Garage/Shop and Tool Hordes...Show us what ya got!!!

[Mach1 Driver 560]

This is a favorite topic on another forum and has been going for almost a year now. Midlife is trying to wake-up the site, because it has been rather quiet lately. I'll start with what I posted earlier today. Your's can be anything- just keep it going!

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.

 

 

 

 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

OK guys, lets get some participation going here- this is my latest tool. Its an impact wrench. There are MUCH bigger impacts out there, but I got a two-fer on the big 6Ah batteries from Home Depot. I figure this will work for most stuff I'll be doing, and I already had this battery system going for a saw I have. The battery I was using on the saw is that dinky little 1.5Ah shown on the impact and it would go bye-bye in about a half hour, so I took the Tim Taylor approach of more power (caveman grunt)! 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

I have one. Get the bigger batteries and they will last quite a while . I use mine for tear down ,it will zip fenders quick and easy . It will handle most smaller bolts ,i have used mine to remove bumpers but any bigger bolt it probably will not touch 

[RPM 1,190]

I'll play. Hopefully guys are as busy as me and can't spare the time it takes to post with pics and intelligent conversation. My dad will be spinning in his grave if he sees these pics of my shop as he was president of the neat freak club. 

It took me 2 years of blood, sweat and tears to build my ~950 sq ft shop which is attached to my house. I drew the plans, dug the foundation, poured the concrete, pounded the nails...

 

It was just a bit more organized when newer.

Miller 180 Diversion tig & Lincoln 175 mig, both 220v.

A few vises, or vices :) work benches, tables, or as I like to call them, shelves.

And some machine and fab stuff. 

A little wall art. 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Yeow 950 sf! Man that was a lot of work. My first house was only 950 sf, and I'm not kidding. You can probably tell that I'm a neat freak too, so good for Pops. Great pictures- there's lots of stuff to see. You've got a good size mill and lathe, not wimpy little girly machines like mine. And, beefy vices, a huge anvil, good welders, a ceiling hoist (if my ceiling wasn't so cluttered I'd do that. I'll have to show what I did to lift heavy stuff), a tubing bender (so that's what you used to make your roll cage), and a good size compressor. Very nice- oh and a couch. 

Your picture reminds me- I need a good bench grinder... maybe that will be my next tool.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

This ridiculous thing should get a laugh. It is more cumbersome than Bob's sky hook, but it works to get heavy stuff up high like on the shelves. It took a while to find a square tube with a thick wall that would fit - I think this is 3/8". 

 

[staffy 87]

You guys in the US are so lucky to have space and relatively cheap real estate, unless of course you live in cities like San Fran, Seattle etc. Real estate and space over here in the U.K. is expensive and hard to come back. 

not long finished my new garage, 6metresx4metres which I think is small by US standards, but I managed to get in  a 2 post hoist and lots of Dexion storage racking,

id love a lathe  to teach myself but alas unlikely as not enough space :-( 

chris 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Ok ,first of all ,i aint cleaning this up ! 7 door shop i built with my dad back in the early 80s ,stuffed to the ceiling !  My boxing shipping room , my compressor room right beside it . I would show the inside of my fiberglass room but you would probably throw up haha!

Just bought a new industrial shreader to keep the trees on the property from taking over ,a kubota tractor that comes in handy way more than you would think . 

The gantry crane is loaned out at the moment . 

252 miller mig cursingly known as pop and spatter !

A new Hobart plasma cutter .

There is a tig hidden behind the 69 shelby hood next to the metal lathe .

Lots of chop saws ,wood and metal . 

My tubing bender .

Bend pak 2 post lift with a 68 convert on it . 

3 rotisseries , cars on two . 

52 inch stomp shear and 52 inch box break .

A bunch of rock cutting and grinding tools along with my home made rock tumbler . 

Over 300 molds ...every where !!

A 37 Ford Pick up buried under some molds with a 78 Trans Am next to it . 

Shops are full so i bought a couple of car ports to stuff full of 56 Fords and A 69 sport roof .

A Coors beer truck trailer stuffed full of parts ,both sides 

My 1953 generator / compressor that puts out 140 psi ,90 psi constant ,and sand blaster pots .

And dont forget the old 4,000. Lbs lift fork lift .

Many templates hanging on the wall .

Have to load more pics later 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Ridge, I wish I lived close enough to hang around your place- I could learn so much. That 53' generator/compressor is a beast. You have an impressive business.

