My First Workshop

[Master Splinter]

It's open slather when it comes to stuff that plugs in.

Electrical regulation (at least the 'who can do it' bit) ends at the socket (you are not even allowed to unscrew the socket from the wall if you are painting as that is tampering with a fixed electrical connection).

[Mooncabbage]

Yes. I've never done that.

Atleast I'm allowed to wire my own ethernet and coax and such. I'd be really annoyed if I needed to hire a sparky to do something I know for a fact I would do a better job of.

[Master Splinter]

Nup. You're not. Only licensed cable installers are allowed to put in cable that connects to the phone system.

Ask Dan: Illegal network wiring?

But many sparkies do a horrible job of network cabling!

[Mooncabbage]

I don't install RJ12 anyway, on account of who uses the landline these days? And coax is only used for foxtel and antennas, more or less. Ethernet is a different issue. If installing ethernet needs a license, than almost none of you should be online right now :P

Even then, not being able to install additional phone points and stuff is ridiculous. Sometimes regulation goes beyond the point of sanity. I hear you need a license to be a builder/tradie/handyman these days. Stupidity.

Felt a bit guilty about not doing more in the cellar today, so I went down, moved the paint tins under the bench, and took all that dangerous stuff on the beam down. No more worrying about lump hammers and axes falling on my head.

Speaking of which, I now have 6 axes of various sizes down to hatchets, a B&D chainsaw on a stick, a hedge trimmer, and a Ryobi chainsaw. I could start a logging company with this stuff. What am I going to do with 6 axes? I don't even have a fireplace!

EDIT: Read that article you linked to. Even more insanity. Sometimes I think things go just a bit too far in Australia.

EDIT EDIT: Reading the intentions of the ACMA or whatever in that article, it kind of makes sense. So long as they don't care what I'm doing, I'm fine with it :P

[jasons673]

The triton wood rack will be very useful. I had mine bolted to the brick wall under the eve, then a tarp hanging from the facia. It holds a lot of timber, had it like this for about 3 years, then we moved to the block with lots more space. I have them in the shipping container now, for timber storage.

[Mooncabbage]

Indeed. It's recommended span is 4'-6', but that seems a bit of a PITA tbh. 4' maybe, but that just generates a lot of wasted space for me. The very longest cuts I can make in that basement would be about 6'. Plus my wall is 10' long, so that's awkward. I'm thinking I'll buy another rack, and space the uprights 2' apart. That way I can store even reasonably small boards without having to put them with something else, and as a bonus it should be able to bear a little more weight.

Going to Bunnings today to buy myself some castors as an additional bday present to myself, so I should finally be able to get this show on the road! Can't decide if I need 4 or 6 castors tho. I think I'll probably get 6, just because I expect the cabinet they're going on to get pretty heavy.

Anyone in Perth want an axe?

[wheelinround]

4 castors is more than enough 6 can be APIA if floor is uneven.

[Mooncabbage]

Poo, I already bought 6. I wasn't sure what kind of weight bearing capacity I needed, and the 100kg ones were like $20 each, where as the 65kg ones with brakes and decently wide wheels were only $5 or so. I can see your point about 6 wheels on an uneven floor though. I guess I'll try to return 2.

Will 4x 65kg be enough for a cabinet? I imagine it should be but you never know. Also, should I have them on the corners, or inset them a bit? I'm thinking corners, as that is where the frame pieces are.

[Master Splinter]

Personally I'd say a false 16mm-ish bottom to spread the load...many bits of furniture only have thin, non load bearing bottoms, relying on the carcase sides to transfer load to the feet.

[Mooncabbage]

Well, the bottom seems to be made up of recycled floorboards or something similar. They're joined by tongue and groove joints, edge to edge. The table is only something like 77cm from the very bottom to the very top, and I want the top to be 90cm off the ground, to be at the same height as the other work surfaces. The castors are only 99mm, so I have some room to make up there.

Are you suggesting I replace/cover the entire bottom, or simply glue and screw on a few chunks of plywood? FYI from memory the wood on the bottom of the cabinet is about 1-2cm thick anyway.

[Master Splinter]

If it's nice and thick it should be fine...some 90x40 framing pine might help you make up the height, though

[BobL]

I stitched your images into a panorama as best I could.




We all have to start somewhere - hang in there.

[Mooncabbage]

I tried taking a few panorama shots on the GF's iPhone, but it only does about 90 degrees and it's a real PITA to hold it steady. In the next few days I'll try putting the wheels on that cabinet, maybe cut sides and a back for it. Once that's done I'll have another crack with the panorama mode, see if I can't stitch them together.

Thanks for the support guys, sometimes it's a real slog down there, sort of kills the enthusiasm. #1 on the agenda once the benches/cabinets and stuff are in place is going to be some good ventilation/dust control stuff, so I can be down there for more than an hour without uncontrollable coughing.

EDIT: You can't really tell from the pictures, but the floor down there currently is 600x600mm concrete slabs, and they aren't particularly even. Any thoughts on addressing that particular problem? It's not particularly easy to keep tidy as nails and the like and an annoying tendency to fall down in the space between the slabs, although it could be regarded as a safety feature, as I hate walking on concrete pavers with bare feet. I was thinking of putting some marine carpet over it, but 6 linear metres of the 2m wide stuff comes in at just under $200, which is a serious chunk of tool money. Anyway, interested to hear what you guys think.

[Mooncabbage]

No new pics today, as I didn't get that much done. I did put the wheels on that cabinet though, it's great. Although, I think I put the castors too close to the edge, as they can swivel out beyond the edge of the top. I can see that potentially being a problem, trying to put it flush to a wall or something.

I've found a new use for it, I can clamp sheet goods to it and cut them to size It's sort of inspired me to see what I can do with it when I put a new top on it, although I don't want to put too much into it as it's a pretty crappy piece of furniture and I can foresee it being replaced.

Also did a bit of hand sawing to make the sticky outy platformy bits for the castors to fix to, so I had a chance to test my back saw, and my skills with it. Turns out I can SORT of cut to a line, but all my cuts are bit.... bevelled. Going to need more practice!

The back saw isn't blunt, but I'm not sure it's razor sharp either. Judging from the length I think it's probably a tenon saw, so that's handy.

Anyhoot, once I've got a back and sides on that cabinet, I can start filling it up with tools and whatnot again, and the shop will hopefully get a lot tidier pretty quickly.

[Christos]

Returning the castors should not be a problem with Bunnings.

As for your flooring this can be a thread in itself as there has been some interesting threads on that topic in the past. I think that you need to keep you eye out for council cleanup days there might be some stuff that can be used.

If it is shop furniture then anything that will serve a purpose can be useful. Now this might have been the attitude of your girlfriend father and so nothing was disposed.