# Garage Re-Do



## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Stopping The Madness*

Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?

Yea . . . that's my garage experience in a nut shell. I got a Shopsmith from my dad (that was my grandfather's) and suddenly I joined the rank of "woodworker". I've had a motley mix of projects in my garage from time to time . . . from car things, to bicycles, and now wood things. I have a welder and cut-off saw, but not enough metal working stuff to quite get started on my (newest) project car-a 1974 MGB convertible (chrome bumper). The Shopsmith gave me a plethora of new gizmos and gadgets to keep track of, and I don't quite have the feel for how the workflow should be. BUT, the biggest problem is my garage is a complete shambles with half started projects, bits and pieces, and things shoved where they can fit.

I made a modest attempt at taming the craziness a year+ ago, when I went to a local office surplus place and purchased some hanging file cabinets. They were replacing my open faced shelving that I had transplanted from my "dream garage" that I had at the lake house. (3 car garage-10+ foot ceilings) The problem now is I have a wide variety of storage devices and things spread all over the place. I also have an "eclectic" (at best) variety of do it yourself type work benches and tool storage places. Add a liberal amount of clutter/junk/accumulation from the past 10 years of home ownership and you can pretty well imagine what I'm dealing with.

The new plan is to get a storage pod of some type and simply empty the garage out entirely and start from scratch. We've been thinking on when our schedule would allow this to happen, but sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand and say "ok, here's when it's happening" and go from there. We know March/April/May will just be a blur, and then we're into the summer months, so right now we're seeing how quickly we can get a storage pod and start from there. The only thing we probably can't work around is the MG, as it's garage bound for now. Someday it will be weather tight again, but in the mean time it'll have to be a item we plan around. We're going to question each piece of storage and/or item going back in to see what use it really has and if it's not necessary, it's getting the boot.

This will definitely be an adventure. I'm already planning out things that I can see going away. My old cabinet stereo has been one of those "oh, I can't give that up" type things, but in the interest of space efficiency, I can see ditching it for a better solution. I'm not ruling out anything from the chopping block-well, besides the Shopsmith for example. I'm trying to eliminate frustrations where ever possible. Wish me luck!


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


your first paragraph is the story of my working life

good luck


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


Bradley:

I now have two Shopsmith workshops. My dream shop, a 24'x28' modified garage package, is in the middle of the Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula. That being said, I had to work in 1/2 of a garage for 25 years in Fort Myers, and am now faced with the same type of garage space here in our Gainesville winter home.

The beauty of the Shopsmith system is that you can have a completely functional workshop in 235 sq ft. There are several ways to store the special purpose tools; for example, Shopsmith's storage station shown here accomodating the jointer, scroll saw, and extension table;



I placed a 16"x52" shelf underneath. shown here is the crosscut sled and upper and lower saw guards.

I have also made a special purpose tool cabinet from Shopsmith plans:


I mounted this storage cabinet on castors and it can hold up to six tools; shown here is the bandsaw, jointer, and extension table, with the 6"x48" beltsander, and jig saw underneath along with the floating tables bandsaw fence and other small accessories.

I have also made a four door 24"x96" general purpose workbench with two interior shelves;




These pictures are from my U.P. workshop where I have two Shopsmith 520's. When I finally complete my 1/2 garage workshop here in Gainesville I will be posting more workshop organization pictures.


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## HarleySoftailDeuce (Jan 14, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


I'm always misplacing stuff; pencils, the tape measure, wooden folding rule, hammer, all kinds of things. I guess
it's my age. I'm noticing when I'm looking for something, I find I have 2!!

Paul


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


Bradley . . . how about a couple of pics? I'm really curious to see what it looks like.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


Nice tidy workshop well designed and thought out I like your way of thinking Alistair


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


"The only thing we probably can't work around is the MG, as it's garage bound for now. "

Haha. I had an MG Midget a long time ago and believe me, it will be garage bound a lot. 

As the pictures show. Build some cabinets and throw or give half of your stuff away. Time to move on and get a bit organized.

Steve


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## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Stopping The Madness*
> 
> Where did I lay that down at? Oh yea . . . there's the pencil. No wait . . . I was looking for the drill chuck . . . it was . . . wait . . . is it here? No . . . hmm . . . oh look, there's that thing I was looking for last week. Now what was I looking for again? Oh yea . . . wow . . . this would be great for something else I was doing . . . it would just take a minute to do. (Four hours later) Now what was I doing again?
> 
> ...


I can relate totally. Just look at my shop pics. But it's not just me. I've got my stuff, the wifes stuff, the kids stuff, the grandkids stuff, and I'm trying still to organize a shop in the middle of it all. Granted I have a lot of tools and stuff, but….......oh well, we do our best.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*

Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.



You can see the variety in storage cabinets and their "era" from the paint colors. Oh that lovely avocado color . . . and then basic white and even a smattering of brown. The only thing missing is harvest gold. The purple one was only $10. They're hanging lateral file drawers and I bought them to replace open faced shelving and keep dust off things.



The plastic storage units I got for free . . . and the irony is the one on the bottom is empty. In fact a lot of my storage facilities are empty . . . they've never been adequately designated and items moved into for storage.



Yep, below shows a waterbed framed tool bench . . . my only storage area for tools when I was first starting out. I stacked the drawers together, screwed 2×6's to the sides, and then put a door on top. (Hollow-core unfortunately!) The drawers were way too deep and were not on very sturdy slides at all . . . but it served it's purpose. Now I have at least a Waterloo top box for my tool storage.



That file cabinet is OLD . . . very old . . . it might be 60+ years old if I was to take a guess . . . it has served as my catch-all for some things. Again . . . love the avocado.



Doesn't everyone have an old console radio? That's one of those things (under the window there and on a stand made from more waterbed parts holding it above the air compressor) that I'm happy to give up. It has great sound, and it's plenty loud, but it takes up a lot of room in the process. I can find a surround sound stereo system and run a lot of wire instead.



*Sniffle* . . . the MG buried in dust. The back wall has some shelving that might be better for wood storage than it's current purposes. I'd like to get pool chemicals out of the garage and under the deck or in the shed outside. Likewise the bikes should head that direction too. The storage shed needs to lose some mowers (inoperable . . . of course) and other items and be back to storing items just for the outside.


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## Jimthecarver (Jan 14, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


Looks like you everything in there but extra space….I love the lumber laying across the hood of the car.


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## gbvinc (Aug 6, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


I was doing ok until I saw the MG covered in dust! Tragic, truly tragic.


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


Well I can say that I don't have a equipment showroom for a shop, but thats just plain rediculous, inefficient, confusing and dangerous. I could never work in a mess like that, it would make me crazier then I allready am.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


The after pictures are going to be interesting to see!!! My shop gets like this at time, especially when I am in the middle of a long project and then I get yelled at for "making such a mess". And then my wife will usually "volunteer" to help me clean it up. Of course, I can't find anything afterward and my tools are neatly arranged in a line along one shop wall- three deep- where I can't get to any of them.

I would offer to "loan" her to you to help with the clean-up but, after 32 years, I am used to her yelling so it probably wouldn't be a wise thing to do.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


This is just my take (so take it for what it's worth, free advice) but it looks like you might have been focusing more on storage than on getting rid of unecessary items. I'm quite guilty of this myself, but lately I've been making a concerted effort to get rid of stuff I don't need. I hope you get to where you want to be. Things will be so much more relaxing and enjoyable. just keep chipping away and work on one section at a time and don't let youself get sidetracked. good luck!


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## StevenAntonucci (Aug 14, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


Rent a dumpster for a week, and have at it. You probably have one bay worth of stuff worth keeping, and another bay worth dumping.


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


AAAHHH! AAAHHH! AAAHHH!


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


Todd

Great Sam Kinison reference! Yes in a thousand years it will be still be sand!

Brad

I feel your pain I have a 3 Car garage and a separate 16×24 shop and I still do not have enough space…may the force be with you (the force of will to throw you precious "stuff" away!)


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## decoustudio (May 4, 2006)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


what's wrong with this? Looks just my shop on a good day.

"Sam Kinison," now there's a name I haven't thought about for a number of years. UUUGGGGHHH!

M


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## decoustudio (May 4, 2006)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


I'm not kidding. On a good day.
M


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## DocK16 (Mar 18, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


Does everyone go thru an MG phase? I did but thank heaven I got over it. Yeah 74 was the last year for chrome bumpers.


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## EyePhoto (Apr 1, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Before Pic (Caution: Graphic images -- LOL!)*
> 
> Ok . . . this is just ugly I know. Part of the reason for that is it's actually "in process" because I moved some stuff to get a work surface that I moved into the basement area. I have a 4 foot high table and a hutch type table area that I moved into the basement area for doing electronics and computer type work on. That freed up some area along the back wall, but left me with a lot of mess that was being stored on the table. Ugh.
> 
> ...


DocK16… mine was a Fiat, same red color, sold a year later. But, the project car that takes up space now is the 1950 Crosley that I learned to drive on. Still collecting dust offsite.
Bradley…You get more satisfaction cleaning and organizing this shop, than one of those surgery suite woodshops.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Getting The Facts*

Ok, so I have to know where I'm starting out from and what I have so I did a little inventory last night. Below is the items I have in the garage. Wow . . . that's a lot of stuff. I'm thinking some items might just need a re-do to gain functionality. I have one item that is on spindly 2×2 legs, but I might be able to add some addition boards/bracing and put it on wheels for a rolling work table. My next course of action will be to plug all this into Sketchup and re-arrange things to get a better workflow and separation of areas between woodworking and metal working. You can kind of see my idea in the sketch-I used the sketch to get the dimensions. I figured I could Google the MG dimensions. I have some car rollerskates so I can swing it around wherever I need to.


