Table

New tools!  I haven't been buying tools much recently, but picked up a few Snap-on items from Snap-on Dan since he let me borrow the trailer.  Long fractional hex bits and 1/2" drive metric hex bits.

I also picked up some more Schaller bins, I moved a Craftsman 5-drawer toolbox to the new garage and ended up with an extra drawer since my lathe is staying at the old shop for a little while.

I found the first project for the new garage: a new work bench. I am making this from leftover junk - old building jack posts that were in the garage, old angle steel leftover from the garage construction, and an old bowling alley slab I purchased years ago for a project that I never started.

Here is the plan:

Here is the pile of jack posts that were left in the garage.  I figure if I'm ever doing anything that will require these, I'll probably be hiring it out to professionals.

The first step was to cope the ends, which I did in the mill (forgot to take pictures).  This is 2-3/4" diameter steel tubing, 0.095" wall.

I cut up some of the angle steel to use as crossmembers.

I used the slugs from the holes in the crossmembers to make end caps for the legs.  I did purchase proper leveling feet for this table, since it will be really heavy and I didn't want to use casters.

Here are most of the parts.  The jack posts include 2-1/2" tubing that nests into the 2-3/4" tubing, so I'm doubling up the legs and portions of the upper crossmembers for extra stiffness.

For the longitudional crossmember, I sliced a 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" angle to make two flat plates.

I cut some slugs from one of the 2-1/2" tubes to make fillers for the jack post holes.

Welding the caps on the legs

Parts all test fit

I laid the first weld bead in the new garage! Since I'm making this from scraps, I had to extend one of the flat crossmembers.  I didn't have a single piece long enough, so I welded it

Big Move.

The next step with the new garage was to move in!  Jimmy helped make a few trips in his new #vanlife, and I was able to borrow a trailer from Snap-on Dan to move the toolbox and Jetta.  Papa Fazz came to help for the big day.

You know you have a tool problem when you need a 20' trailer to move your toolboxes. You really know you have a tool problem when your Snap-on dealer lets you borrow his!

I didn't get a picture of it filled up, but the first load included my main box, cart, two welders, and the Jetta engine.

The second load was the Jetta!

Keys are in the ignition, ready for a drive

I re-mounted my clamp rack

I also set up a temporary table using a piece of bowling alley slab I bought a few years back.  I will be making legs for this from leftover steel.  I also picked up a Harbor Freight engine hoist since I'll be working alone more often, which is a colossal piece of shit but significantly better than hernias from lifting alone!

MIG and TIG welders tucked away nicely.

I made a shelf to fit into the beams above my toolbox.  I think these were originally intended to be a tire rack, but I decided to use it for regular storage.

There is conduit running from the house to the garage, so I pulled some Cat5e cable and now have internet in the garage.  The house WiFi didn't reach through the brick and block structure, so I picked up a Ubiquiti access point.

I was pulling myself, so I had to fashion a spool from pipe and cardboard (the cheapo Amazon cable didn't come on a spool), a roller stand from harbor freight wheels and jack stands, and mount the pulling string, which I'm pulling for future use.

Successfully pulled through 48' of underground conduit!

Success!  The network name is wrinklered, in case you come to fisit.

New Garage!

The weekend after Radwood we finally had a weekend without plans.  A chance browsing on Zillow led us to the perfect house! 

It has a detached 28' x 38' garage.  The main floor is three large bays, then there is a 2 car tandem garage underneath!  The original owner built the garage in 2001, got sick shortly afterward, then passed in 2004.  We purchased it from his brother, who was blind, and the garage was never actually used for anything other than storage!

Here was the main floor as we bought it, filled with junk.

Here is the lower garage.  You can see the heavy beams that support the 12" slab toward the rear of the upper floor.  You can also see the custom diamond plate steps and air compressor room!

Laura bought me a garage warming gift!

The first step was to remove the junk.  I took 1,600lbs of stuff to the local dump in two heaping truckloads!

There were a bunch of old motors in the garage too, I took them to the scrapyard

All cleaned out!

I found this new old stock Columbian 504-M2 vise on Facebook Marketplace and mounted it to the existing workbench.

All cleaned up, the rust was just surface rust and came off easily.

Next I decided to reconfigure the existing built-in shelving.  I wanted to mount my lateral file cabinets on the floor, then use the two shelves for plastic bins for small parts.

Here you can see the unmodified shelf on the left, and the modified shelf on the right.

All done

Filled up with Akro-Mils red 4" tall shelf bins

All complete!

Before I could move my toolbox, I had to move the existing workbench and shelving. I chopped up the shelving and moved it to the right, cutting out the center area for the window.

I had to cut down one of the doors, and I added some trim to cover the cuts.