# The new "Awesome" garage shop! A work in progress



## captainawesome

Well, we've officially moved to the new house, which means it's time to start all over again. I'm looking forward to setting up this garage with the intentions of being here for many years to come.

I hope y'all will follow along with me as I fumble my way through this thing, and hopefully I can rely on some of you to advise me on issues as they arise.

Old garage:








New garage with the previous owners setup:








The day we moved in:








A little progress on day 1:









*Plans:*
- Run wire for additional receptacles and lighting
- Cut vents in block wall to save about $300 a year on flood insurance
- Insulate right wall and possibly replace sheetrock with 1/2" ply
- Paint walls white
- Install lumber rack on left wall
- French cleat system on the walls for versatility
- Epoxy floor
- Sound deadened area for DC, shop vac, compressor
- Hard plumbed lines for DC


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## captainawesome

*Questions:*
I have most of my tools somewhat setup, or at least available if they are needed. Here come my first obstacles, and I hope y'all will be able to give me some tips on the best way to go about this.

1) I need to add a lot more receptacles to both side walls. Here are the issues.
-The panel (200 amp) is on the left wall (when looking in), and there are only 2 open slots.
- Above the garage is the finished bonus room, so running the wiring through the ceiling will not be as easy.
- There are NO receptacles on the right wall, and only one GFCI on the left wall so this has to be done sooner than later.

2) I need to cut vents in the block wall. The quantity and size of each can vary, as long as they all add up to 500 sq. in. 
- Since I plan to insulate the garage, the vents will need to be cut so that I can retrofit an insulated panel back in them once I've sent the pictures off
- I planned on taking out individual blocks spaced appropriately, but there is stucco over the block which I hadn't noticed before 
- Has anyone done this, or have any advice on the best way to go about it?
- Will I be compromising the strength of the wall if I cut too big or too close together?

Thank you in advance!


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## mavawreck

captainawesome said:


> 2) I need to cut vents in the block wall. The quantity and size of each can vary, as long as they all add up to 500 sq. in.
> - Since I plan to insulate the garage, the vents will need to be cut so that I can retrofit an insulated panel back in them once I've sent the pictures off
> - I planned on taking out individual blocks spaced appropriately, but there is stucco over the block which I hadn't noticed before
> - Has anyone done this, or have any advice on the best way to go about it?
> - Will I be compromising the strength of the wall if I cut too big or too close together?
> 
> Thank you in advance!


They also have to be like within 16" of lowest grade or something. Worth a call to your insurance company.

I've put them in, it isn't terrible but not fun. I had a 8" or so grinder with a diamond blade and a hammer drill with masonry bits. Brick fascia over CMU. Drilled out as much as possible, then connect holes with grinder, then pound out the rest with a huge cold chisel and sledge. 

Structurally, I wouldn't stress but use your best judgement and common sense. Have you ever seen the holes that HVAC companies knock in foundations to fit gas packs? Have you seen how few lintel supports are over crawl doors? Have you ever seen a lintel over a foundation vent?


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## Alan Sweet

*I had an additional CKT box but in*

just for the shop. The box you can get at a big box store.

But you should get a certified electrician first that will recommend the box and do the work. Total cost for the box and rewiring was around $300, that was in 2007. If you don't want to install a new box, you can ask the electrician what your local options are. A good electrician will make good recommendations.

You can set up as many 220 lines as you want. I have 4.


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## Piper

I installed a new box with 100 amp breaker off the main box. Then, ran all 20 amp GFIC breakers. I ran 5 circuits and color coded the receptacle plates so if there are more than working, we can be on separate circuits. All the lighting is on a separate circuit so I can kill the entire shop without losing my lights. (Before I rewired, I turned on my table saw and the lights went out - pitch dark in the basement - until the saw came up to speed. That was pretty nerve wracking)
I had a friend who is a licensed electrician help out. I ran the wiring, boxes, etc. - he checked everything and gave instruction. I also needed an underwriter's inspection and a permit from the township.
I did not want to screw up my electricity on my own - if you are not sure, get someone who knows.
Off that, I have a service box for 1 ph. 220 for dust collector and thickness planer. 
I might have spent more money on copper than I might have had to, but I have plenty of power. My smallest wire is 12 ga.
I hope all goes well. Good luck.


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## chopnhack

Since you have two open slots, you can do a subpanel. Basically you get to have another box with 20-40 slots! You still can not exceed your total of 200 amps, I would suggest installing a 100 amp 2 pole breaker in the two remaining slots, using the appropriate wire for whatever conduit you will use to connect the two boxes (if you can put it in the wall between boxes you can use feeder wire). I did the same for my shop a few years ago, low cost but frees up the ability to add outlets wherever you want them. Use metal conduit to supply your drops. Carefully plan it out so it won't interfere with your other overheads (dc)

As for your block work, taking out equally spaced at the same level is a great idea, just make sure your ground doesn't slope in a way that it would violate your min. height requirement - or other future improvements that would interfere. Stay away from corners as they tend to have rebar and are usually grouted. Ditto for areas around windows and doors as they sometimes have lintels and cells below those can be grouted too. A small 4.5" grinder if you have one will work, you just want to make sure you have cut out the mortar that is holding the block in. Don't worry if you can get it out in one piece, just cut out the outline back and front so that you don't blow out the stucco on the other side. You can drill a series of small pilot holes to mark your outline - I have a 1/2" bit that is about 11" long for my sds hammer drill, if you don't have something like this, try and rent it as it can be really useful for placement - i.e. letting you know exactly where your at on the other side. Don't forget, you can go low tech too  HVAC guys routinely use a hammer to smash a hole when they run their lines :laughing:


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## johnnie52

OK, I'm lost now. Why does your insurance want vents to lower your flood insurance? Seems to me vents would be a good way to let flood water into the room.


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## sanchez

Ya'll southerners are lucky how you dont need to park in your garages!


