Funny thing is, when I was younger, I had the friends available to do these sorts of projects, but no money to do them in, now I have some funds, all my friends are busy raising their families, no time to work on these sorts of projects… Stinks..

The current buzzword for the data center is “Cloud Computing”. And since I work in a mixed environment shop, that means both Open Source, and closed source types of clouds. Now the closed source stuff I crash coursed myself on at work, but the Open Source stuff, well there just wasn’t the spare hardware in the dev / testing area that wasn’t booked up for me to build it.. so I did what any good LUmberjock would do…

I scrapped together the bucks to get the materials and built it at home…

Now I am not done yet, but the basics are there, and I am using this as an opportunity to remodel the middle / unused / smallest bedroom as a proper home office and music studio, LOML and I are wanting the larger bedroom the office is currently in for, well family growth…

So to avoid the not wood related stuff in too much detail, I have ended up building 2 fairly potent 8 core PCs, repurposing an older single core box, building an iSCSI SAN, and upgrading our entire LAN… But this is where the wood stuff comes in…

In the process of this move and remodel that LOML REALLY wants done, I need to either buy, or build a new computer desk. The old U shaped desk is WAY too big for the space we have, and to be blunt, I hate it. I have a pair of pretty nice old wooden 2 drawer filing cabinets that are the perfect size to act as base pedestals for a desk… That got me to cranking away in Sketchup, and I have a design that I believe even my wife will love…

But in order to get there, well I mentioned the sheet rock has been down in my shop since October right? Well it’s been that way because, well I discovered lifting, levelling, and screwing fire rated sheet rock onto the wall myself is impossible, and I just can’t seem to talk my brother in law into helping. Not complaining, he has some pretty heavy health issues, so we were going to hire the job out.. We actually had a quote done for just the labor of hanging, taping and getting the first coat of mud on… Well over the weekend, LOML decided she didn’t like the labor quote, and figured she would try to help me hang sheet rock! Okay we didn’t get a LOT done, only 2 sheets, one of which required some careful trimming with a 1.5” chisel. (cheap Chinese tool bin version, don’t care if I mess it up). The 3rd and final upper sheet needs to have some measurements done to clear the sub panel, and to trim the end off.

IF she stays motivated, I can honestly see having my shop sheet rock hung by the end of next weekend (she has plans for us this weekend). Once the rock is hung, I can mud / tape and sand in the evenings. Once this is all squared away, and smoothed out, I will toss a drop cloth over anything I don’t want primer and paint on, and just get after it with some bright white paint from Home Depot… I need to keep the amount of light in my shop as high as I can manage.

So hopefully the next time you see a workshop development blog entry from me, I will have the wall done, and will be mounting up my clam shell cabinets, dust collection ductwork, and doing the side flip wall mount conversion to my HF dust collector…

#1. Finished up the remodel of my laundry room. #2. Finished with the paint and electrical upgrades in the living room. #3. Assembled a cheapo computer armoire for the master bedroom. This is a temporary thing as I am presently working on …

#1. Purging the YEARS of junk accumulated in my home office. I literally had stacks of boxes filled with various documentation, taxes and finances going back to 1986. I spent lots of quality time with my scanner, and paper shreadder getting rid of most of the stuff older than 8 years old. (some stuff like mortgage of course i kept…). #2. Rebuilding my home computer network. I am building a private cloud infrastructure at home. I have just last night finished up building the SAN (Storage Area Network). I need to set up mount boards for patch panels and switches as I am not at a point where I can do a structured wiring project complete with enclosure at this point. #3. Haven’t begun putting it together, but I have the hardware to start assembling a 4 node HPC cluster for virtualization.

Back in the shop I have been…

#1. Cleaning out the old toolboxes of years of accumulated junk. Finding proper spaces for everything that can have a proper space, if it doesn’t belong, it goes either to be recycled, donated, or to the dumpster… My mechanics toolbox hasn’t been this organized since I actually WAS a professional mechanic. #3. Building, and having an utter measurement failure on a custom fit behind the front bumper winch mount for my truck. #4. Replacing the alternator in my Saturn. #5. attempting to put up full sheets of fire rated sheetrock, solo… Not happening. I need HELP!

