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Stangfix Members Garage/Shop and Tool Hordes...Show us what ya got!!!
- Thread starter Horseplay
- Start date
Nice setup. I've been thinking of building a charging station like that.
Here's my latest garage update. Built some storage space over the stairs to the basement, and hung up a wall mounted tire rack.
I also just picked up 5 led work lights to brighten up the garage. I just need to install them.
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Here's my latest garage update. Built some storage space over the stairs to the basement, and hung up a wall mounted tire rack.
I also just picked up 5 led work lights to brighten up the garage. I just need to install them.
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Well done, Terry!
That's some nice storage space, Pat! Maximizing the area you have like that is smart. I've still got to decide what to do with the area above the wall cabinets. I had two shelves there before but it was just a place to store junk that I never accessed. Don't want to create another opportunity to start that again.
kb3
Well-Known Member
Nice setup. Looks like you need to return that one cabinet with the dent in the door, that would drive me crazy!
I like the charging station. I have been thinking about doing something like that myself, but I prefer enclosed cabinets to keep the dust out.
That dent isn't nearly as obvious in person but I will fix it anyway. Return it? No way as the replacement, if it ever showed, would just have a worse one with my luck. The cabinets are 18 and 20 ga steel so pretty stiff stuff. HEAVY.
Planning to have a tarp/drape mounted above the cabinets to pull down and Velcro across the bottom of the full set-up. There's still a lot of metal work going on out there so lots of cutting and grinding to happen. That crap gets EVERYWHERE
I went out today and bought a matching 27", 5 drawer roller chest for under the charging station. Fits in nicely. Thinking it will house all my brake and brake line fabbing tools and such. Between all the tubing cutters, benders, flaring tools and such I think I can just about fill it up. Be nice to have all that space back in my main chests.
blu67
Well-Known Member
Nice looking set-up, Terry. I have some great ideas for my own garage but since we are renting at the moment, I don't exactly want to spend my energies fixing the owners garage up. Hopefully next year we'll have something to call our own.
One day when I'm as old as you 
and I'm retired I will get to build a real shop. Hopefully. Nah. I'll die before then. The current garage will have to do.
and I'm retired I will get to build a real shop. Hopefully. Nah. I'll die before then. The current garage will have to do.
Fst Blk
Well-Known Member
One day when I'm as old as you
Shoot, it only took me buying the adjacent 9 acres of property and breaking myself financially for that year to do it with cash, but boy was it worth it. I love my shop. Getting ready to finally put a lift in. I just go and hang out down there. Thinking I’m gonna put a bar in the corner too. Best money I’ve ever spent.
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I'll be right over!
I was jealous already without the bar inclusion.
Fst Blk
Well-Known Member
Not a big drinker so nothing crazy. Ive got an endless supplies of pallets from work and planned do something like this.
Decorate the front with my acquired collection of road signs and get a top cut section of rough lumber for the bar top and epoxy it.
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Decorate the front with my acquired collection of road signs and get a top cut section of rough lumber for the bar top and epoxy it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Mach1 Driver
Well-Known Member
My garage is mostly done now so I can show the highlights, but as we all know, your shop can never be too big and you can never have too many tools. My house has a two car garage on the main level and what is known in my area as a “boat garage” in the basement. This is a hilly area and at least one side of all the basements are at ground level with windows and doors. I believe I may be unique in my HOA for having a second driveway and pad for the boat garage. I know this sounds strange, but all my neighbors have a 12’ door on the side of the house with lawn or dirt outside. My lower garage is an odd “L” shape and since it’s in the basement the overhead is not ideal and there is one particular post that isn’t where I would prefer. It could hold three cars. The Stang and Vette should just fit nose to tail straight-in (although I’ve never done it) and one more could angle off to the left.
This garage is the reason I bought the house. The kitchen is the reason my wife bought the house, so it worked out well for both of us. My next project is a shed for the backyard to house more car parts with the dryer and compressor, because I ABSOLUTELY HATE the noise that thing makes. BTW, air is routed to six places in the shop, one of which is a reel hung from the ceiling.
