GOOD GUY'S GARAGE

[Ray Cecil]

I've been married 9 years. I have no idea where all this stuff comes from. I just came home yesterday with a truck bed and 18' car trailer full of stuff from mom's house. It seems like we are always taking things to Goodwill or DAV. I just don't know where it comes from all the time. Mom has been going through her stuff for 6 months and she still has a ton. 4000 square foot home full of 40 years of living.....

Dad left me with his mess in his garage to clean up. I've been throwing away all kinds of stuff. He kept every product manual to every angle grinder or screw driver he ever bought. I had manual to things he threw away before I was born.

I had to go through his entire life's file cabinet. I found his taxes from 1975 all the way through 2016!! Every insurance policy, tax statement, receipt for a pack of gum in 1980 at the gas station that no longer exists....lol...it was NUTZ.

Stuff just piles up and you don't realize what you have.

[Gary Lewis]

Amen, brother!  Just about 4 years ago we cleaned out my parent's house.  They were products of the Depression and threw nothing away.  So I fully understand.

In your case you get to move some of that stuff twice - out of the family home and then into the new home.  Fun.  

[Ray Cecil]

Well, I got the loft subfloor completed last night. Also bought the lumber to do the stairs. I haven't figured out what to do about handrail just yet.

[Ray Cecil]

[1986F150Six]

You are working hard and making good progress!

[Gary Lewis]

What's the question on the handrail - material?

[Ray Cecil]

Gary Lewis wrote

What's the question on the handrail - material?

Exactly. I am not sure of the design yet.

I have a mountain of old barn wood I scavenged from my uncles farm before he sold it. I was thinking of taking that rough sawn wood and making the handrail from that.

I've got 2 16' long 6" x 6" solid red oak beams I don't know what to use them for. Overkill for just about anything. Inspector wouldn't let me use them for staircase stringers. I had to buy 2"x12"s

[Gary Lewis]

There's a lot more strength in a 2x12 on edge than a 6x6.  And if you are notching the stringer it makes the difference even worse.

Anyway, on the hand rail you want something smooth.  Would you have to sand the wood to get it smooth?  Or might pipe be easier?

[Ray Cecil]

Gary Lewis wrote

There's a lot more strength in a 2x12 on edge than a 6x6.  And if you are notching the stringer it makes the difference even worse.

Anyway, on the hand rail you want something smooth.  Would you have to sand the wood to get it smooth?  Or might pipe be easier?

I wouldn't have notched the 6x6. Solid Red Oak 6x6 I am venturing to say would be pretty equivalent in strength to a 2x12 in Spruce or Fir. It takes three people to lift each of these beams....I think they are on par with concrete lol!

I have a bunch of 1-1/2" or 2" Steel tubing I was considering for the job. Would be a lot of welding, and I don't have a good welder yet.

The rough sawn lumber wouldn't splinter your hands. Its dense hardwood, not weak splintery Fir or Spruce. The worse part of the rough sawn stuff is that everything is a different size. I'd need to get a table saw to get pieces within dimension.

[Gary Lewis]

Cutting the pieces to match sounds like a lot of work, but then welding up a tubing hand rail would be as well.  Let us know what you decide, but I'll bet it will work well.  

[Ray Cecil]

Well, another small step forward. Got the stair stringer measured up, calculated and cut.

[Gary Lewis]

I remember watching that be done for my shop.  Lots of meticulous work.  Well done!

How high is your loft?  My 2nd floor is 12' up, and the stairs are loooong - especially when carrying things up.  What support will there be in the center?

[Ray Cecil]

Gary Lewis wrote

I remember watching that be done for my shop.  Lots of meticulous work.  Well done!

How high is your loft?  My 2nd floor is 12' up, and the stairs are loooong - especially when carrying things up.  What support will there be in the center?

Meticulous? Naw, that ain't nothing. You should see what I do for a living!!!

From the finished floor to the top of the loft subfloor is about 8'4". I decided to sacrifice a little head room underneath, so I could fit those nice big shelves up top. I plan to keep the garage floor as neat and simple as possible. I've got 7' 6-1/2" from finished floor to bottom of floor joist. That is plenty of room. A little shorter than average 8'. That gave me about the same head room up above at 7'-8" from subfloor to bottom of trusses.

As far as support for the top of the stinggers, I will put in a 2x4 or 2x6 header and notch the stringer. Then screws from the backside to pull everything tight.

Rise is 8.21" and run is 9"

[Gary Lewis]

How much of this has been drawn up in CAD?

[Ray Cecil]

0%. I know I know....I draw everything in CAD.

I've been putting 60 hours a week into a UPS job in CAD for awhile now. I hate CAD right now. Below is a picture of just PART of a 1.5 million square foot UPS package sorting facility I am designing.....its kickin my butt.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, when you get to liking CAD again maybe you are the guy to help create some 3D drawings?  Bill sent me 3 plastic windshield clips from a Chizzler and I drew one of them up so he could 3D print it.  But there are two to go and it took soooo long to do the one.....   Perhaps you could do it in your sleep?  

[Ray Cecil]

Anything for you Gary.

Send me what you got. I'll make it purty...real purty.

ehhhh....what is a Chizzler???

[Ray Cecil]

I got some stairs put in.

[Gary Lewis]

Stairs look great!  Well done.  

Chizler (also Chizzler) 1. n. "Any Chrysler Corporation-produced engine, but most often referring to the EARLY HEMI motors manufactured for the 1951 through 1958 model years."  But in the 60's where I grew up it was just slang for a Chrysler.

As for Bill's parts, I hope to get them sent to you on Monday.  THANKS!

[Ray Cecil]

I've been very busy with work and everything else...but I have managed to make a little progress in the shop. Just a little cleaning up, and moving some things around.

Holly and the boys like the new office location.