So you see it hasn’t been that I haven’t been busy, I have been too busy is the problem…

Good Lord willing, and some helpful volunteers able, I will have my truck back road worthy in January (I need to replace ball joints, and coilovers in the front end, going with a Rancho 2.5” lift at the same time. The 6” is WAY too expensive, and more than I need.

My biggest concern really is the sheet rock. Once that gets put up, I start putting my shop back together, starting with the clamshell cabinets. I will be spacing them so that the ends are exactly 8’ apart, and will then put the cabs such that there is an 8’ x 18” deep shelf on top of them.

Like I mentioned, I need help. Anyone in the Houston metro area willing to give me a hand?

After scheduling the time to get a rented hoist, then discovering the hoist won’t work for holding drywall up against the studs while I start the screws, I got a helping hand from my lovely bride, who could only go so far with it. I need to get some volunteers to help me out here!

Long story short, we wrestled a quite heavy hunk o sheet rock into place, and then ran the screws in. At this point, I couldn’t care less if the screw heads leave bumps or not. I used the drywall dimpler, but some screw heads are just a shave proud of the sheet rock.

I have been spending some real long overdue quality time though in cleaning up my shop. I have so much more to do, and so little time to work though.

Tonight, assuming LOML doesn’t have other tasks in mind for me, I am planning on spending at least another hour out there just cleaning, straightening, and stashing upstairs the stuff that is out of production and won’t be coming back frequently….

I have one more uninterrupted drywall panel to install, then comes the fun part. I have to cut in around the existing electrical and plumbing. This is going to end up a wall board sawn mess I am sure. But once it is all installed, taped, mudded, and painted, I should be silly happy with the next steps…

Once I am ready to get it back in place, I am planning on mounting up my HF DC side flip style to a plywood mount board, and get the drum directly under the impeller… Then back to mounting things up where I want them, finally!

I am at the stage where I really want to be making progress, but REALLY need help getting there… Good thing the neighbor across the way owes me a few favors…

The lumber wagon is busted.

I was working on mounting up a hidden winch, and trying to adjust the factory transmission cooler lines just a smidgeon to the side when something went POP!

Sure enough, I actually cracked the trans cooler itself…

A quick call to Tasca Ford Parts and a new cooler, the upgrade model from the Towing package got sent along…

Now I need to crawl under the beast and swap out the cooler, the refill the tranny to the full mark.

I don’t think current Fords take Type F transmission fluid like the old ones did. I need to read my manual before I go dropping the wrong stuff down the tube…

Once the cooler is installed, I go to Home Depot. or Lowes, whoever has the better price on 5/8 fire rated drywall (yeah, like the electrical boxes are fire stops, but whatever, the code guy says okay…) and then I get to rocking the walls that are done. Then I rehang the goodies that have been living on the floor, cut up a mount board, and of course mount the scroll saw so I can relocate the tool stacker, and include the scroll saw in that whole deal…

I have a few other upgrades coming in short order.

For the lumber wagon.

#1. Fresh set of shocks. At 95K miles, the oversize tires I run have flogged the snot out of my shocks. I am upgrading to Rancho RS5000s. Too bad Rancho doesn’t make an RS9000 for the front end of my truck, but oh well… The RS5000 is what they reccommend for the heavier wheel / tire combo. #2. Fresh set of tires. The old set after 35K are trashed. Particularly since I have had a bad alignment and bad shocks for most of that time. I am going with a fresh set of Hercules Trail Digger MTs in 35×12.50/17 load range D. They come in E, but this is a half ton truck. I don’t want load range E as I like my kidneys… My 2 rear tires are still in okay shape. I will have one mounted to the OEM rim, and will keep the second one. I am going to eventually pick up 2 of the same rims I have for road wheels, so I can toss a second spare in the bed for more serious off road excursions, like driving in Louisiana… #3. Full out 4 wheel alignment. Yeah I know the rear can only do thrust, but you get the idea. Line the fronts up to the rear so everything is going the same way…

For the shop.