This shows typical Home Depot stand-up shelving and shelves I built that are suspended from the overhead. I attempted to cram-in all the storage I could. More about the lift later.
This shows more suspended shelving. Each of the threaded rods will support over 500 lbs. On the back wall of the L-shaped work bench I built, is my old tool board that has followed me to all of my houses. My first wife, who passed from lung cancer many years ago, painted the shapes of all the tools in black on the white board so I could identify what I had misplaced and where to put it. What a treasure. The table with the vice in the foreground has kick-down rollers to move it wherever needed. On occasion I’ve backed it up to a post and clamped it on, when I really needed to go cave-man with the vice and a hammer.
I did all the shelving, benches and desk using my old ShopSmith, shown on the left. It is an all in one: table saw, drill press, 12” sander, horizontal borer, wood lathe, jointer, jig saw, and vertical filer (hew). I think that’s all. I had to rebuild its power head with all new bearings, belts and a gear or two. It’s a 1984 model that I upgraded to newer tables that are bigger and makes it much more useful. The power head uses variable pulleys and belts for adjustable speeds. It was designed in the 50s before electronic motor controls. Directly above the machine in the wire shelving are many of the accessories. On the bottom shelf is a cross-cut sled I built. It allows you to trim the ends off 2x4s (up to 10’ long) very accurately. Behind it on the floor is a jig I built for making tapers while ripping.
Next to it is a Harbor Freight blast cabinet with all of its deficiencies addressed using Tacoma Company upgrades. Now it can do a beautiful cleaning and then bead blasting at far less than 25 psi if you like for delicate pieces. A Dust Deputy isn’t needed for the vacuum because there is a waste gate on the back to set the negative pressure using the monometer on the top, giving a clear view and making practically all the media recoverable. I typically only pour in a Dixie cup full of media at a time, and then reuse it.
On the right is a Harbor Freight parts washer with pump. I upgraded this with a heater and thermostat which greatly improves the cleaning. The pump and flexible spigot are a known problem on these. The spigot is attached directly to the motor with plastic fittings. I moved the spigot to a separate bracket and used brass fittings to give it durability. The other problem is the pumps don’t always start. After inspection I found that the pump is underpowered and to overcome the problem they designed the impeller to only engage after about 350* of rotation…if the impellor is backed up to the stop. To insure that it is, all you have to do is blow canned air (for cleaning a keyboard, etc.) down the spigot. That backs the impeller up to the stop and allows the motor to turn almost a complete revolution before the impeller is engaged. It works every time. It would be nice if Harbor Freight stuff just did what it was supposed to, but they doesn’t always happen.
This shows the mini mill and lathe. The countertop is Formica so it’s easy to clean-up the oil and metal chips, with an aluminum trim on the edge so stuff doesn’t roll off. The wall behind and the bottom of the shelf above are covered with FRP Wall Board because these machines tend to throw oil and debris everywhere- on the wall and even the ceiling.
Next to my desk and garage computer (again the table surfaces are Formica) is one of those combination metal breaks, shears, and rollers. To the left you can see part of the basement dehumidifier, and various floor jacks and stuff. The basement heater and AC unit and the house water heater are down here too. There is ducting, wire and pipes all over the ceiling. It reminds me of my shipboard military days.
Miller 220 AC/DC TIG/MIG/Stick Welder. I had to rewire much of the basement adding several sub-panels to get power to the welder and rewire for many other circuits that were previously overloaded and always tripping breakers.
My Stang patiently awaiting restoration. You can see from the dust that I need to move the ShopSmith outside before I do any cutting or sanding, but sometimes weather doesn’t permit. I need to get the leaf blower going and blow out the garage again. Wouldn’t it be nice if there as a static system or something that would take all the dust out of the air and deposit it in one place for disposal (besides my car)?