From My Old Garage


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Getting The Facts*
> 
> Ok, so I have to know where I'm starting out from and what I have so I did a little inventory last night. Below is the items I have in the garage. Wow . . . that's a lot of stuff. I'm thinking some items might just need a re-do to gain functionality. I have one item that is on spindly 2×2 legs, but I might be able to add some addition boards/bracing and put it on wheels for a rolling work table. My next course of action will be to plug all this into Sketchup and re-arrange things to get a better workflow and separation of areas between woodworking and metal working. You can kind of see my idea in the sketch-I used the sketch to get the dimensions. I figured I could Google the MG dimensions. I have some car rollerskates so I can swing it around wherever I need to.
> 
> ...


Bradley, I not sure how much use it will be but, if were not aware of it, Grizzley has a shop planner. It tends to be oriented toward Grizzley products and only deals with 2-D plans but it might be of some use in designing the work flow in your garage.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Getting The Facts*
> 
> Ok, so I have to know where I'm starting out from and what I have so I did a little inventory last night. Below is the items I have in the garage. Wow . . . that's a lot of stuff. I'm thinking some items might just need a re-do to gain functionality. I have one item that is on spindly 2×2 legs, but I might be able to add some addition boards/bracing and put it on wheels for a rolling work table. My next course of action will be to plug all this into Sketchup and re-arrange things to get a better workflow and separation of areas between woodworking and metal working. You can kind of see my idea in the sketch-I used the sketch to get the dimensions. I figured I could Google the MG dimensions. I have some car rollerskates so I can swing it around wherever I need to.
> 
> ...


you are ambitious and I like that. I hope you are successful with the reorganization. You can be an inspiration to me.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Getting The Facts*
> 
> Ok, so I have to know where I'm starting out from and what I have so I did a little inventory last night. Below is the items I have in the garage. Wow . . . that's a lot of stuff. I'm thinking some items might just need a re-do to gain functionality. I have one item that is on spindly 2×2 legs, but I might be able to add some addition boards/bracing and put it on wheels for a rolling work table. My next course of action will be to plug all this into Sketchup and re-arrange things to get a better workflow and separation of areas between woodworking and metal working. You can kind of see my idea in the sketch-I used the sketch to get the dimensions. I figured I could Google the MG dimensions. I have some car rollerskates so I can swing it around wherever I need to.
> 
> ...


ah workflow!


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Creating a Plan*

So I have the dimensions of everything in the garage area, so rather than moving things multiple times in RL (real life) I'm going to create a model of the garage space and what I have in there now and see what would work and what wouldn't work. One of my concerns is to segment the garage a bit better for metal working versus wood working. The welder/air compressor/etc.. should be in the far back left corner nearest to the fuse panel, because I have a dedicated plug right there where I can power them from. I'm currently thinking of using the items I have now to create a walled peninsula to designate the two different areas. That way sparks/etc.. from the welder and cut-off saw won't have the potential to land on wood or mar anything on that side of things. I'm not for sure how it'll work out, but that's why it's fun to have the Google Sketchup model here. I can put stuff where I want it, measure, and see what would work and what wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to booting anything out of the garage, so it's all fair game.

We were originally thinking of getting a Storage PODS and having it placed to take everything out of the garage and start from scratch, but the economic reality snuffed that idea out (over $200!). Instead we'll take things out from one half, move them to our semi-finished basement and then do the re-arranging and put back. Not ideal, but far more economical.


From My Old Garage


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Creating a Plan*
> 
> So I have the dimensions of everything in the garage area, so rather than moving things multiple times in RL (real life) I'm going to create a model of the garage space and what I have in there now and see what would work and what wouldn't work. One of my concerns is to segment the garage a bit better for metal working versus wood working. The welder/air compressor/etc.. should be in the far back left corner nearest to the fuse panel, because I have a dedicated plug right there where I can power them from. I'm currently thinking of using the items I have now to create a walled peninsula to designate the two different areas. That way sparks/etc.. from the welder and cut-off saw won't have the potential to land on wood or mar anything on that side of things. I'm not for sure how it'll work out, but that's why it's fun to have the Google Sketchup model here. I can put stuff where I want it, measure, and see what would work and what wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to booting anything out of the garage, so it's all fair game.
> 
> ...


Bradley:

I have gone through, and am still going through, my garage renovation project here in Gainesville. First things first - insulate if at all possible. You will also need to upgrade the electrical capacity, perhaps installing a separate breaker box. Paint the walls and ceiling with a semi-gloss white paint to brighten the space. As you contemplate lighting, consider using electronic ballast fluorescent fixtures with the T-8 bulbs. They operate at high frequency, thus no hum or flicker. I like the "daylight" bulbs because they have the highest color rendering index (CRI). Be sure to have your lighting on it's own separate circuit.

My 16' wide garage door was metal and unsulated. I cut panels of 1" thick foam insulation and glued them into each panel of the door. I also put "seal stop" outside around the edges. This has made a big difference.

I also put a 12,000 BTU A/C unit in the wall. Fortunately I do not need much heating here, so a 5100 BTU ceramic electric heater does the job.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Creating a Plan*
> 
> So I have the dimensions of everything in the garage area, so rather than moving things multiple times in RL (real life) I'm going to create a model of the garage space and what I have in there now and see what would work and what wouldn't work. One of my concerns is to segment the garage a bit better for metal working versus wood working. The welder/air compressor/etc.. should be in the far back left corner nearest to the fuse panel, because I have a dedicated plug right there where I can power them from. I'm currently thinking of using the items I have now to create a walled peninsula to designate the two different areas. That way sparks/etc.. from the welder and cut-off saw won't have the potential to land on wood or mar anything on that side of things. I'm not for sure how it'll work out, but that's why it's fun to have the Google Sketchup model here. I can put stuff where I want it, measure, and see what would work and what wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to booting anything out of the garage, so it's all fair game.
> 
> ...


Bradley, It looks like you are off to a good start and the idea of putting things into your basement during the remodel is a pretty good idea. It is a challenge to move everything twice, I am sure, but it does save a lot of money. But surely the MG isn't going to get booted out of there in the final set-up? 

I had to finally take that route with my shop. I tried for a long time to keep my truck in the shop and move everything around to make room for it. But eventually I just decided to let my truck sit outside. That way I could use my shop whenever I wanted without having to move the truck and it gave me more room for additional tools.

But it sounds like the fun is just getting started.


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## dsb1829 (Jun 20, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Creating a Plan*
> 
> So I have the dimensions of everything in the garage area, so rather than moving things multiple times in RL (real life) I'm going to create a model of the garage space and what I have in there now and see what would work and what wouldn't work. One of my concerns is to segment the garage a bit better for metal working versus wood working. The welder/air compressor/etc.. should be in the far back left corner nearest to the fuse panel, because I have a dedicated plug right there where I can power them from. I'm currently thinking of using the items I have now to create a walled peninsula to designate the two different areas. That way sparks/etc.. from the welder and cut-off saw won't have the potential to land on wood or mar anything on that side of things. I'm not for sure how it'll work out, but that's why it's fun to have the Google Sketchup model here. I can put stuff where I want it, measure, and see what would work and what wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to booting anything out of the garage, so it's all fair game.
> 
> ...


I dunno, $200 to get everything out of the way during the reorg doesn't sound too bad. With eveything out you could even go so far as to install a subfloor or epoxy coating. Of course I would probably balk at the expense too since I am cheap and I could use funds for something else.


----------



## DerekL (Aug 18, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Creating a Plan*
> 
> So I have the dimensions of everything in the garage area, so rather than moving things multiple times in RL (real life) I'm going to create a model of the garage space and what I have in there now and see what would work and what wouldn't work. One of my concerns is to segment the garage a bit better for metal working versus wood working. The welder/air compressor/etc.. should be in the far back left corner nearest to the fuse panel, because I have a dedicated plug right there where I can power them from. I'm currently thinking of using the items I have now to create a walled peninsula to designate the two different areas. That way sparks/etc.. from the welder and cut-off saw won't have the potential to land on wood or mar anything on that side of things. I'm not for sure how it'll work out, but that's why it's fun to have the Google Sketchup model here. I can put stuff where I want it, measure, and see what would work and what wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to booting anything out of the garage, so it's all fair game.
> 
> ...


I was thinking the same kinda thing dsb… $200 balanced against the amount of time and effort to move everything to the basement and back. If it's a daylight basement with a flat path to and from the garage the pendulum swings one way. (And I'd beg, borrow, or steal a cart of some kind.) If stairs are involved, I'd be seriously inclined to limit the chance of damage to myself or my tools by getting the POD.

I'm facing the same problem as I'm going to insulate my garage and put up OSB this spring, but I have no place to put a POD. Or a basement…


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Creating a Plan*
> 
> So I have the dimensions of everything in the garage area, so rather than moving things multiple times in RL (real life) I'm going to create a model of the garage space and what I have in there now and see what would work and what wouldn't work. One of my concerns is to segment the garage a bit better for metal working versus wood working. The welder/air compressor/etc.. should be in the far back left corner nearest to the fuse panel, because I have a dedicated plug right there where I can power them from. I'm currently thinking of using the items I have now to create a walled peninsula to designate the two different areas. That way sparks/etc.. from the welder and cut-off saw won't have the potential to land on wood or mar anything on that side of things. I'm not for sure how it'll work out, but that's why it's fun to have the Google Sketchup model here. I can put stuff where I want it, measure, and see what would work and what wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to booting anything out of the garage, so it's all fair game.
> 
> ...


dsb: I would really like to apply an epoxy coating to the floor of my garage here in Gainesville, but when I look at all the stuff we have in there, and wonder where would we put it all, I give up. Our garage floor is old. It's had oil, paint, and Lord knows what else spilled on it thru the years. The floor would have to be ground and etched - very messy and smelly.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*DOH! Adding more clutter?*

Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:



And it had this big box of stuff with it . . .