To complete the project I started already. #1. Finish marking along the floor where the studs / stud centers on the unrocked walls are. #2. Rock, tape, and mud the open walls. This WILL require assistance. I may hire the job out. #3. Sand the mud reasonably flat, this is a shop after all and not a living room. Prime the wall and paint it bright white. #4. Using a pencil and drywall square, mark center locations for each, and every single stud along the wall. #5. Mark off wiring locations (screws and nails verboten in this area!) #6. Move tool stacker to newly rocked wall next to water softener #7. Build and install mount boards and brackets for doing a side flip / wall mount thing with my HF DC, putting the impeller up over the 55 gallon Thien, and the whole impeller / inlet ring level to each other. This is as close to a cyclone as I am going to get for at least another $1,200.00 that needs to go elsewhere… #8. Reinstall dust collection ductwork, reworking it to cover the SCMS bench and mortiser. #9. Re-hang the clamshell tool cabinets a total of 8’ apart outer end to outer end, mount up “Bridge shelf” to the top of the cabs. #10. Move band saw, lathe, table saw, workbench, and drill press back to their proper locations. #11. Drink a few beers.

To move on to the next phase on the project not yet started. #1. Build an at least temporary clamp / safety gear rack such that I can move clamps, safety glasses etc… off of the far wall. #2. Move drill press over to whatever open floor space I have on the east side of the shop. Move lawn and garden stuff into the space the drill press lives in. Leaving at LEAST a 10’ long x 3’ wide space for… #3. Empty lumber racks onto the floor. Using a moisture barrier sheet underneath, stack and sticker the stock using 3/4 ply stickers (I have LOTS of that). #4. Remove lumber rack from west wall. #5. Remove any other forgotten mounted items from the west wall. #6. Cover anything in the shop I don’t want drywall dust on and carefully remove sheetrock from ONLY the west wall. #7. Take lumber wagon back to Home Depot to grab 5 more R13 Kraft faced rolls (what the inspector said I needed to pass). (This will leave me with a little bit of extra). 6 sheets of 5×8 fire rated sheet rock, and 2 -3 cans expanding foam for any open holes / gaps etc… #8. Insulate and seal the open wall. #9. Mark locations of studs, and stud centers along ceiling and floor. #10. Rock, tape, mud, and sand the open wall. #11. Prime and paint the wall. #12. Mark stud centers. #13. Disassemble temporary clamp rack / cart. #14. Build and install swing out sheet goods rack. #15. Reinstall clamp rack, protective equipment shelf, and lumber rack. Repopulate those items with their respective storage items. #16. Size and mount plywood mounting board for lawn and garden items. This will be removed when L&G is moved to a shed. #17. Move lawn and garden items back to the corner where they belong. #18. Move all tools and fixtures back where they belong. #19. Remove anything that is presently in the cubby that is reserved for the upright freezer, move said freezer into shop. #20. Drink a few beers.

Now that we have the BIG part of the work done we move on to the storage projects. #1. Finish building and installing the drawers for the miter saw workstation. Populate them with the “stuff” in the totes. Table saw and router accessories mostly. #2. Finish building and plumbing the miter saw dust hood. #3. Build, install, and populate Drill Press Mobile Base cabinet. #4. Build new workbench. Keeping similar dimensions, but making the top from a SYP 2x gluelam so that each segment is after final milling / dimensioning 1.25” side x side and 3” tall. Total gluelam to be 24” deep x 72” long x 3” thick. I MAY breadboard the ends. I MAY not. Haven’t decided yet. Most likely not… #5. Build and install simple bridge shelves, and plywood doors to span the space between the clamshell cabinets. The doors are to have turning tool holders attached and the whole thing is to hold turning tools and supplies at an easy to get to position. #6. Build and install a ballast box for lathe stand. Simple box to hold bags of play sand. #7. Build and install full on table saw / router table workstation for my BT3100. This would in theory free up space in the miter saw bench for various other parts, small jigs, and supplies. #8. Drink some more beers…

I am getting there. It’s going slow, but it IS going… And I am grateful.

If I haven’t mentioned it yet. NO MORE DRAGGING EXTENSION CORDS! Woo Hoo!

The good part is it’s getting cold here so I won’t be sweating through the install… The better thing, with the power in, and the insulation going in, I won’t be sweating out there next summer…

Yeah this is a bit of a gloat…

Due to storm damage to the main, and a desire to up the service from the electric company, we upped the service to 200 amps, and installed a new 200 amp main panel. The original was in pretty poor shape. The new one has PLENTY of spare slots for new circuits if desired.

