From a garage to a shop. [Archive]

Expat

18th November 2009, 01:52 PM

We've been in the house for just over 2 years now since I sold my place in Holland Park that I grew up in. I like not living right in Toronto but still being close enough that you get all the mod cons without the downside of being boxed in. I got a backyard and front flower bed for me to play gardener in and for our girls to run wild. In Winter the South side is steep enough they can go sliding after the snow comes.

The drawback to the place was that it is only a one car garage. Admittedly it's a little wider than some we looked at but still it's limiting. Okay I worked out of a one car garage back home but in that garage was a mid-60's cabinet saw and a 100 year old wood working bench from the old Palings piano factory that was on Victoria Street in Brissie before they tore all that up and made it into the Myer centre.
http://www.sppss.com/fence/space.jpg
This is what I have been dealing with up till about 2 weeks ago. A right bloody mess at the best of times. The scrap sheet stock is leaning against the dining room table my Great-Grandfather gave to my Paternal Grandmother as a wedding gift. It and the bed frame and dressing table that are still wrapped in their shipping blankets have to be restored and moved into the house at some point but even now I have to work around them.
http://www.sppss.com/fence/space_2.jpg
Over the last year I started accumulating equipment and tools for what I needed to do and what I wanted to do and it's never really been set out as I would like it to be. That's resulted in more of a mess than anything but at least I was able to work around most of it.

The things I couldn't work around were the lack of space - can't really do much about that except to get organised in the space I have - and the lack of electrical outlets/lights. I currently have 2 x 110v/15a duplex outlets and 1 x 65a cfl ceiling fixture. Not much huh? Well like I say that was until 2 weeks ago.

I finally pulled the trigger and started to upgrade everything in the garage to turn it into my shop!
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21998&stc=1&d=1257162952http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-7.jpg
First a 16'Lx8'Wx8'H storage container was dropped on the driveway and then I proceeded to fill it up with the contents of the garage. I also proceeded to fill a lot of big garbage bags and the back of the car with crap for the recycling station. The old steel shelving in the very first photo of this thread was put out on the curb and lasted all of about 4 hours!

So what now? Well observe the right front of the container in the photo above...... The large roll of Delta-FL and two rolls of Reflectofoil. That and a bunch of 5/8" T&G OSB will be my new shop floor. But that's not all. I needed a plan for all of this to work properly and here it is:
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-13.jpg
Now there are elements to the upgrade not shown here of course but this is about 90% of what I hope to have finished in another 2 weeks. The walls and ceiling are being painted gloss white to vastly improve the lighting but the biggest improvement there will be from this lot:
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-8.jpg
Those are three of the double 4' T8 fixtures I've installed. Because they came with tails and plugs rather than hard wire them in I went with a 4-way outlet on the roof switched from......
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-5.jpg
......box mounted beside the entry door mounted alongside a 15a/110v duplex outlet that both run from the new 60a/24 pony panel tapped off the main panel in the basement! The panel was a 100a/24 but I only needed 60a. The funny thing is, a bare 60a/8 panel actually would have cost more than this 100a/24 with all of the breakers I needed and the 60a main breaker...... plus taxes!!! Economies of scale... Oh and you can see one of the reasons we couldn't run the new wiring through the walls. Where it's not drywalled it was easy but elsewhere it was a nightmare so we just used conduit. That's my friend Mike giving me a hand.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-12.jpg
Since this was taken another two uprights have been added to the rack from Lee Valley and the wall has been primed ready for gloss. The peg board boxes are very handy with their Talon hooks also from LV. The small parts bins/rack to the right has been taken down and will probably wind up in the corner beside the new storage shelves being built in.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-6.jpg
Over on the other side my large peg board box is up and currently has some of my power tools hanging in it as well as a lot of the small items needed for the upgrade. That's a 6' level standing there and the box is 43"x44" to give you an idea of the scale of things. You can see 2 x 15a/110v and 1 x 20a/220v outlets here. All up I'm adding 4 x 110v circuits and 3 x 220v circuits. The table saw and dust collector will run off the 220v and once I get around to it so will the jointer I want to pick up from Grizzly in the US.

So that's the start of it all. Friday this week the OSB is delivered here and the ply for the shelving and new mitre saw station is delivered to The Carpenter's Square. I'd cut all the sheet ply here but the mobile work centre is headed to the storage container on Friday so I can lay the floor and besides which Rob has a pair of Excalibur sliding tables mounted to his General cabinet saws that make cutting down sheets simple as! Final sizing I will do once my floor is done and the saw is back inside to stay.

Waldo

18th November 2009, 02:56 PM

munruben

18th November 2009, 04:58 PM

Looks great. :2tsup:

Expat

19th November 2009, 12:31 AM

:2tsup:
Gonna be interesting to see this as you make the most of the available space.
(How you finding acclimatising to the weather? I've been in Melb' now 9 years after originally coming from Brisbane and can't yet get used to the cold :no: but the heat easy)
I'd have more photos done of the transition but I'm only getting an hour a day to work on it at most right now because of all the appointments the girls have this week. Coupled with the after effects of the flu I've got it's slowed me down. Friday on that'll change as the ply and osb arrives. Lots to do then and very little time to do it in as the storage container goes away a week from Thursday.... unless I want to pay for another month!

I've been here for 11 years now and I still hate the cold. The snow is okay until you have to shovel it away but -25c is not something you want to wake up to on a regular basis. Not sure what sort of Winter we're going to have considering we hardly had a Summer. So far Fall has been mild as well. Got a light sprinkle of snow 2 weeks ago but since then nothing. I only spent a week in Melbourne during Winter many years ago and that was enough to last me a lifetime - sorry Melbourneites. Depressing doesn't begin to describe the feeling. There are days here in Winter when you just don't want to get out of bed in the cold and dark but I think the bright white snow does tend to make it seem a little more pleasant. Again that would be unless you have to shovel the stuff out of the way to move!

