71K5 - BP71K5's Just for fun build

[bp71k5]

10/6/2019

Trying to get a bit more organized. The previous owners had these 8’x12” line boards that I used to mock-up a workbench and used one to make a shelf below the ceiling rack.

Intent for that shelf is all the tools with plastic cases that don’t get used all that much. They’re still accessible enough, but up out of the way.


Got these heavy duty stainless shelf mounts from amazon.


The plywood board fastened to the wall will support various tool mounts like rechargeable battery stations, hammer, grinder etc. will also find a nice long power strip for some extra outlets. I vowed to never allow pegboard in the garage again.



The other things I vowed to ban were those little drawer organizers for screws and small parts. I was always knocking those things over and they took up tons of counter space and I’d often have to carry 3-4 of the trays to another work area where they’d get crammed with other stuff by the time they made it back.


I got some of the larger Dewalt yellow/black bin carriers for big bolts and then these red Milwaukee thin organizers with removable bins for smaller parts. I can carry just a little bin or the whole suitcase. The suitcases even snap together if you need to carry around more than one.


That’s it for now. Going to finish organizing and trying to find a spot for every tool, then try out the workspace before committing to a nice table top.

 

[bp71k5]

Happy Valentine’s Day! 2020

Weird that’s it’s been 4 months already, seems like I’ve been organizing the whole time but even after getting rid of some things, I came to the conclusion there just wasn’t enough space for tools. And I missed getting out there making things. Plus after a combination of watching @Greg72 finishing his awesome workspace and somehow getting addicted to Pinterest, I was inspired to create some better storage under the workbench.

This is what sparked my interest:


I liked the idea of welding up a steel frame that won’t get rickety like my 2x4 shelves. But didn’t want to do any grinding and sanding for paint. I didn’t even want to cut any steel myself I did a little drawing and planning and ordered the lengths of tube and angle that I needed.

I got to use my fab table. The wooden plank helped me keep the parts square while tack welding it together.



Plan was to have a steel skeleton and skin it with plywood. 3/4” maple plywood is light grained enough that it looks nice with the roughed up steel.



Tractor supply has 3/4” bolts and nuts by the pound so picked up some to use and leg levelers.



Mounted a 10 pack of 100lb slides. Not sure I’d trust them to hold 100lbs though.



I used a 60 grit abrasive pad on the drill to remove the mill scale from the steel, and then clear coated the frame.


The shelves are made from some 1x1-1/2 oak and more 3/4” maple plywood.


To continue my theme of low effort finishing, I found hickory hardwood flooring is super durable and already pre-coated, and... I liked how it looks. I’ll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves. I just glued the boards together and mounted them to the shelves with a 4” angle bracket. Still need to figure out what to do for handles. The plan for store bought handles just doesn’t seem to fit the look.

 

[bp71k5]

Forgot the video of the self closing drawers slides.

 

[Greg72]

Looking good Brian!

Setting up a new shop takes an enormous amount of time (clearly) but ultimately it makes you so much more efficient and fun once you finally get back to the truck projects.

Not sure what to suggest for handles. Maybe a rustic round or square bar would maintain the theme you’ve started. My only advice would be to use a “closed end” design on the uppermost drawers. I’ve been frustrated with kitchen pulls that constantly snag on my belt loops while I’m washing dishes or moving along the counters or island areas.

might just be a short-guy problem that nobody else can relate to....

-G

 

[bp71k5]

My only advice would be to use a “closed end” design on the uppermost drawers. I’ve been frustrated with kitchen pulls that constantly snag on my belt loops while I’m washing dishes or moving along the counters or island areas.

Yep, one of my favorite things to complain about, except they get my pockets and then rip em. That and coat hangars that have a spinning hook. Those drive me nuts trying to get a coat into the closet.

I may end up cutting an 1/8” off the drawer fronts and screwing on some more angle. That’s more effort than handles though so I’m pondering a bit.

 

[NorCal69]

Great job, Brian. That cabinet came out awesome!

 

[bp71k5]

Great job, Brian. That cabinet came out awesome!

