The Tools and Workshop Thread

[Blind_Io]

I have a big table in my garage, started out as a normal but rather sturdy table, steel frame and 3cm thick wooden top. Welded a frame with angle iron to the bottom, partially for extra strength and also so I had a base for what is basically a big shelf. Under that I mounted some big industrial nylon wheels/castors to lift it to a nice working height and so I can easily move it around in the garage.
Today I wanted to put it under the porch behind the house to make room so I can finally put the Ford inside to start working on it. Only to realise that by adding the angle iron frame and the wheels, it no longer fits through the door when I put it on its side.
Dug up some square tubing from the shed that is bigger than the legs (a little too big actually) after some cutting, drilling and welding the bottom part was detachable. With the added bonus that it is now a lot easier/lighter to flip it on its side. The table itself is too heavy to lift on my own and I underestimated how much the angle iron frame, 18mm plywood and wheels added.

 

[kalf]

You're absolutely right, I'll fix it right now (after barely leaving my bed the entire week because of one hell of a fever).

Normally it looks like this, nice height for working and if I use it for welding I have a big sheet of 4mm aluminium I put on top of the table. Legs have already been modified on this picture.

The bottom of the legs look like this: square tubing with a nut welded to the inside so I can clamp the legs to the bottom part. Don't look at the terrible weld, forgot to clean/grind the leg first which makes welding galvanised steel really messy (and far from healthy).

And when disassembled it turns into a pretty much standard dining height table (with the option of adding wooden or steel legs at the bottom should I ever require a table of a certain height or want to put it inside on the wooden flooring).

 

[kalf]

Ever since we bought this house back in 2015 my tools have been stored in the garage in cardboard boxes (the sturdy type used for transporting bananas) and from day one I've been saying I need to do something about it. I roughly knew which tools were in which boxes so especially the ones I used more often were quite easily found, but I've also bought al lot of extra tools over the years simply because I couldn't find them or couldn't even be bothered spending an hour looking for them.
The only things I ever bothered to organise were the discs for my angle grinders and some of my wrenches.

Over the last couple of months in between other thing I've been finally fixing that problem. It is still under construction, I'm still sorting and I'm sure many thing will be moved around a lot before finding the perfect spot/combination but I've reached the part where I can start sharing the current state.
I started by hanging the bigger and most used tools to a board and building a cabinet with 9 drawers that fits nicely where I had some shelves before for the rest. 70% of the plywood were leftovers from other projects so I've put my plunge saw and miter saw to good use I don't think there would have been many straight cuts without those.
It isn't the prettiest design, but the easiest to make with what I had. Only had to buy some ball bearing slide runners of of Amazon and the wood for the bottoms for the drawers, so it cost me less than 100euro to build.
Quite soon I came to the conclusion that I needed more drawers so I built another cabinet with 6 more drawers .

Some of the tools that get used more often got there own/definitive/logical spot in the bigger cabinet (I'll add some pictures of them) but I'm still sorting out and moving around the rest until I'm happy with the result. Normally the drawers can be almost completely extended, but currently there is a car in the way that prevents that.
Also created a place to hang my drills and angle grinders (only one shown in the picture) that is always in reach but never really in my way.

 

[Matt2000]

Looks great, wish I had space to organise things like that! I recognise the Sortimo trays, quite similar to the Stanley ones I have.

Reminds me that I need to buy some Wago terminals too, I like the one you have with the price sticker that's as big as the terminal itself.

 

[kalf]

Wago terminals should be getting their own trays, got a lot of different types but I'm still looking for motivation to start sorting the second box of electrical supplies.

Really love the sorting trays, makes things a lot easier. There is a size for pretty much every use, so no huge oversized trays for the small stuff but also big enough ones for the bigger things. Just bought a box full of them and decide what to use along the way.

Good thing about waiting so long is that I had a lot of time to think about it and steal ideas.

 

[Blind_Io]

New tool for the "Clarkson" drawer.

 

[Nugget]

New tool for the "Clarkson" drawer.

If brute force doesn't work you just aren't using enough.

 

[NecroJoe]

"If at first you don't succeed, try a bigger hammer"

 

[GRtak]

It may not fix it, but it sure can make you feel better.

 

[Blind_Io]

It may not fix it, but it sure can make you feel better.

It will be fixed or it will no longer be a problem.

 

[Matt2000]

I do like a nice twatting stick. I still need to get a nylon and/or copper hammer, it's been on my buy list for about forever but is never near enough to the top.

 

[kalf]

I'm planning on buying or building myself a sand blasting cabinet for sandblasting small to medium sized parts, but before I can even start to think about sandblasting I bought a rather necessary upgrade today. I had a small 1,5HP 6liter air compressor which was good for airing up tires and blowing parts clean/dry but that's about it. I once tried spraying bodyschutz with it and (as expected) it failed miserably. So today I bought myself a 3HP, 50liter, 360liter/min air compressor.
I don't plan on sandblasting or spray painting entire cars nor do I have much spare space so a big/expensive industrial one didn't make any sense. Should the need for a bigger tank arise, adding a second vertical tank will take up less of my precious garage (floor)space than an air compressor with a bigger tank would.