Christos

19th November 2009, 10:01 AM

Looking very nice.

artme

19th November 2009, 10:26 PM

Looking good expat. The finished product will show just how successful your plans are.:2tsup:

yasinthomas001

20th November 2009, 05:43 AM

That really sounds interesting....hard work gives good result one day which is seen here....good work done..keep it up

Expat

21st November 2009, 02:44 AM

http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-14.jpg
That's one! Thank goodness the rain stopped and it was actually sunny when the OSB was delivered this morning. These are my first pieces of the Delta-FL, Reflectix and OSB laid on the floor.

The Delta gets overlapped on the smooth area on the left side and tuck taped then the Reflectix is laid over that and also tuck taped together and then the OSB is dropped on top of that and everything is secured to the floor using Tapcon screws every 2'. I'm also applying expanding foam sealant around the perimeter as recommended by the Delta folks.

I'm going to seal the ends of the OSB at the garage door end by simply painting the sheets and we'll see how that works out. I'm looking around for a metal plate/sill to attach to the end of the new floor as a transition from the concrete up to the OSB so the ends of the wood are not being pounded to sawdust every time I roll something in or out of the garage.... sorry.... my shop!

I hope to finish the floor this evening and I'll get more photos up then. I'm liking this more and more now.

Scally

21st November 2009, 07:18 AM

I can't imagine living in a place that is -25 degrees.
It was 42 here yesterday.

The flooring should stop your feet freezing.

I like the lights and the white walls. You will have great woodworking light.

As soon as I moved into this place I went from 1 to 4 flours and put a 10amp and 15 amp circuit into the garage.

Looking good.

masoth

21st November 2009, 07:36 AM

Mate, you are doing a good job, and your report is most enlightening (no pun) :2tsup:. You are sure to be satisfied with the organized workshop when finished although I suspect it will still be a little crowded - like mine!

soth

Expat

21st November 2009, 03:22 PM

http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-15.jpg
Well I didn't get finished tonight. Close though. I ran into some problems with the tongue and groove and had to clean out most of the grooves and some of the tongues. I also don't have a large enough "persuader" to drive the sheets together so I'll have to borrow my neighbour's once I get back from cutting the ply tomorrow (Saturday). I have to pick up a couple of extra concrete bits too because I've gone through two already and I only have 2 of the sheets secured!! Not a good sign.

As I surmised there isn't a square wall in this joint! The concrete sills are close but the walls themselves are all over the place which slowed me down as well. The back wall with it's ins and outs was a pain to cut the Delta, Reflectix and especially the OSB to fit into all those spots. Anyway I'm noticing a difference out there already at least in terms of comfort to work/walk on. Much easier on my worn out bones than the bare concrete or the rubber mats were.

So one more run of the Delta-FL to do and it has to be cut the entire length of the run to match up to the left wall and then at the back wall you can see it's going to have to negotiate a couple of angles none of which will be square or close to any known stop on a mitre saw or a set square! What fun.

Christos

23rd November 2009, 06:07 AM

you can see it's going to have to negotiate a couple of angles none of which will be square or close to any known stop on a mitre saw or a set square!

Mitre Saw.

What!

Mitre Saw????

Do it by hand. :U:U:U:U

Expat

23rd November 2009, 11:07 AM

Mitre Saw.
What!
Mitre Saw????
Do it by hand. :U:U:U:U
Framing square! Woo hoo! Anyway.........

http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-16.jpg
Now why would I turn the Delta-FL upside down? Maybe because I don't trust that it will be the same width all the way down and I want to make my marks for cutting it with the ends in their proper orientation rather than just use a tape. After this I took the whole thing outside and laid it over a sheet of OSB up on saw horses and sliced it using a utility knife and my 6' level.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-17.jpg
And it fits just right! Tucked under the piece to the right and tuck taped together that's it for the Delta with about 10' to spare. Now for the Reflectix and OSB.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-18.jpg
With all the Reflectix cut and taped in place the last two full sheets of OSB have to go in. I cut off the tongue on both sheets because they are of no use in this position. The question than is how do you lock the groove of these sheets to the tongues of the middle sheets if there's no room to swing a "persuader"? I could have used a couple of Bessey K-Body clamps but the Irwin's work just fine. Looking back I should have done this for all the sheets from the get-go. 20-20 hindsight is a wonderful thing!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-19.jpg
This is the "notch" in the back wall and you can see how there isn't a square corner here. The sheet of OSB against the right wall is square but once you get past that it's all guesswork!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-20.jpg
This is the part of the back wall the storage shelf will be mounted to and you can see how it's out of square along it's length compared to the right and left walls by the gap the OSB sheets have left. They're all square to each other but those walls.............
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-21.jpg
This is pretty much all that's left to do with the floor other than a bunch more Tapcon screws to drive in the sheets I've laid already. Bought myself a hammer drill at last. I've been meaning to for a while and I got a good deal on a DeWalt so now the drilling will go a little quicker.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-22.jpg
I'm undecided about what to do in the small areas to each side of the garage door. I have more than enough Delta-FL, Reflectix and OSB to cover those areas up but should I bother? I'll ponder on that as I finish painting the walls and build the storage shelf and mitre saw cabinet over the coming week.

Once I shut the garage door the difference inside was almost immediate. It was around 6c outside and my hands were a little bit frosty but within a few minutes of the door being pulled down I took my jacket off and it was quite pleasant in there. This is in spite of my not having fixed the concrete sill under the door so there's still a 3' wide by 1/4" high gap for the elements to make their way inside. Give me one day this week with some sun and the girls taking a nap and I'll get it done.

Christos

24th November 2009, 08:12 PM

Very good progress.

Scally

25th November 2009, 12:00 AM

You would think that it would be easier to build something square than everything out of square.

Nice progress.

It is good to see those timber flakes being put to good use.

Expat

25th November 2009, 03:11 AM

Very good progress.

You would think that it would be easier to build something square than everything out of square.
Nice progress.
It is good to see those timber flakes being put to good use.
Thanks guys. Inside the house the situation is pretty much the same. Nothing is square or straight and our neighbours report the same things. Thrown 'em up and move on is what they do.