And inside the box . . .



It was like Christmas time . . . digging into the presents:



And as an added bonus . . . the jointer:



I'd say I did pretty good. My dad looked at some of the stuff and I have several hundred dollars worth of stuff just in blades/arbors. Some of the things were brand new (like a tendon jig) and many were unopened. The box of goodies was worth what I paid for the whole setup.


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


give it a kiss every day and pet it when you walk by. It will be good to you.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


Have fun with your new toys. Looks as if you now have two Shopsmiths. I've been shopsmithing since '83. Keep us posted as you get things cleaned up and organized.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


Great score!


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


Hey if it followed you home it must want to live with you  Enjoy.


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## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


I wish something like that would follow me home. Nice find, now show us some projects you make with it…........LOL


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## wlhayesmfs (May 26, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


Quite a load for one stop, i found a guy with a whole storeage shed full of SS items from years ago and he want to get rid of all of it. Working on a deal but probably won't be that good. Great find.


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## MTBrian (Jan 7, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *DOH! Adding more clutter?*
> 
> Yea . . . something new followed me home the other day:
> 
> ...


You added a shopsmith to your clutter? That is a strange sort of progress I cant understand, but for some reason i cant deny either. To be honest, this summer my garage was almost as bad, but ive seen junk yards that were more organized. Oh well, the harder the job, the better the rewards.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*The Goodies - Part 2*

Ok-so I have a TON of sawblades, 90% of them Shopsmith ones with some oddball Craftsman and other varieties in there. I grabbed a basket to put them in, many of them still NEW in the case. (No banging around at least!) I'll have to come up with a better solution someday, but this will work for now.



I got some more miter gauges . . . the plastic storage unit ended up a good temporary solution to accomodate accessories for now. I'd like to build a mobile storage cabinet down the road to have everything right there.



Oh this is just the fun drawer. A stacked dado set, multiple arbors (not counting some already mounted), router bits, and all sorts of other goodies. Many things all new unopened. In the depths there are some extra jointer blades too.



Inside the faceplate box is a whole bevy of sand paper rolls, various sizes of drum sanders and that big one hiding beneath the fence straddler.



And the ultimate in toys . . . and now that I know more about them. . . the real "wow" factor:


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## SteveKorz (Mar 25, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Goodies - Part 2*
> 
> Ok-so I have a TON of sawblades, 90% of them Shopsmith ones with some oddball Craftsman and other varieties in there. I grabbed a basket to put them in, many of them still NEW in the case. (No banging around at least!) I'll have to come up with a better solution someday, but this will work for now.
> 
> ...


Ah yeah, the rediscovery of all the treasures during a good cleaning… it's almost like Christmas all over again… lol…


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Goodies - Part 2*
> 
> Ok-so I have a TON of sawblades, 90% of them Shopsmith ones with some oddball Craftsman and other varieties in there. I grabbed a basket to put them in, many of them still NEW in the case. (No banging around at least!) I'll have to come up with a better solution someday, but this will work for now.
> 
> ...


Heheh-well, sorta on this one. This was just the organization of the stuff that I got in the plastic tub from my "Shopsmith Sale of the Century" find. I paid for the whole enchilada (SS 510/Jointer/googies) what the jointer new was worth. ;-)


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## MTBrian (Jan 7, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Goodies - Part 2*
> 
> Ok-so I have a TON of sawblades, 90% of them Shopsmith ones with some oddball Craftsman and other varieties in there. I grabbed a basket to put them in, many of them still NEW in the case. (No banging around at least!) I'll have to come up with a better solution someday, but this will work for now.
> 
> ...


The good news for me is, you have so much work ahead of you, i dont have to worry about you hijacking my thunder from my garage project.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *The Goodies - Part 2*
> 
> Ok-so I have a TON of sawblades, 90% of them Shopsmith ones with some oddball Craftsman and other varieties in there. I grabbed a basket to put them in, many of them still NEW in the case. (No banging around at least!) I'll have to come up with a better solution someday, but this will work for now.
> 
> ...


Interesting finds, thanks for the post.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Craigslist -- Going Outbound!*

Ok-two success stories last night. I got rid of one cheesy (cheap) toolbox that I bought years ago for the princely sum of $40 . . . some happy owner has a new $10 toolbox for his grandson. The most important part is I have more floor space! As you can see in the recently updated Sketchup drawing . . .I need it!



So the plan is to keep on selling/giving away/trashing what I don't need. Thus far I've discovered that if you put it on Freecycle/Freebie type listings people will stiff you on showing up, but if you attach a price tag to it they'll beat the door down. I sold some old aluminum wheels also last night for $25, so I'm making a little money here and there on items. I have my eye on some nice Carhartt Bib overalls which would be great for a work outfit in the garage (presently $15). I'm eyeing a piece of plywood that has been an eyesore in my garage for a LONG time:



My most recent idea was using some cheesy (but free) plastic "wanna-be" pegboard stuff on it to make it functional at least. I'm going to ditch the "pegboard" and instead cut it up and use it for a shelf under one (or more) of my workbenches so stuff isn't on the floor. The stereo cabinet and old workbench/storage/water bed thing are next up on the chopping block for Craigslist fodder. The 2nd Shopsmith might just hang around as a turning station for my wife (Peggy) to experiment with. (Yea-I'm very blessed . . . I don't use my garage as a "man-cave" to ditch my wife . . . she's right beside me, as it should be.)

So even if it's little things, I think I'm making progress. Last night I took a few minutes to put together my Shopsmith tendon jig that was new in the box from my Craigslist find. I've got a list of things I'm missing from various parts of my jointer and my mortising tool-so that'll be an upcoming purchase. My floating table from eBay is on the way and could be here on Friday or Saturday. Good times! ;-)


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Craigslist -- Going Outbound!*
> 
> Ok-two success stories last night. I got rid of one cheesy (cheap) toolbox that I bought years ago for the princely sum of $40 . . . some happy owner has a new $10 toolbox for his grandson. The most important part is I have more floor space! As you can see in the recently updated Sketchup drawing . . .I need it!
> 
> ...


sounds like getting progress done! I find that getting rid of unused/unnecessary things can be much more useful then finding a place to store them out of the way… eventually you run out of "out-of-the-way" places, and honestly, many things we just keep for the "what if" reason, which is 99% invalid… better let someone that can make a use of it - make the use of it 

based on the sketchup drawing, it looks like quite a big workshop (2 car garage..) I take it the cars never go in?


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Craigslist -- Going Outbound!*
> 
> Ok-two success stories last night. I got rid of one cheesy (cheap) toolbox that I bought years ago for the princely sum of $40 . . . some happy owner has a new $10 toolbox for his grandson. The most important part is I have more floor space! As you can see in the recently updated Sketchup drawing . . .I need it!
> 
> ...


Actually-one side is housing a MGB convertible, and the other I usually leave free for working on a car. (Yea-it will all fit . . . I know it will.) I moved my go-kart to my sister's house . . . I'm getting the derelict mowers moved out and hopefully will get all the bikes/kid stuff to the shed. The MGB will roll around on some car skates, so that'll give me plenty of room for things. It's a slow process, but at least if I do one thing each day, I know I'll eventually get that elephant eaten!

(The Sketchup pic just has items placed in there for scale/size purposes . . it's not a reflection on where anything is at currently. I'll probably make a "before" version and then move to my "after" one to show the differences.)


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Almost There -- Mega Model*

I don't know how many people have went to this extreme, but it's about the only thing I have time to do right now . . . it takes very little time to add/refine to the Sketchup model. Here's what the garage looks like in it's current form . . it's about 90% there. I don't have some things in there yet, but it's a pretty good picture:



Right now the biggest thing is the clutter . . . the "before" photos were a bit of a worst case scenario. The empty spot in the pic along the back wall is where the one worktable I had was, so the MGB clutch parts and old RC car stuff got booted in the floor. There's just a ton of stuff that needs to be put away properly, but figuring out what's good/bad/etc.. is the key. I've had some nibbles on my Craigslist items, but nothing else has sold. It's probably time to drop the prices a bit more and give them another round of listing.

Speaking of which-I still follow along on Freecycle/Cheapcycle lists and snagged a pair of Carhartt Bib insulated overalls for working in the garage. That'll help a lot on keeping my jeans and clothes from getting mangled in the garage. They look pretty toasty and fit really good. A little snug around the midrange, but that's just my gut.  Working out a bit in the garage and elsewhere will help that. ;-)

This weekend hopefully we can get some more time to get stuff off the floor. There's a truck seat that will be gone soon, so that'll free up space, and some other things will be given the boot also. Maybe I'll get that plywood out and build a shelf under the one workbench to gain some space and get that thing out of my sight. I'd love some overhead cabinets right there for storing things, but it's the question of building or buying . . I know which is cheaper and what takes the most time. *Sigh*


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Almost There -- Mega Model*
> 
> I don't know how many people have went to this extreme, but it's about the only thing I have time to do right now . . . it takes very little time to add/refine to the Sketchup model. Here's what the garage looks like in it's current form . . it's about 90% there. I don't have some things in there yet, but it's a pretty good picture:
> 
> ...


This is turning out pretty good. Sketchup is a nice planning tool and doing this gives you practice with the software. As far as the cabinets go you may be able to get some cheaper than you could build, especially if you use the classifieds or Craigslist, but it is satisfying to simply build your own. I kept the cabinets my father built when I remodeled the kitchen but built the rest of the ones in my shop. It is time consuming but it is woodworking and gives you an excuse to spend some time in the shop.

