Sub zero weather isn’t bad if you’re busy in the garage and for the past few weeks, I’ve been assembling and mounting new cabinets in the workshop, rearranging and sorting things and, in general trying to put everything in it’s proper place. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m making progress.
I built the workbench a long time ago with a pretty neat kit. The legs and screws come in the box, you buy your own lumber and cut to size. It’s been handy to have, but there’s a limit to what a bench alone can do.
First cabinets
If you haven’t set up or changed your workshop for a few years, you would be amazed at what’s available to make things easier and the price is right. The cabinets you see above
Some guys might want to build everything themselves from scratch, but I want to get the workshop setup without months of preparation and wood dust everywhere, so I went with these and I’m glad I did. Hanging the cabinets on the wall was a bit of a project since I was working alone, and after marking the studs and scribing a level line for height I was short a couple of arms. Looking around at what I had, I grabbed my Werner ladder
Then light on the bench
Once the cabinets were hung, I needed more light on the bench. In the old days, the go to light would have been some huge fluorescent fixture, but these days the thing you need are LEDs. I looked at dozens and chose this setup
Well, that’s the update. Lots more to do, but I like the way it’s shaping up.
Ry says
Paul, great tip on the lights! do you know their exact current draw? Would you say they output more or less than a typical 4′ x 2 bulb fluorescent ? I have been thinking of going LED in my shop but its only recently that the price of LED lighting is starting to make sense for the short term.
Paul Crowe says
Each strip is 3 watts and you can power up to four of them on the 1 amp 12 VDC supply in this kit that plugs into the wall outlet. As far as light output, it’s hard to say without a fluorescent to compare it to, I’m guessing it’s a bit less light, to match it you could add another kit or get one of the kits with a bigger supply and more strips to begin with. You will definitely use far less electricity. A 2 tube 4 footer uses somewhere between 60 and 80+ watts, depending on the tubes, while this 3 strip set uses 9 watts.
Of course there’s also no buzzing transformer and the color of the light is much nicer plus, in this cold weather, the lights are instant on compared to the slow light buildup in a fluorescent.
Ry says
9 Watts, or 12 depending on the efficiency of that wall wart power supply then. pretty amazing indeed! I need to do the math but I usually pull the trigger if I see cost savings ( including the investment ) covered in 2 years. If the light output was equivalent or better, I could work that into my equation as well.
Thanks Paul!
Pushrod says
WAY too clean, methinks!
And the backboard is screaming for perfboard!
Paul Crowe says
As noted above, it’s a work still very much in progress. Perfboard is coming, lots more to do. It was one of those, “I think this would be a good time for a photo” moments.
BigHank53 says
I’m not a huge fan of perfboard–I manage to remove the hook along with the tool about 5% of the time. I use 1/2″ plywood and slip nylon tubing over drywall screws to make tool hangers. It lets you dense-pack wrenches and suchlike. Use L-brackets to mount a strip of ply like a shelf and drill it full of holes for your screwdrivers. Find a couple old knife blocks at the local Salvation Army and keep your files in them.
Paul Crowe says
Like the LED lights instead of fluorescents, there may be better solutions to the pegboard/perfboard tool storage we know so well. Once you start looking around, the new ideas and possible solutions are mind boggling. Nothing definite yet on that front.
Bob says
No way, man.
First, it just doesn’t have authentic ambiance. It needs to look old and industrial, or have that renovated stables look. Forget pegboard – just get the local large format print shop to make some wallpaper sized images of old blacksmithing tools mounted on the wall, then paste that up. Get the same print shop to make a cardboard cutout of an old Monarch lathe oozing with Patina ™ and stand it up in the back.
Most important of all: Get rid of that lighting! How are you going to make fashionable videos with angle grinder sparks without mood enhancing darkness? It’s not like details, function, or anything else that shows that you were actually aware of what you were doing to a motorcycle means anything. After all, the most important feat in “motorcycling” today is getting 5 minutes of fame in PipeExifWorld!
Actually, I’m thrilled to see this – I’m sick to death of the dumbing down trend in too much of motorcycling anymore – the future has to be brighter than it is now.
Paul Crowe says
Yeah, I never did understand the dark cave workshop environment. Drop a small bit and it’s gone forever and the chances of dropping something are increased because you can’t really see what you’re doing in the first place. If your budget is tight, buy lights and a big can of white paint. Just making everything brighter brings the quality of the work up immediately.
When I start making videos, I’ll dim the lights and I’ve got a few spray cans of Patina on order, just spritz it in the air, let it settle on everything and hit record. 🙂
Ken says
Paul,
Check out garagejournal.com ( think that’s the correct site). Crazy amount of ideas for your shop from like minded folks!
Best of luck,
Ken
Ken says
Oh, and there are free lumen meters for your smart phone that can tell you how much light your light fixture is putting out.