The sub panel is a 6 slot, 12 circuit job, and feeds 3 dedicated 110V circuits in the shop. One for Compressor / Dust collector, another for HVAC, and the last, for power tools. I also have a 20, and a 30 amp 220V circuit in there…

It’s great not having to run a long power cable to the laundry room to get power to my table saw, and my dust collector just so I could get my A/C working, and even then hope the breaker wouldn’t flip…

Another thing I noticed, on its own, fully dedicated 20 amp 110V circuit, the 13.5K BTU portable unit AC works a LOT better

As Sunday was spent cleaning up the area, I had everything off the wall, and ready to go. Then yesterday came and whamo!

Yep took the old mallet through the wall board and started yanking…

22.5’ total of wall yanked out rather unceremoniously. Now the western wall in my garage is ready for the electrician to come in Friday…

By Friday evening I should have my inspection done and power back on. Very cool. Dedicated line for Dust Collector / Air compressor, dedicated line to HVAC, and another to misc 110V / 220V tools in the shop.

My next step is to insualte the wall, and button it back up sheet rock wise… making sure that I make the locations of the studs dead apparent. The clamshell cabinet, and tool stacker arrangement will rely on that. Yes I am moving my tool stacker over one wall The reasoning behind this, I want the other wall dedicated to lumber storage, and lawn & garden (until the shed gets build, then lawn & garden goes away…).

I really could use some help hanging this sheet rock… Anyone in the Houston metro area want to give a hand?

I have also started pulling nails that are in the original sheetrock out. The deal is that the wall is supposed to be devoid of sheetrock on the day of installation.

Part of the cleanout / making room is getting rid of surplus tools. I have been trying to get rid of my firestorm miter saw, stand, and router along with a few other bits and pieces, but no takers. Looking at Craigslist, it is easy to see why. There is a glut of miter saws on the used market right now… If I can’t sell, or donate to a good cause, I will have to stash this upstairs too, at least until the walls are buttoned up again…

Next Friday I buy the rest of the material to finish up my miter saw bench drawers. I have opted for cost, and speed sake to just use wooden drawer slides. I have also noticed that my center divider is off by 3/16” meaning drawers on one side need to be a total of 3/8” narrower than the other. Oops… Not a huge deal though… I can muddle through it. Once I get through this, and get the last two totes emptied and out of the way, I can start taking down the DC ducting, and move the dust collector, lathe, and band saw. Then comes the ripping sheetrock out part (over the holiday weekend woo hoo!)

I have done my shopping list for the sheet rock, insulation, mud, paint etc… to complete the insualtion / drywalling of the garage, and I have about $300.00 left to go, assuming I go with a premium primer / paint combo. I want a simple Semi Gloss finish. I don’t want satin as I think that wouldn’t do well for light in the shop, and the semi gloss will help with cleanup over the long haul… I can cut costs down with a cheaper paint, but I might save $20.00 total. Big whoop…

I have already convinced my lovely bride I need help hanging sheet rock, so I need to add some funds to that project. My friends work for beer, and they don’t drink Bud Light… Good beers get expensive fast!

Once the clamshell cabs were done, I started reorganizing things on the lawn and garden shelving, and made more space for the remaining items in the black plastic shelving unit in the shop… I have more to go, like leftover tile, however LOML and I BOTH hate the tile we have in the house so I am wondering why even bother. I should get rid of it…

I have several items that I need to get rid of that I have not yet put on Craigslist, most notably my old B&D Firestorm miter saw and stand, and the Firestorm router. I have offered them up to my church as donations if they can use them. If they don’t need it, I will post them on Craigslist and dump them off…

I have decided to break down the original miter saw hood to harvest and recycle the lumber from it. At the very least, I can use some of it for drawer sides / backs for my new miter saw bench… Still need material for the bottoms though…

I had a couple of soft sided beer coolers I use for fishing trips that got moved up to the attic (I am going to have to end up redoing the attic stairs soon I fear!). I have the coolers I prefer folded up under the back seat of the truck anyway…

I have some appliance repair to do here as soon as parts come in (dryer blew out again) and a dryer vent I am getting cleaned because obviously I am not getting it sufficiently clean… This is the third time the hi limit fuse has blown out… And there is very, very little lint in the dryer itself…

We are getting closer, inch, by inch… And with that comes the next issue… What the heck to do with the lawn and garden stuff? LOML and I hired a service, so I really don’t use most of it any more… But I hate to get rid of it. Might just be time to build that shed after all…

As soon as the lathe, and band saw are out of the way, and the DC ducting is down and stowed, I am going to start taking pics of the demolition phase… Sheetock is coming down soon!