Painting progresses and today I may get a start on the gloss for the back wall. I want to get the storage shelves up by the weekend and so the wall has to be painted before that happens. Pouring rain outside and it's a delightful 5c to go along with that! Lovely. So much for getting the sill fixed or putting up Xmas lights.

artme

25th November 2009, 08:15 AM

Good progress Expat!

I;m interested to know how efficient that insulating material is.

Expat

25th November 2009, 03:39 PM

Good progress Expat!
I;m interested to know how efficient that insulating material is.
Let's see....... it's 7c outside and raining and you can't see the other side of the road for fog but I was painting wearing shorts and a t-shirt no problems. No heater out there or anything else and the door to the house was closed. The wind is still coming in under the garage door but it's quite acceptable out there. Can't wait to see what it's like once I have the seal fixed and the small holes filled and a bit of spray foam and insulation on the unfinished walls.

First coat of gloss went on tonight. Blasted tray almost collapsed on me and I spilled some cleanup water on a couple of sheets of ply but I got all that sorted and tomorrow night I'm starting to build the storage shelves.

Expat

26th November 2009, 03:47 PM

Paint dried well enough to put the carcass of the storage shelf up tonight. It was quite a job let me tell you. From the unsquare walls and ceiling, to trying to find studs and joists to screw into, to the wavy ply itself it was a battle but it got done.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-23.jpg
I screwed the top and bottom to the sides from above and below using 11/4" course thread pocket hole and regular screws. A liberal dose of Titebond III didn't hurt. The biggest help in assembly though was the Kreg clamp. Wish I had two of them and I think I'll have to do just that!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-24.jpg
Screwed and glued and ready to hoist up the wall. Now the fun really begins!!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-25.jpg
At this point it's screwed into the right wall and is sitting on a 3/4" ply cleat screwed to the back wall. There is only one screw into the ceiling joists and it's not tight yet. Notice the gap at the ceiling line? The rear of the top panel is tight to the ceiling and of course the sides are tight to the wall. I told you the whole place was unsquare!!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-26.jpg
Here's my 6' level resting against the top of the left side piece and the ceiling. That's about 3/4" out at the bottom which is 54" down from the ceiling unless of course you also add in the 1/2" spacers I had to put between the front of the top panel and the ceiling to make it seat properly!

I can hardly wait to begin putting the shelves in this thing (I'm being sarcastic here folks!). They are all cut oversize because I knew it would end up out of square so I'm just going to scribe them to seat them properly. I'll be using pocket holes and through screws again to secure them to the sides and each shelf will be supported by at least two dividers which will also use pocket holes and through screws to secure the shelves to each other, the bottom and the top. I'm now thinking about adding a 3/4" piece of ply with a rabbet 3" wide taking the thickness down to 1/2" to run along the entire front of the top panel. Making it long enough to span 4 or even 5 ceiling joists will give the whole unit more support than the three joists I can screw to at the moment. Trying to find those joists closer to the rear wall is fun too because so far I can't!

Christos

26th November 2009, 03:59 PM

Expat

26th November 2009, 04:05 PM

I know that I will get my self in trouble and might anger a few people in the process but I hope that Expat see the funny side of this. :rolleyes:

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house

No mice. Two cats. I limp all over the place thanks to all those years of football, motocross, road racing, drag racing and generally throwing my body around like it meant nothing. As for walking a mile....... not on my ankles I don't! If I found sixpence crooked or not it would be a blessing.

Other than that......... funny.:)

Expat

28th November 2009, 04:13 PM

http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-27.jpg
Almost there! I changed the plan slightly to account for the fact that I really needed to attach the dividers/supports to the rear wall studs to give the whole structure some extra support. Three screws into the ceiling joists isn't nearly enough! So each support is secured by three up/down pocket hole screws and into the stud by another much longer pocket hole screw driven into the stud. I could only put one into the stud because of course the wall is not even close to being square so only the upper portion of each support makes contact with the wall!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-28.jpg
And here she is. I still have a shelf to put into the notch on the right side but it's going to be a complete pain to install because again none of the walls are square over there! It'll be level with the bottom of the metal shelf I've hung there.

I'm debating whether to install two more vertical supports from the top shelf to the ceiling joists. I can only secure them along the front edge of the top panel because I simply cannot find any joists to drive into further back. I'd love to open up the ceiling and have a look around in there to see what's going on but I'm a little worried about what I might see! I might just go with something to replace the clamp I have on the left front corner of the unit angled back into the wall at the floor. No guarantee there'll be anything to secure it there either!

Oh well..... at least I can start bringing things back in from the storage container now. I have need of a great many items out there to build the mitre saw cabinet and the mitre saw table itself. Plenty to do but at least it looks like it's progressing now.

masoth

28th November 2009, 04:26 PM

I don't recall any earlier mention, but the floor in the last pic looks uneven too - if this is the case you are definiitely having a struggle, eh?

soth

Expat

28th November 2009, 04:39 PM

I don't recall any earlier mention, but the floor in the last pic looks uneven too - if this is the case you are definiitely having a struggle, eh?
soth
The floor slopes down from the back wall to the door by about 41/2"-5". Other than that it's not too bad...... at least the Delta-FL, Reflectofoil and OSB make it seem that way. The layout lines on the OSB make it seem out of whack more than it probably is because each row of OSB is staggered compared to the next row.