 

[93Flareside]

I'm planning on buying or building myself a sand blasting cabinet for sandblasting small to medium sized parts, but before I can even start to think about sandblasting I bought a rather necessary upgrade today. I had a small 1,5HP 6liter air compressor which was good for airing up tires and blowing parts clean/dry but that's about it. I once tried spraying bodyschutz with it and (as expected) it failed miserably. So today I bought myself a 3HP, 50liter, 360liter/min air compressor.
I don't plan on sandblasting or spray painting entire cars nor do I have much spare space so a big/expensive industrial one didn't make any sense. Should the need for a bigger tank arise, adding a second vertical tank will take up less of my precious garage (floor)space than an air compressor with a bigger tank would.
View attachment 3568986

Definitely my favorite type of air compressor. Enough to run air tools, maybe too much for filling a tire, but meh. A great purchase. I miss the Bell & Gossett one I bought used where I lived in the US. I liked it for vintage-ness mostly. Imagine Grundfos made air compressors, Bell & Gossett used to be that type of company. Or because I thought it was cool I had something from the brand my grandfather used to work for. He helped get Walt Disney World in Orlando going with their water supply system.

 

[Matt2000]

That's pretty much the same compressor I've had for years, I bought it for sand blasting and to be fair I don't use it all that much now. Slightly different design but with the same specs. I also consider it to be basically perfect for DIY stuff.

It's semi-permanently plumbed in to a storage box outside.

 

[kalf]

Decided to go for the easiest option and abandon the DIY option so I went and bought a blasting cabinet earlier this week. Went for a 220liter one, should be big enough for what I want to use it for and it nicely fits between my electrical box and my heating installation.
Added an extra circuit to my electrical box and installed two extra wall outlets to make sure I wont blow a fuse in case the compressor should start while I'm using power tools or an electric heater on the main circuit for my garage.
I didn't want legs under the cabinet 'cause then I wouldn't be able to put my compressor under it (I need to use the little floor space I have as efficiently as possible), but forgot about the heating and electrical pipes running along that wall. So just added some wood between the wall and the braces supporting the frame/cabinet to clear those pipes.

 

[Matt2000]

I don't think you'll regret getting a proper one. Don't forget to use it properly, as shown by Eric of Hand Tool Rescue.

 

[NecroJoe]

FYI, some HD stores are clearancing out the Ryobi cordless track saw. I dont know why, but the kit with the 4ah battery are selling in some stores for $200, down from $399.

I spotted 2 up in topstock above the cabinet hardware in the next aisle over (cabinet pulls and knobs) under a pile of drill/driver kits after not finding any on the shelves in the tool areas, and a tool dept employee saying he thought they were sold out.

Apparently their system says they have 4 in stock, but I only spotted these 2, and left with one.



Next order of business will be to re-find out which full-length tracks are compatible since the kit just comes with two linkable ~27" segments.

 

[NecroJoe]

FYI, some HD stores are clearancing out the Ryobi cordless track saw. I dont know why, but the kit with the 4ah battery are selling in some stores for $200, down from $399.

I spotted 2 up in topstock above the cabinet hardware in the next aisle over (cabinet pulls and knobs) under a pile of drill/driver kits after not finding any on the shelves in the tool areas, and a tool dept employee saying he thought they were sold out.

Apparently their system says they have 4 in stock, but I only spotted these 2, and left with one.

View attachment 3569225

Next order of business will be to re-find out which full-length tracks are compatible since the kit just comes with two linkable ~27" segments.

OK, so...

I had it in my head that the Ryobi was compatible with some other off-brand's track, and that off-brand came in a single-piece 55" section and maybe even a single piece 110". I must have been watching too many track saw videos in a row (Kreg, Wen, Milwaukee, Ryobi, etc) that I got them mixed up. The Ryobi system seems to be completely proprietary. And even if you are able to buy the SKU that's called "55" track", it's still the same 27.5" pieces that come with the saw, just a two-pack. I'm not super comfortable with depending on the accuracy of a 4-piece track (10-pieces if you count the connector bars, 22 if you count the screws).

So I'm torn. This was a great deal, but the track does really bug me, as its primary use will be for rip cuts of full sheet goods. I was willing to over-look the not-super-great cut angle accuracy when cutting thicker stock (due flex in the plastic shoe/baseplate) if that was the only real down-side (because nearly everything I'd be using it for would be 1/2 or 3/4" sheet goods...but now with the track issue, that's two strikes (I'm not concerned about the comparatively low power, or the below-average dust collection).

Also, i read ONE substantiated rumor post that it's being clearance out because there's an updated saw coming...but the only reason I picked this one up now was because of it's price, and the new one would likely be at least as expensive as this one's full price, no doubt.

So I think I'll hang on to it for a week and hold off on opening it, and see how I feel. Maybe I'll find some long-term-use reviews that weren't available when the saw first launched, when I watched most of the videos on this tool...

 

[Blind_Io]

Impulse buy. We had been talking for a while about getting a new chest, couldn't resist the half-off display model Milwaukee.

 

[93Flareside]

Today I learned you have a Jeep Comanche.