some sort for the door?

Thanks for sharing with us .

I interviewed a handful of local contractors. Prices ranged by about 6k actually. The company we went with did a good job, was the least expensive, and quoted the most work. Good warranties too. They had cutaway samples of the extruded windows, built right in Ontario, so it was nice to use local products.

Plans.. hmmm... I saved all the good PT wood from the decks, enough to build a porch across the front. I might do a small deck on the back and a patio. Scale-wise it might look better since the yard isn't too big.

If you have an elderly friend nearby, I'm sure they still have an ignition point file. I have one left (goes well with my dwell meters).

You know, I might just have a couple of those kicking around from my great grandfather. He was a ham radio guy back in the 30's and worked on a lot of old electric motors (i still use a few, restored one a while back). Didn't know what they were, thanks for the tip!

 

[Mr. 360]

Had a big, big rainstorm over the weekend. Along with the grotesquely leaky basement in the house, it seems that good ol H2O re-kindled it's passion for my garage once more.

View media item 42296
Now, I'm at a bit of a loss here. The garage now sits above the outside grading, I have about 4" of large round stone for drainage, and a 4" perforated o-pipe for -you guessed it- even more drainage. The one thing i do not have installed yet are eavestroughs. They hadn't been top of my list lately because it seemed the drainage trenches were doing there job. I think they've been moved to the head of the line now...

My only theory is that the heaviest rain came when I wasn't home, because by the time i got to the garage, the trench was functioning normally and draining water. In the last mega downpour, I noticed that outside, my patio stone in front of the door was damming up the flow, and I had several inches of water beside the garage (it still didn't really flood though).

Anyways, I'm stumped. My backyard neighbour was even so good as to re-direct the flow of all his home eavestroughs to the front of his home (his yard slopes into mine), so im not getting as much water from there now. The rain must have been so heavy that the back half of the shop was, essentially, submerged, and no amount of trenches and diverting could handle it.

Anyways, it gave me an excuse to get a fire going in the stove as I bailed the place out. I was able to use a dust-pan to scoop water into an 8L oil pan bucket. I did that 5 and a half times, so I took about 45L of water off the floor.

View media item 42297
Luckily nothing major got damaged, and by this morning it's almost totally dry. I guess watch for eaves troughs on here in the near future...

 

[CallousedCal]

Mite take a water hose and squirt all down over the roof back there and let it run down for 15 - 20 minutes. Listen for dripping and see if you catch it. If its not through a wall or the roof and like you think its the troughs, set the hose in the yard. see if it fills up.

 

[Mr. 360]

Not a bad idea there. I should note that the roof is as tight as a drum, as I did it last year, and it should last as long as I do. The walls seem good too, except for the bottom 2-3" or so at the back.

I should also note that before I lit the fire, i did catch a pretty steady drip coming out the stove itself, having come through the chimney. That, I freely admit, was a design oversight. The pass-through section runs on a 1-2 degree upward slope. this would allow water to drain it's way into the building through the chimney. That's on the revise list as well.

If all else fails, im just gonna dig a moat

 

[CallousedCal]

Ha ha, I'll ship you a load of crocs for the moat

You can get a pretty decent cap for the chimney for about $20 that just slips over the end. Still lets smoke out, keeps water in. Press on to seal.

 

[1/2 Cup]

As above Eric, there are flue cowls available that should help with the rain ingress.
Our storm water drains are required to be directed in to the street out here, eave gutters are also mandatory.

Regards

 

[the_art_of_design]

Eric,

Sorry to hear about your water woes. It's been a crummy few years with water in the GTA. I'm in Oakville and we're getting the same stuff...

Looking at your floor photo, it looks like water is getting in against the back wall, correct? With your grade being so close to the sill of the old garage (in new construction this distance is 6"), the standing water in flash floods like we have been having sit up against the wall and find their way in. With no sill gaskets or base of wall flashing in place, it's not surprising. Your trench is a great defence and gutters will help keep the water away from the edge of the slab. Throw in a few rain barrels while you're at it for the garden or washing the car.. At the very least it will help capture and contain the first 200L. Also the downspouts should be as far from the slab as possible. You could even drain these into a French drain in the yard if it ponds too much (a big hole filled with clear stone to help drainage into the earth).

