Garage Progress

I still have a couple of big piles that I'm trying to deal with but it's a struggle for me to just toss stuff when I no longer need it, so I end up with piles I need to rehome. I lost my nice clear panorama but this is where we're at.

This workbench is mostly covered with unsorted tools and hardware. I ordered hardware storage bins from Harbor Freight but they're backordered.

This is the last table of junk I am trying to deal with. Probably most will end up in the trash or charity pile.

I still have some empty spots on the wall, luckily.

I don't really want to fill it all up because we're planning to bring our stuff back from Prineville in a few weeks. (We're selling the house to the renters.) To be honest, that prompted the clean-up effort. We have a trailer-full of stuff in Prineville that we need to move back in. I think I did pretty well this summer sifting and downsizing.

Rolling Lumber Cart Finished

 And it is done!

We're really happy with the finished project. We actually paid $10 for the Roll-Away Lumber Cart plan from the Woodsmith website so we could get the construction instructions and the complimentary Panel Cutting Guide (which we haven't built yet), but for more advanced woodworkers, you can get the Sketchup file for free here.

Now that this project is done, we're thinking about what is next in the garage. I'm considering getting rid of both of the workbenches and replace them with a workbench that provides a better project work area. I'd really like to build this Woodworker's Workbench on Instructables.

I've decided to do more research so I've requested from the library the Making Workbenches book mentioned in the article.

I also built a DIY Cyclone Dust Collector. It worked absolutely fantastic for about the first 20 minutes and then this happened. LOL

I had jury-rigged some hoses because Amazon has not yet delivered the hoses and adapters I've ordered, so maybe there is an issue there. Or I may need to buy some better buckets. It's worth trying again because it really did work very well.

Update later: Apparently, I wasn't the only person who had these problems with the dust collector and the guy who designed it updated the design so this wouldn't happen. All better.

More Garage Progress

 We are so happy to have breathable air again. SO HAPPY. This afternoon we were able to venture outside and work in the garage again. We made progress on our Wood Rolling Rack.

We bought the wheels and three sheets of the cheapest plywood, but all the rest is leftover wood. All the pieces are cut so we should be able to finish it in our next session.

Dredging Up Old Projects

We've been doing a lot of cleaning this summer. Since we've been trapped in our house due to the unbreathable air outside, we turned our attention to the basement this week. It's not quite time yet for photos because there's still a couple of piles that need to go away, but it's so much better down there.

I found this stashed behind the freezer:

We started this stained glass project before I started the blog—in 2008! I think the last time I posted about this was in February 2009. Then we moved to Redwood City and never worked on it there and without ever unwrapping it we moved it to Oregon and it got stashed/hidden in the basement. 

I'd like to work on it again. It's going to be a chore to dig through all the glass stashed under the stairs to find the rest to finish this project, but we need to sift it all anyway. It's time to decide if stained glass is one of the hobbies we want to maintain.

We also finally glued up a plant stand I made in a woodworking class in late 2011! I actually stained it way back in 2012 when we stained the master bedroom, but then it got stashed into a corner of the living room and we never got around to finishing it.

Now that it's glued up, I'll probably varnish it rather than shellac it because I plan to use it for plants and so it will likely be exposed to water.

Hazardous Air

All of our outdoor projects came to an abrupt halt when that branch blew off the roof last week because that was when the fires around Portland got so out of control.

I'm a little frustrated we can't work on the garage, because we are so close to being done. I have tried to turn my attention to sifting misc boxes in the basement but I can only stay motivated to sift old stuff for so many hours a day. Though, I have found some fun items I kept from my grandmother's house.

Elephant Lamp. I have no recollection of keeping this. I have no idea what to do with it. LOL

Elephant Sprinkler. This attaches to a hose and then the water sprays out the trunk. I haven't tried it yet.

I think I have finally opened and sifted every single unlabeled box in this house. We've taken a truckload of trash to the metro processing center and we have a number of piles that need to get donated to charities once Portland opens up again. Our basement storage area is looking much more tidy and organized.

Update the next morning. Getting worse. I've never been more eager for rain.

Garage Almost Finished

We have spent more than a week on the garage project and we are nearly finished.

We emptied out the big workbench and sifted the wood in it then put back what we were keeping.

We removed all the tools from the pegboard and installed spacers under it to give us more space where we could install the hooks. And Jeff installed magnets over the wood strips. Then I reorganized the tools and hung them back up.

This afternoon, we started cutting out the plywood pieces for the rolling lumber cart, but when this huge branch blew down off the roof, we decided we'd better redirect our efforts toward cleaning up the wood leaning up against the house.

This branch actually broke off the tree a couple of weeks ago,
but the wind blew it down off the roof into our work area.

The forecast calls for winds up to 50 mph. While we were cleaning up, two smaller branches also fell. I'm going to be really pissed off at the city if this damn tree damages the house.

So Much Sifting....

I have spent at least 20 hours the last few days sifting boxes and piles. If I see a box that clearly has stuff in it and isn't labeled, I bring it to my sorting area and go through it. We have a large pile of stuff to go away, some to the landfill and some to various charities. I also made a lot of progress at cleaning out the front storage area in the basement.

Here is where we are now.

Most of the boxes still kicking around on the floor are empty or staged to go to the Rebuilding Center (an architectural salvage place in Portland). The table has the last pile of stuff I need to deal with. And I still need to organize the tools and repopulate the pegboard.

There is still some remaining wood leaning against the house.

Although we probably won't keep all of it, I do want to sift through and keep the best pieces, especially the beautiful wide douglas fir we bought several years ago. Most of the wood has already been stowed in the garage on top of the new rack and on wall brackets; this is what is left outside.

After this recent success, we're feeling brave and we're going to try and build this mobile wood rack.