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## captainawesome

sanchez said:


> Ya'll southerners are lucky how you dont need to park in your garages!


Yeah, tell that to my wife!


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## captainawesome

johnnie52 said:


> OK, I'm lost now. Why does your insurance want vents to lower your flood insurance? Seems to me vents would be a good way to let flood water into the room.


Doesn't make much sense to me either johnnie. All I know is if I cut a few holes, I save $300 a year. I figured it was best not to ask questions...


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## captainawesome

I like the idea of a sub panel, but thought that I would need 100 amps of available space in the main panel to do so. The two open spaces in the panel are side by side, so I guess I would just have to move one of the bottom two breakers to the other side to make the two open slots be on top of each other?

We have a good relationship with a commercial electrical company through work. They have rewired two buildings for us, and actually put in a subpanel in the building we currently occupy. I've gotten to know a few of the guys, and one of them came to my old house to help me out once. They are already keeping their eyes out for some leftover lighting that they can grab for me. I'll have to get one of them to come take a look at what I've got and let me know what my options are.

If I put in a subpanel, would y'all recommend mounting it in the wall like the main panel, or just against the wall? This would also determine if I run my lines inside the sheetrock or through conduit. I'm curious as to which one will be cheaper, easier, and which one y'all would prefer in your own shop.

Thanks for all the help already!


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## johnnie52

My own preference would be to run conduit and mount everything ON the wall rather than inside the wall. I think that you will find that to be not only cheaper, but also much easier than ripping out the drywall and then replacing it after the wiring is finished.

HOWEVER, you may run into a problem with building codes in your area considering that this is a home rather than a commercial building. Check with your Electricians and follow their advice.


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## ryan50hrl

I think it would look much better in the walls, but then you've got the added expense of drywall. So it's a toss up.


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## chopnhack

The reason they ask for the vents is to let flood waters to move through the property instead of trying to knock it down or slide it off the foundation.

<<I like the idea of a sub panel, but thought that I would need 100 amps of available space in the main panel to do so. The two open spaces in the panel are side by side, so I guess I would just have to move one of the bottom two breakers to the other side to make the two open slots be on top of each other?>>

Exactly, moving something up should be easy enough as there should be adequate slack in the wiring - and your moving towards the direction of the wiring. Free up a pair of slots, one on top of another so that you are accessing both sides of your split service.

<<If I put in a subpanel, would y'all recommend mounting it in the wall like the main panel, or just against the wall? This would also determine if I run my lines inside the sheetrock or through conduit. I'm curious as to which one will be cheaper, easier, and which one y'all would prefer in your own shop.>>


If the main is in the wall, its between studs generally... Wiring is probably coming in from both the top and bottom of the unit. If you are comfortable doing so, take the lid off the can and inspect where all the wiring is running. If all is coming from above, great! You can cut a hole in the drywall for the sub panel box and get a right angle drill to make a hole in the stud for the feeder wire to go to the main. 

Inside the sheetrock is not always the best way. You won't have the flexibility of wiring the way you want to in my opinion. Putting in 3/4" conduit with separate 220 and 110 drops should future proof. But you can always repull if you need to so long as you don't have too many crazy bends. To do this, simply mount the sub on the wall not in it. I prefer exposed on retrofit, who likes climbing 20 feet through 2 1/2' high trusses in 100+ degrees only to remember your ***** are in your other tool belt  I swear, some of the moves I had to make to get it done reminded me of that movie Entrapment, but I am sure my butt didn't look as good doing it :laughing:


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## captainawesome

Thanks for all the tips on the electrical. I will most likely go with conduit run on the outside of the sheet rock. It just seems like the easier and cheaper option at this point.

Small update:
My shipment from Woodcraft showed up on Friday. It wasn't until yesterday that I was able to do any work in the garage, so I started moving everything off of the left wall, and got my lumber rack hung finally.









I accidentally ordered two of these, but it was probably for the best seeing as how I've already filled this one up, and I bought them on sale. This is my first time having a legitimate lumber rack, and honestly for the money, it can't be beat. This really helped clear a lot of the junk off of the floor.

I hope to get some wall sections painted white (left of lumber rack) and get started on my "Freedom" Cleat setup. I still have to do some more research on the spacing of the rows and what not, but I have high hopes that this is the way to go.


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## NetDoc

captainawesome said:


> I accidentally ordered two of these,


 Was that the Pinnacle? http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2080248/28429/Pinnacle-Wood-Rack.aspx

BTW, when I am running from the breaker, I run 220 only for the shop. It's there if I need it, I often do, and I have two legs for the 120 to run off of.


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## captainawesome

NetDoc said:


> Was that the Pinnacle? http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2080248/28429/Pinnacle-Wood-Rack.aspx
> 
> BTW, when I am running from the breaker, I run 220 only for the shop. It's there if I need it, I often do, and I have two legs for the 120 to run off of.


It is the "Porta Mate" one from woodcraft and there is a link in the original post. It looks a lot like the pinnacle though.


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## captainawesome

*"Freedom" Cleat storage started*

Another small update for anyone following along.

With enough of the punch list type work done on the rest of the house, I was finally able to sneak out to the garage this weekend and make some semi-legitimate sawdust! Boy did it feel great to scratch that itch.

I'll keep this short, but if you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask.

Several coats of white paint to brighten up the place.








First location selected for the "freedom" cleats.








I ripped down an 8' offcut of 3/4" plywood into 6" strips. Each of these strips will net me 2 - 8' cleats.








Next was to rip each one down the middle at 45 degrees. I know it's not imperative that this angle be exactly 45, however double checking your blade is a good habit to get into.


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## captainawesome

The other reason I checked my blade angle is so that it would line up perfectly with my ZCI.








Ripping 8' long pieces at 45 degrees isn't easy, so I set up a couple of featherboards to make life easier.








All 3 pieces ripped to give me 6 cleats total.








I then took my block plane and softened the edges of each piece to ensure an easy and tight fit between the cleat on the wall, and the cleat I attach to the back of whatever I will be hanging from it.