But it is a difficult decision. Have fun.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Almost There -- Mega Model*
> 
> I don't know how many people have went to this extreme, but it's about the only thing I have time to do right now . . . it takes very little time to add/refine to the Sketchup model. Here's what the garage looks like in it's current form . . it's about 90% there. I don't have some things in there yet, but it's a pretty good picture:
> 
> ...


wow, you actually park in your shop? NICE! lol

what we sometimes do is get all the things we can't really sell on craigslist and donate them to salvation army, or other organizations that can make use of it. we also have a swap shop in town where you can bring items instead of trashing them, and people that can use them cans just pick them up… sometimes the space you gain is worth the $20 you'd get for those things.


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## DocK16 (Mar 18, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Almost There -- Mega Model*
> 
> I don't know how many people have went to this extreme, but it's about the only thing I have time to do right now . . . it takes very little time to add/refine to the Sketchup model. Here's what the garage looks like in it's current form . . it's about 90% there. I don't have some things in there yet, but it's a pretty good picture:
> 
> ...


Looks good on paper/screen. Now you gotta follow the Nike slogan, Just Do It.

Still want to know what's going to happen to the MG.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Progress -- Sweet, sweet, PROGRESS!*

The pictures don't tell the whole tale, but they give you a glimpse. I wish we had a time lapse version of what's happening in the garage, but I'm not taking the time to setup a web cam there. You can see the progress for yourself:













And as you can see . . . it's actually pretty close to my model. For right now we're going back into a defensive mode and getting projects that were started (aka - the trash can holder) done and off our plate. Then we can move forward. I'd like to have some cabinets across the top of the garage. The file cabinet storage actually ended up being more useful than I first thought. One drawer now holds the grinder, another a scroll saw, another a mini-lathe and the last the Shopsmith Ringmaster.

I have an absurd number of drill bits and other doo-dads. I'd like to have something to organize those. Peggy (my wife) will be going through the huge boxes of nuts/bolts/etc… and sorting them all into plastic bins. The plastic bins I'm thinking will go onto some type of storage device with layers so I can get a lot of stuff in there. They are the Harbor Freight grey ones that hang on a plastic piece. I think that I could make a sliding panel to hold two layers of them and make them easily accessible. Hmm.


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Progress -- Sweet, sweet, PROGRESS!*
> 
> The pictures don't tell the whole tale, but they give you a glimpse. I wish we had a time lapse version of what's happening in the garage, but I'm not taking the time to setup a web cam there. You can see the progress for yourself:
> 
> ...


Looks like you have it coming your way now!


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Sales Bonanza*

Ah-the bliss of more room! I shuffled off one old Craftsman table saw, and the individual who was picking it up made me an offer on the small Montgomery Wards one too-so I got rid of them both!



 


(The picture is deceptive-that saw on the right is sitting on the main table for a Shopsmith 500-the blade was about 6 inches in size.)

So now the space that stuff was taking up can be reallocated to some more shelving. Next up will be getting rid of the huge honkin' console stereo and in it's place I'll build some shelving for air tools and perhaps a surround for the air compressor to quiet it a bit.









This is the next project on the must complete list. I started on this and need to get it completed and in place in the kitchen. It's a trash can holder and in the bottom we'll have room for bags/etc. It will be on wheels so you can simply position it where you need it.


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## wood_wench (Jan 2, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Sales Bonanza*
> 
> Ah-the bliss of more room! I shuffled off one old Craftsman table saw, and the individual who was picking it up made me an offer on the small Montgomery Wards one too-so I got rid of them both!
> 
> ...


Ah! Space, the final frontier. When you build the "noise reducing" surround for the compressor - how do you plan to provide it enough air to keep it cool but still dampen the noise. I've seen some where the vent the heat to the outside with either just an open vent or something like a bathroom ventilation system. Any thoughts?


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Sales Bonanza*
> 
> Ah-the bliss of more room! I shuffled off one old Craftsman table saw, and the individual who was picking it up made me an offer on the small Montgomery Wards one too-so I got rid of them both!
> 
> ...


NICE!!! I see FLOOR!


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Sales Bonanza*
> 
> Ah-the bliss of more room! I shuffled off one old Craftsman table saw, and the individual who was picking it up made me an offer on the small Montgomery Wards one too-so I got rid of them both!
> 
> ...


you have been busy and I have enjoyed reading along.


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## bbrooks (Jan 3, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Sales Bonanza*
> 
> Ah-the bliss of more room! I shuffled off one old Craftsman table saw, and the individual who was picking it up made me an offer on the small Montgomery Wards one too-so I got rid of them both!
> 
> ...


Space is a nice thing to have in your garage. It gives you room for more new tools.


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Sales Bonanza*
> 
> Ah-the bliss of more room! I shuffled off one old Craftsman table saw, and the individual who was picking it up made me an offer on the small Montgomery Wards one too-so I got rid of them both!
> 
> ...


Good to see some floor space there!


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Dust Collection Thoughts*

This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.










At the show we looked at a lot of things, but the ShopFox dust collector (the only one setup and running) was the one that I think made the most impression . . . it really (in a good way) sucks! It was a bit alarming to put your fingers in front of it and suddenly "whoosh" it would suck them in the hose. They had a really sweet deal on that particular model at the show, but we decided we'd stop and look around some more.

Once I got home I began reading and researching further. I'm more confused than ever, but I think we are going to remain status quo for a bit while working to pay off other debts. Instead we'll keep watching for a smokin' great deal on something like that at a sale of some type. We've had good favor being patient and waiting on the right deal to appear, and I suspect this will be the same way. In the mean time I contemplated building a air scrubber to instead do the heavy lifting for a dust collector. From what I read, most of the time unless you change to a better bag, you are just spewing all the ultra-fine dust right back in the air with a dust collection setup. If you vent the dust outside, your emptying the AC or heat too. Since we're working on the premise of everything being portable, a huge dust collector setup with ducting isn't going to be a great idea.



This might be an idea, but I envision this constructed to go under the Shopsmith with a small 5 gallon bucket for dust collection duties. In the meantime I'll work on ways of using my current (minuscule) ShopVac to keep up with the sawdust.

Last night I continued to work on the cleanup of ShopSmith #2-the 510 model. I went to put it on the high speed side and the speed changer was difficult to turn and the speed seemed to lag quite a bit. I opened it up and put my new machine oiler to work. I found two different ones, one with a long snout in the 3-in-1 oil variety, and another in a special machine "turbine" oil. I went with the turbine oil version-that promises to be non-gumming, a definite plus in my opinion. I showed Peggy how the pulley/speed changer system works. (She was a lot happier when the belt covers were back on-at high speed she was a little alarmed.)

I got some Naval Jelly for the jointer top cleaning. I've waxed the tubes and I took the quill out and gave it a thorough cleaning. The unit is a lot happier now, but I still think there's some improvement to be made in the speed changer dial-it probably needs cleaned out also. It's very relaxing to me to work with my hands like that-because my day job is computer programming. There's just something satisfying about the mechanical side of things . . . which is probably because of the long line of mechanics in my family. Soon we'll have more projects out of the way-we're very excited on that prospect. When we get a nice warm weekend I think we'll destroy the front porch and rebuild it. Ah projects!


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## TraumaJacques (Oct 25, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


Yeah! dust management is right up there on my "I need to have" list but my shop is so small I don't know what the solution is for me… I am thinking a good shop VAC might just do the trick. Let us know what you decide.


----------



## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/Order_Page.htm-considering a cyclone like this. The little mini on the "one particular vacuum manufacturer" conversion looks pretty good. It's a lot more than was looking at spending, but will just start saving my pennies and decide how much medicine/sinus infections would cost instead.


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


You should have some type of air filtration and a dust mask also. The air filtration can be something as simple as a box fan with a filter, or a furnace blower in a box with a filter, or a air filtration machine that hangs from the cieling. I bought a Delta 50-875 air filtration machine because it takes up almost no shop space up on the cieling, and I also use a box fan with a filter close to where I'm working, especially if I'm sanding, then I have a AOSafety Woodworkers dust mask ( about $15 ) and I have a cyclone DC. After alot of years of breathing dust in the shop, the last couple years I've been geting serious about the hazzards of it, plus it's less cleanup at the end of the day.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


knowing the dust collection is a subject that can be very confusing to all, my comment is not to try to confuse you even more, just to give you remind you that the clearvuecyclone attachment for the shop vac is great to protect your shop vac motor, and help separate the larger chunks from the fine dust, but it is in no way comparable to a large dust collector. the 2 machines although sucking air have different specs and different strenghts! While the Shop vac has a higher sealed pressure (the force to pull something in) then a dust collector, it is by far underpowered when it comes to air flow where a large dust collector excels and can move a LOT of air very fast = sucking more dust and chips from a larger area.

a Shop vac works great for smaller tools like sanders, routers (mostly handheld tools) but for a Table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw) a shop vac is insufficient.

I'd recommend (if not already done so) check out Bill Pentz website for the best (in my opinion) online source for dust collection info

also search LJ.. theres a ton of good info, debates, ideas, peoples' setups that you might find useful and fitting to your situation.

and always check out your local craigslist for used dust collectors at a fraction of the price of new ones… Here's Mine.


----------



## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


PurpLev is right, shop vacs are high pressure-low volume machines. Dust collectors are lower pressure-high volume air movers.

Once you invest in dust collection you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner. I was like everyone else in my thought process, placing it low on the priority list. That is a definite mistake but I did not realize it until I got my dust collector.

I bought a ShopFox 2hp unit with the 30 micron cotton bags. Later I ordered a 1 micron canister filter because the dust collector was filling my lungs with brown goo every time I worked in the shop. I would not buy anything other than the 1 micron canister filters now.