Thanks Mike, related question here is I’m wondering if long rebar handles with a short bend on each end with some bolts welded to those ends might “look the part”. But I see a bunch of websites listing only a special rebar as weldable. I assume all of it is technically weldable and that the special stuff is just for legit structural use and I don’t need to worry about my hobby welding use on it. Maybe you’re more of a hammer and nails guy, but figured I’d ask.

 

[NorCal69]

I built a 20’ rake and shovel holder up in my car port. I used #4 (1/2”) rebar as the “forks” sticking out of a box metal 2x4. The rebar welded just fine. I’ll grab you a pic a little later.

I think rebar handles would be awesome,

 

[82355]

I’ve built tool hangers (brooms, shovels, etc) out of rebar, and it welded just fine.

Martin

 

[beags86]

Thanks Mike, related question here is I’m wondering if long rebar handles with a short bend on each end with some bolts welded to those ends might “look the part”. But I see a bunch of websites listing only a special rebar as weldable. I assume all of it is technically weldable and that the special stuff is just for legit structural use and I don’t need to worry about my hobby welding use on it. Maybe you’re more of a hammer and nails guy, but figured I’d ask.

All rebar is weldable. And just fine for lots of stuff.
The weldable rebar your talking about is for actually using it in structural applications building, Bridges, etc,
As a CWI, I can't allow a ironworker to just weld rebar. It has to weldable bar ASTM A706. That's the low alloy weldable bar.
Most rebar is ASTM A615. Not weldable by code.
Weldable rebar requires a special procedure, destructive testing certification, and special welding certs. Per code.

None of that stuff applies to garage builds.
Grab some bar at the home Depot and go to town. You will never know it's "not weldable"
Literally and per code, are two different worlds.

 

[imiceman44]

This...

All rebar is weldable. And just fine for lots of stuff.
The weldable rebar your talking about is for actually using it in structural applications building, Bridges, etc,
As a CWI, I can't allow a ironworker to just weld rebar. It has to weldable bar ASTM A706. That's the low alloy weldable bar.
Most rebar is ASTM A615. Not weldable by code.
Weldable rebar requires a special procedure, destructive testing certification, and special welding certs. Per code.

None of that stuff applies to garage builds.
Grab some bar at the home Depot and go to town. You will never know it's "not weldable"
Literally and per code, are two different worlds.

 

[bp71k5]

All rebar is weldable. And just fine for lots of stuff.
The weldable rebar your talking about is for actually using it in structural applications building, Bridges, etc,
As a CWI, I can't allow a ironworker to just weld rebar. It has to weldable bar ASTM A706. That's the low alloy weldable bar.
Most rebar is ASTM A615. Not weldable by code.
Weldable rebar requires a special procedure, destructive testing certification, and special welding certs. Per code.

None of that stuff applies to garage builds.
Grab some bar at the home Depot and go to town. You will never know it's "not weldable"
Literally and per code, are two different worlds.

thats what I figured, just didn’t want to buy a bunch of material and only get booger welds. I’ve barely got enough welding skill to make things look nice under perfect conditions.

 

[bp71k5]

Trying out the rebar idea.

started out by looking for tools to bend the bar. And rather than buying one like this.


Decided to try and just make one.


but it didn’t bend very accurately or predictably. After that fail, I decided to just heat it up with a torch and bend it. That worked better but wasn’t very predictable on the length and since I need to do it 15-ish times (assuming i build 3 cabinets).

Finely realized I needed to make sure the rebar was all the same length, placed into the vice at the same position, and hold the torch at the exact same spot. Then finally got something I can reproduce.

my fancy bending setup.


And my tuition pile.


the one on the top is the “final” one. Need to test it out to make sure I can repeat it at least 4 more times.

 

[NorCal69]

Yeah, good job on not buying that bender. I have a good one and I just don’t think that little 30.00 guy is going to be much fun. I have to bounce on mine with 5/8 bar. Pic below..

The hitch on your truck works in a pinch, too. Lol

 

[ashman]

Yeah, good job on not buying that bender. I have a good one and I just don’t think that little 30.00 guy is going to be much fun. I have to bounce on mine with 5/8 bar. Pic below..

