Wine Boxes!!!!! and Oak Flooring!!!! and Peanut butter jars!!!That's the
answer!!
Several years ago, I was at my local spirits store (just looking, not
buying) when I saw a pile of wooden wine boxes in the trash bin. They were
well made and had great designs on them. It turns out that wine boxes are
pretty standardized especially the Bordeaux. I immediately began going by
and collecting them, and them totally rebuilt my woodworking shop and auto
shop to use them as drawers and storage. I did 2X4 uprights, with 1x1 rails
that would allow the wine box to slide in and out like a drawer. They are
totally interchangable, free, and when painted with clear poly, shed dust
and look like an expensive wine cellar.
I used them in wall racks, and under the work benches, etc
I then built work benches around both shops with plywood tops and covered
them with scraps of pre-finsished 3/4 inch oak flooring, which are easy to
clean, and I have re-polyed them a couple of times...grease, everything
cleans up nicely. I actually had several different kinds of left over oak
flooring. After a couple of years it didn't matter. The flooring is tough
as heck, and over 3/4 ply makes a real work bench.
If you poly everything, benches, boxes, etc. and have an exhaust fan,
simply turn the exhaust fan on, and put your shop vac in "Blow mode" and
blow eveything down, and it comes off the poly surfaces and out the exhaust
fan.
Now.. I started my work shop 23 years ago, and we had a baby. I saved all
of the baby food Jars for small parts storage containers. They are small,
and when the drop they break. I have now standardized on peanut butter
jars. They are plastic and they are five times as large. However, my wife
insists on buying what is on SALE. The problem is that Jiff, and Skippy jar
tops are not interchangeable. I have almost lost the battle on insisting
that we buy ONE kind of peanut butter, I don't care which one!!! But stick
to one so all of my storage containers are the same, and the tops will be
the same. They should sell the peanut butter jars by themselves...I have
not been able to get them that way..so I eat a lot of peanut butter in
order to get the jars!!!! By the way, these jars also keep paints, liquids,
etc very well... Choose a peanut butter and go for it!!!
john
-----Original Message-----
From: Henry Frye
Sent: Friday, June 04, 1999 3:54 AM
To: Pete & Aprille Chadwell
Cc: triumphs
Subject: Re: Workbench and shelf building
At 06:21 PM 6/3/99 -0700, Pete & Aprille Chadwell wrote:
>
>Triumph afficianados:
>
>I'm seriously sick and tired of my messy garage.
snip
Pete,
In my previous life, I worked in the Shopping Center Industry. One of our
more common problems was when tenants skipped out, they left behind store
fixures. When I built my shop, I called one of my former managers and asked
which empty store had some decent shelving that was abandoned. He hooked me
up with the motherload of industrial steel shelving. It's the same stuff
used in drug stores and supermarkets. I can climb up the shelves and not
damage the stuff. For those of you who know me personally, you know that is
saying alot about the sturdiness of the shelving! ;-)
I suggest you keep your eyes open for vacant stores in shopping centers.
Look in the windows and see if there is any shelving, benches, etc. that
may suit your needs. Then call the shopping center management company and
offer to remove some of it at no cost to them. Most of the time the
Landlord has to pay to junk the stuff left behind. You are doing them a
favor.
Good luck.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Henry Frye - thefryes@iconn.net - Connecticut, USA
Stag MkI Getting Sorted Out
TR3B Driver
TR250 X 3 The BIG Project - Will Be Worth the Wait
Homepage http://members.iconn.net/thefryes/
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