Why I Oughta...

The last time we checked in on my basement workshop was a ll the way back at the beginning of April when I posted about the new wall and sealed, exterior door that were installed , thus, creating the shape of the shop.  Then Spring came and all of my attention and time were focused outside on the garden and yard.  I left the shop empty and forgot all about my plans to finish the floors.   Well, the recent run of super hot weather afforded me the opportunity to get back going on the shop and job #1 was finishing the floors.  I had, on hand, a couple of the Rocksolid Metallic Epoxy floor kits that I bought back in April when I was planning the shop build out.  Inside of each of those kits was a package of 'floor etch', which I got busy with.  Below, in the first photo, is after one round of etching the floor.  I did it 2x - just to be safe.  But, since there isn't a floor drain, I ended up having to saturate the floor (post etch) and then use a scrub brush to pick up mo

Just a few days ago, I posted about the progress being made in the construction of my #newoldworkshop down in the basement.  I shared a photo of the wall being framed in here .  Today, you can see the door installed and the sheetrock attached to the outside of the framing.  If you look closely, you'll also see the dust vent up near the top of the framing.  The door on the right is the door to our "Christmas Closet" and was already built by our builder's team.  As I mentioned in the post outlining all the 'to do's' for my shop , I used an exterior door with weather seal to keep the dust contained.  I'm also planning on painting the walls in the shop to brighten up the space and lay down some of that epoxy garage floor coating to spif the place up.  And, I've been reading up on dust collection systems including this one from GeekBea t.  I like his ducting/routing/termination system.  But, I'm thinking of going a different route in terms of

After months of planning and thinking and posting about my eventual workshop, we finally have progress:  the wall that divides the rest of our basement with my shop is getting installed.  In the photo above, you can see the wall being framed and the steel door - an exterior door - installed.  On the right side of the photo - through the framing - you can see the existing stairs and banister coming down from the first floor.  In the middle of the room, you can see an existing door/wall that built out by our builder to contain the mechanical room.  They used a steel, exterior door on the mechanical room, so we replicated that with the door for my shop.  They're going to be so close, so it was important for them to match. Right after the wall framing is done, drywall is going on the outside, but I'm going to leave the inside unfinished.  I'm still planning on cutting in a spot for a vent ( see here for inspiration ) and stuffing the joist cavities with insulation so we ca

Some good news here in terms of the basement shop project.  Thanks to the fine folks at Oakley Home Builders ,  I've acquired the door.   The hang up for the entire project was the door and the thing about the door was that I really wanted it to match the existing storage room door that was already in place in the basement.  The storage room door is right at the base of the stairs and my shop is going to be just to the left of it.  The doors to the two rooms are going to be just a few feet apart (but set at 90 degrees), so it seemed important to have the doors match.  I posted back at the end of February about the shop being 'pressurized' and trying to figure out a venting work-around .  And this door is the primary reason.  It is an exterior door that is sealed all the way around.  I wanted to use a sealed door for dust control, but am fearful that if we built the shop too 'tight', it would act like a balloon and make it hard to close the door/blow out part of

As I've posted about here on the blog, I'm working on my home shop.  It is going in the basement and may or may not have a window and a wall-hung bench .  I'm planning on closing up all the available space with a wall and door, but also planning on filling the joist space above the wall to ensure that the dust from the shop stays in the shop and doesn't carry out into the rest of the basement space. One concern about that is pressure.  Meaning, if I stuff the joist cavaties and seal the door with an external steel door, it is going to be a pressurized space.  The walls will be like a balloon everytime I close/open the door. When I was on the train home one afternoon recently, I saw this air filter/vent in the stairwell coming down on the Metra cars and it gave me an idea.  What about making something like this on the inside of the wall:  a spot where I can place an air filter.  And on the outside - drywall side - of the new wall, I cut a whole for one of these v

Thanks to my brother-in-law, I've now stuck my toe into the Sortimo universe with my first T-boxx for storage of fasteners and other small parts.  My interest in them came about due to a confluence of events:  the whole [contractors of instagram] thing that is happening with all those guys in love with their Festool systems and says along with this video showing Adam Savage's shop and the glory of his Sortimo setup. I started with a sorting container, but they make entire systems both for mobile uses (in vans) but also shops and include sorting containers but also tool containers.  I think the next step in my plans for Sortimo is likely the  WorkMo 24-500 T-BOXX Ready rack that holds up to 4 T-BOXXes. Here's the handle on the T-BOXXes with the Sortimo branding: This leads me down a path towards carrying an inventory of fasteners in my shop - now that I have a good place to keep them.  I'll likely start with a screw and bolt/washer/nut inventory and grow

My father-in-law gifted me this Sears Craftsman 8-function Multimeter for Christmas and I've just gotten around to unboxing it and finding it's permanent home in my shop.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with a multimeter (or multi-meter as it is sometimes spelled), but Nat's Dad also sent along with CNET piece that explains all that this tool can do .   Here's the list: 1.  Test batteries 2.  Check extension cords 3.  Determine the life of lightbulbs 4.  Identify the 'hot' wire 5.  Find bad switches So...turns out, it wasn't all bird stuff at Christmas this year, right?!?

That photo you see above is from the Polite Pig down at Disney Springs .  It is basically a window'd box that has inside a butcher's counter, supplies, and at least one big smoker where they smoke many of their fine meats.  And....let me tell you...they have very fine meats. I had the brisket sandwich that was served with pimento cheese spread and crispy onions.   Anyway, the windows.  Yeah...they've put this window setup right in the queue where patrons line up to order their food.  It is kind of a show kitchen of sorts.  At the time we were there, there wasn't anyone working in there, but I can imagine a cast member/chef cutting up brisket or pulling pork or what-have-you in there.   For a long time, I've been fascinated with these windows into workspaces.  You see them a lot in restaurants, but you also see them on cooking shows or science shows.  Where they have a 'lab' next to/adjacent to the stage that sort of serves as a visual cue that

I came across this wall-hung workbench on the Wood Archivist and it stopped me in my tracks. I posted last week on my link blog the minute I saw it .  I was/am smitten.  I didn't want to lose the link.  Just look at it - she's a beaut, right?  Those curves. The built in lighting.  The fact that it doesn't hog floorspace?  The built-in dust collection system? All of it.  Awesome.  The full plans (or call it an article showing some of the steps and the cutlist) are here .  My shop right now is just a 'space', but that is ending soon.  Have plans to add a wall and a door to define the space.  Then, the first step is to finish my miter saw table.  After that, I'm going to turn my attention to a few benches. I currently have a bench that is satisfactory, but needs an upgrade.    I posted about the first (and existing) bench here on the blog back in 2010 .  Still looks the same.  Functional, but kinda basic.   I also need a secondary table for some other bench