Expat

15th December 2009, 06:17 PM

Well after putting off a lot of things in the garage/shop to do fun stuff like shovel snow and put up Christmas lights in -9c weather I actually got around to using some more of the ply I cut last month....... Struth! That seems like a long time ago now!

http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-29.jpg
The cabinet that supports the mitre saw table is the first step. I was going to dado and rabbet everything but it's a pain in the butt and the pocket hole jig made it simple and quick. The Bessey's keep everything in place while I drive the screws and then off they come because before the glue dries I need this up on the wall so it can be "manipulated" to wind up with the top panel level front to back and side to side.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-30.jpg
It's attached to the cleat by 4 pocket hole screws as well. The stack of ply at the front corners will be replaced by adjustable feet that will attach to a jointed 2x4 that will run along the underside of the front edge of the bottom panel. Right now I'm not that concerned with the bottom panel, it's the top panel that's the main focus here.
You might note that I'm tying back into the studs using pocket hole screws again in the side panels. If you saw that then you also saw that the right side panel has to be shimmed for the screws to pass through. These bloody walls!!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-31.jpg
Here's why the right side panel had to be shimmed. This is looking from the left side along the top. The bottom panel is tight to the wall most of the way along it's length but look at that top panel! The cabinet is within 1/16" of square and that's plenty good enough for me and obviously way too hard for the nongs that framed this place!
Anyway the top is level front to back and side to side and the side panels are true so I'm happy with that. I'm thinking about putting some jointed 2x4's on the outside of the cabinet end panels to help prevent racking. We'll see.

Next up is fitting the sliding surface top. I was originally going to use the piece of ply for the back of the cabinet but I changed my mind when I first laid it on the wall. It would have been a waste with the way that wall was built. So because of that and the fact I couldn't get the lower cleat into the position I originally wanted - again because of the way the wall was framed - I made the side panels of the cabinet slightly shorter and decided to use the back panel ply as a second top panel for the cabinet. It has to have two dados cut in it and then have those undercut for the lengths of LV double t-track I'll be using. These t-tracks will allow the entire mitre saw table to move in and out from the wall not just to gain some extra real estate should I need to roll the car in at some point but also to allow really long pieces of stock to pass through the garage door to be chopped. Just like Jacko I'm thinkin' all the time!

So a little bit of painting tomorrow and then finish the electrical on Wednesday and back into the mitre saw table after that. Lots to do but I want to add that I was working out there in shorts and t-shirt with just my little fan heater roaring away and it was not cold by any stretch of the imagination. There's still a breeze coming under the door and there will be till Spring rolls around now but what a difference that floor has made. Easy to walk and work on too.

artme

16th December 2009, 02:43 AM

Well Expat that is some transformation.,particularly since you had to cope with all those "wrong angles".

Expat

16th December 2009, 08:16 AM

Well Expat that is some transformation.,particularly since you had to cope with all those "wrong angles".
It's not over yet! I still have a shelf to fit between the rear wall storage shelves and the right wall and everything is out of whack there. I won't even go into the work bench that'll be mounted to the left wall. I'm dreading the day I start on the built-in bookcases in the family room!

Christos

16th December 2009, 09:09 PM

I want to add that I was working out there in shorts and t-shirt

Yeah I do the same but only in Summer. :) :p

Expat

28th December 2009, 10:58 AM

Well for the most part there hasn't been much progress in the garage since my last bunch of photos. Lots of other things to keep me busy including using the garage as a place to wrap gifts so little eyes and fingers wouldn't get to the parcels!

I bought a second small fan heater to help keep the temperature acceptable what with the weather outside turning decidedly frosty. We've had a couple of days in the negative teens and combined with the wind from the East blowing under the door even with the improved insulation the existing heater couldn't keep up.

A couple of hours after I turned on the second heater things were very different out there. In fact they were rather familiar to me because opening the door from the house it was like walking outside of an a/c cooled house into a Queensland February afternoon! Talk about raising a sweat! I wound up turning both heaters down to about half way and that got the temperature to a usable 19c. It was about that time that the missus called me upstairs. She told me to go into the unused front bedroom. Now that's the one above the garage and it's always cold in there in the Winter so we leave the door shut so it doesn't take the whole house down. Well not that day boy! It was warmer in there than the rest of the house with the exception of the garage. In fact there was a pile of clothes on the floor and when I felt under that the hardwood was warm to the touch!

So that about settles things for me. Come the Spring the ceiling in that garage is coming out. I have a feeling there is little to no insulation up there and some serious vapour leakage. By code here garages MUST be vapour sealed if there are rooms adjoining or above them. Like a whole lot of other stuff I'm finding this place - and probably every other home in our neighbourhood - doesn't come close to meeting that code or a bunch of others.

At least I don't have to paint the bloody ceiling now!

Happy New Year!

Christos

29th December 2009, 07:39 AM

Very interesting read and yes Happy New Year.

Expat

30th December 2009, 10:23 AM

Very interesting read and yes Happy New Year.
I'll actually be doing some work out there tomorrow! I know, I know.... hard to believe isn't it.

Went to Lee Valley today and picked up a bunch of pieces I really needed to progress with the mitre saw station. Then I dropped round to Busy Bee Tools and finally got hold of the new Kreg Micro Drill Guide for my pocket hole jig so now I can finally get to work on the drawers that go into the planer stand and the mitre saw cabinet - 1/2" material you see and the regular Kreg drill and guide are too large to use on 1/2" material.

So lots to do and this weekend the electrical will finally be finished as my mate has finished work in the US and is back here for a while so he can come over and give me a hand. Plus of course he has more electrical tools than I do and is up to speed on the local codes.

Expat

4th January 2010, 12:25 PM

Well in spite of the nasty weather outside - it's still -12c at the moment - my pal Mike dropped by and we got the electrical finished! A vast improvement and now I can really start putting the finishing touches on the garage and making it my shop.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-32.jpg
The walls are all painted gloss white now and of course the last of the uprights for the lumber rack are up as well. Do you think the wall studs are 16" on center? Yeah I don't think so!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-33.jpg
With Mike's tool box resting on the mitre saw cabinet you can see the two 220v and one 110v outlets for this wall wired up and ready to go. The 220v on the right will primarily be used for the new dust collector to replace my existing 1.5hp model.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-34.jpg
Over on the other side is another 220v outlet and two 110v outlets. A small workbench will be going on this wall so these 110v outlets will primarily be used for various power tools and probably also my drill press.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-35.jpg
The board is all wired up and ready to go! You can see another 110v outlet and the switch for the overhead lights mounted beside the door. Mike and I added another 110v outlet above the garage door for the air filtration unit.