Lastly, I attached cleats to the back of some of my old clamp racks and got them on the wall.









When researching this type of storage for a shop, I was able to find a lot of information on the overall set up, but not much detail on the individual pieces people hang from them. I'll do my best to document each piece I make for this system and share it with all of you.

And for anyone considering this for their shop, I can assure you it is a great way to go. After setting up my clamp racks in one spot yesterday, I realized I didn't like them so close to the door. Instead of having to remove a bunch of screws, relevel the rack in a different location, and attach it to the wall again, all I had to do was lift it up, slide it over, and BOOM I was done. I am very excited about the versatility this setup will offer. 

Thanks for reading.

Sean


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## captainawesome

*Small update*

This thread doesn't seem to have much interest, so the posts will be shorter and less detailed. Feel free to ask questions, and I will be happy to answer.

Final two walls painted:














Cordless charging station. I found a style I liked, and then made up all the dimensions to what I wanted. I have a SketchUp file of this if anyone wants it.








This is currently what I'm working on. I'll post pictures when it's finished.








Thanks for looking,

Sean


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## BrandonD

Looking good. I did enjoy the details. :thumbsup:


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## Sawdustguy

Your new setup is looking good.


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## ThomasOSB

captainawesome said:


> View attachment 81026


One of the more important questions: What type of beer do you keep in that fridge?


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## captainawesome

ThomasOSB said:


> One of the more important questions: What type of beer do you keep in that fridge?


Let's see... I just threw away about 20 bottles of Blue Moon leftover from our wedding (Sept. 2010) and I think the rest is leftover Corona from the summer! Honestly, I drank enough in college to last me the rest of my life. Since the day we found out my wife was expecting our first (4 months after getting married) I realized I had way too much to do around the house and wouldn't have time for a relaxing beverage anytime soon.

These days, woodworking is my new controlled substance...


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## Medevack1

WOW im impressed. Great Job you gave me some IDEAS!!!!! thanks for shearing!!!!


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## Burb

Captain, would you mind letting me have your Sketchup plans for the Charging Station? I'm thinking about making one of those (saw in a recent magazine) but I like your version better. Thanks. 

My email is [email protected]

Mark


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## captainawesome

Got the pegboard cabinet finished up this weekend. This was my first time trying lap joints like this and I was very impressed with the strength of them.


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## rayking49

I'm enjoying this. Giving me some great ideas for my extremely unorganized mess of a shop.


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## captainawesome

rayking49 said:


> I'm enjoying this. Giving me some great ideas for my extremely unorganized mess of a shop.


Glad you are enjoying it! And don't worry, my shop is STILL a mess and completely unorganized so there is a lot to come. I'll try to post a few pictures of the smaller FC fixtures I made when I get a chance.

I've hung 6 strips of 8' cleats (3 on both side walls) and I'm already out of room. I need to pick up some more plywood and start covering all the walls with cleats to make this system work a little better.


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## captainawesome

*A little more work*

I haven't had a ton of time to do anything significant in the shop lately, but I've been experimenting a lot with tool locations, and getting some things moved around.

I wasn't able to fully use a lot of the FC strips because I had all of my tools pushed against the walls. I started keeping them out in the open, and sort of made this grouping of tools that has made things a little easier to use.









This isn't super efficient right now, but is giving me a lot of ideas for setting things up with this basis in mind. I hope to have a little more space around each tool with possibly lighting and the shop vac in the middle of all of them.









I've also made a couple items just to get things out of the way, and free up some space on the bench.

First up was the toolbox shelf.








Then I threw together a couple of these magazine holders from The Family Handyman. This is one of those projects that I keep telling myself to do, but just never get around to it. I'm kicking myself for not doing this 3 years ago, AND for only making 2!







I have 30 minutes at the most in these holders, and I plan to make several more. Eventually, I will put FC cleats on the back of them to hang them on the walls.

Last but not least, my assembly surface. I never knew the importance of having a truly flat surface to reference things off of until I got a saw with a cast iron top. When we put granite counter tops in earlier this year, I told them to save the sink cutout for me. This thing is a lifesaver but also a back breaker. If anyone has any ideas on how to make this into a permanent bench, I'm all ears.


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## captainawesome

*Jointer stand*

This is the stand my jointer was on when I bought it off craigslist a couple years ago. It made the jointer sit a little too high for my liking, and the casters would squeak, bind, and aggravate me to no end.








I disassembled the old stand, and took some time to clean and grease the casters. I saw a stand on LJ's that had the same overall concept, but was a little more fancy. Just some too ba fers and a piece of leftover melamine.








This was one of the main reasons I built the new stand. Notice how the fence of the jointer is now LOWER than my TS top? Now I can keep it next to the TS and not have to move it every time I need to make a long crosscut.








By building it this way, it is a lot more stable, and the base of the jointer is only about an inch off the ground.









That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I hope this has given someone some ideas for their shop.

Sean


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## J Thomas

Sean.. Looks like things are coming along nicely. If you're at all like me then you'll rearrange the shop over & over.:yes:
It seems that every project I take on comes with it's own arrangement.
Something else I've noticed it that flat surfaces tend to collect "stuff".. small tools, pencils, mismatched screws, shop rags, used sandpaper etc till I can't find a spot to set something else down till I have a good "pick it up & put it away" session.
I'm also seeking a granite sink cutout. Great for so many chores from sharpening to truing up a plane.
Lookin good.. Keep us posted.
..Jon..


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## DIY

Your shop is looking great! Being about 6 months into a full blown shop overhaul, I can really appreciate the progress that you're making.

I really like your cleat setup. I've been looking at all the slat wall setups, but they're so ridiculously expensive. This seems like a much better alternative. 