You see most of the big box stores have either the size hook you want a piece at a time at an insanely high price, like 2” hooks for $1.89, or they will sell you multi packs that include one or two of the hooks you want, and about 30 hooks you will never use for $3.89 sort of thing…

Thank goodness for Amazon.com, ebay, and other online retailers for letting me find, and buy multi packs of just the hooks I want. I mentioned the 2” hooks above for a reason. They are the perfect size for my clamshell cabinets, and work very easily for my organization needs without having TONS of extra hook protruding from the cabinet.

So now I have a table saw full of stuff that came off the clamshell cab, about 100 new to me peg hooks, and an empty clamshell cabinet on the floor. Sadly, I know what I need to do…

Spend some quality time setting the new pegs in place, and putting things back into the cabinets NOW.

I still need to move the few remaining pieces off of the errant plastic shelving unit, and stow some items in the attic, but I am inching closer by the day… Before long, I will have a fully powered, insulated and HVAC’ed shop…

This is going to be great!

Once everything was taken off the peg hooks, and laid down in a single layer, it covered the entire top surface of my table saw, and the majority of the surface of my workbench. This is a space of 6’ x 8’ covered with everything from pnuematic nailer nail boxes and nailers, to measuring and marking tools. I must admit I am a little bit taken aback by the sheer volume of items stashed in these things. I guess I never gave it much thought as to what was actually going in there…

To actually keep things relatively orderly, I started putting things back into the clam shell cabinets, and just have the top of the table saw left to clear out. This will be important this upcoming weekend as I want to cut the drawer fronts for my miter saw stand this weekend…

Digging through my scrap bins, it looks like I have enough left over 3/4” plywood stock of sufficient size that I will be able to build the drawer boxes without buying any more 3/4” ply. Now I want to use 3/8” bottoms, but that is plenty cheap…

Items remaining on the wall that is to be worked on are…

#1. 5 tier large black plastic shelving unit. Not quite empty yet. Once empty, it will be disassembled and put up in the attic for temp storage. #2. Bottom shelf full of auto jack stands, recovery straps, spare tiles, new oil filters for the vehicles, and a couple of gallons of primer. These will be moved to the other one, the one on the other wall holding lawn and garden junk. #3. Top shelf housing my B&D Firestorm 10” miter saw This will be hitting the used market along with its stand, and a Firestorm plunge router, within the next week or so… Just need one screw for the stand, and to snap some pics… #4. My old B&D pressure washer and accessories. Once I get the trees down in the back yard and hauled off, I am going to use a bunch of deck wash, and this pressure washer to try to bring my deck back to life. I probably need to replace a few boards on this thing… #5. Whole house water softener, and reverse osmosis filtration system. This can’t be moved. It stands 4.5” away from the sheetrock, the pipes going into the sheetrock… Will rock around this… #6. Dust collection plumbing. To be marked, and removed in large segments such that I will reassemble it as it came out. This will be done the weekend before the install. Like on the Friday night. #7. Dust collector and stand. Again, this will be removed the weekend before the install. That same weekend the sheet rock comes down en masse…

I have been mulling over my drill press storage cabinet build to do after this is done. Now I need to find 1/2” maple faced plywood!

My local Lowes / Home Depot stores were out of stock on a few of the pieces I needed (3 Home Depots, 2 Lowes) and won’t have the items I need for at least a month… so I ordered my remaining electrical parts shy of the conduit, and 6/3 wire from Amazon…

I am so close to having this electrical / drywall / insulation job done I can taste it.

