No, that's not foam, Aaryn. He's up in Maine. They get about 6 weeks of summer starting in July. Lol
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Great thread! Congrats on the new shop! Looking forward to updates!
Thanks! And the floor is gonna stay as is for now. The concrete is sealed with some kind of off brand sealant that has a life expectancy of a couple of years. Hoping by the time it wears out I'll be able to get a pro epoxy coating.
Haha it's an older picture. The snows been gone for about ~2 weeks now, I just don't have an updated picture of outside yet. It's been breaking 55F outside and I've been opening the doors and enjoying the fresh air
It's alive! Today was the first day I was able to use the new compressor and retire the old 4.5 gallon screamer.
https://i.imgur.com/VE7WqDp.jpg
I won't lie it feels weird not running out of air pressure or not hearing the compressor kick in every 30 seconds. That little 4.5 gallon monster put up a serious fight and ran hard. It ran so hard in fact that it doesn't stop running. It's designed to stop at 225psi but the little beast is living by the 110 percent mantra and charges up to 250 psi which promptly triggers the emergency release valve which lets it drop down to ~120psi where it can then restart the process.
I also should probably mention that the pressure sensor in it failed 45 days ago and I've had to manually turn it on / off since then. Nothing like walking over to it and turning it on, walking back to the car, work until it charges, walk back to it and shut it off, walk back to car, and repeat.. I did order the replacement part but it's been on back order from the factory for over 30 days at the time of writing this. Hard to imagine why it's difficult to get parts for an oil-less box store compressor. :)
The nice thing about having the metal panels on the walls is that they're easy to remove compared to drywall. With it being a straight shot from the compressor to the breaker box nothing but 20 ft of wall was separating the two.
https://i.imgur.com/zaJBW8E.jpg
Plenty of screws had to be removed to take the panels off the wall. Props to the Milwaukee impact that made this tolerable as I couldn't imagine trying to remove them all with a ratchet.
https://i.imgur.com/hws8dLZ.jpg
Since I'm not ready to plumb up the shop with some hard lines yet I decided to make a very rudimentary system that had two outlets and a regulator to drop the line pressure to 90psi. The regulator is an Ingersoll Rand ARO R37341-600-VS, and the pipe / fittings are just some 1/2 stuff I found at the Depot of Homes.
https://i.imgur.com/yDvTYKH.jpg
A small pet peeve of mine is placing things down on a semi flat surface inside a car interior and the item proceeds to fall over. I don't know what it is but it really grinds my gears waayy more than it should. I love my Tornador black but it's frustrating every time I try to place it down and the thing falls over because the air line gets in the way. I recently learned about Prevost after researching air couplers that wouldn't wear out in 3 months (more on this later) and was excited to learn they sell a swivel fitting for air lines. I figured this was the perfect little mod to let me finally place my Tornador down on flat surfaces when connected to an air line.
It's a Prevost OPBD201
https://i.imgur.com/Ker72Bv.jpg
Bam!
https://i.imgur.com/lrDYzex.jpg
I had to order some anti vibration pads for the compressor as it gives off some serious vibration into the concrete. I think it set off my mouse trap that was across the shop. It also appears to have taken to walking a bit. I think it may be conscious about it's weight since it comes in at nearly 500 lbs.
https://i.imgur.com/03ptVfd.jpg
I'm about 90% certain this wasn't from me taking it off the pallet as after positioning it I measured the distance between each wall to ensure a 12" gap. When the picture was taken it was only about 9" or so from the closest wall.
And lastly what's a shop thread without any vehicle pictures? Got the chance to do a light polish / wax on an almost new Ram 1500 with only 11k on it. Blue is my favourite color to work on.
https://i.imgur.com/ISxRGk3.jpg
Great post, Ed!!
Those little annoyances are all part of life. Thanks for documenting them to show others that everything does not always go as planned.
Love your posts, and REALLY love the job on that gas-sucking HEMI Ram. (I have one too). ;)
Looking good man. I use those same swivels on my Tornador. Really makes using them in the foot well areas much easier too.
Thanks! The posts are fun to write. I hope others find them useful.
Thanks and I agree they're a game changer. Makes the air hose feel less restricting.
And my new Griots G9 polisher came in the other day. I'm not able to use it yet as I'm still waiting for a 5" backing plate to come in but I am excited to try it out along with the lovely 25' cord I ordered. I noticed I've been spending a large amount of time de tangling my 50' extension cord I use with the gg6. 50' is great outside, but in a shop it's a tad overkill. Now I just need to find the time that I can slip out of the shop and drop off the return box to send back my broken gg6 to Griots now (buy back program).
https://i.imgur.com/dmsoXca.jpg?1
And I don't have a picture but the anti vibration pads for the compressor came in. They make a HUGE difference. I can't feel any vibrations in the floor any more and there's noticeably less noise. They've also finally encouraged the compressor to embrace a more sedimentary life and it no longer goes on walks.
I also took a portion of the belt cage off the compressor as it was rattling horribly. There's still enough of the cage that it would catch the belt in the event of a snap. I figured with the eventual plan to build a container for the compressor it's worth the reduced noise.
You ever feel like you just can't find that perfect tool for something that you've been looking for for awhile? I feel that way with light bars right now as I've got three of them. With the latest having just arrived yesterday.
https://i.imgur.com/vL3zrqH.jpg
The light bar (on the left) is an ATD 80357. This was the first light bar I bought back in October(ish) when I was still working outside. It has a built in battery but it can be ran via the detachable cord. With it pumping out 2000 lumens on high it's bright and the temperature of the light is a cool white.
Unfortunately it's too wide for most vehicles other than SUVs and trucks. I tried to look past this issue and use it only for larger vehicles but I have a minor gripe with it. Whenever the light is on, and plugged in, instead of charging the battery it will drain it until it's depleted. My hopes of running it on the battery till it dies then plugging it in to charge and unplug after were basically nullified.
The light bar on the right is an ATD 80050A. Its the successor to the ATD 80050 (older fluorescent model). The tool feels a little bulkier than needed and does not include a battery but it does put out 1500 lumens of cool white light which is pretty respectable. It's not too wide and fits almost any vehicle minus roadsters. The only real drawback it has is that the clamps aren't quite ideal for latching onto the roof of a vehicle. The clamps don't always provide the best grip and an accidental bump can cause it to fall.
Enter the latest addition. A Milwaukee 2125-21Xc.
https://i.imgur.com/NuKu5Go.jpg
This one is a little different from the others as it's completely cordless and has a swappable battery When using the biggest battery Milwaukee sells it can be ran on high for 2 hours. Two nice features the light bar has are a separate power button from the mode button that toggles between high and low, and a "soft on" fade in that keeps the light from flickering on to 100% in an instant. The clamps also provide a firm grip and don't appear likely to deteriorate like the ATD 80357 did on me. The only thing I can complain about this light bar is the temperature of the light. It appears closer to a 4300k (warm white) than the 5000k (cool white) I prefer. On high it has an output of 1350 lumens. I'm going continue to use this light bar for a week or two before I come up with my final opinion but it seems like the best option so far.
I did give consideration to the claw AutoGeek sells but I was leery after reading it could not be used while plugged in.
I swear I have no affiliation to any brands. I just like researching my options and even more so when it involves things that help make me money.