The basement stairs had one side open. The only railing was a 2×4 handrail, and we were worried about kids falling out the side. I will add a more detailed post later (hopefully). I also still need to paint.

I tallied the total cost last night.

• Tools: $49
• Materials: $89

That is what I bought. I ended up a bunch of cable and  Spax screws left over for future projects. The bolts you see are elevator bolts that I had left over from another project.

As you can see there is still some organization yet to do. That is a future project.

Back in the day Campmor had clothing with their brand on it. You didn’t get a fancy brand name, but got a good article or clothing with some top end features for a good price. I wanted a 300 weight Polartec jacket and this one was a good deal. I seem to remember paying $39 for it. It has pit zips for good venting and has kept me warm when I needed it.

This jacket hasn’t been perfect though. Right away, the flap that backs the zipper kept getting snagged when zipping the jacket, so my mother (I was only a freshman in high school at the time) ran a couple lines of stitching down the flap and that took care of that. Also a few years ago I was having issues with the sleeves being too short. Not sure if they got shorter or I got longer arms. Anyway, I added some fleece to the cuffs to extend them.

This jacket has kept me warm for many years, and still has more life left in it. I hope all my jackets last this long.

September hit us like a hurricane. New childcare, Eli is in school all day now. Every night we all all beat when it’s time to hit the sack. I hope to get some posts going in the next week or so. I have a few drafts I need to get finished up and out.

I must admit I copied the design a bit, but not exactly. I went with a sheep-foot blade and the other a claw shape. I had to rush to finish them, and made the sheaths two nights before leaving on vacation (a canoe trip). There is still a bit of finish work to knock out before I can call them done, but they worked well on our trip.

The sheaths hold the blades in securely. So secure in fact that Bridgit asked me if there was some trick to get it out. The sheath is then securely affixed to the PFD lash tab with a couple of sex screws, so it won’t fall off.

Adding screws

Our Swift Kipawa is about 13 years old. I re-finished the wood back in 2003, but now some of the screws in the gunwales weren’t holding properly. Tightening them didn’t work and when I would sit in the canoe or carry it by the yoke there was a noticeable shift between the inner and outer gunwales. That meant I had to add some screws, so I added a handful on either side spaced between the existing screws. I haven’t gotten a chance to try it out and see how it works yet. I wanted to order some square drive (what those crazy Canadians use) to match, but ended up using phillips because I had the proper screws on hand. I figure since there are phillips elsewhere on the canoe anyway it wasn’t going to inconvenience anyone.

Removing the cane and spline.

Our Penobscot takes a beating, but that is why I bought it. I wanted something to be an everyday canoe and take some of the wear off the more expensive boats. When we bought it 3 years ago the bow seat had a hole in the cane. When I replaced the center seat with a yoke I used the center seat to replace the one in the bow. Soon the stern seat had a hole in the cane and I replaced the cane with webbing. Well now the bow has a hole. So I pulled out the original to continue the game of musical canoe seats and set to work.

First thing I do is use a chisel to take off the cane and level the spline that holds it in. Then I fill in the gaps around it with an epoxy/sawdust mix. I like a bit more comfortable seat so I used a spokeshave to put more of a radius on the edges of the seat (both because the seat gets

Filling in the holes with thickened epoxy.

sat in both ways). Then some scraping to get the varnish off and a bit of sanding.

There are two types of canoe finishes: oil and varnish. I am in the oil camp for most canoe related things. I prefer the feel of oiled wood, and the ease of repair. Varnish has to be stripped and then re-applied, and can trap moisture in the wood. I use Pure Tung oil diluted with mineral spirits. A couple of coats and the seat is ready to web.

Vice-Grips helping out.

The first step to webbing is to figure spacing. I have a big roll of 2″ poly webbing that I use for sewing projects. any width could be used though. I start with the short direction and 5 widths of webbing leaves a bit too much gap, but 6 works with just a bid of side overhang. I cut my strips to length, leaving a bit of extra to pull on, and use a flame to seal the ends.

All done, and ready to be attached to the canoe.

Attaching the strips is pretty simple, but can be like

wrestling a bear. I staple the first end and use a small pair of Vise-Grips to pull it as tight as I can and another set of Vise-Grips to hold the webbing in place while I staple it in. Keep going in that direction and then figure out the spacing for the next direction. I used 3 strips with about ¹/₄” between them. Weave them in and then staple.