A huge storage problem for me is non shop stuff that is sucking up huge amounts of space in the shop. Now I have storage problems that there are solutions for, but that requires a bit of construction. For now I have been jettisoning any non shop, and some shop related stuff that is either no good, or exceedingly redundant such as….

#1. The 4 different spray bottles of Armor All got consolidated into the biggest bottle of Armor All. #2. The spray bottles of tire and wheel cleaner that do absolutely nothing but suck up money and space are now gone. #3. The bottles of Gorilla Glue that somehow got exposed to air, and thus humidity and set up like a brick in the bottle, gone… #4. Spray paint cans that have no nozzles, or are empty or whatnot? Gone #5. Empty 1 lb propane cylinders? Gone… #6. The unused topsy turvy tomato plant hangers? Filled with soil, hooks installed under the soffit and tomato plant seeds shoved in the dirt. Doubt they will be anything but dirt holders this year… #7. The fluffy stack of paper trash bags from my BILs old house. Sitting under turning blanks under my lathe to compress them into a MUCH smaller space. The space is about to be reused for auto parts…

Now don’t worry, the hazardous material type stuff was collected and taken to the household hazardous material recycling center. I’m no tree hugger, but I believe in waste not want not…

Now all this consolidating is all well and good, and it will get my through my power insulation and sheet rock project, but I need somewhere to put this stuff…

I need a shed.

Not just any shed.

I have a nosy HOA, but if I play my cards right they might just play nice…

Right now I have a deck, 16’ x 16’ in the back yard. I hate it with a passion. It’s ugly, it’s never been level, and worst of all, it’s in the wrong spot…

Now my HOA states that the max shed size allowed is 10×12 with a 9’ roof, but I know that is a lie. The guy accross the street from me has a shed that has been there since the 1980s that is at least 16×20… I am sure I can get a waiver…

I want a 12×16 gambrel roof mini barn (the reasons for the barn will be apparent in a minute…)

The shed needs to house all the lawn and garden type stuff (12’x4’ space would be more than enough.

I also need to store auto repair tools, bicycles, a LARGE New Braunfels Bandera smoker, and most importantly, I need to store my canoe, a 14’ 6” Pelican Excursion and my paddling gear.

Now I want this shed, but I do NOT want to build it… Mostly because I have decided two main things…

#1. I don’t really have the time to mess around with it. I have other projects that take priority, and if I have to do this myself, it is going to be years before it gets done.

#2. A local contractor I have connections to can build a top quality shed for less than I can buy the materials for… This guy built a shed for a friend of mine, and one, really a full size barn for his dad… Good work…

I need to get busy with the HOA, and LOML convincing them to like this idea…

My construction methodology has devolved into glue and screws, which I guess is fine for shop fixtures. I really wanted to take my time and practice joinery during this build, but time is something I don’t have enough of. The reason for this build is to get stuff off the wall, the reason to get stuff off the wall is to get the sheetrock off the wall, in order to allow for the electrical installation blah blah blah. You get the idea… I am sweating my tail off when I cannot run the AC in there, and I certainly do NOT want to go into another winter without insulation, or sufficient power to run the table saw AND dust collector at the same time…

I need to figure out how to remove the mortiser tool holder as I installed the wonderful thing 1/2” too high. I have considered cutting it as close as I can with my pull saw, and then hand planing the rest off, making a new one, and insuring I install it at the right height…

The fun will really start when I start buttoning up those walls with fresh sheet rock…

I am seriously looking forward to starting over as it were, with my walls as a clean slate. I have some serious dislikes about the way I spaced things, in particular my clamshell cabinets, They are way too far apart from each other, and way too far to the right. I need to move the left unit 16” further to the left, and total distance from left edge of left cab to right edge or right cab to be 8’, I want as little as possible under the door track as I will be putting an 18” deep shelf on top of these cabinets acting as a bridge. Things like sandpaper and other light consumables will be on some small shelves mounted between the cabinets, and turning tools will be housed on some simple piano hinged doors held in with broom clips..

