Posted by Jerry on January 2nd, 2005 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Once I had sourced some more pegboard (AU$46.50 for a half sheet) and about 8m of 42x19mm pine, I set about installing the second pegboard above the new cupboard unit for the automotive tools – socket set etc – it will certainly be the detail bits that will take the time, but that can be done in slow time. Anyhow the sheet fitted perfectly by standing it on the cupboard and it reached perfectly up to the top shed frame member. So I cut the pine to length and screwed through the pine and pegboard into the shed wall frame timber, making a strong hold for the pegboard. I also installed bolts at the halfway point on the vertical to help to reduce flexing of the pegboard. And here is the result:
Simple Cupboard
Now, remember I said I was going to add a cupboard? Well, I still had some melamine chipboard left so I set to work on the wall cupboard to extend the others at the end of the shed. I began by ripping the pegboard to width (about 350mm), then cut two identical pieces for the sides 550mm to give a height that would match the existing cupboards. Then I cut three identical width pieces for the top, bottom and shelf. The shelf I only made 300mm wide as I wanted it inset from the front, the top and bottom are 350mm x 500mm (the width of the cupboard).
Laying one side on its face edge, I mated the top to it holding it in place with a corner clamp while I doweled the side to the top, then added two screws. With the top and side forming an ‘L’ I mated the other side to the top and doweled an screwed it into place. Turning the U-shape structure onto the rear edges I lined up the shelf so that its top is 300mm from the bottom to give a pleasing proportion, not far off the Golden Section made famous by the renaissance artist Alberti. I attached the shelf the same way, and then put the structure back on its face to line up and attach the bottom.
Finally, I added a couple of pieces of 42x19mm pine beneath the top at the rear, to provide an attachment surface to hang the cupboard on the wall.
Moment of truth time and I hefted the thing into place and it fitted … er … almost! You see, there is a wall support running into where the back of the cupboard should meet the wall. So I de-hefted it gently to the floor where I measured and sawed a slot for the wall member.
This time it fitted perfectly. With the cupboard held against the wall, I used the cordless drill to make a dowel hole through the side into the adjacent cupboard, and then, still supporting the cupboard I reached up a dowel, and pressed it into place, then used a small hammer to drive it home. With the cupboard now stabilised, I screwed the top attachment surface to the wall beam, and added another dowel insert into the adjacent cupboard for added stability.
It still needs doors, but it is now in place:
And here is a closer view of the cupboard:
So that completes the work for Day six. Tomorrow I still need to make cupboard doors, and paint the brown cupboard doors to match. That should pull the whole thing together visually.
Getting there at last!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on January 1st, 2005 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Happy New Year folks!
Well most of the structural stuff is complete now, so it’s mainly the details left – and that is likely to take the rest of the ten days!
I didn’t want to disturb the neighbours too early, so I started to organise the pegboard – decide on which tools to hang up and how best to lay it out.
I still needed a cupboard catch (remember the corner cupboard I made a couple of days ago?) and I needed more pegboard – so I set off with a list and a purpose. Luckily, Bunnings was open and I was able to get the door catch, and more pegboard clips – but the pegboard itself seemed a bit expensive, so I have put that purchase off until tomorrow.
Back home I set to work organising the wood rack, clearing out the filing cabinet, ready to sell it, and moved the lathe hard up against the new drawer unit.
I fitted the cupboard door catch to the corner cabinet – now here’s a tip: The catch needed to screw into edge of the chipboard shelf – how to get the screws to hold? I drilled a couple of dowel holes perpendicular to the edge and in the path of where the crews would go to attach the catch. Then I screwed the catch into the dowels – a simple solution and one that means the catch won’t pull out as soon as the cupboard door is closed 🙂
I looked at how the cupboard situation was shaping up, when I had an idea – one of the shelf units could be made to serve as a cupboard if I turned it sideways and mounted it high on the wall -So I did – I’ll make some doors for it in a day or two. The small drawer unit is just the right height for the grinder, so that has moved in next to the lathe – it’ll need painting, so I won’t attach the grinder yet.
It may be a cheap Rhino Chinese lathe, but it is good to see it re-emerge from the sedimentation of family life!
And I mounted some hooks and hung up the four spare dining chairs so they are not taking up valuable workshop space..
So now the wood-rack end looks like this:
And the shed is now starting to look something like a decent woodworking space. Tomorrow should see a tip run done and me returning with more pegboard. I hope to get a small cupboard built and the doors painted.
Overall, progress seems ahead of schedule, but tomorrow is another day
Once again, Happy new Year folks!
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 31st, 2004 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
You know how I said I daren’t turn around? Well here is the rest of the shed!
hmmm time for some creative thinking here, oh and over there too!
Well I had planned to build a cupboard or two, but an early foray to the shops saw me return with a small drawer unit for AU$5.00 from the Salvos shop. And then i remembered there was a secondhand building supplier in Fyshwick. So I headed off in the trusty van and found a huge cupboard unit with a formica top for AU$88.00 which I duly brought home and then puzzled – it took two very big and burly blokes to lift the thing into the van, and now I’m home, there’s just weedy little me!
