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For my 100th post to the site I wanted to share the journey of how I crossed over from being a home handyman to hopefully creating the right infrastructure to move forward my quest in becoming a true woodworker !!! Here's the steps I took as follows:
1.Started With: Overhead shelves, one particle board top / 2 x 4 frame work bench, bare drywall.
2. Design Constraints: Needed to share 2.5 car garage with a sport ute, family car, and store all boating, camping, gardening, and kids stuff. Wanted to get lumber off the floor, organize power / hand tools, needed to build it cheaply, and NO hanging florescent lights.
3. Completed With: Two workbenches in “L” shape with over / under shelves behind (qty. 10) 45 degree beveled back self closing cabinet doors for main bench; peg board for hand tools, two hanging / sliding doors underneath a second bench; three new open faced cabinets for storing family stuff; new PC pancake air compressor sound enclosure; rebuilt / strengthen old stereo cabinet for one of two miter saws, new air tool accessories & saw blade storage cabinet built underneath the BT3 table saw, overhead lumber storage rack, in-process router table insert for BT3.
4. Electrical: Qty. 22 new 110 v outlets - hard wired on sides and front of benches, 100 foot extension cord run along RHS side and into front outside corner of garage for yard tool usage (don’t need to pull out car). Upgraded breaker to 20 amp service.
5. Lighting: 3 fluorescent fixtures under main bench hanging cabinets, replaced two original overhead bare bulb light fixtures, three fixture pole lamp of 100w bulbs each for task lighting, hardwired a switched 1000w halogen fixture for indirect lighting located on top of cabinets (main shop light for any spinning blade / bit operations), portable 750w halogen on adjustable stand, two lights from garage door opener.
6. Heat: 4000 watt, dual head, 220 volt in-wall electrical heater.
7. Sound System: Ported 8” two way speakers with adjustable volume control connected to one of four amplifiers in main home system; standalone multi-system with Bose satellite speakers and sub woofer tied into computer for multiple music / video source options (internet, internet radio, hard drive, local over the air radio, tape deck, CD, DVD).
8. Computer System: Older P4 with reformatted 40G hardrive running XP PRO, 512 mb memory, with WiFi Broadband Internet. I transferred qty. 4500 MP3 songs to the local hard drive to create the right atmosphere for building things.
9. Paint: 8 Gallons of Kilz Primer, 7 gallons of eggshell interior latex, existing exterior house paint for light grey accents, 1 gallon of Rustoleum Industrial Epoxy for cabinet carcasses and bench top (2 coats for everything except bench top – that had a skim coat of wood glue to seal the particle board surface, two coats of primer, two skim coats of wood putty, five coats of epoxy). Five cans of HD gloss black spray paint, red door to air compressor enclosure same as front double doors to house (my 4 year olds idea!!!).
10. Flooring: To be completed late fall or this coming winter – two part epoxy with three color granite plastic chips, two coats of clear gloss (end product looks like granite stone).
11. Vise: Removable clampable platform (from Shopnotes design).
12. Resources Used: Design Ideas: Shop Notes - Shop Makeover Article, Woodworkers Journal - Small Shop Book, BT3 Central, Sawmill Creek, garagefloors.com forum, CNET. Com - creative uses for an old PC article, my own creations. Craig’s List Free Section: 17 inch computer monitor, qty. 36 of 3/8 x 2 x 4 inch particle board shelves with metal racking. Five gallons of interior wall paint free from paint store (called around); florescent under cabinet lights came from a friends companies office cubies; overhead 1000w halogen light came from a former renter who was in sales for a outdoor marine lighting company; existing misc. hardware I already had (electrical, brackets, etc). Needed to purchase: 1.5 inch brads for air nailer, primer, interior wall paint, sand paper for drywall, belt sander, ROS, and ¼ sheet finishing sander, ¾ inch x 4 x 8 panel for hanging doors, wood filler, drywall mud, 0000 steel wool, self closing door hardware, closet door / hanging door hardware, hanging door molding, bench top wood trim, additional hanging hooks for peg boards / 75 feet of air hose, electrical boxes and outlets, air dust filters.
13. Total Cash Outlay: Less than $200 bucks.
14. Time Outlay: Four months of sweat equity (nights / weekends this winter)
15. Still Needed: Dewalt or Rigid Planer (stored under sliding door cabinet), 6” Jointer brand TBD (LHS of shop) , Bandsaw – LHS of shop (I’m shipping my late Dad’s 20 year old 14 inch Delta out here this summer), 12” Griz or Delta DP350 Benchtop Drill Press (mounted on smaller “L” workbench), and better Dust Collection – located in .5 section of garage and wheeled out for use (thinking of a portable 2 HP Penn State w/ 1 micron bag due to space issues). Currently building an overhead three filter cabinet style dust collector and finishing off router fence / table for BT3. Also need to organize the family stuff literally tossed into the new shelves in the .5 garage section.
16. Lessons Learned: Don’t use particle board for building anything; it takes much longer to retrofit things than to build them from scratch; four year old little girls are a real blast and can help you paint, drill, caulk, sand and remind you of your language skills when things don’t go exactly as planned e.g. s**t is a naughty word Daddy; I have about given up on HD personal / service and now shop at Lowes; there are a lot of things you can get for free if you are patient and know where to look; if your wife backs her car into your truck it’s your fault and the stationary tool budget for wanting to build furniture that was the rationale for this overall project goes out the window.