I have also seen exterior sump pumps in low lying areas where it's not possible to regrade or drain fast enough. A sprinkler box with cover, the bottom cut out for the pump and a hole dug filled with clear stone will contain the water and a long hose for the outfall should help any standing water clear the area pretty quickly. Just make sure you have a weather protected GFI box out of the weather if you choose this route.

Nice garage and nicely done on the 1/4 sawn post.

 

[longlivepunk]

Hey Eric, I can't be of any help given the great advice that's already been given, but I would suggest getting that super cool card-file on top of a couple 2x4's to keep the bottom dry until you get the issue fixed! Good luck!

 

[Mr. 360]

Ha ha, I'll ship you a load of crocs for the moat

You can get a pretty decent cap for the chimney for about $20 that just slips over the end. Still lets smoke out, keeps water in. Press on to seal.

I have a pretty cheap one on there now, like the one in the pic.. I think in driving rain though water would still get in. I think my trouble is that the roof (with no eaves) drips onto the pipe and runs down in.. just a theory though.. I could use the crocs for security purposes as well

As above Eric, there are flue cowls available that should help with the rain ingress.
Our storm water drains are required to be directed in to the street out here, eave gutters are also mandatory.

Regards

haha, i hear ya on the drains and gutters heading to the street. I think my neighbourhood has plenty of by-law 'oversights' such as improper drainage, not abiding by lot-line backsets, etc etc. seems to come with the territory. When I hook up my eaves though I'll have them running to the street to keep as much water away from the building as possible.

Eric,

Sorry to hear about your water woes. It's been a crummy few years with water in the GTA. I'm in Oakville and we're getting the same stuff...

Looking at your floor photo, it looks like water is getting in against the back wall, correct? With your grade being so close to the sill of the old garage (in new construction this distance is 6"), the standing water in flash floods like we have been having sit up against the wall and find their way in. With no sill gaskets or base of wall flashing in place, it's not surprising. Your trench is a great defence and gutters will help keep the water away from the edge of the slab. Throw in a few rain barrels while you're at it for the garden or washing the car.. At the very least it will help capture and contain the first 200L. Also the downspouts should be as far from the slab as possible. You could even drain these into a French drain in the yard if it ponds too much (a big hole filled with clear stone to help drainage into the earth).

I have also seen exterior sump pumps in low lying areas where it's not possible to regrade or drain fast enough. A sprinkler box with cover, the bottom cut out for the pump and a hole dug filled with clear stone will contain the water and a long hose for the outfall should help any standing water clear the area pretty quickly. Just make sure you have a weather protected GFI box out of the weather if you choose this route.

Nice garage and nicely done on the 1/4 sawn post.

Thanks for the comment, I'm with you on the french drain, I've been considering digging one for a little while where my o-pipe exits. I've also been looking into rain barrels for things like the car, gardens, etc. I hadn't really thought about an exterior sump pump though, that's interesting. Maybe I'll tuck that away as my 'last resort' haha. Like you said, the pad is below grade at the back, and when it rains really, really hard, the water tends to just sit around the base.

Hey Eric, I can't be of any help given the great advice that's already been given, but I would suggest getting that super cool card-file on top of a couple 2x4's to keep the bottom dry until you get the issue fixed! Good luck!

haha, funny you should mention. Every time the place floods I think to myself, man, that thing needs to be on feet. I actually have a set of repurposed ikea feet for it, i just took them off when I moved. Perhaps it's time they went back on. I got that unit from my uncle, he bought 3 at $5 each, so I just gave him $5 for it.

 

[Alexbn921]

Nice work in your small space. I just read through from the start and you have a sweet little workshop. I too enjoy the sketches and woodworking. It ***** about the rain getting in. When we moved into our house we had a french drain put all the way around the house to try and mitigate the bad drainage. Another contractor said that we should have but in two pipes, one for ground water and one for gutters. The roof is a huge area and if it dumps right next to the walls it will over saturate and not drain. Gutters might be the ticket to keeping things dry. Anyway good luck and I will be following along.

 

[wannabridin]

freaking awesome with the portable mill there. Man i'm jealous of that tool and your skills!!! read through almost all your pages here over the last few months, great shop and i love the re-purposing you're doing. great to see old tools brought back to life!