I laughed at the beginning of your last post that you've been moving things around and experimenting with tool locations. I've spent so much time doing the same and my wife said to me the other night - "You're not even doing anything in here, you're just moving stuff from one side to the other". I literally laughed about it, but she didn't think it was funny  I am terrible at visualizing things like this and I really have to have things in place before I can decide that it either works or doesn't.

For your Granite slab, have you considered making a swing-down wall mount? Maybe even incorporate it into your cleat wall system?


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## Chris Curl

i am in the process of putting a bunch of my stuff on rollers, so your setup for the jointer is very helpful for me. i just did a makeshift thing for my table saw, but i don't like it because it raises it 4". i am going to redo it like you did for your jointer

how do you like your cleat system so far? i tried that first, but the smaller hangers i built for it wouldn't stay put, so i ended up with this system instead:

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/08/04/hyper-organize-your-shop.aspx


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## captainawesome

J Thomas said:


> .
> Something else I've noticed it that flat surfaces tend to collect "stuff".. small tools, pencils, mismatched screws, shop rags, used sandpaper etc till I can't find a spot to set something else down till I have a good "pick it up & put it away" session.
> I'm also seeking a granite sink cutout. Great for so many chores from sharpening to truing up a plane.
> Lookin good.. Keep us posted.
> ..Jon..


I am the exact same way. I've started taking about 5-10 minutes right before I leave the garage to put as much stuff away as I can. It helps a whole lot, but I still end up with crap piling everywhere!

Go to a granite place and ask if you can pick through their dumpster. When I was at the one picking out which stone we wanted, I went through their discard pile and grabbed a couple of pieces to use specifically for sharpening. I didn't know what a "sharp" chisel or iron was until I finally did this!






DIY said:


> I really like your cleat setup. I've been looking at all the slat wall setups, but they're so ridiculously expensive. This seems like a much better alternative.


Absolutely. This is much more flexible. Half of the things you see hanging on the wall in my pictures were previous racks or fixtures that were just attached to the sheetrock in my old garage. When I started doing it this way, I just screwed a cleat to the back of each piece and put it up on the wall.



DIY said:


> "You're not even doing anything in here, you're just moving stuff from one side to the other".


That's a little scary... everytime I tell my wife I'm headed out there, she says "you're going to go move stuff from one place to another all day?" We may need to compare notes and make sure we're not married to the same woman.



DIY said:


> For your Granite slab, have you considered making a swing-down wall mount? Maybe even incorporate it into your cleat wall system?


I like the sounds of that! I'll have to think about that one for a bit since it will require some beefy supports.


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## captainawesome

Chris Curl said:


> i am in the process of putting a bunch of my stuff on rollers, so your setup for the jointer is very helpful for me. i just did a makeshift thing for my table saw, but i don't like it because it raises it 4". i am going to redo it like you did for your jointer
> 
> how do you like your cleat system so far? i tried that first, but the smaller hangers i built for it wouldn't stay put, so i ended up with this system instead:
> 
> http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/08/04/hyper-organize-your-shop.aspx


Chris, I've seen a few jointer stands like this that also incorporate a brake or stand of some kind to keep it from rolling while in use. I made mine very bare and simple so I can add that later if needed. It feels WAY better rolling it around like this than it did before. I can't tell you how many times i almost pushed the whole machine over on accident!

So far I am very happy with the cleat system. I have only put it up in a couple of sections, and I already need to put more up. I have wanted to do this for a while now, so I've researched it a lot. One thing I read a few times is to place the cleat (on the object you are hanging) high enough so that the weight of the object is pulling the cleat down against the other, and not straight out away from it. I built a couple that didn't work too well and all I had to do was move the cleat up a few inches to solve the problem. All you need to do is account for the extra height on the back of your fixture for placing the cleat.

I looked at the one you linked, and as appealing as it was, it seemed like it would take a lot longer to put together. It looks much cleaner and probably holds a little better, but requires more steps. I'm only allowed so much time in the garage so I opted for the cleats. 

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!


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## DIY

captainawesome said:


> That's a little scary... everytime I tell my wife I'm headed out there, she says "you're going to go move stuff from one place to another all day?" We may need to compare notes and make sure we're not married to the same woman.


The really scary part is that she's pretty much right. At one point, I literally spent like and hour and a half moving tools all over the garage and realized that by the end of it, they were all pretty much right where they started :huh:



captainawesome said:


> I like the sounds of that! I'll have to think about that one for a bit since it will require some beefy supports.


The little drop down table supports like these are surprisingly stable. I'm not sure how much weight would be on there at one time, but 3-4 of these would hold a couple hundred pounds pretty easily.


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## Chris Curl

captainawesome said:


> That's a little scary... everytime I tell my wife I'm headed out there, she says "you're going to go move stuff from one place to another all day?" We may need to compare notes and make sure we're not married to the same woman.


heh, with my wife and me, it has gotten to the point where my typical response to her question about what i am doing out there is ... yep, you guessed it ... "moving things around". sometimes i include "in my never-ending quest to get the place organized"

and her response to that is, "yeah, right ... i bet you'll end up drilling more holes!"


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## captainawesome

*Another rearrange...*

After finishing the cutting/assembly portions of all the Christmas presents I am making this year, I finally had enough with the old layout and mess in the shop. I spent some of Saturday cleaning up all the dust and moving things around. Let me know what you think of the new configuration as I am not 100% sold on it just yet.

I turned my tablesaw 180 degrees for one main reason. I liked having the jointer on that side of the garage, but it was right in front of the TS wing that I have my router mounted in and I had to move it every time I wanted to used the router in the table.














I also broke up the machine cluster I had going at the back of the garage because I found myself constantly tripping over everything and had to have the shop vac floating around in the middle. I also grouped the DC and compressor together with the chop saw in front of the compressor. I don't need to access the compressor hardly ever, and having the DC on the middle of that wall frees it up to be used for other applications away from the TS. I think I need to find a better place for the flip top cart still.