Front View
Bench Close-up
LHS View
RHS VIew
Future Coating For Concrete Side Walls & Floor (will be using a dark grey base coat - picture from web site is light grey)
1.Started With: Overhead shelves, one particle board top / 2 x 4 frame work bench, bare drywall.
2. Design Constraints: Needed to share 2.5 car garage with a sport ute, family car, and store all boating, camping, gardening, and kids stuff. Wanted to get lumber off the floor, organize power / hand tools, needed to build it cheaply, and NO hanging florescent lights.
3. Completed With: Two workbenches in “L” shape with over / under shelves behind (qty. 10) 45 degree beveled back self closing cabinet doors for main bench; peg board for hand tools, two hanging / sliding doors underneath a second bench; three new open faced cabinets for storing family stuff; new PC pancake air compressor sound enclosure; rebuilt / strengthen old stereo cabinet for one of two miter saws, new air tool accessories & saw blade storage cabinet built underneath the BT3 table saw, overhead lumber storage rack, in-process router table insert for BT3.
4. Electrical: Qty. 22 new 110 v outlets - hard wired on sides and front of benches, 100 foot extension cord run along RHS side and into front outside corner of garage for yard tool usage (don’t need to pull out car). Upgraded breaker to 20 amp service.
5. Lighting: 3 fluorescent fixtures under main bench hanging cabinets, replaced two original overhead bare bulb light fixtures, three fixture pole lamp of 100w bulbs each for task lighting, hardwired a switched 1000w halogen fixture for indirect lighting located on top of cabinets (main shop light for any spinning blade / bit operations), portable 750w halogen on adjustable stand, two lights from garage door opener.
6. Heat: 4000 watt, dual head, 220 volt in-wall electrical heater.
7. Sound System: Ported 8” two way speakers with adjustable volume control connected to one of four amplifiers in main home system; standalone multi-system with Bose satellite speakers and sub woofer tied into computer for multiple music / video source options (internet, internet radio, hard drive, local over the air radio, tape deck, CD, DVD).
8. Computer System: Older P4 with reformatted 40G hardrive running XP PRO, 512 mb memory, with WiFi Broadband Internet. I transferred qty. 4500 MP3 songs to the local hard drive to create the right atmosphere for building things.
9. Paint: 8 Gallons of Kilz Primer, 7 gallons of eggshell interior latex, existing exterior house paint for light grey accents, 1 gallon of Rustoleum Industrial Epoxy for cabinet carcasses and bench top (2 coats for everything except bench top – that had a skim coat of wood glue to seal the particle board surface, two coats of primer, two skim coats of wood putty, five coats of epoxy). Five cans of HD gloss black spray paint, red door to air compressor enclosure same as front double doors to house (my 4 year olds idea!!!).
10. Flooring: To be completed late fall or this coming winter – two part epoxy with three color granite plastic chips, two coats of clear gloss (end product looks like granite stone).
11. Vise: Removable clampable platform (from Shopnotes design).
12. Resources Used: Design Ideas: Shop Notes - Shop Makeover Article, Woodworkers Journal - Small Shop Book, BT3 Central, Sawmill Creek, garagefloors.com forum, CNET. Com - creative uses for an old PC article, my own creations. Craig’s List Free Section: 17 inch computer monitor, qty. 36 of 3/8 x 2 x 4 inch particle board shelves with metal racking. Five gallons of interior wall paint free from paint store (called around); florescent under cabinet lights came from a friends companies office cubies; overhead 1000w halogen light came from a former renter who was in sales for a outdoor marine lighting company; existing misc. hardware I already had (electrical, brackets, etc). Needed to purchase: 1.5 inch brads for air nailer, primer, interior wall paint, sand paper for drywall, belt sander, ROS, and ¼ sheet finishing sander, ¾ inch x 4 x 8 panel for hanging doors, wood filler, drywall mud, 0000 steel wool, self closing door hardware, closet door / hanging door hardware, hanging door molding, bench top wood trim, additional hanging hooks for peg boards / 75 feet of air hose, electrical boxes and outlets, air dust filters.
13. Total Cash Outlay: Less than $200 bucks.
14. Time Outlay: Four months of sweat equity (nights / weekends this winter)
15. Still Needed: Dewalt or Rigid Planer (stored under sliding door cabinet), 6” Jointer brand TBD (LHS of shop) , Bandsaw – LHS of shop (I’m shipping my late Dad’s 20 year old 14 inch Delta out here this summer), 12” Griz or Delta DP350 Benchtop Drill Press (mounted on smaller “L” workbench), and better Dust Collection – located in .5 section of garage and wheeled out for use (thinking of a portable 2 HP Penn State w/ 1 micron bag due to space issues). Currently building an overhead three filter cabinet style dust collector and finishing off router fence / table for BT3. Also need to organize the family stuff literally tossed into the new shelves in the .5 garage section.
16. Lessons Learned: Don’t use particle board for building anything; it takes much longer to retrofit things than to build them from scratch; four year old little girls are a real blast and can help you paint, drill, caulk, sand and remind you of your language skills when things don’t go exactly as planned e.g. s**t is a naughty word Daddy; I have about given up on HD personal / service and now shop at Lowes; there are a lot of things you can get for free if you are patient and know where to look; if your wife backs her car into your truck it’s your fault and the stationary tool budget for wanting to build furniture that was the rationale for this overall project goes out the window.
Front View
Bench Close-up
LHS View
RHS VIew
Future Coating For Concrete Side Walls & Floor (will be using a dark grey base coat - picture from web site is light grey)
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