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


go to reviews, click on dust collectors. You will find a number of reviews from people not involved in selling dust collectors IE. LJ's I have found this to be the best source for unbiased info. and have made several purchases based on the information that i have found there. air filter is a must. i use my shop vac with my big rigid ROM sander. and for vacuuming or blowing. the hose fits the dust outlet on the sander. If you can't do this as a minimum the buy a respirator type system for each of you and wear it every minute you're in the shop. 2nd hand sawdust is just as deadly as 2nd hand smoke.


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


Oh yes on all of your machines that have the 2in opening I simply clamp on a length of hose and attach a 2"/4" converter and can then attach the 4 inch hose directly. Ideal since my DC is mobile.


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## Rob1 (Feb 4, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


And look at the Oneida Air - Dust Deputy. My garage is my shop also. I use to have 1/4 of saw dust everywhere. Now with the Dust Deputy hooked to all my tools the shop, err…, I mean garage is clean.


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## WoodSpanker (Feb 10, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


A wise man once told me: "The most important tool in your shop is your brain, followed closely by your pencil and your dust collector. without these tools, you can accomplish nothing". Truer words have never been spoken.


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## mountainsky (Feb 5, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


During the past 6 years, I've bought nearly all my stationary tools from Grizzly. Including there 3 hp twin dust collector. Couldn't be happier…........


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## Bob42 (Jan 9, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Thoughts*
> 
> This past weekend was a lot of fun. Peggy and I went to two woodworking shows and a wood working store. It's a new affliction we have-with the new shop toys we are looking at what we "can't live without". Thankfully nothing else followed us home, but we did get pretty excited about dust collectors. When we were doing the Christmas gifts the sawdust being generated was being dragged into the house each time we'd come in from the garage. Peggy looked pretty amazed when I told her of the virtues of a dust collector.
> 
> ...


Check out the blog I started about shop air filtration. I gave some basic info. The latest spoke about ERV's (air exchangers) that can save your energy. Of course this all comes with spending money that is tight now but maybe for the future. I love my dust collector with the 1 micron. I have the 50-760


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Dust Collection Decision*

Ok-after getting numerous comments yesterday (THANKS LJ! - You guys/gals are fantastic BTW!) I decided that a dedicated super sucker - AKA - dust collector was going to be what we needed. Over the weekend I had missed out on a Jet DC1100, and another one . . . I forget what brand it was. We figured we would end up with some deal on Craigslist and sure enough, there popped one up buried in a "wood tools for sale" ad.



The price was definitely right-about 1/2 of what a new one would be and no taxes/etc.. to deal with so now we're the proud owner of a Grizzly dust collector.



From the label it was manufactured in October of 2001 and it's 1 1/2 horsepower.



Getting it home was a chore, as the bags kept blowing around and causing the straps to loosen up. I had the "brilliant" plan of putting the top bag holder loop through my strap and run that strap diagonally across the truck. The problem was the bag kept whipping around and the strap cinch down mechanism was being beat against the truck bed. (Thankfully I drive a 'real' truck with little paint, scratches, and all the abuse of the years . . . so a little less paint wasn't a consequence . . . LOL.) I had to stop twice on the way home to redo the straps to make sure it was still going to be riding with me. The "brilliance" part was that the loop chafed enough to cut it in two. We looked at it and decided it wasn't a big deal if we're going to replace the bag anyway. I applied some fabric glue last night and it appears to be holding today. 



The handle for the Shopsmith Jointer finally came yesterday also. I popped it on there and viola-all ready to roll. I have a new set of blades and I'd like to put on it and take the old blades and sharpen them. There is a very slight nick in them that most of the time would cause little issue. I still need to get that rust cleared off and then give the bed/fence a good wax job.



The cleanup/oiling process still in limbo here. I have a lot of the egg and ice trays from fridges . . . they're great for corralling those little screws and things from projects. The machine oiler was great for getting the pulley sheaves just what they needed. A little wax made a huge difference on the tubes and quill.



After dealing with the dust in the Shopsmith, I can't wait to see how this dust collector will work. The 510 that I bought had a hard life already, but with a little TLC I think it'll be as good as new.

The next thing with the dust collector will be getting a better bag for tighter filtration and adding a cyclone of some type. Since my main focus will be just on the two Shopsmiths, I'm not anticipating putting any piping to the rest of the shop. I'd rather keep my run just limited to the 10 foot section that I have and bring the DC to the work area. I'm envisioning a platform that is integrated with the current DC body/blower setup and does the chip/dust collection. Hmmm. Lots of possibilities there! I wish they made that Oneida Dust Deputy in a 6 inch or 4 inch size . . at that price!


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Decision*
> 
> Ok-after getting numerous comments yesterday (THANKS LJ! - You guys/gals are fantastic BTW!) I decided that a dedicated super sucker - AKA - dust collector was going to be what we needed. Over the weekend I had missed out on a Jet DC1100, and another one . . . I forget what brand it was. We figured we would end up with some deal on Craigslist and sure enough, there popped one up buried in a "wood tools for sale" ad.
> 
> ...


I really enjoy the blog. I think the key is the photos. makes it feel so much more interactive to follow along. I hope that once I finish my current project, I can embark on the same task as you. cleaning/reorganizing to make the work more enjoyable, efficient, and safe. Thanks for the post!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Decision*
> 
> Ok-after getting numerous comments yesterday (THANKS LJ! - You guys/gals are fantastic BTW!) I decided that a dedicated super sucker - AKA - dust collector was going to be what we needed. Over the weekend I had missed out on a Jet DC1100, and another one . . . I forget what brand it was. We figured we would end up with some deal on Craigslist and sure enough, there popped one up buried in a "wood tools for sale" ad.
> 
> ...


CONGRATS!!!!! this is one great dust collector from what I read online, and it seems to be identical to the Jet DC1100 (not sure on the stats, so… don't take my word for it) and at 1/2 price… how can you beat that?

I'd definitely get rid of the filteration bag ASAP and get a better one, or better yet - a cartridge replacement (got mine from Wynn Environmental for $100)

If you're looking for a chip separator , I'd recommend building one per Phil's design. It can be fabricated to any diameter hose (4"...6"...) and I believe works much better then the dust-deputy (and sure does cost much less then 1/2 of it).


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Dust Collection Upgrades*

So now I have this huge dust collector - for what we're envisioning it should be great for our setup. The key thing is our tools are multipurpose.



One thing that Peggy was very intrigued with was the Ringmaster that came with Shopsmith #2 - the 510 model.



(Read the stand-alone review here on LJ- Ringmaster)



I've been reading a lot on Bill Pentz's dust collection site and it was a good wakeup call. Peggy and I both got sick just about the time of the beginning of December and battled constantly until just recently with sinus issues. I think we both originally attributed it to the weather and close proximity of my wife to sniffling kids. (She's a reading teacher.) In retrospect I was thinking and the Christmas present work was a bit later, but then I thought back and realize we had started the trash can project back before that. Hmm.

The poor MGB bears witness to the dust issue when working with wood.



(Ok-ignore the fact that it's also a "catch-all" for things right now in it's non-operational state . . . one project at a time!)

So proper dust collection is definitely very high on my priority list. A stand-alone cyclone emptying outside the house is the best case scenario from what I've read on Bill's site, but not all practical for how we will be working. Both Shopsmiths are mobile and as multi-purpose tools, they wouldn't need the complexity of a huge dust collection piping system. Instead I think I'm going to go with a combo system that will be a good compromise.

The first part of that will be a chip/dust extractor from Thien Cyclone Separator Lid plans. My idea is to use a similar idea but simply scale it up a bit more. I'm going to put 6" piping from the inducer side of the compressor to the top of two garbage cans stacked together. The top can will have the floor duct to make an air transition and a baffle. The bottom can will serve as the primary collector and will be removeable. I'm envisioning the entire thing being attached to the existing Grizzly dust collection cart. It will probably be just a bit bigger in both dimensions.

The second part of my plan involves using a pleated air filter for the Grizzly dust collector.



One thing that I'm thinking on is efficiency of collection and I'd like to experiment with applying some "hot rod" type things to the dust collection setup. I know that the use of a velocity stack helps transition the air greatly and I think it might be very helpful here because I'll need all the CFM I can keep for removing the bad dust. The faster the dust enters into the cyclone, the greater the probability is that it will spin out of suspension and fall into the collector. If it's slowing down and getting turbulence it'll probably wind up in the air filter and risk clogging it.

Another option I was kicking around was building my own cyclone like this one. The problem is that it's designed for solid mounting, and again, I'd like some freedom in where the DC goes. I suppose making something like that mobile wouldn't be too big of an issue, but my biggest liability is TIME. I don't know that I'd have enough time to rebuild what we already have to build this. From some of the results I've been seeing, I think the separator approach is definitely worth looking at.

So . . . this weekend . . . more projects to come!


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Upgrades*
> 
> So now I have this huge dust collector - for what we're envisioning it should be great for our setup. The key thing is our tools are multipurpose.
> 
> ...


awesome blog -lots of good links, some knowns, some new - definitely gave me plenty of new ideas how to improve my dust collection setup as I'm conjuring it up…

the canister filter will prove to be a great upgrade for you guys! I already see it with my bare eyes in my setup. no more clouds of dust around the collector - it's prestinely clean


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Super Sucker Success (Try saying that three times!)*

So over the weekend I stopped by the individual who sold me the dust collector. For another $20 I got 30 foot of 4" hose and some connectors. I then went from there to the Woodcraft store and purchased a cyclone separator lid and some other fittings to adapt to the 2 1/2 ports on the Shopsmith and called it a day. I know when it's more time/money efficient to just purchase something rather than jumping through the hoops. $25 got me into protecting the impeller blades on the dust collector and some rudimentary cyclonic action. Down the road I can add a baffle to help keep dust down.