You may have seen the off cut storage cart in the background of some of my pictures. It was full of all these tiny pieces that came in handy for mixing a finish, or propping up a piece to be sprayed, but that was about it. Luckily my neighbor asked for some scraps so I purged the entire shop and gave him way more than he thought he was getting. The stuff in the bucket is going to him, and that is only about 1/4 of everything I tossed in his garage. If you haven't done this in a while, I highly recommend cutting your scrap pile in half. It feels like a whole new shop!











Now that Christmas presents are done, I hope to put in some more work on the shop itself. I have asked for mostly woodworking related items for Christmas this year (as I do every year) so I should have plenty of new toys that will need proper storage. 

The main things I need to do first are 1) Hang a whole lot more cleats on the walls as well as my other lumber rack and 2) Run the conduit and install multiple receptacles on both sides of the shop and install several more lights. I swear I spend half of my time plugging and unplugging tools/moving the floor lamp to wherever I'm working.


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## NetDoc

I like it. Wish I had that amount of room for just woodwork.


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## captainawesome

NetDoc said:


> I like it. Wish I had that amount of room for just woodwork.


Thank you, but it comes at a price. There is no look colder than the one your wife gives you after walking in from the rain because she has to park in the driveway. Did I mention she had an arm full of groceries? It's like she's trying to kill me with her eyes!


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## landman

Funny, I put sticks in a pail too. I give them to my cousin who heats his garage with wood.


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## Burb

captainawesome said:


> Thank you, but it comes at a price. There is no look colder than the one your wife gives you after walking in from the rain because she has to park in the driveway. Did I mention she had an arm full of groceries? It's like she's trying to kill me with her eyes!


I'm quite familiar with this look you speak of. I get it frequently. My 2-car garage hasn't seen a vehicle in it in about a year. During ten summer it's not so bad, but getting snow in the winter is a different story. I have learned that I need to have my wife's car cleaned off before I leave for work. 

On a side note, I really like you setup. I think in the spring I am going to take everything's out of my shop and start over. I need to use the Grizzly shop tool and play with some setups.

Mark


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## paintr56

Captain you are doing an awesome job. I like your cleat system, and the peg board cabinet. The whole shop looks nice. How many electrical circuits did you run?

Jim


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## d_slat

Burb said:


> My 2-car garage hasn't seen a vehicle in it in about a year.


That's it? I haven't allowed my wife to park in our garage ever. The only time cars get parked in there is to work on them. And my ww shop is in the basement...


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## captainawesome

Burb said:


> I'm quite familiar with this look you speak of. I get it frequently. My 2-car garage hasn't seen a vehicle in it in about a year. During ten summer it's not so bad, but getting snow in the winter is a different story. I have learned that I need to have my wife's car cleaned off before I leave for work.
> 
> On a side note, I really like you setup. I think in the spring I am going to take everything's out of my shop and start over. I need to use the Grizzly shop tool and play with some setups.
> 
> Mark


I've tried using the Grizzly shop tool and SketchUp to play with different configurations, but it doesn't really work for me. It's just easier to keep building/buying things with wheels so I can change it around whenever I want.



paintr56 said:


> Captain you are doing an awesome job. I like your cleat system, and the peg board cabinet. The whole shop looks nice. How many electrical circuits did you run?
> 
> Jim


I haven't run any as of yet. I have two open slots in my panel and I will most likely just add 20A circuits to those and run conduit on top of the sheet rock. I need a few more trips over extension cords before I finally go out and buy everything I need to do that though.



d_slat said:


> That's it? I haven't allowed my wife to park in our garage ever. The only time cars get parked in there is to work on them. And my ww shop is in the basement...


I've got you both beat, I've NEVER had a car in the garage of either house we've owned!


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## Chris Curl

I keep the Fairlane in the garage. When it rains, the water gets in it. It's a vert (1967) and the top needs to be replaced. Even if I cover it with tarps, some water can still get in. When it's nice out, I will pull it out to facilitate moving stuff around.

We have never kept our daily drivers in the garage. the house is on a hill and the garage is on the basement level.

But I still get that look on a regular basis ... lately it is when I am going downstairs to watch the Capitals play.


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## Chaincarver Steve

I don't think I've commented yet but I have been following this thread while you transform your new space. The new shop is looking awesome, Cap't. :thumbsup: 

I'm jealous, too, of all the space you have. But I could never get away with having my wife park outside. She'd be parking ME outside before her car. I just need to make better use of the space I already have. I could really use one of the holster racks like yours to store my rechargeable drills. They take up too much valuable space on my horizontal surfaces.


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## captainawesome

Chaincarver Steve said:


> I don't think I've commented yet but I have been following this thread while you transform your new space. The new shop is looking awesome, Cap't. :thumbsup:
> 
> I'm jealous, too, of all the space you have. But I could never get away with having my wife park outside. She'd be parking ME outside before her car. I just need to make better use of the space I already have. I could really use one of the holster racks like yours to store my rechargeable drills. They take up too much valuable space on my horizontal surfaces.


Thanks Steve. It is a big step up from my last shop that's for sure. Once you build the drill charging station, you won't regret it (or know how you ever got by without it). No more time wasted hunting around for my drills. I have a sketchup file of it if you want it. If I did it again, I'd pay closer attention to the slot opening sizes. They are just a little too big for my impact and pin nailer.


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## Carvel Loafer

I'm enjoying this thread, its great watching a shop dream develop. There are always great ideas from snooping around another guy's shop too. Thanks for sharing this.


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## NetDoc

captainawesome said:


> Thanks Steve. It is a big step up from my last shop that's for sure. Once you build the drill charging station, you won't regret it (or know how you ever got by without it). No more time wasted hunting around for my drills. I have a sketchup file of it if you want it. If I did it again, I'd pay closer attention to the slot opening sizes. They are just a little too big for my impact and pin nailer.


 Interesting. I would like to see that. Not only do I have a drill, but I also have a plethora of lights I have to keep charged for Scuba. I want something portable that can go from van to shop.