The lift is a two post MaxJax, because it works well with the confining ceiling height, and can be moved out of the way for a rotisserie. Yeah- the columns unbolt and they have wheels on them so you can tuck them up against a wall out of the way. I had the area under the posts sawed-out then jack hammered, and put in a generous pad that is 12” thick with rebar tying into the surrounding concrete. That puppy ain’t going anywhere. You can see all the subpanels I added and the welder 240v plug in front of the Stang. I’ve got a 50’ 8ga cord set so I can do welding on the other side of the shop. That shelf and the one to the right of it holds all the volatiles that I wouldn’t want a spark around. There are four fire extinguishers in the garage and adjoining rooms, and fire sprinklers with Wood’s metal above the cars.
This garage is the reason I bought the house. The kitchen is the reason my wife bought the house, so it worked out well for both of us. My next project is a shed for the backyard to house more car parts with the dryer and compressor, because I ABSOLUTELY HATE the noise that thing makes. BTW, air is routed to six places in the shop, one of which is a reel hung from the ceiling.
This shows typical Home Depot stand-up shelving and shelves I built that are suspended from the overhead. I attempted to cram-in all the storage I could. More about the lift later.
This shows more suspended shelving. Each of the threaded rods will support over 500 lbs. On the back wall of the L-shaped work bench I built, is my old tool board that has followed me to all of my houses. My first wife, who passed from lung cancer many years ago, painted the shapes of all the tools in black on the white board so I could identify what I had misplaced and where to put it. What a treasure. The table with the vice in the foreground has kick-down rollers to move it wherever needed. On occasion I’ve backed it up to a post and clamped it on, when I really needed to go cave-man with the vice and a hammer.
I did all the shelving, benches and desk using my old ShopSmith, shown on the left. It is an all in one: table saw, drill press, 12” sander, horizontal borer, wood lathe, jointer, jig saw, and vertical filer (hew). I think that’s all. I had to rebuild its power head with all new bearings, belts and a gear or two. It’s a 1984 model that I upgraded to newer tables that are bigger and makes it much more useful. The power head uses variable pulleys and belts for adjustable speeds. It was designed in the 50s before electronic motor controls. Directly above the machine in the wire shelving are many of the accessories. On the bottom shelf is a cross-cut sled I built. It allows you to trim the ends off 2x4s (up to 10’ long) very accurately. Behind it on the floor is a jig I built for making tapers while ripping.
Next to it is a Harbor Freight blast cabinet with all of its deficiencies addressed using Tacoma Company upgrades. Now it can do a beautiful cleaning and then bead blasting at far less than 25 psi if you like for delicate pieces. A Dust Deputy isn’t needed for the vacuum because there is a waste gate on the back to set the negative pressure using the monometer on the top, giving a clear view and making practically all the media recoverable. I typically only pour in a Dixie cup full of media at a time, and then reuse it.
On the right is a Harbor Freight parts washer with pump. I upgraded this with a heater and thermostat which greatly improves the cleaning. The pump and flexible spigot are a known problem on these. The spigot is attached directly to the motor with plastic fittings. I moved the spigot to a separate bracket and used brass fittings to give it durability. The other problem is the pumps don’t always start. After inspection I found that the pump is underpowered and to overcome the problem they designed the impeller to only engage after about 350* of rotation…if the impellor is backed up to the stop. To insure that it is, all you have to do is blow canned air (for cleaning a keyboard, etc.) down the spigot. That backs the impeller up to the stop and allows the motor to turn almost a complete revolution before the impeller is engaged. It works every time. It would be nice if Harbor Freight stuff just did what it was supposed to, but they doesn’t always happen.
This shows the mini mill and lathe. The countertop is Formica so it’s easy to clean-up the oil and metal chips, with an aluminum trim on the edge so stuff doesn’t roll off. The wall behind and the bottom of the shelf above are covered with FRP Wall Board because these machines tend to throw oil and debris everywhere- on the wall and even the ceiling.
Next to my desk and garage computer (again the table surfaces are Formica) is one of those combination metal breaks, shears, and rollers. To the left you can see part of the basement dehumidifier, and various floor jacks and stuff. The basement heater and AC unit and the house water heater are down here too. There is ducting, wire and pipes all over the ceiling. It reminds me of my shipboard military days.
Miller 220 AC/DC TIG/MIG/Stick Welder. I had to rewire much of the basement adding several sub-panels to get power to the welder and rewire for many other circuits that were previously overloaded and always tripping breakers.