Oh and so you know the last two photos were taken without flash. Yep, the new lights work REAL nice!

So now it's all the little details - as usual - and building the mitre saw bench and fence. Then I have a bunch of drawers to add to the mitre saw cabinet and final details on the flooring and sealing the garage door better. There was a small snow drift inside the door this morning and you could feel the draft coming over the top as I drilled the holes to run the line for the outlet above the door! At least I changed the table saw over to 220v operation already so that's done. Now I have to make a couple of 220v extension cords. The fun never ends!

Expat

8th January 2010, 02:44 PM

Now that I have a cold to slow me down I'm having to restrict my ventures out into the storage shed to bring things in to their new resting places. In a way that's good because it allows me more room to work on the mitre saw table and it's cabinet.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-sketch-1.jpg
This is how it should go together if it weren't for the fact that somehow I got the width of the mitre saw wrong by 3/4". DOH! Never mind, it makes very little difference in the grand scheme of things.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-sketch-2.jpg
From the rear you can see how the mitre saw table will slide in and out from the wall across the top of the mitre saw cabinet. I've pointed out elsewhere in this thread that this is not just to reduce the footprint of the tool on the shop floor but also to allow me to cut really long pieces of stock by pulling the mitre saw table out far enough that in good weather (heh heh) I can have the stock going out the garage door.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-2.jpg
This will give you some idea of how long the table will be. That 3/4" ply will form the bed on which the sacrificial table of 1/2" ply will be laid. While most of the table will be glued and screwed together the 1/2" ply fence face and table will only be screwed in place so they can be replaced when they've been chopped and gouged.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-3.jpg
The supports for the bed have to be trimmed to their final height so that my long straight edge will go across the ply and the saw table flat as a tack. That way the 1/2" ply that lays on top of this will be supported properly all the way across and not give me cause to worry about if the cuts I make are going to be true. Once the blade is adjusted for plumb and the entire saw is adjusted to be square to the fence and locked down there should be enough mass and bracing here to keep things where they ought to be.

Cuttin' n screwin' tomorrow! No glue yet though. I want to get everything lined up square and level before I start making anything permanent.

Christos

8th January 2010, 02:50 PM

Again I have to say very good progress.

Expat

8th January 2010, 02:58 PM

Again I have to say very good progress.
Way too slow for my liking though. Maybe now I'll get moving a little quicker...... oh darn....... 3rd birthday party on Saturday for our friend's twin daughters! No saw dust for me that day.

edit: Oh I should point out that both the photos in the new post were taken without flash. I didn't even have the old cfl turned on. The new lights are just wonderful!!!

Harry72

8th January 2010, 04:35 PM

The mitresaw table looks like she's going to be a beauty:)

Expat

12th January 2010, 02:01 PM

Slowly but surely.........
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-4.jpg
Laid the second layer of 3/4" ply on the top of the cabinet. It's 1" deeper than the piece underneath it so that I can attach a milled and rabbeted piece of 2x4 to the front of the cabinet to not only reinforce the front edge but also give it a nicer edge to lean against than rough old ply and to provide an upper front mount for the diagonal braces that will go back and down to the 2x4 attached to the sill plate on the wall. That should be more than enough support for the front and sides of the cabinet.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-5.jpg
When the mitre saw isn't in use the whole table will be shoved back to the wall and the saw turned to 45° to take up a little less space on the floor and let the table slide back a little more. Here's the clearance I'm giving it in that stowed position.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-6.jpg
You can see how far back the table will go with the saw turned to 45°. I have to cut the top and bottom layers of the table slightly and remove some of the front portion of their support pieces to allow the saw's arm to turn through a full 90° from left to right. No big deal.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-7.jpg
Front to back supports for the top layer or table bed dry fitted. Now to cut them to their final height to allow the top of the bed to be level with the saw's bed.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-8.jpg
With both sides of the bed held in place you can finally see the size of the table. Keep in mind the cabinet is 4'Lx2'Dx30"H.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-9.jpg
The supports are glued and pocket hole screwed in place. I've cut and sanded to exact size their support pieces which will now have their pocket holes cut and be attached. Once they are in and the two bed layers attached they'll form a type of torsion box arrangement to support the sacrificial table top and fence.

Keep in mind that the table top won't be cut all the way through once the saw is fired up for the first time so it will provide longitudinal support for the table so it won't sag. I'll be adding another longitudinal support behind the saw as well. That one's not in the plans I drew but I thought it would be wise to drop one in.

Still plenty to do.

Expat

25th January 2010, 11:22 AM

Nearly 2 weeks of me having other things to do has resulted in not a whole heck of a lot out in the shop but I did finish laying the supports for the top bed of the mitre saw table.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-10.jpg
This is looking from the rear of the table so the saw itself goes in the open area to the left. There's some detail work needed round the front to allow the saw to turn 45° in either direction but I should get that done this coming week and be ready to lay the top pieces and their outrigger supports as well.

