Construction is done, so we’ll call this the last episode. No need to prolong an already tedious account with details of putting all my junk away.

In this episode, we address the workbench and some shelves for the “tool corner”.

For the workbench, I was pretty much constrained to the same size I had in the old cabinets. The utility of that “bench” was compromised somewhat by the drawers getting in the way. Not that I really used the workbench to do any work. As previously stated, it’s pretty much been used as a table more than a workbench.

Being that it would get light duty, I considered making it out of a double-layer OSB with a 2×4 frame. The more I thought about it, the less I liked that plan. I ended up using six 2×6 planks screwed and glued to 2×4’s at each end, then a single sheet of OSB for the work surface. This bench would be attached to a cleat on the wall and to the two neighboring cabinets.

I tried to be very careful with the width of it. I didn’t want it loose; I wanted a pretty snug fit between the cabinets. At one point, I was beginning to think I’d made it too snug. I managed to wrestle the back of it onto the cleat and get it more or less level and propped up. I needed to shift it about an inch toward the wall, and no amount of pushing on it was generating any progress. I tried a hammer on a block, but no joy. Finally, I tried the sledgehammer. A few relatively light taps later and all was good.

After securing the bench top, I went about mounting my vice. I haven’t had a vice in my garage in my adult lifetime. When I was a kid, I made regular use of a vice. I can’t believe I’ve gone so long without one. I wanted to be sure to mount it so that the back jaw of the vice was proud of the table’s edge, so that I could deal with material that hung down below the table top. I’d have liked to have been able to mount it far enough to the side so that I had that same luxury when I rotate the vice 90 degrees, but it wasn’t possible with this vice.

The last bit of work was making a couple of shelves for tools. I searched the web for ideas and found a few photos of things I might be able to do. I wanted someplace for the chargers and batteries and I needed a way to accommodate drills/drivers and saws.

Where I’ve mounted the chargers, their cords make it to the nearest outlet, so I don’t need to use an extension cord. I may find a better place later. It should be easy enough to move, just four screws into the studs. I didn’t want to paint it the same gray as the cabinets. It’ll probably be white.

I’m happy I did a mock-up of the shelves first. I cut the shelves themselves to the proper dimensions. When I was figuring out how long to cut the cleats, I found myself looking for my pencil and a scrap of paper to do some calculations. Duh! I don’t need pencil and paper! I have chalkboards!

With the shelves sized and cut, using some scraps I propped them at heights I thought would be good. After a couple of slight changes, I found what I liked.

The garage floor is still covered with the stuff that needs to either go into the cabinets, go to the recycler, to the landfill, or to be given away. I bought a bunch of plastic bins of three sizes, and they’ll do most of the work. I still need a few more, including something like a parts bin for all the fasteners and other little bits. But I like how the bins are fitting into the cabinets.

In the left cabinet, where the shelves are farther apart, I can stack a large, shallow container on top of a large, deep container. Or, two small deep ones on a large, shallow one. On the right side, everything fits, but with less stacking.

I’m sure that when I get whatever additional containers I require, the finished product will look just as neat and tidy as it is in these photos. And pigs will fly.

Before I started, I guessed I might be able to pull this off with 32 hours of labor, not including demolition. I was off by a bit. Demolition was 4.5 hours and the rest was 69, for a total of 73.5. I didn’t have a budget for materials. I just figured I could do it for less than I paid for the originals, even if I had to purchase some tools. At that point, I hadn’t even considered getting any storage containers. My total cost was just over $1100, but if you take out the tools and containers, we’re under $800. (All costs listed include tax.)

The unexpected value in this whole project was the sheet of insulation. I’d never have been able to make all those big OSB rips without it. When I was working on the tool shelves, at one point I had some of the shelf material hanging off the edge of the insulation, which caused the sawblade to bind. I can only imagine the difficulties I’d have had if I’d done this any other way.