After finishing putting the Shopsmith 510 back together, and adjusting the table I was ready to roll. My son was staying this weekend to work on the gunrack project that I gave him for Christmas. We purchased the wood and I drew up the plans with the intention of us building the rack together. He was having a bit of a problem understanding the dust collector's purpose or the time that I was taking getting everything squared up properly. After showing him the "square" edges on the store purchased wood, I think he might have understood a bit better. The clean area under the Shopsmith (and thus no saw dust being tracked in) was a hit with Peggy as well as myself. 

Tonight the cleaning of the garage will continue-we'll work on getting the garbage can holder project done.

This will free up the room that it's taking up in front of the MGB. After wrestling the hoses for the dust collector I can see the virtues of a solid setup. I think the solution will be to put the dust collector back over in the corner where the old derelict table saw was residing. Hmm . . . but that's where the chopsaw (read SPARKS) hangs out. Oh I just toss my hands up in the air sometimes trying to figure out things. If the car was on roller skates I could gain a bit more room, but the bikes and lawn mowers are in the way. I'm still harboring some used tires too. Grr. 

Well . . . we'll get this all figured out. My dad and I had some time to look at the dust collector and figure out a way to hook a dial indicator to the tendon jig for the Shopsmith. Once the gunrack is done as well as the trash can, the back wall is getting storage cabinets.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Super Sucker Success (Try saying that three times!)*
> 
> So over the weekend I stopped by the individual who sold me the dust collector. For another $20 I got 30 foot of 4" hose and some connectors. I then went from there to the Woodcraft store and purchased a cyclone separator lid and some other fittings to adapt to the 2 1/2 ports on the Shopsmith and called it a day. I know when it's more time/money efficient to just purchase something rather than jumping through the hoops. $25 got me into protecting the impeller blades on the dust collector and some rudimentary cyclonic action. Down the road I can add a baffle to help keep dust down.
> 
> ...


Good luck on your fixing up.


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## Toolz (Feb 26, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Super Sucker Success (Try saying that three times!)*
> 
> So over the weekend I stopped by the individual who sold me the dust collector. For another $20 I got 30 foot of 4" hose and some connectors. I then went from there to the Woodcraft store and purchased a cyclone separator lid and some other fittings to adapt to the 2 1/2 ports on the Shopsmith and called it a day. I know when it's more time/money efficient to just purchase something rather than jumping through the hoops. $25 got me into protecting the impeller blades on the dust collector and some rudimentary cyclonic action. Down the road I can add a baffle to help keep dust down.
> 
> ...


I have the same cyclone lid, be sure to put some tape on the tapered end of the inside elbow to prevent it from falling off and defeating its purpose. I learned that lesson the hard way. ;-)


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Super Sucker Success (Try saying that three times!)*
> 
> So over the weekend I stopped by the individual who sold me the dust collector. For another $20 I got 30 foot of 4" hose and some connectors. I then went from there to the Woodcraft store and purchased a cyclone separator lid and some other fittings to adapt to the 2 1/2 ports on the Shopsmith and called it a day. I know when it's more time/money efficient to just purchase something rather than jumping through the hoops. $25 got me into protecting the impeller blades on the dust collector and some rudimentary cyclonic action. Down the road I can add a baffle to help keep dust down.
> 
> ...


I got a similar seperator lid a few weeks ago and just bought 3 10' lengths of 4" flex hose from woodcraft. All in all, it was about $75. not as good a deal as you, but if you have as good of luck as I did testing it out, you will be thrilled. Most stuff seems to end up in the trash can and my understanding is that it allows the DC to do what its supposed to. Collect dust instead of chips. Also, if it saves on screws or other heavy debri from hitting the impeller, it will save $ in the long run. I hope you like yours as much as I do. I can't wait to set it up for permanent use (it is awkward dragging the whole setup from unit to unit).


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Coughing - Gagging?*

At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.



We decided that the bag filter system was definitely next on the "must-do" items to help our health. Today I called Wynn Environmental and placed an order for a 9E300BL that I will be retrofitting on to my Grizzly 1 1/2 horse dust collector. I plan on taking a lot of photos of the conversion and any pitfalls I run into. I'm also thinking about that machine placement also. I might have to give-up my current chop-saw location (hot sparks) but I think moving and having one collector pipe might not be a bad thing.


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


look forward to seeing the pics look get yourself checked oput if you have tightness in your chest.Alistair


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


The lower cost dust collector bags don't do much for the fine dust. I replaced the bags on my Shop Fox DC with some shaker felt bags from Penn State Industries. This difference it makes is unbelievable.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


do you know how many microns the grizly started with? I think I've heard 25 microns. I think 1 micron is reaonable for an amateur that plans to work regularly, but I think the filters are even better than that.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


Some types of wood dust are very toxic. Our lungs have about four acres of surface area, thus anything toxic that we breath in goes into our blood stream very fast.

Get a 1 micron bag. I just put the 42" 1 micron bag on top of my DC3300.


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## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


Never mind yourself, how could you let all that dust get on the MG!!!!!


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


Yeah, right! Last night's cutting on the garbage can holder must be the problem!

Like one project's cutting leads to that kind of problem! Let's be real, here! Most people suffer these kinds of problems after years of exposure to wood dust. How much of this is psychosomatic? I saw your project - is that enough to cause this? Probably not! See a psychiatrist before you blame it all on woodworking!

I'm not saying that breathing wood dust is not problematic. I am saying that one project - particularly of the scale you are talking - is not enough to cause these problems! You people have a problem, all right, but it probably doesn't have anything to do with wood working. See someone about your messianist tendencies before posting again!


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


It's not just the cutting-the bags on the dust collector are very porous and I suspect that the amount of tme I had it on (45+ minutes) made the air very laden with not only what I had cut but the past ?? years worth of dust still lurking in that bag. The workshop that the dust collector came out of was coated EVERYWHERE in dust very thickly. Now if anyone wants to argue the virtues of a dust collector as mainly a big fine dust pump-go right ahead. I've paid attention to a lot of photos and setups on dust collection and the common thing I see in photos is no chips, but very fine dust particles everywhere. I know also real symptoms and when I can blow my nose and get goobery icky looking stuff after just blowing out dust from a piece of machinery-that's proof enough for me.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


Maybe, and I emphasize maybe , the accumulation of sawdust over many years in a used dust collector could contribute to this. I see continual harping here about the dangers of sawdust and what a health hazard it is. What a load of bull - most people who suffer from sawdust inhalation work at it for a living - 40 hours (or more) a week for many. many years OR had an underlying health problem that contributed (asthmatics are particularly sensitive) before there are any ill effects. The normal weekend woodworker simply does not generate enough sawdust to cause these kinds of problems. Most would be better off worrying about being hit by a meteor. My grandfather worked in a small shop without any dust collection for 30 years without suffering any ill effects. My father had his woodshop in the basement of our house with no dust collection for 20 years, raised 7 kids and smoked. I myself ran my woodshop, with no dust collection, in the basement of my house for 10 years before moving to the garage. I raised one child and a multitude of cats in this environment and I smoke too. Three generations, at least a dozen people that would have been affected and none of us ever suffered the symptoms you spoke of.

I only recently started adding dust collection to my tools because I got tired of sweeping it up NOT because of any health hazards. There is one exception that I do get real nervous about - treated lumber. When I built my deck a few years ago out of treated lumber, I did all the work outside, wore a mask and cleaned/disposed of the sawdust every day. Anything that is deliberately treated to kill insects probably will do a good job on humans too.

If your dust collector causes these problems then I think you are better off without no dust collection at all.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


@EEngineer-I would suggest perhaps doing some research rather than just implied data from your own anecdotal experiences. My wife *used* to be in an environment with cats/dogs and this year she's not missed any work due to sinus/congestion problems. As for me, the dust collector upgrade + purchase price will still be less than what some people are spending on brand new equipment and it'll be ALOT better at filtering than that. It sounds like with your logic if you let your kid/family/etc.. run across a highway and they never get hit-it must be a great idea for everyone to do that. My grandfather had a small workshop and ran his own garage/farm implement business . . . he was around a lot of things that *now* are probably proven to cause cancer in mice in California. God knows our timeline. Bottom line is if you dismiss the issue as trivial are you putting someone at risk? Let's err on the side of caution especially if a good compromise is pretty cheap. As anyone who's been to a doctor and medication recently can relate-$85 for an improved filtering system is pretty cheap insurance. To each their own, but I suspect that one person's "load of bull" is hardly going to change the opinion of the people that consider the enjoyment of their hobby. I never said "stop woodworking" . . . just enjoy it healthier.


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


I think that in a lot of ways, no dust collection is better than the bag-style collectors. If you have no collection, the dust and chips are kicked into the air by the tool, and then fall. With a bag-style collector, the fines are continually blown into the air, creating a constant dust cloud for you to breathe.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


I agree to a certain degree on the bag-style collectors also-that's why it's worth it to me to change to a cannister style with finer filtering. I'm very anxious to see how things improve with it especially when it comes to sanding. It was interesting looking at the one page and seeing how much particulates are put in the air when the blade is burning wood, another good reason to make sure your tools are in tip-top shape and alignment.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


I have to disagree to a certain degree with EEngineer on this one. As always - when we deal with generalizing anything, we cannot use individual cases as proof that the general concept is false. generalizing deals with statistics, and accumulation of a vast number of cases that all paint a 'general' picture.

some people are more sensitive then others, and in this case I do agree with EEngineer - many of us (heck, maybe even me) are also phychololgically sensitive to things that our body is physically NOT sensitive to.

With that said, and with what we know today to be hazardous, I'd rather be cautious, and use preventative measures than to say "I wish I did" 20 years from now.

As you can see in my blog - I did replace my crappy 30 micron dust bags with a 0.3micron filter from Wynn Env. I notice a night-and-day difference! Thank you Wynn Env.  shame on you everyone else that even sell 30 micron bags to the mass market… It seems counter efficient.