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## Ted Tolstad

captainawesome said:


> Thanks Steve. It is a big step up from my last shop that's for sure. Once you build the drill charging station, you won't regret it (or know how you ever got by without it). No more time wasted hunting around for my drills. I have a sketchup file of it if you want it. If I did it again, I'd pay closer attention to the slot opening sizes. They are just a little too big for my impact and pin nailer.


I would love to have your sketchup file....


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## Chaincarver Steve

No thanks on the Sketchup, Cap't. I appreciate the offer though. I do like the idea but I'd customize it to suit my needs and the size of my tools.


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## captainawesome

Carvel Loafer said:


> I'm enjoying this thread, its great watching a shop dream develop. There are always great ideas from snooping around another guy's shop too. Thanks for sharing this.


Thanks Loafer. I need to read through your kitchen thread a few more times for some cabinet ideas.



NetDoc said:


> Interesting. I would like to see that. Not only do I have a drill, but I also have a plethora of lights I have to keep charged for Scuba. I want something portable that can go from van to shop.





Ted Tolstad said:


> I would love to have your sketchup file....


Send me a PM with your email address and I'll shoot it over to you.



Chaincarver Steve said:


> No thanks on the Sketchup, Cap't. I appreciate the offer though. I do like the idea but I'd customize it to suit my needs and the size of my tools.


Whatever Steve... I didn't want to send it to you anyway... hahaha. All of the separate parts of the piece were made as a "group" in Sketchup. That way I could change the parts here and there if it was needed. If I did it again, I would either shorten the opening where I store all of my bits, or add another shelf in there.


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## TexasSawduster

*Nice Shop Layout !!!*

Nice shop layout. :thumbsup:


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## Burb

captainawesome said:


> Once you build the drill charging station, you won't regret it (or know how you ever got by without it). No more time wasted hunting around for my drills.


I built a small version for a specific location & its working great I will someday build a bigger version to hold more items. It has come in handy. My big shop issue is the lack of open wall space. I have none.


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## captainawesome

I have recently been blessed with a very fortunate problem... I now have to find space to store/use all of my new Christmas toys!

Two tools I have been dreaming of owning for a very long time.














And something to ensure I'm around to enjoy this hobby for years to come.









In addition to all of these additions, I also received some smaller hand tools (narex chisels, veritas dovetail saw, cabinet scrapers), the GRR-Ripper, and Incra 1000HD, 3M worktunes headphones, Freud dado set, moisture meter, and metal detector. 

I will need to build some sort of small rolling cabinet to house a lot of this stuff, and will hopefully be starting in on that as my next shop project. I plan to use this in place of the small end table I have sitting under the extension wing of my table saw right now. My main concern is my Incra miter gauge and having a safe and accessible place to store it. Where do y'all keep yours?

Sean


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## landman

Sean, at the risk of sounding stupid, what is the tall, round thing, a dust collector or a heater?


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## captainawesome

landman said:


> Sean, at the risk of sounding stupid, what is the tall, round thing, a dust collector or a heater?


Not stupid at all Pat. It is an air cleaner just like the ones you see hanging from people's shop ceilings. I just updated the thread I had going in the DC section of the forum if you wanna check it out. I can't post the link from my phone.


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## frankp

You're not supposed to run your level through the sander, man! (That is a drum sander, right?)

Shop is looking great and it's been a good read seeing it all come together.


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## captainawesome

frankp said:


> You're not supposed to run your level through the sander, man! (That is a drum sander, right?)


Yes that is a drum sander, and how else am I suppose to make sure that my level is level?!?!?!?! hahaha



I started in on a new shop cabinet this weekend. I have a loose idea in my head of what I want, and the rough dimensions I'm looking for. I sketched a couple of drawings to figure out the joinery of the case, but for the most part I will be building this one on the fly. It is going well so far, but we'll see how long that lasts...

After cutting all of the 3/4" plywood to size, I was excited to use my new dado set. I'd never used one before, and as a result I had to make a new ZCI.









Sorry for the blurry picture. This is looking at the back of the case after cutting all the rabbets. There will be about a 3" overhang off the back to allow it to sit flush to the far wall of the shop if needed.









I will be covering all of the plywood edges with some of the Craigslist walnut I scored a while back for $2.50 bf. It took me a while just to get this piece level enough to start running through the drum sander.









Right as I was about to start ripping it into strips, little man came out and pretty much told me it was time to clean up and play with him for the rest of the afternoon. The day got cut short, but I'm definitely not complaining!









I plan to fill this cabinet with as many shallow drawers as I can manage, and then stick some casters on the bottom of it. I still have to get the casters and a few more sets of drawer slides. I have two sets of 22" full extension slides I got from the big box store a while back, but anyone know where to get them cheaper? 

Sean


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## captainawesome

Made more progress on the shop cabinet this weekend. I had to go into work a half day Saturday morning so I really only got 2 half days on the cabinet.

I cut all the drawer parts I would need out of 1/2" ply.








I really wanted to try out the rabbet and dado joinery method and figured this would be a good time to do it. I really like the look of the joint, and how easy it makes assembling a square box. It was a bit of a pain to get all the of the measurements figured out just right, but hopefully it will be easier next time.








This is the last picture I took of the drawers all dry fit together.








I got all the bottoms cut, and got the final two drawers into clamps before calling it a day last night. I hope to have the drawers and slides all installed this week so I can start working on the false fronts.

Sean


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## Chaincarver Steve

Looking good there, Capt'n. :thumbsup: Your shop is coming along a lot better than mine. I'm making a small amount of effort to straighten up my shop. As is, every thing in mine is so cumbersome and inefficient.

Where can I get me one of those shop helpers? My (12 y/o) son doesn't have any interest in helping in the shop. I couldn't even get him to sweep my sawdust under bribe of lots of candy! Oh well, maybe some day.