My Stang patiently awaiting restoration. You can see from the dust that I need to move the ShopSmith outside before I do any cutting or sanding, but sometimes weather doesn’t permit. I need to get the leaf blower going and blow out the garage again. Wouldn’t it be nice if there as a static system or something that would take all the dust out of the air and deposit it in one place for disposal (besides my car)?
The lift is a two post MaxJax, because it works well with the confining ceiling height, and can be moved out of the way for a rotisserie. Yeah- the columns unbolt and they have wheels on them so you can tuck them up against a wall out of the way. I had the area under the posts sawed-out then jack hammered, and put in a generous pad that is 12” thick with rebar tying into the surrounding concrete. That puppy ain’t going anywhere. You can see all the subpanels I added and the welder 240v plug in front of the Stang. I’ve got a 50’ 8ga cord set so I can do welding on the other side of the shop. That shelf and the one to the right of it holds all the volatiles that I wouldn’t want a spark around. There are four fire extinguishers in the garage and adjoining rooms, and fire sprinklers with Wood’s metal above the cars.
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Awesome garage. Lots of goodies in there I want. Just a matter of time until I bite the bullet on a mill of some sort. I had a really nice bench top unit a long time ago I could have drug home from a previous place of employment. Still mad at myself for leaving it behind. I need to clear off the junk on one long wall to make room for anything more.
By the way, are you sure that's your garage and not mine?
By the way, are you sure that's your garage and not mine?
Mach1 Driver
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I've been working on it for six years. It took me a long time to decide on the layout- I tried many different combinations in CAD before I committed to the pad for the lift. I think it works about as well as it can given the constraints.
Fst Blk
Well-Known Member
Very nice layout. I’m still trying to fine tune my layoff. I’ve taken on more projects and such. Then decided to store the boat in it.
Planning to finish a tractor that is taking up the overhead hoist area where I plan to put a lift, that will free up a lot of space. I’m going to buy a car port to store the boat under so it’s out of the shop. I built a shop not a parking/storage garage
Also wanting to do an overhead storage area over my work bench area. Thinking 100 sq ft or 144.
If I can ever do all this I will really work on fine tuning my space.
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Planning to finish a tractor that is taking up the overhead hoist area where I plan to put a lift, that will free up a lot of space. I’m going to buy a car port to store the boat under so it’s out of the shop. I built a shop not a parking/storage garage
Also wanting to do an overhead storage area over my work bench area. Thinking 100 sq ft or 144.
If I can ever do all this I will really work on fine tuning my space.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Grabber70Mach
Well-Known Member
Nice looking shop and really well thought out to utilize the space the best way that you can.
On the blasting cabinet:
Next to it is a Harbor Freight blast cabinet with all of its deficiencies addressed using Tacoma Company upgrades. Now it can do a beautiful cleaning and then bead blasting at far less than 25 psi if you like for delicate pieces. A Dust Deputy isn’t needed for the vacuum because there is a waste gate on the back to set the negative pressure using the monometer on the top, giving a clear view and making practically all the media recoverable. I typically only pour in a Dixie cup full of media at a time, and then reuse it.
Do you have a link to the mods you did on it? Or a write-up somewhere? Thanks.
On the blasting cabinet:
Next to it is a Harbor Freight blast cabinet with all of its deficiencies addressed using Tacoma Company upgrades. Now it can do a beautiful cleaning and then bead blasting at far less than 25 psi if you like for delicate pieces. A Dust Deputy isn’t needed for the vacuum because there is a waste gate on the back to set the negative pressure using the monometer on the top, giving a clear view and making practically all the media recoverable. I typically only pour in a Dixie cup full of media at a time, and then reuse it.
Do you have a link to the mods you did on it? Or a write-up somewhere? Thanks.
Mach1 Driver
Well-Known Member
Sure, glad to help. This is a very expensive upgrade but could be handled by other similar methods. There is a series of at least 10 videos describing how to make the upgrades:
Grabber70Mach
Well-Known Member
Thanks I appreciate it.