 

[Mr. 360]

Nice work in your small space. I just read through from the start and you have a sweet little workshop. I too enjoy the sketches and woodworking. It ***** about the rain getting in. When we moved into our house we had a french drain put all the way around the house to try and mitigate the bad drainage. Another contractor said that we should have but in two pipes, one for ground water and one for gutters. The roof is a huge area and if it dumps right next to the walls it will over saturate and not drain. Gutters might be the ticket to keeping things dry. Anyway good luck and I will be following along.

Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed the thread so far. Seems french drains might be the ticket here, coupled with a good eavestrough setup. Hopefully I can beat this flooding thing soon.

freaking awesome with the portable mill there. Man i'm jealous of that tool and your skills!!! read through almost all your pages here over the last few months, great shop and i love the re-purposing you're doing. great to see old tools brought back to life!

Thanks very much! I love that tool, even if it's sparsely used. Hoping to mill up a load of cherry soon. I'll keep repurposing stuff for sure. It keeps the cost down and has a story to go with it. Thanks for following along!

 

[Mr. 360]

A few days back, Longlivepunk suggested I rescue my old Cole cardfile unit from a slow, rusty death. I used to have a set of re-purposed Ikea legs on it, but took them off when I moved. Im not sure why I never put them back on... I guess sometimes the smallest tasks get overlooked.

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Anyways, I pulled out all the drawers (apologies for the blurry pic), and slid the unit out. All I did was turn it on its side and thread the legs in, and bam, back in business.

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Once back in place however, it covered one of my outlets, and this just would not do. Thus began a little bit of garage tetris.

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I kinda like this new setup. the bench and cart are almost the same height and depth, so I dont end up with a little nook like I did before. Also, since the cardfile is only about 17" deep, it allows me to have more width in the shop, about 8" actually. 8" in a single garage is miles, so this feels a lot bigger. I might leave this setup until the 'someday' when I tear out that bench. I only had about 15 minutes to do this before running some errands, so this is how it still looks; drawers on the desk, and stuff thrown everywhere. Thoughts?

 

[rmalkow2]

I think you are getting good at garage tetris. Even in a 2 car garage just making a small move to gain 8-12" you didn't have before can make a big difference. So a good bonus from a simple task of putting legs on the cabinet.

 

[Mr. 360]

I think you are getting good at garage tetris. Even in a 2 car garage just making a small move to gain 8-12" you didn't have before can make a big difference. So a good bonus from a simple task of putting legs on the cabinet.

It makes a huge difference for sure. If I'd known this setup earlier I'd have done it. ah well, live and learn. I'd still like to get that nasty white filler cabinet out of there too, it's just rotten.

 

[captain14]

What do you store in the white cabinet? Can you create something that holds the same items and incorporate a larger work surface? Maybe even a drop leaf top for that little bit of extra work room on 3 sides?

Move it to the corner and make a taller thin cabinet?

Just throwing some ideas out there .

 

[alpinewhite]

...garage tetris...

I love the term. I'll start using it. Lol.

 

[BellyUpFish]

I love the term. I'll start using it. Lol.

Yep...

 

[toddjb]

I like the new arrangement. I might consider when you do get rid of the little cabinet pushing your lathe over towards the bench. Looks like you currently would be pressed for head room trying to use it where it is.

I also noticed we have the exact same lower cabinets. I built a large shelving unit on top of mine:

 

[rmalkow2]

Yep...

Just for full discloser Eric actually coined it first but I too liked the phrase. It fits a lot of what we all seem to do in our garages at times to maximize space.

 

[sean Buick 76]

I really like all the projects, keep us posted!!!

 

[Mr. 360]

What do you store in the white cabinet? Can you create something that holds the same items and incorporate a larger work surface? Maybe even a drop leaf top for that little bit of extra work room on 3 sides?

Move it to the corner and make a taller thin cabinet?

Just throwing some ideas out there .

Currently I store my old desktop tower, speakers, keyboard, mouse, etc in there. I have a plan to have a wall mounted screen at some point for CAD, and Top Gear of course. My original plan was to have it near the back window where the stove is, but I may forgo that plan, not sure yet. The white cabinet itself is kinda beyond saving at this point, but it was a perfect size for storing the tower and parts.

I like the new arrangement. I might consider when you do get rid of the little cabinet pushing your lathe over towards the bench. Looks like you currently would be pressed for head room trying to use it where it is.

