mike gregory - Posted - 12/30/2010:  08:47:43

Sitting here, tapping keyboard, instead of hauling stuff.
My legs are tired, my shoulders are tired.
I'm hauling pretty much EVERYTHING out of the basement, into storage.
Even going to rip out the shelves that the previous owner had, for her gardening supplies.
My goal is to end up with a workshop where everything is not in everything else's way.

This will entail putting blockable wheels on the base of each power tool stand.
I've hauled about 1/3 of the stuff out already.
Up the stairway, into the truck, over to the storage space, up a ladder into the LOFT in the storage space (for the lighter boxes).
Each one of my legs is a minimum of 65 years old, and they are telling me that "Calves were not meant to work like OXEN!"
On the POSITIVE side, while moving things, I have discovered several dollars' worth of stuff I forgot I already had.

The guy who was helping me the last few days, is sick today, so the number of times I must trot up the stairs has just doubled.

PICTURES, before and after, will be posted.
By the way: People have been giving me cookie tins, with which to make cookie-tin banjos, since 1993.
And I've made over 300 of them, sold them at Art&Crapft Festivals. And today I'm moving the last of over a dozen large bags and boxes of tins.
I think I have enough to last me a while.

TLG - Posted - 12/30/2010:  09:14:15

Mike,
I am in almost the same boat as you.
I am building on the back of my shop, got the stud walls up & now doing the rafters/trusses, up & down the scaffold, climing ,hammering, screwing, ect is taking a toll on my hands & wrist & leggs.
It's been cold & now warmed up going to rain for a couple days so I am off that project & back in the shop.

Good luck on your shop,

Tommy

dflowers - Posted - 12/30/2010:  09:38:34

Fight for your space. That's what I say. I have my stuff in the extra bedroom; the sunroom and the screened in porch. Help, I need a "man cave" like Mikes. Mike, take your time.

michael6 - Posted - 12/30/2010:  09:57:50

Take your time Mike and don't over do it!

mike gregory - Posted - 12/30/2010:  11:37:18

Well, I'm back.
Been about 3 hours.
It's seven steps up from the basement, four steps down the porch to the truck.
22 steps per parcel, about 8 trips to load the truck.
Unloading requires almost no steps, since the loft is nearly full, so I'm not "laddering" anything.
And I spent the time since the last trip, taking down the previous shelves.
Wonder why the gas meter is out away from the wall?
Well, I'll design something that doesn't block it from the meter reader and the service personell.

Not too sore to load the toaster and carry a cuppa coffee from the microwave to the computer.
Thanks for your show of support.

Will sit quietly now, chew the sammich, slurp the coffee, and use "Uploading Photos" as an excuse to take a half-hour break.

Mike Greylak - Posted - 12/30/2010:  12:09:35

waiting to see you on the Hoarder reality show

Brian T - Posted - 12/30/2010:  12:33:57

Planning where to put things will be the real puzzle.
When I bought this house in 2000, there was a 12' x 14' empty basement room, bare concrete floor but finished walls.
2 windows to the front yard in one wall, doors to the cold room, bathroom and furnace room opposite.
Like all of the rest of the house, there were no shelves. Bare walls. Bare floor. I read that you're not far from that point.

Tape measure, long stick and a piece of chalk to do the floor plan. Took a month. Old socks to erase things that wouldn't work.
I'll bet that I tossed 1/3 of my "potential" projects in the dump, things I just knew that I'd never get around to completing.
The best thing I built was a square island bench: 10" chop saw, 8" band saw, 8" drill press and router table all bolted to it.
For the simplistic things I make, those 4 work-stations have been convenient.

Take it easy, Mike. Life is short enough as it is without busting a gut in the process.

mike gregory - Posted - 12/30/2010:  14:41:21

Got me a graph paper floor plan, and cut some very rough approximations, also to scale, of me and all the floor-standing tools and workbenches.
Shuffling it all around.
Easier than crawling around on the floor with chalk (I guess).

It seems that there was a wooden wall down there, across one end, and the gas meters were installed along it. The wall is LONG gone, and the meters are sticking out IN THE WAY.
I suppose a plumber and a permit is ultimately cheaper than a leak, a spark, and a memorial service.

Brian T - Posted - 12/30/2010:  16:27:48

I think that I spent the greatest amount of time sitting on a stool in the middle of the room with my imagination working overtime.
I should have built the big storage shelves both beside and over the freezer. Oh well. By twisting the island bench a bit, I can bring in 16'and 20' pieces of molding along the hallway and cut them up just fine on the chopsaw. Made an H-shaped sawhorse exactly the same height as the saw bed.

Just last Fall, I bashed all the crude shelves out of the long, narrow furnace room. Made another 4 dozen shelf brackets out of 1x2 and cut 2 sheets of 5/8" plywood for the shelving in there. Estimate the brackets, screws, glue and all don't cost $0.30 each. They're not elegant but in the dark at the back of the furnace room, who cares?

Yeah, get yourself a gasfitter and the permit. At the end of the day, cheap insurance. Not a DIY project to me. You have the luxury of probably having the gas meter put where _you_ want it (aka out of the way).

mbj35758 - Posted - 12/31/2010:  06:15:07

hmmm....
I have been cleaning out junk for the last few days. The women I love has put a restriction on me doing ANY projects in the house, I can't build any thing new unless something goes out, it is cold out andI have never thought about putting heat in the garage....
with every thing I should be doing today, I belive I'll just sit around and pick, with luck I'll have some new decent song to play on my new banjo I soon getting....the up side....my wife is the one that helped buy many of the parts........life is good
oh yea, I will do some garage cleaning today and with luck will not be put on the HOARDERS road show this week....

Gymbal31 - Posted - 12/31/2010:  06:57:47

quote:

---

Originally posted by mbj35758

hmmm....
The women I love...

---

plunker - Posted - 12/31/2010:  20:44:20

Mike, I find it curious that your gas meter is inside the house. Every place I have owned--[let's see--six owned and two rented] have the meters outside the house. Come to think of it, I've never seen a gas meter in a house. They sometimes leak and that could pose a problem. I would check with the local gas supplier about the safety issues involved as well as access to read the meter.

mike gregory - Posted - 01/19/2011:  08:25:40

The contractors who were originally supposed to be here at 7:30 to MOVE the meters, told me yesterday that they'd be late.
So, expecting them about 8:30, I did NOT zip off to the store for some bread and milk.
It's now nearly 10:30, and they're not here yet. And it's getting close to lunch time.

Lucky me, I can survive on tap water and the rather unattractive fat reserves under my skin, for at least a week.

Meanwhile, how about some images of the work in progress?


Have you priced caster wheels lately? I have collected several pairs of skates from yard sales. Ball bearings, neoprene tires, and even if the bearings are a bit worn, plenty roll-y enough for my needs.



Making a tool stand for EACH of the free-standing tools, so that I can roll them around, out of each other's way, as needed.
And I'll have the wheels chocked, or up off the floor entirely, so as not to have Wandering While ON Power Tool syndrome reducing the usable number of fingers.
Front to back, ONE of 3 band saws, the big belt sander, and the drill press.

Edited by - mike gregory on 01/19/2011 08:34:10