In the meantime I got some more general shop building done.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-36.jpg
My air filter is finally mounted and ready to go soon as the inspector gives me the okay. He was supposed to be here last Friday but that changed to the coming Tuesday. Whatever!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-37.jpg
Rather than go through all the hassle of wondering if the mounting holes in the Crapex..... oops! Craftex would line up with a joist I decided to build a frame to attach to the ceiling joists and then attach the filter case to the frame. Lucky I did because once again 16"oc was apparently not in the vocabulary of the nongs who framed this place!
The frame is 491/2" long - 48"oc - because the joists are roughly 24"oc up there. I say roughly because they are very rough. I've had this 2x2 pine laying around for almost 2 years now and it finally came in handy. It's attached to the joists with #8 x 31/2"FH course screws and then the case is screwed to it with #8 x 11/2"RH course screws. The intake faces where the dust collector will be mounted.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-38.jpg
Yes it's only the 24th of January here but Tuesday isn't far off so I thought "Why not!" It's just a pity no one has gotten rid of that red and white thing up in the corner of the flag yet.http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif Where's me Eureka when I need one!?
(left the red, black and yellow one in the shed for now)

Waldo

25th January 2010, 11:45 AM

Looking good there Expat. Having a dust extratiion unit is very important I reckon :2tsup: (my Hare & Forbes unit has spit the dummy a third time with the control unit spitting the dummy :grumble: - thankfully I've got a 'lecky bloke next door)

Will you be opening the garage door so the Canuk's can see the Aussie flag on the 26th? :D

Expat

25th January 2010, 12:04 PM

Will you be opening the garage door so the Canuk's can see the Aussie flag on the 26th? :D
Hmmmmm........ currently - 8pm Sunday evening - it's 4c and raining and Tuesday's forecast is for snow with a high of 2c and a low of -11c, before the windchill. So I'd say the door will stay shut!

My neighbour was over today helping hold the air cleaner up while I drove the screws so he got a good look at the flag. That'll do for now.

artme

25th January 2010, 12:57 PM

Good, if slow, progress there mate!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Got a good Oz Shiraz or Cab Sav ready for ZTuesday???:U

Christos

25th January 2010, 09:15 PM

Welcome back Expat.

Not long now for Aussie Day (Australia Day). I can see Darling Harbour from where I am working and they have music in that Harbour. Some police band is what I saw earlier and now close to 21:15 I can feel it from here?

Must be very loud

:aussie5:

Expat

26th January 2010, 02:27 AM

Good, if slow, progress there mate!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:
Got a good Oz Shiraz or Cab Sav ready for ZTuesday???:U
Don't drink so that's no excuse for the lack of progress. Lack of time is.

Welcome back Expat.
Not long now for Aussie Day (Australia Day). I can see Darling Harbour from where I am working and they have music in that Harbour. Some police band is what I saw earlier and now close to 21:15 I can feel it from here?
Must be very loud
:aussie5:
Loud is not being able to hear a single word or most of the music at Festival Hall because of all the girls screaming at The Beatles. Loud is sitting in King George Square (Brissie) while construction is going on and still being able to hear Led Zepplin do sound check at Festival Hall. Loud is a double-W bass bin and the rest of the double 4-way stack on top of it bounce off the floor when the sliders get pushed up. Loud is standing just behind the starter on the start line at Willowbank when Robin Kirby and Graeme Cowin launch.

Waldo

26th January 2010, 09:55 AM

Loud is standing just behind the starter on the start line at Willowbank when Robin Kirby and Graeme Cowin launch.

Oooh yeah! :2tsup:

Christos

26th January 2010, 09:06 PM

Loud is standing just behind the starter on the start line at Willowbank when Robin Kirby and Graeme Cowin launch.

Ok point absorbed. :roflmao:

Expat

27th January 2010, 07:09 AM

The electrical inspector just left and I'm good to go! Got my inspection sticker on the sub-panel and the paperwork will be out in the mail. One thing he mentioned was that the code here now requires tamper-proof outlets for residential installations and upgrades. Because he deemed the shop to be more "commercial" in nature he was okay with the outlets I have. Still I think it's probably a good idea to change over to the tamper-proof type because eventually the girls will be out there with me.

Now to finish the mitre saw station and get everything out of the container. All ahead full!

Al B

27th January 2010, 04:53 PM

Looking good Expat :2tsup:

Expat

29th January 2010, 12:49 PM

Finally cut the last pieces for the floor and laid them.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-39.jpg
Ran a bead of clear silicone caulking along the mating edge - but not the t&g - and then when all the pieces were ready I went round the border of the entire floor with expanding foam and filled the gaps between the osb and the concrete leaving this side for last. Three tapcons in each piece here and it's done. Now I wait a couple of days for the foam to cure all the way through and then trim it off so everything looks all neat and pretty!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-40.jpg
Used a clamp as a spreader to force these last pieces together and keep them in place till I drove the tapcons home. In case you're wondering there will be a less permanent section of floor at the end of this area down to the door sill. It won't use the insulation between the osb and the Delta-FL so it'll act as a kind of transition from the concrete up to the floor and also take most of the weather damage at the door. I'm also installing an aluminium bullnose on the removable panels that will go under the door and eliminate the gaps and the rush of freezing air into the place!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/shop-41.jpg
While I had the hammer drill and tapcons out I went round the floor panels and at every junction like this I drilled and drove 3 tapcons. I also drove 1 tapcon halfway along the long and short sides and one in the very center of each panel. That should do for now.

Now it's back to finishing the mitre saw station and starting on the dust collector and sheet goods shelves.

Expat

1st February 2010, 10:30 AM

Now this will come as a shock to some of you so I urge you to remain calm and do not panic. So, let me ease you into this gently..........
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-11.jpg
Cut the insert for the bed support and glued it in. You can see the material that has to be removed to make way for the "arm" of the mitre saw.
Ready? Okay, here we go....
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-12.jpg
Yes, I used a chisel to remove much of the material.

I know, I know. It's a slippery slope I'm on here. First it's hand tools and the next thing you know I'll be talking about buying a lathe!

NOT BLOODY LIKELY!

http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-13.jpg
Tah Dah! Yeah it's a bit rough because the ply isn't top quality stuff and it tore in places. Still the arm clears everything on this side and that's what I'm concerned about.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-14.jpg
Didn't come up too bad really.

Gotta do the same on the other side now and then I can mount the top portion of the bed and brace it. Once that's in the sacrificial bed and the fence can go in and we're only a short distance from the finish line.