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## ssgtjoenunez

New to the forum and just spent the last ten minutes reading the entirety of this thread. Awesome shop! I am about to rip down some old tables in my garage and basically start over. I really like the extensions for your table saw as I'm always finding myself struggling to keep larger pieces straight and level. My table saw came with a stand with long legs but I may be taking it off their stand and building a more complete stand including adding to the workspace like yours. 

Awesome!


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## captainawesome

ssgtjoenunez said:


> New to the forum and just spent the last ten minutes reading the entirety of this thread. Awesome shop! I am about to rip down some old tables in my garage and basically start over. I really like the extensions for your table saw as I'm always finding myself struggling to keep larger pieces straight and level. My table saw came with a stand with long legs but I may be taking it off their stand and building a more complete stand including adding to the workspace like yours.
> 
> Awesome!



Thank you. I came across THIS thread a couple of years ago when google searching for out feed table ideas. I signed up for the forum and it has helped me immensely ever since. Welcome to the forum, and let me know if I can help you in any way!


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## captainawesome

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Looking good there, Capt'n. :thumbsup: Your shop is coming along a lot better than mine. I'm making a small amount of effort to straighten up my shop. As is, every thing in mine is so cumbersome and inefficient.
> 
> Where can I get me one of those shop helpers? My (12 y/o) son doesn't have any interest in helping in the shop. I couldn't even get him to sweep my sawdust under bribe of lots of candy! Oh well, maybe some day.


I'm sure your boy will grow into it, as I'm guessing my boy will grow out of it when he gets to that age. Hopefully I'll be able to build him some cool stuff and keep him interested as he gets older!


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## frankp

Steve, for the record, at 12 I was more interested in money and girls than candy. I'm not saying you should try to bribe your son with girls, but money might be an option???:laughing:

Captain, those cabinets are going to be very nice when finished. Excellent work.


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## captainawesome

I got the drawers all installed earlier this week.








I had a piece of oak plywood that was a bit bigger than the opening for all of my false fronts. I thought it would look nice if I cut them all in sequence to make it look almost like one solid piece. It was actually pretty easy. I ripped the plywood to the width of the opening, and then just cross cut each drawer in descending order.

These are them dry fit.


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## captainawesome

I really wanted to try my hand at making my own drawer handles. I've had an idea in my head for a long time about what they would look like, but after making them, I'm not so sure I like it.

Started with a chunk of Sapele and used my sign making router bit to hollow out the back.








Then I beveled all the edges except for those where it meets the drawer front.








I then cut one piece to length and stuck it to the drawer with 2 sided tape.





















I can't make up my mind if I like it or not so help me out here. It feels much clunkier than I had envisioned, but I felt like if I took off anymore material that it would weaken the entire thing. I don't know if I don't like it because it sucks, or if it's just not what I had imagined in my mind.

I'll be out of town next week so I'll have some time to think about it. Let me know what y'all think, and better yet, if you have suggestions on how to improve on my design.

Sean


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## landman

That is a nice "all in one piece" effect.


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## Chaincarver Steve

I don't think the pull you made looks bad. I agree it's a bit chunky. However, I think perhaps if you made it longer - maybe almost twice as long - it would look just fine. The cabinet itself came together really nice.


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## captainawesome

Chaincarver Steve said:


> I don't think the pull you made looks bad. I agree it's a bit chunky. However, I think perhaps if you made it longer - maybe almost twice as long - it would look just fine. The cabinet itself came together really nice.


I'll try to sneak out there tonight and test fit a longer piece. The wife and I are taking our little man (along with all of the in-laws) to Disneyworld for the week, so hopefully I can get another look with longer handles before taking off.


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## chsdiyer

captainawesome said:


> The wife and I are taking our little man (along with all of the in-laws) to Disneyworld for the week


Don't forget to leave your garage unlocked:yes:


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## Ostie

Been following this thread intently Capt'n. It's all coming together nicely. I do like the look of the false fronts being all made from a single piece, however, I too am not a fan of the pull. I think it is too chunky as well. Keep up the updates and have a safe trip to Disney.


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## Acercanto

You might try rounding over/chamfering the ends of the pull as well. I also really like the front panel look.

Acer


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## Smith Brother

I would consider making them more rounded/curvy which should complement the design and give it contrast, and in my opinion add to the great piece you have built. 

But in the end, it's YOUR CHOICE. You is boss,

Dale in Indy


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## rayking49

Love the fronts. The handle I like also. More rounding might help it look better, but I do like it.


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## NetDoc

I think the handle looks masculine. I really like it! Where is this going to go?


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## paintr56

Very nice cabinet. I would consider running the handle the full width of the drawer. 
Have fun in Disney world.

Jim


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## captainawesome

I think I will try rounding over the current handle to see how that looks. I also like the idea of running one the full length of the drawer but I would need to rethink the material used as I don't have much of the Sample.

Doc, this is going to get casters on the bottom and will be my oscillating spindle/belt sander's new home. I'm hoping that this "style" will be on going with all shop fixtures built in the future. I've got several different cabinets and not one of them match.


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## captainawesome

*She's finished!!!*

After a week away from the shop, I was itching to get back in there and get this cabinet finished over the weekend.

On Saturday, I started by applying a few coats of wipe on satin poly. I'm sure this isn't the best choice for shop furniture, however the can of lacquer sanding sealer I planned on using was rusted out and unusable. I waited 24 hours before putting the sander on top to see how she looked.








After staring at this for a while I realized that the handle I tried making before would never work and started over with a new idea. I thought a nice slim handle would fit well so I grabbed some of the walnut off cuts and glued in some 1/2" dowels.








I then CAREFULLY routed a chamfer on each edge of the face before applying a few coats of the poly.








I didn't think that just screwing through the face of the drawer into the dowel's end grain would be strong enough, so I ended up boring a 1/2" hole about 1/2" deep on the face of each drawer, and then screwing them in from the inside. I didn't use glue because I'm not sure if these handles are thick enough to hold up. If the walnut doesn't snap after a few months, I'll unscrew them and reset them with glue and screws.