I emptied the contents of the two shelf units and removed everything out to the carport. Then I spotted my neighbour and asked for some assistance. He said ‘No worries mate…” and he promptly disappeared. Oh well. Then ten minutes later he returned having rounded up most of the brickies labourers in the district – who were only too happy to help and satisfy their curiosity at what I was up to in the shed.
I thanked them profusely and we stopped for a bit of a chat about what I was doing and how I was doing it, and then promised to get together later on for a beer.
Back to work, I sawed a cutout to enable the counter top to fit around one of the shed supports that was getting in the way, and then transferred the contents of the shelf units into the new cupboard. Now we’re making progress…
And that was about it for Day four – it being New Years Eve – and my wife and I’s Anniversary, we went out for dinner, and on our return, joined the neighbours for a New Years get together – and that most refreshing ale!
The fireworks were good – we watched the Sydney display on TV – and there as considerable discussion about the the tragic Asian tsunami.
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Posted by Jerry on December 30th, 2004 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Well, the most expensive part of the makeover so far was today – AU$25.00 for a half sheet of peg-board and about six bucks for some framing timber. I did get some hinges, so I was able to hang the door on the corner cupboard as you can see here;
The next thing I did was to fit a proper woodwork vise to my workbench. The thing is now recessed so that the fixed jaw is in line with the bench. I had to add a packing piece underneath so the whole vise would be flush with the bench top. It was fiddly work and took me about an hour. As you can see, it’s not the world’s neatest job, but it works. The vise is a cheap Chinese import but will do the job. I will eventually add some wooden jaw protectors, but that will be for another time
The reward was going to get some pegboard – Carba-Tec in Fyshwick is selling off some excess pegboard sheets at a discounted price – I picked up a half-sheet (there was no way I could fit a whole sheet in the van!
Anyhow I got the sheet home and cut it to fit between two horizontal frame members of the shed. It is awkward stuff to handle – and to get around the problem of trying to support it with one hand while attaching it with the other, I screwed a small piece of spare pine stock to the lower wall beam to provide a stable base to rest the pegboard on while I attached it at the top. It was then easy to add two more screws to the top and the same at the bottom before removing the temporary support.
I then cut two pieces of 45x19mm pine to length for the upper and lower surrounding frame, then cut two pieces to fit the sides and I added these to the pegboard starting with the bottom and then the two sides and finally the top which then had the side pieces to rest on. Here is the result:
So that’s it for day three of the shed makeover. Tomorrow, being New Year’s Eve I’ll tackle one of the smaller cupboards and paint the doors. And I can start to put my tools away properly. And that will be one end of the shed completed – I dare not turn round because in order to get one end cleaned up, of course I had to move everything to the other end which is now TWICE as cluttered as it was before! It’s like the Cat in the Hat all over again 🙂
But I have a plan for the other end…
Until tomorrow then
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 29th, 2004 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
Day 2: The day dawned cool and bright. Today would be the day of the cupboards. I set to with gusto levering off the floorboarding that comprised the bench tops. Whoever put this together must’ve used a whole carton of nails! After a close examination of the bench tops I made gentle but firm use of the oft-maligned ‘wrecking bar’ or crow bar.
There was an unholy screeching sound as the nails came free, and I quickly had a large pile of really grotty floorboards cluttering up my carport. Then a revelation… this was not one integrated cupboard set, but three units bolted together!
So it was time for a re-think and a coffee. This opened up new possibilities for re-engineering the existing cupboard space. I checked out the mess in the other corner:
Hmm. Time for another coffee… perhaps I should have a little lie down until the spring cleaning feeling passes. I went back for another look and a think. Meanwhile the other inhabitants of the shed came out to see what I was up to, and whether I would disturb their plans for an afternoon nap on a sunny part of the cement floor.
At that point, inspiration struck – I could reconfigure the cabinets to produce a continuous bench along the entire width of the shed. So with much grunting and emptying of cupboards, a relocation of the stored melamine-faced chipboard, and a relocation of my timber off-cuts stash, I set about moving the cupboards into position.
I settled on a straight across configuration after considering the merits of building another corner cupboard, and with the cabinets in position I fitted new tops to form a continuous bench. With the tops screwed into place I moved the bench I had made off to the side where one of the cabinets had been. I then brought the power tools back in and found suitable uncluttered cupboard space for them. And here is the result at the end of Day Two – a big improvement so far (compare with the before photos!):
Tasks for Day Three: purchase some pegboard to organise my loose tools and attach it above the mitre saw, I also need to fit the corner cupboard door (I did cut one to size but I still haven’t been out to buy hinges), and build perhaps two more standard overhead cupboards – I’ll post the design when I build them – tomorrow or the next day
cheers
Jerry
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