I could use that Power King. Last year I cut down about 20 trees, and that would have come in handy.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

A bit of my rock collection ,there is a bit of everything from amathist ,tiger eye ,jade in several colors ,turquoise and much more . I keep a little in my old 1973 fan luxury liner travel trailer that i restored my self ,well the interior any way ,the outside is in un touched condition 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

8 minutes ago, Mach1 Driver said:

Ridge, I wish I lived close enough to hang around your place- I could learn so much. That 53' generator/compressor is a beast. You have an impressive business.

I could use that Power King. Last year I cut down about 20 trees, and that would have come in handy.

I used it today ,cut two big trees in the garden and shreaded 

[RPM 1,190]

Terry, I've been to Jim's place a few times and I'm just in awe walking around looking at cool stuff. 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

8 hours ago, staffy said:

You guys in the US are so lucky to have space and relatively cheap real estate, unless of course you live in cities like San Fran, Seattle etc. Real estate and space over here in the U.K. is expensive and hard to come back. 

not long finished my new garage, 6metresx4metres which I think is small by US standards, but I managed to get in  a 2 post hoist and lots of Dexion storage racking,

id love a lathe  to teach myself but alas unlikely as not enough space :-( 

chris 

Chris- what is the building construction? It looks like what we may call steel prefab.

 

 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

7 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

A bit of my rock collection ,there is a bit of everything from amathist ,tiger eye ,jade in several colors ,turquoise and much more . I keep a little in my old 1973 fan luxury liner travel trailer that i restored my self ,well the interior any way ,the outside is in un touched condition 

 

Aw so you're a rock hound. I notice you collect fairly big chunks- do you make jewelry or just like being an amateur geologist? I like the Luxury Liner btw.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

6 hours ago, Mach1 Driver said:

Aw so you're a rock hound. I notice you collect fairly big chunks- do you make jewelry or just like being an amateur geologist? I like the Luxury Liner btw.

I just bend over and pick them up haha . 

If they ban guns i will have somthing  to throw at people when the try to break in . 

[staffy 87]

On 3/21/2021 at 8:21 AM, Mach1 Driver said:

 

Spot on yes it’s a steel prefab with insulated panels 

Edited March 23, 2021 by staffy

[harlan69mach 21]

[copb8 97]

Oh lord! Y'all have real shops. I do a lot of work in my garage but it's more gentrified and pristine. When the going gets tougher, like pulling an engine or transmission, I head to my friends shop that has 3 of everything.

[RPM 1,190]

5 hours ago, copb8 said:

Oh lord! Y'all have real shops. I do a lot of work in my garage but it's more gentrified and pristine. When the going gets tougher, like pulling an engine or transmission, I head to my friends shop that has 3 of everything.

You just might be the smartest guy here. 

[latoracing 256]

I upgraded my shop recently, went from 1,500sqft to 2,400sqft out in the country away from city taxes and such. You really don't know what all you have until you have to move it in one week. Went from nothing in the way...

... to having to get everything under roof. Our old property sold rather quickly and our new place was on the verge of being completed. A month and a half later, things are starting to get put in place, but there is still a bunch of stuff to go through before it is completely opperational.

Got to get the lift put back together and finish wiring the rest of the building, construct the restroom and small office, go through some more boxes... this is taking forever.

[copb8 97]

If I had a shop that big it would bankrupt me trying fill it with new toys. Thank goodness for city living!

 

BTW, that is a killer shop. I really like to have the space to have one one day.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

1 hour ago, latoracing said:

I upgraded my shop recently, went from 1,500sqft to 2,400sqft out in the country away from city taxes and such. You really don't know what all you have until you have to move it in one week. Went from nothing in the way...

... to having to get everything under roof. Our old property sold rather quickly and our new place was on the verge of being completed. A month and a half later, things are starting to get put in place, but there is still a bunch of stuff to go through before it is completely opperational.

Got to get the lift put back together and finish wiring the rest of the building, construct the restroom and small office, go through some more boxes... this is taking forever.

Haha ,i had my shop filled before it was even finished ,but thats how it goes i guess 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

That is a Dream shop latoracing. BTW, you do incredible work- if only I had a little bit (a miniscule bit) of your skill ;)

[RPM 1,190]

Ok, I changed my mind,  latoracing is the smartest guy here.