My main workbench.

The cornerstone of any shop is the workbench. Every project makes its way across your bench, so having the ideal setup is important. Different uses call for different benches. A woodworking bench is very different from one for a metal shop. My garage came with a workbench that was made of hardwood floor, likely left from the construction of our house. It was OK for a while, but it wasn’t very flat and it was high. I like a higher than average work surface, but it was really high.

On a side note: I have found that most people guess higher that normal for work surface height. I once asked about 6 people to show with their hands me how high a kitchen counter was. Most counters are at 36″, but people had their hands on imaginary counters in the 38-48″ range.

The Bench
A couple of years ago I pulled it out and built a new one. I wanted to make the best bench I could, one that would fit my needs and budget. Many people over build their workbench using beefy (and expensive) 6×6 legs with 2×4 frames, but under building has problems. Mass helps absorb vibrations from your hammer or sander. I used 2×3′s for the frame and legs, but tied it all in with the framing of the garage for added mass. The top was MDF (also heavy) covered with hardboard for a durable and replaceable surface. I made a backslpash by cutting an angle on some 1×4 with the circular saw to keep things from falling behind. It took a few years, but I also finished the edge with some more 1×4.

I have a small clamp on vice, a medium, and a nice large one, but I have never been able to commit to having them mounted. Usually its own weight is enough to keep it in place. I am afraid to mount it anywhere because as soon as I do, I know I will want it somewhere else.

Storage
Most of my benchtop power tools are attached to 2′x2′ pieces of MDF and have rails that they slide on under the counter. Its worked well for a several years. I had made a simple stand that they set on and had threaded inserts so the tool could be attached to the base, which also had a home under the counter. I never actually attached them and they only ever sat on it. I also intended to mount casters on the base, but after a few years I got tired of it and just took it apart. I had just the right thing to replace it with: a file cabinet.

Years ago I bought a used horizontal file cabinet from UM Property Disposition. I mounted casters on it and had a chunk of 2″ thick maple top that was 39″x24″ with a grid of ³/₄” holes (for bench dogs). Until recently it just sat around with some tools inside it and the top just sitting on top. I finally cut a couple of inches off the width of the top so it would fit under the counter. To attach it I bolted it together with some 1 1/2″ spacers so I can clean out underneath and get clamps under the top. There is also a 6″ overhang on the backside that should come in handy for clamping. It rolls out and can become extra workspace, or a place for benchtop tools.

C-Clamps, F-Clamps, Vise Grips, Spring clamps, deep C-Clamps.

You can never have too many clamps, and a few years back I was able to score a bunch of clamps for $25 on craigslist, when combined with my collection it gave me a good amount. I have them stored in the corner of the garage, and are all accessible while not taking away too much valuable space. Most are just mounted on wood rails and sorted by type.

Pegboard is an item of contention. Some people like it, some don’t. I didn’t until I got some with my house and now I am hooked (pun intended). I am too cheap to buy big tool chests, so pegboard is my cheap way to organize my tools for now.

As part of my new shelves I gained some new bench space. I decided to mount my battery chargers here as well to keep them out of the way.

This article is one in a series of articles entitled: The Garage. To see all the parts so far CLICK HERE.

Hardwood storage

Storing wood is always a pain, it doesn’t matter if the pieces are long or short. Trying to figure out what to do with all that wood is a pain because it there is usually a bunch and they run from tiny chunks a few inches long to full sheets of plywood.

Here is what I decided to do:

• small chunks went into a plastic bin
• short-medium stuff went into the cavities between the wall studs
• long stuff goes on a rack above the workbench
• full and partial sheet goods go on a new rack

With a plan decided I just needed to go ahead and put it into action. I had the bin, so as I found small hardwood chunks I put them in it. It just lives on a shelf. Easy.

The plan was to hide the medium chunks behind the sheet goods. I screwed some 1×3 on the wall and bam! Also hid back there are the sides of our garden cold frame.

Long board rack above workbench.

The long item rack above the workbench was already made, it just needed some clearing out. I had put random stuff up there and a few things that needed to be returned. The front edge has a lip that can hold a few boards that I am working on close and out of the way.

