I can’t believe it’s October (Shop Update)

Hello friends! It’s been a minute since I gave you an update and a new month is a good reason to check in. Since I moved to our Clinton house, I’ve been focusing my attention on the workshop. It’s been pretty miserable because we’re having unprecedented heat. (It has been in the mid to high 90’s for two straight months!)

After having the electrical hooked up, I moved all my tools into the painted half of my workshop.

How exciting to FINALLY set up my new tools! I ordered 4 new tools before I moved into the new workshop. They were going to take a couple weeks to get and I wanted all my tools in my shop before I (kinda) settled on a layout (which was important because I needed new electrical installed so I could use these new tools). I picked them up after I found out I had a leak and a bunch of mold and water to deal with). So they’ve just been in a back room with the rest of my tools until my workshop was finally ready to actually become a workshop.

We moved out of my old workshop on a rainy day and everything has been “stored” since then. When I rolled my table-saw out, it was evident the steel tabletop was in need of some pampering.

I spent 3 solid hours removing the rust, then waxing and buffing the top so it looked good as new.

Dust Collection (ha)

After setting up all my tools, I was excited to use them to build something amazing! (Or just build something. Anything.) I found I was short of hose to hook up to my dust collector. Luckily, I found this filthy length of flexible 6″ hose out in the trash pile! (I’m pretty sure it’s what was pulled out of the earth when we installed the new French Drain. It has some holes in it but I was happy to have something so I could give my new tools a test run.

I ordered some more hoses and I’ll need to set up a system where I can have all the tools hooked up and just open a blast gate for each tool when I’m using it. For now, I just have to move a hose from tool to tool.

I was really excited to get my tools out of storage because trying to build things without the tools you’re used to using feels a lot like trying to walk with your legs tied together. I waited for my electrician to hook up power so I could use my jointer and planer to prepare some lumber to build a small project which would complete a larger project I’ve been “limping along” with. Woohoo! I used the jointer and planer and got the lumber ready for building…

Then I couldn’t find the accessory I need to use one of my Festool routers on my track. So I set that project aside and moved on to something else. I’ll come back to it when I magically find that attachment. (eye roll)

Cabinets

I moved my old workshop cabinets out here with me but hadn’t decided where I would use them. They have vertical drawers that store a lot of specific items which would be really handy about now. So I made myself figure out where I want to use them. There were mildew spots all over the bottom so I cut the whole bottom section off. That also made it a bit easier for me to install (since I’m securing it to a concrete block wall). It’s still pretty heavy but was almost unmanageable before I trimmed it down.

I got that cabinet installed in the location I wanted to access all the storage it holds…but then I had to switch the direction of every single drawer because they opened up facing the wall. I would have put it there and changed the drawer glides anyway, even if I’d realized it before I installed the cabinet. But it was an irritating, last minute discovery. I was eager to put the drawers in and, BAM, have instant organization. Instead, I had to do a whole bunch of fiddley work. That just irritated me more than what I already was from sweating in the heat day after day.

What is with this HEAT?

I run hot anyway so 97 degrees, in East Tennessee, in October? I’m over it! I decided to take a break from the heat and work in the house until it cools off! (My face says it all!!)