Christos

1st February 2010, 01:38 PM

Expat

1st February 2010, 02:27 PM

Wow wood working by hand. Who would have thought. I think we all have hand tool that we perfer to use as it becomes quicker to get the job done then to play with power tools and the setup involved. :U
Got to sharpen the chisel before I go at the other side. It's getting a bit dull after 2 years use! I wish I had more hand tools but for the most part I get by with what I have. I keep promising myself I'm going to pick up some decent chisels and a plane or two but somehow I never get around to it. It's a bit of a dark art keeping that stuff in top shape and I never really did much when I was younger so it'll be a steep learning curve for me at this stage of the game. But you should never stop trying to improve your skills or learn new ways of doing things.

Christos

2nd February 2010, 09:36 AM

Yeah I agree. It has been a steep learning curve and still is. I am slowly getting around to cleaning up the hand tools that I currently have.

I found out only recently that a clean / sharp smoothing plane does exactly that. Mind you it was only to fit in a piece of wood as a plug. But it was smooooth. :o

Expat

8th February 2010, 11:39 AM

It's been a busy week so not much got done in the shop - I can call it that now can't I? - but after a fine breakfast with the hardy types who braved the -14c weather this morning in Ajax I decided to get some work done on the mitre saw and moving equipment and supplies back into the shop from the container........ after a nap of course!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-15.jpg
Finished! Okay maybe not but it's looking a darn sight closer than it has been. I used my long straightedge to line the two top bed pieces up because the right side doesn't have much to reference from. Next major work is to flip the whole shebang upside down on the mobile work centre which I know is flat so that I can locate and begin the dry fitting of the supports that go under the beds. Once it's all good to go then I can glue and permanently screw everything together. At present the beds are being held in place by #8 x 1" screws but they will get #8 x 11/2" into the vertical ply supports once it's time for the glue up.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-16.jpg
I have to trim the beds a little for the mitre saw arm to swing round to 45° in either direction. Also have to drill the holes for the bolts to secure the mitre saw in place. I'm going to use a spiked nut underneath with a bolt slightly smaller than the mounting holes in the "feet" so I have some wiggle room to get the saw adjusted square to the new fence. That'll also allow me to remove the saw from the table if needed although it will be a pain doing it.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-17.jpg
Also almost ready to be installed are these uprights for the cabinet. They're half inch ply and are the first use of my Kreg Mini Jig. Yay! They only need to be notched top and bottom at the rear and top front for the dimensioned 2by's I'm using to brace the cabinet. Then in they go and I can install the full extension runners and make some drawers for this thing.

If the weather will cooperate I can move more pieces of equipment back into the shop this week. Having the garage door open for more than 10-15 minutes is a nasty shock to the system and my poor little fan heaters struggle to bring everything back to a tolerable level. That's not taking into account the fact that I struggle to contend with the cold as well! But it's got to be done now because I've already booked the day for the truck to come and haul the container away so I'm now officially on a deadline. We'll see how long that lasts!

Christos

8th February 2010, 04:12 PM

Expat

9th February 2010, 11:46 AM

You have just given me an image of you running down the street after the truck which has the container on top.
Then we have to organize a tool fund raiser for Expat who lost his tools in a container incident.
Little does he know that I organized to have the container come to my house from Expat house. It will be like a lucky dip. :U
Yeah I know I have gone way too far. :no: Back in your box Christos. :roll:
You're welcome to the 110v d/c, the old dremel and the lamp from the wife's grandma but would you mind asking the truckie to unload the dining room table that my great-grandfather made for his only daughter as a wedding present in the 1890's? Other than that haul away ho boys!

Christos

9th February 2010, 10:14 PM

So much for the lucky dip. :o

:U:U:U:U:U

Expat

10th February 2010, 01:00 AM

So much for the lucky dip. :o
:U:U:U:U:U
Hey you'd still wind up with a nice 1940's hardwood bed frame, a Ryobi planer and mobile base, a 1930's singer sewing machine and a bunch of other "interesting" stuff. There's even my Aboriginal flag I got from Charlie Perkins. Many a game of poker has been played on that one.

Expat

10th February 2010, 09:15 AM

You know there really are some dropkicks out there! I had one such individual on another forum post a reply to my use of the chisel to remove the ply. This genius suggested that I use a Fein Multimaster or a backpull saw to keep everything clean and tidy. Now if I owned either or both of those items do you not think I would have used the bloody things to do what I wanted in the first place!? NONG!

When I was standing and contemplating the course of action ahead of me the first thing that popped into my head was "If I had a Fein this would be over in a matter of minutes. Why didn't Santa bring me that? I could have waited for the Beatles box set". I had to bite my tongue not to tell him what I thought of him on that forum. Here I can vent!

Expat

12th February 2010, 07:48 AM

I figure I've managed a little over 2 hours in the shop since the weekend what with appointments at the doctor, general running about, looking after my business and my full time job looking after the girls - all three of them today because they're all sick. Still I've found that things go a lot quicker out there now that I have power at hand and space to work in.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-18.jpg
It's nice to have a long "table" to lay everything out on. Even being 791/2" the top of the work centre isn't long enough for the whole mitre saw table! The end cross supports are glued and screwed in place here but I'm just starting to lay out the inside cross braces. More on them later......
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-19.jpg
The lengthwise braces are milled to size now. Each had to be cut to fit the gap where they will be located because the end brace isn't completely flat being ply and not a piece of milled hardwood. Only minor variations were needed though. Each piece is marked as to it's location and orientation so I don't screw up....... only down and to the sides!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-20.jpg
Speaking of screwing to the sides the Kreg jig came out again for the braces.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-21.jpg
To make the minor adjustments needed to cut the braces to the exact length needed I just use the fine adjustment on the Incra 3000se to dial it in till the fit is perfect. Starting from a full turn to the final cuts on 1/4 turn.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-22.jpg
Fitted with a sacrificial fence and with a couple of stop blocks to get the cuts exactly the same piece by piece the Incra makes short work of this. Yes there's a lot of dust around. The current dust collector is buried in the storage container at the moment so things are a lot dirtier than they should/will be.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-23.jpg
71/2" from the main end and each other is the start of the cut for the braces to half lap. The excess will be trimmed from the cross braces and the ends of the lengthwise braces will be cut from full height down to match the end pieces.