The hitch on your truck works in a pinch, too. Lol

View attachment 329949

Holy crap, wish I knew how much those cost. Had some concrete guys leave one here and I finally just dumped it.

 

[bp71k5]

Holy crap, wish I knew how much those cost. Had some concrete guys leave one here and I finally just dumped it.

yea, probably works better and if I saw an need for bending rebar a lot, would be a good investment. But I have NO plans for that anywhere in my future. Even the $30 model wasn’t going to get used again.

 

[bp71k5]

Did some more experimenting today.

Created a fixture to hold a couple 1/4” carriage bolts at the correct spacing and also hold the rebar in position while I weld them together.



I didn’t like the result very much. It just stuck out too far. I had also thought there was too much anti-spatter on the joint which was contaminating the welds...but I was wrong. More on that later.



Two more parts for the tuition pile. I did learn how to repeatably bend the rebar to the same size so there’s a bit of knowledge gained there for the minimal cost. While I was at Home Depot looking for more rebar, it just hit me that the rebar started out as a simple neat idea, but had turned into way more effort than I wanted and I wasn’t really in love with the appearance sitting against my hickory drawer fronts. I went back to the thought of using some 1.5” angle to attach to the top of the drawer, but I’d need an oddball size to get what I wanted. So I thought of another way that would be more appropriate for this. I bought some samples to try out.


3/4” tube and some 2” flat stock. Cut to the full width of the drawer.

there’s where I realized it wasn’t anti-spatter but that my gas wasn’t on high enough.


And that’s better. Nice and simple and kinda matches the design of the rest of it.

 

[Smokinthehippies]

Did some more experimenting today.

Created a fixture to hold a couple 1/4” carriage bolts at the correct spacing and also hold the rebar in position while I weld them together.
View attachment 330123


I didn’t like the result very much. It just stuck out too far. I had also thought there was too much anti-spatter on the joint which was contaminating the welds...but I was wrong. More on that later.
View attachment 330124 View attachment 330130


Two more parts for the tuition pile. I did learn how to repeatably bend the rebar to the same size so there’s a bit of knowledge gained there for the minimal cost. While I was at Home Depot looking for more rebar, it just hit me that the rebar started out as a simple neat idea, but had turned into way more effort than I wanted and I wasn’t really in love with the appearance sitting against my hickory drawer fronts. I went back to the thought of using some 1.5” angle to attach to the top of the drawer, but I’d need an oddball size to get what I wanted. So I thought of another way that would be more appropriate for this. I bought some samples to try out.
View attachment 330125

3/4” tube and some 2” flat stock. Cut to the full width of the drawer.

there’s where I realized it wasn’t anti-spatter but that my gas wasn’t on high enough.
View attachment 330126

And that’s better. Nice and simple and kinda matches the design of the rest of it.
View attachment 330128

View attachment 330127

View attachment 330129

I would agree that looks much better than the rebar was turning out.

 

[NorCal69]

That looks way better. Nice job of switching it up and going a different route.

 

[bp71k5]

5 drawers finished, 10 to go...

built 5 drawer pulls like the mock-up, but a little smaller. They worked out great.


The plan is to not just have a drawer full of tools piled in there, but have a spot for each tool. These socket organizers can be screwed down to the drawer and prevent them from rolling around. Planning to find a wrench and extension holder as well so all the sockets are in a single place.


And already started on the second one. I think I’m going to build two and then fill them up the way I want and then decide how to do the third. I may want fewer larger drawers so am going to play that by ear. Pretty happy that the second frame was fixtured and welded up in about an hour. Spent more time with the rolocs adding some “flair” that I did assembling it.



One bummer, the drawer slides took a lot of fine tuning to get aligned right. I finally found a spacer block size I could use to align the slide spacing and maintain a 1/16” gap between drawers. I also broke the bottom slide plastic soft close feature already so these “Pro-Mark” slides get a thumbs down from me for that. There’s another set a little more expensive I’ll try for the second cabinet.