I swear they are all level, but I couldn't get them to look that way in a picture to save my life!


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## captainawesome

So here she sits with all of her beautiful flaws that most likely only I can see, but will cherish forever. There were so many things I had been dying to try my hand at, and this project covered a lot of them. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and I know have a few more skills that I'm sure will aid me in the future.








Top drawer is about 3" deep, and will keep a lot of my smaller items that easily get lost around the shop.








This is the second drawer down, and my new Incra miter gauge now has a safe home to keep it from being knocked off of a bench or my TS top. This is one of the main reasons I started this project and I built the drawer about 5" deep to fit the gauge. My GRRipper, ear muffs, and glasses fit nicely in there too.








Third drawer down is the same depth as the one above, and will hold some drill bits, and the "down n dirty" router bit storage I threw together while the finish was drying on the cabinet.








The bottom drawer was built about 7" or so deep to fit my ROS. The sander used to sit in the case up on a shelf which was a pain, and I hope to fit a few more "case tools" in this drawer as well.









That is all for now, but I've already started making some more smaller shop projects to make things more organized. I won't bore y'all with those until I have a few of them to post, but one of them will be storage for my scroll saw blades.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!!!

Sean


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## chsdiyer

Nice job with the cabinet, that looks great! Almost a shame it's a shop piece.


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## captainawesome

chsdiyer said:


> Nice job with the cabinet, that looks great! Almost a shame it's a shop piece.


Thanks! If you saw it up close you'd probably see why it is perfect for a shop piece... Hopefully the wife wants something like it in the future and I can build a nicer one for inside.


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## Chris Curl

I have three comments ...

- You do nice work! :thumbsup:
- Why does everyone else's shop appear so much more organized than mine does? :thumbdown:
- I need to focus on improving the quality of my pieces, even those for the garage

My wife is against me making things in the shop because, while it is OK for the garage, she thinks the stuff I make is too shabby to be inside the house.

Heh, maybe I shouldn't use paint stirrers for everything I make ... !


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## captainawesome

Chris Curl said:


> I have three comments ...
> 
> - You do nice work! :thumbsup:
> - Why does everyone else's shop appear so much more organized than mine does? :thumbdown:
> - I need to focus on improving the quality of my pieces, even those for the garage
> 
> My wife is against me making things in the shop because, while it is OK for the garage, she thinks the stuff I make is too shabby to be inside the house.
> 
> Heh, maybe I shouldn't use paint stirrers for everything I make ... !


Thanks Chris! 

My shop only looks clean and organized in pictures because I shove all the crap out of the shot before I take it. All of my shop projects at this point are to help me get more organized. Before we moved, I realized just how much time I wasted walking around looking for a tool. I don't get all that much dedicated time out there as it is so I want to make sure I make the best possible use with it.

Smaller shop stuff I will usually just throw together for "good enough", but projects like this cabinet I use to try out new methods and styles I'm interested in, that way I won't make the same mistakes twice when I build an "inside" piece. If I had to build this exact same cabinet again for inside the house, I could make it look SO much nicer with just a few small changes in the build process. 

I check in on your panto-router build from time to time, and I wish I had the creativity and ingenuity that you do. That's probably what I lack most in the shop.


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## Dandaman

be curious to see what it looks like now. definitely interested and thanks for ideas!


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## wood shavings

I am wood turner and what takes a long time to clean up takes just minutes to turn into a complete mess. Very hard to contain shavings that come flying off the lathe.
Jerry


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## captainawesome

I've been waiting until I had some more done to do an update, but I've been adding a lot of little things here and there so I want to post them before I forget. I also did a pretty thorough cleaning last week and snapped some pictures afterwards.

I went through some old FWW magazines and found a plan for a simple wall mounted hose reel holder. I made about 4 of them.








Also, thanks to "MeasureTwice" I now have a new fence for my bandsaw.














One of the other things I did was put together a little holder for my scroll saw blades. The front tubes hold the new blades, back tubes hold old blades.


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## captainawesome

Here are some shots of the shop as of last Thursday.























I also installed some narrower strips of cleat above my bench.








Here, you can see the additional magazine holders I made, along with some of the other new additions. I made a bench hook (which has proved to be very valuable) that has the corresponding cleat mounted on the bottom that serves as the stop on the bench, and the mount for putting it on the wall. I also attached my vise to a piece of 3/4" play with a cleat screwed to the back of it and a fir strip on the other side. Being able to toss these up on the wall when not in use is very nice.


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## johnnie52

I was wondering were this ended up. I was starting to think you had given up on it. Glad I was wrong.

Very nice shop. Now I have shop envy even worse.


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## captainawesome

johnnie52 said:


> I was wondering were this ended up. I was starting to think you had given up on it. Glad I was wrong.
> 
> Very nice shop. Now I have shop envy even worse.


I had a couple of my uncle's and cousins over on Saturday to see our new house and the garage. They commented on the shop saying that it looked like I had it all set up. I told them that I was still in phase 1 of a 10 - 12 phase plan. 

Give up is not in my vocabulary!


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## landman

captainawesome said:


> I had a couple of my uncle's and cousins over on Saturday to see our new house and the garage. They commented on the shop saying that it looked like I had it all set up. I told them that I was still in phase 1 of a 10 - 12 phase plan.
> 
> Give up is not in my vocabulary!


 Gee, when you get to phase ten we'll need booties and hairnets to go in there. :laughing:


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## captainawesome

landman said:


> Gee, when you get to phase ten we'll need booties and hairnets to go in there. :laughing:


Hahaha. Booties are actually in phase eight but hairnets don't come until phase eleven haha.


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## mobilepaul

Well Sean,

For some reason, this thread has escaped me until now. I am late in the game but I must say, you are doing really well here. I like your ideas for smarter storage and shop layout. I won't even comment on the electrical seeing as how you are so far along with the project.

Way to go!!!

Paul


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