After taking the original 30 micron bag off, I dusted it off, vacuumed it, and air blew it - it was amazing how much dust was coming out of it (took me 30 min to change it's color from beige/cream - back to white)


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


MyOldGarage -

Collect all the facts, eh? Fact is, I have researched it. Can you point me to one double-blind test about sawdust inhalation? No. Most of the info on the web is self-serving *anecdotal* evidence - usually by some enterprise or person that makes a lot of money from dust collection systems. Pardon me if I take that with a grain of salt. As for your personal *anecdotal *evidence - I don't buy it! My personal *anecdotal *evidence contradicts it. The fact of the matter is, all the votes are not in on the dangers of breathing sawdust.

PurpLev brought up an interesting point - "As always - when we deal with generalizing anything, we cannot use individual cases as proof that the general concept is false." The converse is also true - we cannot use individual cases as proof that the general concept is true either. And that's what you are asking - that we accept your personal case as proof that sawdust is harmful. That way leads to peach pits for treating cancer and Mexican clinics that make vast fortunes while doing nothing to actually treat cancer.


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


I love this thread! It's just hilarious! Who knew there was an argument about whether we should want to breathe sawdust? Who knew it would upset someone else if I want to do a better job of collecting the dust in my own shop?

And I'm just envisioning taking EE's advice and making an appointment with a shrink … so I would walk in and say, "Hi, doc … the trouble is that everytime I breathe a bunch of sawdust I start coughing, but I'm sure it must be psychosomatic because there's never been a double-blind test showing that sawdust makes you cough." I'm sure I would be under a psychologist's care for a long time after that!

So let's just say that it is psychosomatic: I cough because I think it's bad for me, not because my lungs are actually reacting to an irritant. Two options: 1) I can get dust collection that I think is collecting the dust, then I will think I'm not breathing the dust, and I will not think that I need to cough; or 2) I can go see a shrink to try to get them to convince me that I don't need to cough when I come in contact with dust. Hmmm … a few thousand for a shrink who will probably decide I'm crazy when I state my problem, or a few hundered for good dust collection that will also help keep my shop clean … tough choice!

Thanks for this thread! I've had a really rough couple of days, and I needed a good laugh!


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## pitchnsplinters (Dec 26, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


I wasn't getting enough sawdust in my system the old fashioned way, so I now have a healthy serving for breakfast. I'm even considering putting a few handfuls in my HVAC ducting so I get the treatment while I sleep.

All this concern is hogwash. EE is a genius. Though I bet I bring the oxygen bottle home first.


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


This has reminded me of my brother deciding that it would be okay to weld galvanized steel without a respirator and that the supposed health problems from the zinc were just a way to sell more respirators. He didn't have to wait long at all to discover that it wasn't a good idea because the headache and general crappy feeling hit him almost immediately. I say better safe than sorry. Of course I do like the smell of pine dust when I cut through a knot…


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Coughing - Gagging?*
> 
> At first I thought it was just my imagination. I took some deep breaths this morning and felt very constricted and tight in my chest. I was just coming down the hall when I heard my wife Peggy also blowing her nose and sounding congested. We talked and neither one of us was experiencing any symptoms like that until last night's cutting on the garbage can holder.
> 
> ...


I don't have a dust collection system, other than my broom and dustpan, but I DO wear a respirator when cutting woods that will produce fine sawdust. While a finer micron bag will help, so probably would a respirator while cutting. I always wear mine when cutting MDF for instance. Also, as mentioned above, SOME woods have allergens in them that will naturally bother you no matter how much you try to prevent the dust.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Air Filter Arrived!*



That's a peek down the inside of the new Wynn Environmental filter - the 9E300BL one. I'm anxious to get some cutting done and get this puppy mounted on my Grizzly dust collector. Once I get it mounted and that, I'm going to move it over to a more permanent location and run one trunk of at least 6 inch pipe to the unit. The only problem with that is the PVC to "air pipe" sizing. It's just frustrating to measure stuff and see the differences. I can get adapters for the 4 inch stuff very easily through my local Woodcraft store, but the 6 inch stuff might be a bit more difficult.

And . . . there's always duct tape. 





I know there's a moral in that story . . . . heheh!


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Air Filter Arrived!*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not sure that I understand the problem with the ducting, you should be able to find what you need at a hardware or home improvement store.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Air Filter Arrived!*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's the sizing on the dust collector-it's actually 6 inch inlet (OD) and PVC pipe (like lighter gauge sewer) is about 6 1/2 inch ID on elbow . . . . well actually:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pvc-cpvc-pipes-dimensions-d_795.html

I'm still contemplating my "mega" trashcan cyclone with 6" pipe . . . but it was put on hiatus with the smaller 4 inch model.


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Air Filter Arrived!*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If I'm not mistakein someone does make an adapter for that trasition, I just can't remember who, I've never needed one because all I've ever used for ducting is 26 ga sheet metal ducting and everything fits. You might be able to find something in plumbing, like a Fernco coupler, or a drawband. PSI? has a couple nice drawbands.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Super Sucker Cleanup*

Ok-I'm not going to argue the virtues of the dust collection in modern psychosis treatment . . . but my therapy session is all about cutting up wood. Hmm . . . I'm on the Lumberjocks site so I guess I'm in the right place. 

My first order of business was making sure I was properly protected. I was cutting the wood outside to boot on a nice windy day . . . that helped. Gotta love 70 degree days!


(I'm smiling under that dust mask!)



The first order of business was to make a decent way to cut a hole in my 3/4" MDF. I used a 1/4" bit and a nail in this little jig:







After a few passes at a time I had this circle cut out:



That will fit in my Grizzly dust collector just like so:





But the only problem with the new setup was-it stood at 78". The garage door track and I-beam in the house are at 76". This was going to be a small problem This is the photo AFTER I modified the height:



To change the height I chopped 3" out of the pipes that hold the dust seperator section:





And this is where I took it out of. I put the bracket down in the chop saw and then after cutting the pipe I welded it all back together and sprayed some paint back on it.



And while I was in a painting mood I also found some green paint that I sprayed on. I used a grey primer base and on the other side I primered it white . . . just because I had ran out of one color. The green ended up being pretty close when sprayed over the other color:





So here's what the whole thing looks like now, with new clearance for the filter. The trash can was just sitting there when I removed the support pipes.



I still need to actually attach the ring to the dust collector. I driled holes around the perimeter of the top ring. I'll screw the ring I made into place and caulk the gap. I can't wait to try it out. My bolts holding it down are too short and not the right ones. I actually have some nice plastic wing nuts to attach the dust collector. My filter is also just temporary-as Wynn Environmental is sending another one. Mine actually was quite beat up in transit . . I suspect it was on the FedEx truck that crashed not far from my home town. 



So far so good . . . but I have an over abundance of stuff that needs to be put back up again! Hehehe . . .another day's project.


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Super Sucker Cleanup*
> 
> Ok-I'm not going to argue the virtues of the dust collection in modern psychosis treatment . . . but my therapy session is all about cutting up wood. Hmm . . . I'm on the Lumberjocks site so I guess I'm in the right place.
> 
> ...


That MDF is a REAL M.F. minus the D when it comes to sawdust. Gotta love this great weather the last few days in Missouri, it got to 84 yesterday in St. Louis, I was torn between taking a "right of Spring day" and working in the shop. Who needs Psychosis, when a simple little dust mask can do the job once in a while?


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Super Sucker Completed*

Whew! Last night I put the finishing touches on the new filter project for the dust collector.



The biggest challenge was the bag and getting that all together. I emptied the old bag and contents into a huge 55 gallon contractor style (2mil thickness) garbage bag. When I went to put the system back together I just grabbed that bag and put it back together. There was a metal band around the old top filter, so I used that on the plastic bag and tightened it up. I anxiously flipped the switch and poof-I had saw dust all over the place. Hmm.

Upon closer examination, the band clamp that I was using had a gap and right there it was letting the bag let things escape. I grabbed some cardboard to bridge the gap and re-tightened the clamp. I still wasn't impressed by the holding power. It seemed like the bag and metal band against the collector wasn't exactly making a super tight seal. I decided to use the cloth bag with the plastic trash sack in the interim . . .but that lead to discovery #1.

I took the plastic bag down and realized that my pristine air filter was now jammed up with wood dust/shavings. In my haste (and penny shavings) I had simply grabbed the garbage bag I already had out (full of dust) and viola . . . tons of the stuff all inside my new filter. Normally that shouldn't happen quite like that since the separator should get a larger portion of that. I was quite disgusted. I banged the filter with the bag off and a large "foomp" of sawdust hit the floor. I cleaned up the mess and then went to put a new garbage bag on.

I must have been making some very grumpy sounds (ok-I KNOW I was) because my wife peeked in. I don't know how exactly I would describe the way i was trying to get the bag combo on but it wouldn't involve nice language. The plastic garbage bag was staying up (they are WAY too big . . . I need about a 32 gallon size) but the cloth bag was being very cantankerous to say the least. I'd get one side up, reach for the other and try to slither it up and then "shoomp" the other side would come off. I tried holding one side with my legs/knees while bringing the other side up with my arms . . .hugging it. Again . . not a pretty sight. I hope the neighbor's didn't peek in the window during that moment, because they might think that I was taking this new woodworking hobby a wee bit too far.

Peggy came in and offered assistance and we had the bag on in 30 seconds. An extra pair of hands was very handy to have! She and I agreed that it's always better to just ask for a little help before you get in over your head. I flipped the switch again and this time I had a much better seal with cloth bag there also.

