fraggle42 Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 Ok, ok, ok.The Kitchen Worktop in the Garage rebuild At the moment I've got about 15 foot of worktop to use, single depth (600mm), not great seating or lighting or mains power.So it really doesn't get used much.Right now it has this lot crowded onto itNormal soldering station.Surface mount solder rework stationSignal generators (2), scope, a few metersCouple of PSUsA few RF dummy loadsHF Kenwood ham radio & micVHF ham radio & micDesktop CNC mill & ancient PC with equally ancient CRT monitorTools here there and everywherePartsJunkRadioAnd that's before I turn round and see the large rack of tools, boxes of older tools, old kitchen cupboards full of reels of cable, car and bike oils and stuff, garage heater, absolutely loads of dead UPSs & other stuff which are slowly being cannibalised for parts as needed.Plus all the usual DIY car maintenance tools, jacks, axle stands, a new wing for a BMW E36.Honestly every time I go in there I look around in despair, find what I need and leave in a hurry NO MORE!£200 of shelving, worktops and timber for the frames.£100 of garage floor two pack paint.And probably 3 months and 2 skips for all the crap will see it turned into a nice warm decent workshop with space, and everything I've kept nicely organised!And I'll be able to unpack all those watch tools I bought and use them at last So how many others have a garage you dare not spend too long in or you'll get lost in there? Richard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtguk Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 This thread needs some pics Mine is about the same mate I keep muttering to myself about the floor and cupboards (need painting) but I'll probably do what I always do and fix it up just before I come to sell the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 Richard, I believe that everyone who works with tools gets into that dilemma at some point, especially if you have tools for car repair, bikes, carpentry electrical, etc.!! I had a 10X 14 workshop in my garage, under the main part of our house and it was terrible, as well as being dangerous. Old paint stored under the workbench, a radial arm saw with the dust it accumulated and tools, parts and junk everywhere. Two summers ago, I bit the bullet and built a 20X 30 foot steel building witha roll up 10 foot wide door at one end and a passage door at the other . a couple of windows, lots of big flourescent fixtures for plenty of light, lots of shelving and a full 20 foot length workbench on one end. It's now organized, I can find stuff and it's a pleasure to work out there.You will never regret organizing your workspace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted April 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 This thread needs some pics You're going to regret asking for photos Nightmares are made of stuff like this! I've no idea where I'm going to put all the stuff in the first two pics The existing bench is a teeny bit overcrowded But I can sometimes get some work done And get to play with this every now and then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 I have to say, although mine was pretty messy it pales in comparison to yours!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCM Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 I've been blessed with about 900sq feet of workshop in addition to a 2 car garage. Cars stay in their place, wife's junk stays in her place. <br /> 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 A little bit of progress. Contents removed to the other half of the garage and the wall unit removed:- And £300 worth of various bits of tree:- And now I have to start assembling the jigsaw 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 I've been blessed with about 900sq feet of workshop in addition to a 2 car garage. Cars stay in their place, wife's junk stays in her place. <br /> I hate you! I'd love to have the space to build a workshop like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSTEEL Posted May 5, 2013 Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 Coming along nicely my friend. What is your workshop's intention? I spot some radio gear in your photos, are those related to what you plan on using this new found space for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpz5142 Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Looking good! I need to clean out my workspace too but have t gotten around to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Coming along nicely my friend. What is your workshop's intention? I spot some radio gear in your photos, are those related to what you plan on using this new found space for? Well spotted Yes, there is radio gear there. I passed my advanced radio amateur license a few years ago. I actually started learning it because I was bored and had a head start on the other students as I used to be an electronics engineer. Now that I've got the license I don't actually use it that much - big aerials at home would cause too much friction between neighbours so it's 2M and 70cm bands at home, and I've got a multi band HF aerial that I got with the intention of using static mobile but haven't used it yet. I've also got a Kenwood TS-450S and a TS-2000 in the living room. This new space is going to be for electronic repair/alignment/calibration, learning to work on watches & clocks and I'll put the TS-2000 in there too, together with a spare laptop I've got for digital modes. One big problem I've got is that those grey blocks that the wall is made out of are "aircrete" http://www.aircrete.co.uk/ which must be the stupidest thing invented yet. You can poke a hole in them using your finger! They have absolutely NO strength, the only benefit is light weight, thermal insulation and fire proof. All the things a normal breeze block is more or less, apart from the weight thing. Which means that anything I build has to have it's own full supporting frame, or be suspended from the ceiling joists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSTEEL Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Aha, that explains it. That sucks about those wall bricks though. Maybe replace with breeze blocks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 The walls that use those aircrete blocks are the house walls, the garage is attached to the house.It'd cost many thousands to replace them and then rebuild the kitchen and hallway Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 It is a bank holiday in the UK today, and as is tradition for UK males, DIY was the order of the day:- The upper and front lower worktops haven't been screwed down yet which is why there's small gaps under them. I've got a Makita cordless drill and impact driver that take the same battery, and I've got one battery to share between them. I thought my work would be limited by how long the battery lasts and I'd have a few 30 minute breaks whilst it charged up. It outlasted me. All day using the drill & driver a lot and the battery was still 2/3rds full, and I'm knackered! The last few bits shouldn't take long to do, and then I've got to invite a few mates round to lift the thing into position. There's a gas pipe coming out of the floor (almost) right in the corner - there's just enough room to get this in, but the whole thing will need lifting over the pipe to get it into it's final position. And then paint the wood white, install lights, install dado trunking and the mains sockets and light switches, wire everything up, paint the floor of both halves of the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Finished building the workbench and shelves now. Now waiting on various EBay sellers to send me the trunking and other bits and bobs I need to install power and lights. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 Floor painted with two pack acrylic garage floor paint. Bare wood painted with one coat of white gloss, just about to do second coat. And I've found a huge tin of brilliant white masonry paint and a few spare tins of brilliant white emulsion so I might as well use them too on the bare brick walls and ceiling The garage will look like a strange operating theatre by the time I've painted everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major_Error Posted May 19, 2013 Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 Nice area! BoyZone! 8-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSTEEL Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Great work mate, coming along nicely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Nice area! BoyZone! 8-) You noticed the small beer fridge then? Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Great work mate, coming along nicely Cheers! After one (hurried) coat of white on the walls & ceiling its made a HUGE difference to the ambient light level. Used to be dark & dingy, not any more. One problem with all this painting is the solvents & stuff really strip the oils & tears from my eyes, problems sleeping and sore eyes last night & this morning. I've got drops and artificial tears spray so will be fine today. God knows how professional decorators do it! Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Half way through moving all the stuff back in and sorting it out properly now.I have one HUGE pile of rubbish to take to the tip Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Hahaha, the jack is only one behind the queen and two behind the king so can't be that bad Sadly the poor cat didn't make it... Gone a bit mouldy now... Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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