Just waiting for the little girls to go to sleep and I'll head out to the shop, close the door and make the last cuts on these pieces so I start buttoning this baby up!

Expat

12th February 2010, 10:20 AM

Boy two progress posts in one day! You'd think I actually got something done......
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-24.jpg
Front and rear and the cross braces of the long side of the table dry fitted!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-25.jpg
Now that works for me! Time to glue and screw, right? Don't I wish it were that simple. Now I have to dismantle the table as far as I can because there are various pieces that need to be trimmed, sanded, drilled, tapped, glued and screwed in place before I can assemble the supports.

An hour or so tonight if I can get it and I figure Friday will see me actually assembling the table complete with the first dry fitting of the surface and fence! We're heading up to the 'Frew for the long weekend so the little girls can see Grandma and Grandpa so after Friday evening there won't be any progress till we get back so I'd better push on hadn't I?

Christos

12th February 2010, 09:02 PM

Yes two post in one day. Now that is progesss. :U

Have a good long weekend. :q

BozInOz

13th February 2010, 07:58 AM

good job. i'm enjoying watching the process.

Expat

16th February 2010, 06:59 AM

OI VEY EVERYBODY! (love that line in Madagascar)
What a really bad 4 days this has been. No, we didn't go away for the long weekend like we'd hoped and I never got into the shop on Friday...... or Saturday...... or Sunday! Instead we spent our long weekend here being sick as can be...... all of us!
I finally got a chance to get into the shop for an hour just a little while ago and got some work done. It was a very pleasurable experience actually seeing the inside of another area of the house other than our bedroom and it's adjoining facilities or my office and it's adjacent facilities! At least I didn't end up with the 100+ temperature the missus had for 2 days. I just had the same problems the girls were experiencing. Thank you pepto and immodium!
Anyway.......
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-26.jpg
I slipped out and picked up some hardware to secure the mitre saw to the table. Cut the relief for the nuts with a 3/4" spade bit in the underside of the upper layer of the base and we're ready to glue this sucka up!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-27.jpg
With the two halves of the base glued and screwed together (right of photo) it's time to assemble the left wing of the bed. Glued and screwed it to the base and then glued and screwed in the supports.
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-28.jpg
Flipped right side up there she is so far. Ran a straightedge over the surface and darned if it isn't out by about 0.004". How sloppy can I get!?:wink:

Anyway I'll let this all dry for a couple of hours and then start assembling the right/short side bed. That'll be a little tricky because it has to line up with the left/long side and as you can see it doesn't really have a lot of support under it till the bracing is glued and screwed in place so I have to be gentle with it.

I could be doing this now but before supper last night all I'd eaten since Thursday morning was two pieces of toast and a couple of orange slice bikkies so I'm not exactly full of energy right now. I'm also not full of other stuff which is a good thing because for a while there I thought that was all I was made of! JOY!

Christos

16th February 2010, 07:18 AM

Thank you pepto and immodium!

You got me thinking for a little while then I got what you were saying. Not good to be sick. At least you are now better and I trust that the rest of the family is also getting better.

Flipped right side up there she is so far. Ran a straightedge over the surface and darned if it isn't out by about 0.004". How sloppy can I get!?

I think you are way too harsh on your self. I think the correct technical term is slacko. :U:U:U:U

Expat

16th February 2010, 10:37 AM

This two posts with actual progress in one day is beginning to take it's toll on me. I'll have to slow down from this hectic pace of mine!:D
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-29.jpg
Glue set so I flipped the table over and laid the sacrificial bed and fence on there for the very first time. I hadn't even mocked these up on the floor prior to this. I'm liking it!
http://www.sppss.com/shop/mitre-saw-30.jpg
Finished assembling the right/short side bed and here she sits only a few short steps away from being ready to cut the zero clearance kerf in the top and fence. Sucker is solid let me tell you! Under the saw is 3" of ply and once I get the milled 2by on the front of the cabinet and attach the diagonal braces from that to the bottom rear 2by on the wall I'm going to give it a real test...... yeah me!

Do you think it looks anything like the SketchUp images on the wall behind it?

edit: Oh yeah...... remember a while back I mentioned that I'd made a mistake of 3/4" on the width of the saw itself? Notice that the sacrificial top and fence are 3/4" shorter than the bed they're sitting on........ oh well.

woodie2

18th February 2010, 11:07 AM

Looking good Expat.
I'm just about to start to build a bench for my radial arm saw. I am making so it drops down when not in use. Hinged to the wall with slide out supports from below the table.

As I also have a TS I can lift up or lower the radial arm saw when I need it.

Mike

BozInOz

18th February 2010, 02:08 PM

Looks good. I think you'll find it very useful. I built a similar thing earlier in the year, but never got the accuracy I wanted. But from the WIP pics I think you spent a bit more time in planning.

Expat

21st February 2010, 03:04 PM

Thanks everyone. I have done a little more to it but it's not worth posting photos and such. Well..... actually..... the truth is thanks to being ill for almost a week I didn't eat much and lost a lot of sleep and I've been too tired to do much of anything. I did sand down all the panels and filled some gaps because I think I'm going to paint this thing or maybe just hit it with some left over sealer.

My other excuse is I've been putting the finishing touches on a layout plan for a multi-level shelf style model railway for me and another one for the girls to play with. I get the N-Scale "Brisbane Southern" (based on a fictional branch of the Santa Fe) and they get Thomas and Friends! I've actually been using the top of the mitre saw table and the work centre to lay out the shelf tops and some of the track and buildings. Thomas and his buddies will get a modular table set-up starting with a basic oval and we'll add to it as we go along. They love Thomas and at the train store Maddy was happily playing with the set they had on display while I shopped for scenery supplies and other "toys". I even get to build 2 helix's for my layout which should be interesting in itself. The shelves will "float" on a 20'8" long basement wall with only minimal contact with said wall.

If you can't have 6 or 7 plates all spinning at once there's just not as much fun!