My first real project - garage ceiling shelving

[chrispitude]

Hi Chuck,

Your caution about the exposed wood fibers - I had sprayed one coat on the tops, then very lightly sanded, then sprayed the topcoat. Does this mean it's sealed since I haven't sanded since the last coat?

That being said, I am sorely tempted to buy some more and brush on one more topside coat via foam brush on all the slats. I have some time to think about it since I'll next be concentrating on pre-drilling all the slats and getting the supports mounted to the ceiling. Installing the slats is the very last step, and I may find myself with some garage space once the supports are installed that give me some incentive to throw a third coat on there.

- Chris

[chrispitude]

I went to Lowes and bought another gallon of Varathane Diamond, figuring I could use it on other projects (birdhouses round 2?). They reduced the price from $42 to $36 per gallon, which was nice.

Since I'd given the sprayer back to its rightful owner, I am putting this third coat on by hand with a foam brush. I now have 60 of the 88 slats done:

[ATTACH]1890[/ATTACH]

The slats are really looking a lot nicer than I'd figured on needing, but I think I will appreciate the extra coating once I am sliding stuff around on them. Some of the slats were still just a tiny bit rough with only two coats.

- Chris

[chrispitude]

While the polyurethane on the second set was drying, I got the Shopsmith set up to drill the countersunk screw holes. Here's the configuration I used:

[ATTACH]1898[/ATTACH]

I used the rip fence itself as the horizontal stop, and the fence-mounted stop as a depth stop. The holes are 3/4" from the edge of the slat. However, I can't place the rip fence 3/4" to the right of the drill bit touchdown because the drill chuck body would hit the rip fence. For now, I am just using the rip fence to drill the far hole (3.5" board width away, minus 3/4" in):

[ATTACH]1899[/ATTACH]

I'm thinking it would be nice to have some slotted doohickeys made up with knobs that can act as general-purpose stops to position a workpiece for repeated drill press work. The doohickeys could be made of 3/4" flat stock - high enough to be a stop, but low enough that it doesn't interfere with the drill chuck. One doohickey could span the two table slots and act as a back stop, and another could attach to a single table slot but be slotted for lateral movement (like the featherboard). I'm sure I explained this really badly. I do have some t-slot thingies that I could use to make these up.

My first test hole:

[ATTACH]1900[/ATTACH]

Works for me:

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On a somewhat ironic side note, I can chalk up an additional $200 that this project has cost me. Today, I had the car parked outside because the slats were drying. Well, a freak storm popped up and dropped hail big enough to dent my car. Believe it or not, this is the second time this has happened so far during this project. It happened almost exactly a month ago (June 10th). My deductible is $100, and we just got the car back from dent removal about a week ago. I guess I need to work faster, huh?

- Chris

[charlese]

Hi Chris - quick note: Before yu change your drilling set up - simply turn each board end for end and BINGO! You will be set up for drilling the other holes.

Sorry about your car - and wallet!

[Ed in Tampa]

Chris
To drill the other hole without moving the fence you need a spacer the width of the space between the desired location of both holes. Drill the first hole then move the board back place the spacer between the board and fence and drill the second. Flip the board end for end and do the other two holes and your done.
Ed

[charlese]

Chris - Just got this plan in an e-mail from "Plans Now". Thought you might enjoy seeing the same configuration that you are making. Vertical dados, screws and all. So someone else is selling these plans. Your method of construction has sorta been blessed!:D http://plansnow.com/dn1143.html

Ed- You are absolutely correct! The flip stops are a little much for me. (Not used to those) I'd have drawn a line with a square and after setting up the fence, drilled the holes on those lines. Then do all four holes on one board at a time.

[chrispitude]

Hi Chuck,

The issue of Workbench they refer to is the one that gave me this idea! Of course, they use long wood screws to attach the shelving to the ceiling and I'm using lag bolts. They use screws to join the dado joints, and I use screws, glue and mending plates. I'm overdesigning a bit from the original plans. They put bevel cuts on the end of the slats and I used a router with a roundover bit. Hmm, they did put a nice fancy bevels on the ends of their 2x4s which I didn't do. Darnit!

Hi Ed,

I thought of the spacer method but I couldn't do this because it would push the board too far to the left for it to hit my flip-down stop. Basically I am flipping board ends and doing 2 of the 4 this time around, then I'll move the rip fence to the other side of the bit and repeat everything in mirror configuration for the other 2 holes. I have a pretty good rhythm going and the countersink bit with the stop makes for very quick assembly line work. All in all, I'm probably not in too bad a shape even doing this in two passes.

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement in the home stretch!

- Chris

[beeg]

Chris, are you going to round ove the first and last slat. So it might be easier to slide stuff off and on?

[chrispitude]

Hi beeg,

I think that is a great idea! It's not something I need to do right away. However, despite all my careful planning, I've found that I am exactly one slat short. (How did that happen??) So, it looks like I'll need to get the router and the polyurethane out and make one more. And if I do that, I may as well round the edges as you suggest! I think I'll get everything mounted on the ceiling first and see how it "feels" then decide.

Speaking of mounting things to the ceiling...

[ATTACH]1939[/ATTACH]

My pair of "Fastcap 3rd Hand" support poles arrived! They work very well in raising the support structure up to the ceiling and holding it firmly against the ceiling while I drill and lag bolt it.

Here is a closer look:

[ATTACH]1940[/ATTACH]

I cut spacer strips of wood to the exact distance between the supports. I wrapped blue painter's tape sticky-side-out around each end so they stick to the ceiling while I raise the support into place. Since the tape is sticky-side-out, the strips slide in the tape and allow me to press the new support against the existing support to get the distance exactly right. I use a 16x24 square to make marks to laterally align the new support to the existing support. I also have a set of 2" spacer strips to set the first support the proper distance away from the wall.

Drilling the holes proved to be a challenge for two reasons:

1. The drill and drill bit were a little too long to fit within the support frame.
2. The 3/16" drill bit was not long enough to drill a full 4" pilot hole for the lag (needed a 4" lag due to the 2x4 thickness).

The solution was to buy a longer drill bit along with a right-angle drill attachment. The right-angle adapter is very awkward to use to hold it steady and still be sure I'm drilling into the stud, but it gets the job done.

Almost there!

- Chris

[beeg]

Don't get slapped in the face with the drill bit Chris.

IF the bit catches for some reason, guess what will turn. The drill. Those right-angle adapters are great when you need them, BUT a PAIN to use.