So now the only thing left is to move the dust collector back over to where it will ultimately live. I bought a garbage can to dedicate to the chip separator but it ended up being slightly too large. The lid ended up being the exact size of the lip of the can. I guess I'm off to the local hardware store to get a metal can to fix that problem once and for all. I'm going to build a platform right above the blower motor to reduce the footprint of the setup. Ideally I'd like to run an 90 degree fitting and pass it through the middle of a garbage can with 6" pipe for dust collection duties . . but that's a project on the back burner. I'm planning on duct work down the center of the garage, but decided tha it will have to be beside the existing air return duct work.

Next up-the garage overhead cabinets!


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Somewhere . . . someday . . . somehow . . . *

I guess spring fever must have hit, last weekend I spent some time changing the plugs in my truck . . . luckily a four banger with plenty of access. While I was out there I saw two eyesores beside my shed . . . testimonies to past "What was I thinking?" projects.

One was a boat step and the other was a boat . . .uh . . . air conditioner setup. The step worked, but since the boat moved and there was a plank to the dock, some people didn't quite appreciate the movement of the two in concert. The air conditioner setup was a feeble attempt at building a "self contained room cooler" for use on the aforementioned boat. After experiencing numerous problems in cooling properly, I ditched that setup and went with my own "hatch air" setup and had a nice cool boat. (Lesson learned-someone engineers stuff for a living and you should go with your gut and follow them . . . not what someone else thinks could work.)

But I digress . . . (and sound bitter, which I'm well past) . . . and these two lumps of wood were still harboring memories and taking up space. I got busy with my drill and dismantled them both, but the frame for the boat step ended up being a perfect height to go above the motor on the "Super Sucker Dust Collector". I grabbed some bungee cords and began a fastening fest to attach the wood frame to the platform for the dust collector. I put the garbage can with the cyclone separator on top of that and viola-a self contained solution. (Pics coming soon!)

Another snow storm is barreling down on the midwest . . . the last time one was forecasted I ran out and got the wood for my cabinet project. The wood is still in the garage . . . we've been busy every weekend since. I'm hoping that it does snow and we can curl up and make some sawdust.  I'll let you know how it goes!


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Somewhere . . . someday . . . somehow . . . *
> 
> I guess spring fever must have hit, last weekend I spent some time changing the plugs in my truck . . . luckily a four banger with plenty of access. While I was out there I saw two eyesores beside my shed . . . testimonies to past "What was I thinking?" projects.
> 
> ...


Good luck on your wood working projects. I've got more projects than time.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Re-arranging the garage . . . again*

Well, next up on the new "to-do" list is going to be getting my cantankerous dust collector settled in to a new spot.



The trash can with the separator is sitting on a platform (recycled out of an old boat step I made) and actually fits quite nicely. I've bungy-corded the whole thing together for now, but I don't like how the inlet side works. My vision for this is to actually have a 90 degree out of the compressor that goes directly up through the middle of the trash can. It's a bit weird to picture, but instead of using the separator lid, I'll make my own lid with a spiral inducer there. That's the thought at least. In the meantime, the garage will be shuffled and I'll move the whole shebang over to where it will ultimately live.

Now with the new cabinets up I can work on getting things up and off my worksurfaces and stored adequately away. I need to go cabinet by cabinet through my existing storage and weed out bad/good, but in the meantime I can at least get work areas. This is getting feverishly close to pool opening season, mowing, season, and "where did our time go to" season on normal household stuff. My wife and I are active in our local church, host a couples care (small) group on marriage, and have many other things we help with. My biggest hope for getting things cleaned and organized is maximizing the time we have to work instead of my hunting down of what I left and where. 

I'll post new pics as things come together. At least this blog post will *hopefully* not invoke such passion as it's wood based. Hmm-wasn't Jesus a carpenter?


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Re-arranging the garage . . . again*
> 
> Well, next up on the new "to-do" list is going to be getting my cantankerous dust collector settled in to a new spot.
> 
> ...


ahhhh….his step dad was…he was a fisher of men!


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

*Dust Collection Tidying Up*

So this weekend we finally got the dust collector over in the final spot. I was anticipating perhaps working on my son's gun rack, but he had other plans this weekend . . . but I knew I was going to need to do something about the dust collector hoses. When I moved the dust collector over the other night I noticed that the inlet side of the chip collector happened to fall right between the furnace ducts - the supply and returns. This gave me a great idea about running the 4 inch corrugated piping right between there for a temporary solution. To do this I cut some scraps that I had that would go from the steel i-beam to the side.



From the wood going across I fastened another board coming down from the ceiling and to hold it to the ceiling I used a small metal shelf bracket. All of those items were things I just had laying around, so it was pretty quick work. I thought about where everything was going and how it was going to work. The dust collection hose that I have now is pretty rigid corrugated type and it's not very happy making bends. You can see on the dust collector end (photo above) that my compressor side to the dust collector is a very large arc, and then to make sure the hoses don't fall and kink I used a little rope to tie it to the shelf next to it. Not quite so elegant, but it's functional.

The next quandary was what to do about the end connection to the machine(s). Peggy and I discussed that we might not be using the Shopsmiths at the same time right now, but she had the idea of being able to use the dust collector to also clean up like with a floor sweep. To accomodate this, and get past that hose delimma, we bought a kit from Metro Hardwoods (in Independence, MO) for the blast gates and fittings we would need.



The blast gates are attached to a "Y" connector that will also nestle right up to the furnace duct work. I'm putting it in the middle of the garage right by the steel support pole for the i-beam. The hole allows the one blast gate to be suspended, and the other blast gate fits perfectly between the duct work. (It's a little tight, but all good-another suggestion that Peggy had . . . turning it to fit perfectly.)

The only problem we've had thus far is the blast gates themselves have a short end that is tapered, and even on the floor the piping and clamp slip off even when tightened down. It would seem like to me that the end should have less taper or some type of a ring at the end to hold it on. I know on the piping for high-output turbo cars we'd flare the ends or bead roll them slightly to keep the hoses from popping off. On one pipe we wrapped tape as an experiment and on the other one I used some weather stripping seal, but the seal was WAY too fat . . .I ended up trimming and cramming the hose on . . . it's not a pleasant work around. I'd love something like quick release fitting . . somewhere I saw someone suggesting RV sewer hose connectors. I'll have to measure and see how that would work out. Perhaps I could come up with a way of having a physical connection there to rely less on the hose and more on a solid attachment point. Hmm. 

In other cleaning news, I got rid of four lawnmowers in one weekend! I had two old Snapper mowers, all self propelled, a junk Yardman and then a Swisher three-wheeler. The Swisher brought $80 on Craigslist, and I gave my sister the other three to take to someone her fiance knows who repairs them. In exchange I ended up with a Ryobi mower that's been barely used and a monster tracked snow blower. I put the MGB on roller skates so I can shuffle it around, and three bikes went to the shed in some of the new space. Two bikes will live in the garage for now. It's progress, but I keep wanting to get more and more done. It's an affliction I know! 

The last thing I need to do is finish the blast gate hanging and the way to retain the hoses on the gates in the ceiling. I'd also like a remote way of turning on/off the dust collector. I can't really see springing for the remote control key fob-so I might dig around and hook a relay to a low-voltage circuit and run a switch over to turn it on from at least the middle of the garage. It's on the to-do list at least.


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## againstthegrain (Feb 16, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Tidying Up*
> 
> So this weekend we finally got the dust collector over in the final spot. I was anticipating perhaps working on my son's gun rack, but he had other plans this weekend . . . but I knew I was going to need to do something about the dust collector hoses. When I moved the dust collector over the other night I noticed that the inlet side of the chip collector happened to fall right between the furnace ducts - the supply and returns. This gave me a great idea about running the 4 inch corrugated piping right between there for a temporary solution. To do this I cut some scraps that I had that would go from the steel i-beam to the side.
> 
> ...


Looking good! You are making progress! Very sweet!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Tidying Up*
> 
> So this weekend we finally got the dust collector over in the final spot. I was anticipating perhaps working on my son's gun rack, but he had other plans this weekend . . . but I knew I was going to need to do something about the dust collector hoses. When I moved the dust collector over the other night I noticed that the inlet side of the chip collector happened to fall right between the furnace ducts - the supply and returns. This gave me a great idea about running the 4 inch corrugated piping right between there for a temporary solution. To do this I cut some scraps that I had that would go from the steel i-beam to the side.
> 
> ...


nice, thats almost exactly how I have mine setup at the moment until I find the time/materials to install rigid (non flex) pipes for a more efficient system.

so far it works great for what I need it (table saw/jointer/bandsaw/floor sweep)

do what you gotta do, as best as you can.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Tidying Up*
> 
> So this weekend we finally got the dust collector over in the final spot. I was anticipating perhaps working on my son's gun rack, but he had other plans this weekend . . . but I knew I was going to need to do something about the dust collector hoses. When I moved the dust collector over the other night I noticed that the inlet side of the chip collector happened to fall right between the furnace ducts - the supply and returns. This gave me a great idea about running the 4 inch corrugated piping right between there for a temporary solution. To do this I cut some scraps that I had that would go from the steel i-beam to the side.
> 
> ...


Nice work!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

MyOldGarage said:


> *Dust Collection Tidying Up*
> 
> So this weekend we finally got the dust collector over in the final spot. I was anticipating perhaps working on my son's gun rack, but he had other plans this weekend . . . but I knew I was going to need to do something about the dust collector hoses. When I moved the dust collector over the other night I noticed that the inlet side of the chip collector happened to fall right between the furnace ducts - the supply and returns. This gave me a great idea about running the 4 inch corrugated piping right between there for a temporary solution. To do this I cut some scraps that I had that would go from the steel i-beam to the side.
> 
> ...


If you can you will get better cfm from smooth pipe the corrugated really kills you dust collections efficiency.
There are supposed issues with pvc building a static charge but I've used it for 20 years with out problems you are correct on watch your bends so there not to tight.


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