I am still debating what to do with the floor. Every time it rains, water, not much, but a tiny bit of water seeps under the bottom door seal. I am concerned that might mess with any sort of coating. And honestly, all I really think I will need is a couple more of those anti fatigue mats tossed around the shop for good measure…

The clamping risers and dust hood for the miter saw remain yet to be done, without the front panel of the compressor enclosure, I need to decide on a different mounting location for the mortiser accessory rack. But that isn’t a huge deal…

Right now, the AC is trying to overcome the thermal load in my shop, once cooled off, I start the cuts for the mortiser cabinet. The side panels will get dadoes for the shelves. The back panel will be dadoed to match. This should make for a much more rigid structure overall, helping the shelves support the gallon cans of finishes and the myriad aerosol cans that will be stored there…

I still need to get the material for the drawers, but I am getting more and more convinced that I sould use pocket screw joinery on the drawers simply to make the assembly go faster….

I am enthusiastic about the pace this is going together, and am very glad that I will have this done. With this done, I can unmount the clamshells from the wall, get the plastic shelving moved and start ripping sheet rock down… Which means… SUBPANEL! Woo Hoo!

I didn’t realize before I started, but the floor is FAR from level. The shop library cabinet is dead level. There is 1/2” drop over the 4’ of the miter saw cabinet dropping to the left. I will likely take some scrap 1/2” ply to shim the base so that the cabinet is level.

At least the stuff from overhead of the clamshell cabinets.

I am taking the day off of work, so I am in the shop today, I should have the cabinet in glue and clamps this afternoon. Right now the cab will have to wait. I am getting dressed for a lunch date with my lovely bride… Talk to you guys this afternoon!

The main section is still going to be 48” wide x 34.75” tall x 36” deep. There will be a partial divider down the middle of this carcass, extending from the front of the case back 24” to provide separation between the lowest part where the router cases will be stored, and to provide drawer support.

There will be 2 rows of 3 6” high 24” deep drawers, with the faces inset into the carcass such that it creates a simply cube look. I am not practicing face frame construction at this time, don’t really want it on this particular cab anyway… (I do have it designed for the drill press cab though!). I also wanted to have the drawers flush with the face of the cab.

I need to double, triple, and quadruple check my measurements, but I will build a dust hood for the miter saw, 24” deep x 48” wide x ? high… Like I said, quadruple check that hieght measurement. The top piece will be shared with the cover for the compressor enclosure, and the right panel will act as the compressor enclosures left side wall.

The mortiser station will be built as a separate box, 12.75” deep x 30” wide x 34.75” high, and will be glued and scewed directly to the Miter saw station right panel. I am planning on 3/4 shelves on this simple cab, to hold various finishes, perhaps I might end up building some totes to organize things like spray cans. Again like the miter saw dust hood component, total height of the back wall of this cab will be dependent on my final measurements, but sized to match the dust hood, and all of it to fit snugly under the workshop library cabinet.

Additional organizers include a 1.5” high x 8” wide x 2.25” deep mortiser accessory tool holder. (already built). Simple 2×4 milled and drilled to my needs.

That’s as far as I have gotten with the planning. I need to finish up 2 sides of the compressor cab. I am seriously considering just piano hinging a piece of ply to the upright front panel to create a door, and hasp that sucker directly to the wall behind it. Doesn’t really need to lock. Just needs to stay closed.

Both of my clamshell cabinets are up and in use. I use almost every last square inch of space inside and on top of them.

You can see the compressor stashes in very nicely next to the water softener / Reverse Osmosis system.

The workshop library cabinet, it stays put, but that strong tie workbench beneath it is history. I am planning on replacing the top front stretcher. I have a friend that does a LOT of auto repair and this bench is perfect for that!

The Grizzly air filter, and the clamp / lumber racks in the distance.

The planer and scroll saw stashed under the workbench. Not sure, but I might end up converting the bench, and the wide table for the table saw into a single large workstation cabinet.

The BT3100 / wide table with Ridgid shop vac and Thien separator underneath. Those last two will pose a storage problem in the long term!

My 12 inch slider and my drill press… The slider will go on the new cabinet, but the drill press, gets a base cabinet. The stuff stowed on that little shelf between the doors goes in that drill press base cabinet.

My 2HP 29 gallon upright compressor.

Another view of the compressor. It is well worth considering if you are looking for this size class compressor.

The reason I had to move my planer is that I have stock on my lumber rack that is too long for the space, so I moved the planer in favor of long stock…