I also noticed we have the exact same lower cabinets. I built a large shelving unit on top of mine:

Good observation, the lathe is a little cramped in that corner, and moving it over those 10" would be a big help. In the long run, I'm not planning on leaving the lathe on that cart, since the cart can move around when I'm turning something, and isn't guaranteed level.

I love the term. I'll start using it. Lol.

Yep...

Just for full discloser Eric actually coined it first but I too liked the phrase. It fits a lot of what we all seem to do in our garages at times to maximize space.

I could see a tetris app, with the playing area being a garage, and you have to organize things like table saws, welders, and hatchbacks as they come . You guys can feel free to use the term, I just feel like it's sometimes the best way to describe what I'm doing in there. I guess you can still play garage tetris in 1000+ sqft, but under 300 is like, the advanced level.

I really like all the projects, keep us posted!!!

Thanks for the compliment!

 

[Carl_WI]

I have a grinding stone and base just like the one you have. Even came with a belt like yours. Mine came from an old farm I used to work on. I was told that it is for sharpening sickle bar blades.

 

[Mr. 360]

I have a grinding stone and base just like the one you have. Even came with a belt like yours. Mine came from an old farm I used to work on. I was told that it is for sharpening sickle bar blades.

Is that what that's for? Man, nobody knew. Anyone that saw it asked why the funky round stone, and I had no idea. Makes perfect sense now, there are a dozen or so old sickles on the farm, all nice and sharp too. looks like it got a lot of use. Thanks for the info

 

[toddjb]

I could see a tetris app, with the playing area being a garage, and you have to organize things like table saws, welders, and hatchbacks as they come .

It exists-ish: http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner

I used it for my shop cause I didn't want to move stuff around a billion times to figure out a decent work flow.

 

[Mr. 360]

It exists-ish: http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner

I used it for my shop cause I didn't want to move stuff around a billion times to figure out a decent work flow.

Cool program, I dabbled around a bit trying out a few layouts. Nice that they have a wide range of machines to lay out. I think I may play around with it a bit more and make a full plan. Thanks for the link!

 

[toddjb]

Yeah, nothing I have is grizzly, so nothing matched up perfectly, so I just took there posts or columns and edited the size of them to the size of my machine or bench or whatever.

 

[Mr. 360]

I had yet another flood a couple days ago. This time I was home when the chaos started, and was able to mount a fairly successful 1-man battle against it. I know shovelling in the middle of a lightning storm with pouring rain isn't smart, but I've gotten so frustrated with flooding that it didn't seem to bother me.

I dug trenches through the yard to drain off the water that was ponding around my basement window, and checked the garage. Sure enough, water was starting to pool on the floor (only about 5L when I caught it). I was able to move the lathe cart and found the source, 4' in from the back corner. Outside, this coincided with a stream running into my yard from my neighbours yard (nothing he can do about it now, hes already re-routed his drainage). I dug a trench down between my garage and my neighbours which ended up taking off the standing water at the back of the building.

This brings me to phase 2 of flood 'abation.'

- I am planning on scooping out my round stone so I can drill a bunch of 3/8" holes in my o-pipe, since the slits in it just cant keep up.

- I plan to put eavestroughs up (this is probably step 1)

- A trench will be going in between the 2 garages to divert the backyard neighbours runoff

- Some kind of 'baffle' system along the back wall to possibly divert water before it hits the wall, and

- 2 French wells in the yard, one where my current o-pipe exits, and one between the garages, like the sketch below

View media item 42463
This really is a testament to knee walls when you pour a slab. A little money spent on a 6" wall around the perimeter would have solved all this from the start.

If these measures all fail, I'm left with 3 options. outdoor sump, moat, or moving . Anybody else in the Great Lakes region been noticing massive rainfall this year or is it just me?

 

[Mr. 360]

Yeah, nothing I have is grizzly, so nothing matched up perfectly, so I just took there posts or columns and edited the size of them to the size of my machine or bench or whatever.

I did the same with my layout, just used a standard counter chunk and resized it.

 

[1/2 Cup]

You are fighting what seems a never ending battle Eric, make sure you use fairly large stone for your well.

Regards

 

[Mr. 360]

You are fighting what seems a never ending battle Eric, make sure you use fairly large stone for your well.

Regards

Planning to use as big as I can get, leaving lots of space between the rocks. Some thing in the softball+ range, about 4" or more. Nothing too huge though, can't well fill the hole with 3 boulders and expect it to work