Garage Shelves materials

Class	Date	Item	Total
Lumber	11/10/20	2x2x8’ Furring Strip	67.18
Lumber	11/10/20	2x6x8’ #2 Douglas Fir	81.61
Supplies	11/10/20	Formular 250 2” 4x8	36.38
Lumber	11/10/20	4x8 OSB 19/32	262.20
Tools	11/10/20	Kreg Rip Cut Aluminum Circular Saw Guide	37.89
Delivery	11/10/20	Delivery Charge	96.43
Paint	11/10/20	Killz 2 Primer (1 gallon)	18.02
Tools	11/10/20	Ryobi 18volt 7-1/4” Brushless Circular Saw	105.09
Supplies	11/13/20	Screws 8x1-1/2” T-Star	20.59
Supplies	11/13/20	Screws 10x3” T-Star	10.29
Supplies	11/13/20	Titebond Wood Glue	4.30
Supplies	11/13/20	Paint Tray Liner (3-pack)	3.23
Tools	11/13/20	Safety Glasses	8.09
Tools	11/13/20	7-1/4” 40 tooth saw blade	16.22
Paint	11/17/20	Grey paint (1 gallon)	35.46
Paint	11/25/20	Killz 2 Primer (1 gallon)	19.21
Supplies	11/25/20	Paint Tray Liner (3-pack)	3.23
Paint	11/25/20	Grey paint (1 gallon)	35.46
Supplies	11/25/20	Screws 10x3” T-Star	10.29
Supplies	11/25/20	Scotch Blue tape	4.30
Tools	12/06/20	Ryobi 18volt drill/drive kit	69.34
Supplies	12/06/20	3M sandpaper 120 grit	5.38
Supplies	12/06/20	3M sandpaper 60 grit	5.38
Supplies	12/06/20	Diablo 6pt jigsaw blade 5pk	7.55
Supplies	12/06/20	Wood putty	3.99
Supplies	12/08/20	Paint Tray Liner (3-pack)	3.23
Paint	12/08/20	Chalkboard paint	12.28
Containers	12/10/20	56 Quart container w/lid	29.22
Containers	12/10/20	32 Quart box w/lid	25.97
Lumber	12/11/20	2x6x4’ Pre-Cut Lumber	32.83
Lumber	12/11/20	2x4x4’ Pre-Cut Lumber	11.64
Containers	12/14/20	32 Quart Utility tub w/lid	17.25
Supplies	12/22/20	Hex bolts ½ x 3 ½	5.37
Supplies	12/22/20	Washers, ½”	1.86

Garage Shelves time

Date	Hours	Description
11/08/20	1.50	Demo old cabinets: right side
11/09/20	1.50	Demo old cabinets: left side
11/10/20	1.50	Demo old cabinets: corner cabinet and workbench
11/14/20	3.00	Fabricate left and right bases; assemble rip guide; rip 2 OSB sheets
11/15/20	2.00	Finish cutting lumber for left and right cabinets. Size for doors.
11/16/20	3.50	Prime coat on all left and right cabinet pieces
11/17/20	3.25	Paint on all left and right cabinet pieces
11/18/20	2.75	Assemble 1 side wall. We learn Dave can’t count.
11/19/20	3.50	Assemble 2nd side wall, 3rd except for hinges. Cut/painted short pieces I was short (8 of them)
11/21/20	2.50	Mount left side cabinet side walls to base, mount cleats to wall, attach walls to cleats. Cut shelves.
11/22/20	2.50	Assemble 4th side wall, mount hinges on 3rd, 4th side walls, mount right side cleats, attach right cabinet side walls to cleats
11/23/20	2.00	Cut shelves for right side cabinet, attach walls to base. Need paint, 3” screws.
11/25/20	2.25	Fit drawer carcass into place, cut base for it. Cut most of the lumber for upper center and upper above drawers.
11/26/20	0.75	Cut shelves for upper center and upper left half-cabinet.
11/28/20	4.25	Prime coat on all shelves, upper center and left half-cabinet
11/30/20	3.75	Paint on Saturday’s primered pieces
12/01/20	3.00	Assemble/mount upper center (except for hinges)[many measurement errors, new cutting/painting required); secured 4 shelves.
12/02/20	1.25	Secure remaining shelves, mount upper center doors
12/03/20	2.75	Cut correct lengths of pieces for upper left half-cabinet, painted pieces, mounted cabinet (except for hinges)
12/04/20	3.25	Mounted all doors, sanded/primed door for upper left half-cabinet as test, ripped 4 of 6 upper doors to size
12/05/20	2.25	Ripped last two small doors, all large doors to size; drilled new holes for hardware; sanded small doors. Doors that were haning straight no longer do.
12/06/20	1.00	Sanded large doors; applied wood putty where necessary
12/07/20	3.75	Sand drawers, carcass; prime coat on doors, drawers, drawer base
12/08/20	1.50	Gray paint on small doors, drawers, drawer base, edges of large doors
12/09/20	4.50	Mount/secure drawer carcass; chalk paint on large doors; some touch-up paint; mount doors
12/15/20	1.00	Measure cuts for workbench
12/16/20	1.50	Cut lumber for workbench; assemble main bench part
12/20/20	1.25	Sand, paint workbench
12/22/20	3.75	Install workbench, mount vice on bench, mock up tool shelves, mount chargers on wall
12/24/20	2.25	Measure and cut shelf cleats; cut slots; paint pieces; assemble and mount shelves