Sheet goods rack opened showing short board storage.

My sheet goods rack was like ones I had seen in magazines and online. Simple, easy, and cheap. A couple of pieces of 2×8, a sheet plywood, caster, and hinges. I loaded up the kids one Saturday morning to get the lumber, and it was built, installed, and filled by 11am. I think that painting it might look nice. Right now all that is in there are some partial sheets of MDF, ¹/₂ and 3/₄ Oak ply, and 1 ¹/₂ Foam board I use for cutting sheet goods. My 4 year old son is able to open and close it, so it should work out fine.

Right now I have some ⁸/₄ and ⁴/₄ ash boards and some machined gunwales in the rafters of my garage and parents barn. It would be nice to put them somewhere else, but for now they are out-of-the-way and will stay put.

Getting random boards out-of-the-way has really helped get the garage cleaned up. The workbenches are still covered with stuff and there are some small things to finish up. I am not totally cleaned up, but I feel like I am in the home stretch.

This article is one in a series of articles entitled: The Garage. To see all the parts so far CLICK HERE.

Installed and filled, but not clean.

Garages are a place where stuff gets stored; it’s a fact of life. Previously I had one of those plastic storage shelves in the garage and it was full of random stuff. In our basement we used IKEA BRODER shelves and they worked well, so I decided to use them in the garage. My wife and kids were gone for a couple of days so I was able to come home from work and spend all the time I wanted on them without being interrupted. It was nice. I also managed to make a pretty big dent in cleaning of the garage.

Since I am cheap I decided to only use the hardware from IKEA and use plywood for shelves. To save about $20 I went with sheathing grade DD plywood instead of BC. I don’t think my motor oil will complain too much. My original plan was to use mostly 24″ deep shelves, but as I started cleaning I realized that I didn’t have many deep things that would need deep shelves. Besides, 24″ deep shelves are twice the cost. I considered making shelves, but buying this type of shelving is easily adjustable. I figure that $175 to cover a 12′ wall in shelves isn’t that bad of a price.

What I ended up with was a light duty work/potting bench in the shelves. underneath are a couple deep shelves for random stuff and the vac underneath. Of course my new work area is covered with stuff (I’m not done cleaning yet). To finish it off I ran a round-over bit over the front edge of the bench. Paint may be in the future. I do have my huge bandsaw on the wall so there are only 2 shelves on that section. Now I can see and actually get to oil and other auto fluids, paints, auto-jack and stand, gardening supplies. I was surprised how quickly I managed to fill the shelves up, but stuff from all over the garage that was homeless migrated to my new shelves as I cleaned.

I picked up a center shelf bracket (seen above the bench) that I thought would work well for mounting pegboard or battery chargers to. That is still on the to-do list.

I still have more to do in the garage, but having the new shelves in feels so good. I need to get everything cleaned up more, so my pictures look better.

This article is one in a series of articles entitled: The Garage. To see all the parts so far CLICK HERE.

Laundry and freezer on left, new shelves on right, old shelves center

As part of our basement remodel that took place over the winter we also redid the laundry room. It wasn’t a total remodel just a wall where there wasn’t one before and some new storage.

We used to have shelves under the stairs that stored all the junk we never use, but I took those out. To shelve all exiled kitchen and pantry stuff I put up some BRODER shelves from IKEA. I had looked for something similar, but couldn’t find anything at a price I liked and then found them on the Ikea web site. Total cost was about $100 since I reused 1×12 boards that were part of the old shelves. After purging everything we haven’t used since we moved in the rest went on the new shelves. Now we can actually see what we have and get to it easily.

The metal shelves along the far wall came with our house and used to hold paint cans, old light fixtures, and other miscellaneous stuff in another part of the basement. Now they hold lots of food. The wood wine racks hold about 50 bottles and are pretty full now. Along the floor are 5 gallon buckets of grains (oats, rice, lentils, etc.) and milk crates of potatoes and squash from the garden (empty now). Notice all the Jars? They are mostly empty now, but canning season is almost here. We used to store empty jars in boxes, but I got tired of storing them. This year they are going back on the shelf empty. Then we fill them and put them back on the shelf. That way I don’t need to store them in two locations.

As you have probably figured out we buy a bit of bulk