I don't heat my garage, costs too much!

I also don't do much car/truck work in the winter (September - May).

 

I heat my garage only when I'm working on something. Like replacing my son's blown head gaskets in his 'Burban. Anyway, this is what I use for organization:

 

After having seen pictures of Gary's royal abode, I'm too embarrassed to put up pictures of my own disorganized mess.

 

We all can't be lucky like Gary. Lol

 

Gary is using tools amassed over more than 50 years. For instance, my favorite 3/8" ratchet was given to me by my father when I was heading to college in '65, and has been used and abused. Very few of my tools say Snap-On or Mack, and the little bit that does was purchased at ...... (drum roll) flea markets. Further, many of the big ticket items, like the lathe and the mill, are Chinese and have been purchased at less than 1/2 price via craigslist.

In any event, I've been blessed to have what I have. Which is why is like to use it to help others as well myself.

Oh, and another thing I've been forgetting to say: I hate 12-point sockets! I have a bunch of them and am doing my best to replace them as it is way too easy to round-off a bolt or nut. If you are buying sockets I highly recommend going with 6-points only.

 

But, look at that castle! Of course, it's on Podunk, Oklahoma, but....

 

Now Gary , some bolts require the 12 pt sockets. As long as you dont use them for high torque applications or breaking stuff loose they work fine. They also easier to index in those tight areas where there isnt much wiggle room.

Gary is a very selfless person. He will do anything for anybody regardless of what he has going on in his life. He does have a nice shop. Pics probably dont do it justice. I have been on the full tour and it is very customized. If you have a chance to see his compressor room you will understand . He and I are very like minded in a sense that we both like to over build and bullet proof stuff.

Gary wouldnt hesitate to jump off in a major project that wasnt his own . He would do it for the experience and the reward of helping someone out. Gary seems to me to be someone that has always dreamed of how he would like his shop to be. When he got in a situation to where he could financially do it he did. Gary did a lot of the work on the shop himself also. He didnt hire it all out.

I do like the detail of his shop having hvac in it. That would do away with a lot of the procrastination and lower morale that some of us get when we have a project to do out in the weather.

I appreciate his help and his generosity!

 

Good point! (Get it, huh, huh??)

 

I think I want to move to podunk, just to be close to Gary.












nah....I just paid off my house.

 

X2 on the 12 point sockets, especially the cheep ones. I have/had a few amongs my tools and I actually enjoy feeling them strip and then throwing them out.

You can simply feel and see the quality of good hand tools in comparison to cheaper modern Chinese crap. I have an old craftsman axe from grandpop that is the best cutter in my bunch, drop-forged steel with better weight, balance, and edge retention than any modern cheap pot metal head.

That being said, I bought a big but cheep chinese vise from Northern tool years ago and it works fine. It's probably radioactive, but has held up over the years. Anafiel what you want to look for in a vise is 1) quality of the bolt mechanism (forged steel with close pitch square-cut threads) and quality of the inner "nut" that it threads into. The rest is just for shape and mass. And of course it should have holes for bolting it down to a table or stump. The rear anvil portion is useful and you want that to be big and square. Removable (magnetic) rubber vise claw covers are also very useful for when you want to clamp something without scratching it.

 

In case you hadn't noticed, Anafiel, you already live in podunk!

 

I was wanting to say something similar.......

 

Better for me to say it. Unlike most likely you, I have driven by Wagener, SC on my way to Charleston and let's just say I did not observe a cultural metropolis. But beautiful country. I'm jealous of podunk!

 

He does for sure.

 

I got it, even w/o you pointing it out. But, it was cute.

Bruno - Thanks for those kind words. My theory is that God gave me this stuff and I should use it to help others. Anyway, I am aware that some fasteners require 12-point sockets, but in my half-century wrenching career I've not encountered them. However, I'll keep my 12-pointers somewhere just in case.

All - Thinking of Lavatan's tool cabinet, I have one of those as well, a big stainless unit I got from Costco for $600. It is easily the match of some of the higher-priced units as it has ball bearing slides and has held up well. However, when loaded up it is a bear to move so it has always remained in the same spot, which is rarely where I'm working. So, I pressed into service an old Kennedy bottom unit that I got for next to nothing as it is well worn. But, it is small enough that I can roll it to whatever I'm working on and can use the top of it for a mobile work bench. I love it! However, it doesn't have ball bearing slides so when I push a draw in I frequently push the cart away, so I'd go for ball bearings if I could.

And, thinking of the Harbor Freight comments, I have a large HF roller tool box with the end cabinet add-on that I've converted to a lathe stand: Lathe Stand. This thing is great! For the price you can't beat it, especially if you use one of the easily-found 20% off coupons. I wish they made it in a small cart form as I'd replace the Kennedy with one. Go look at them and I think you'll be surprised.