The Harbor Freight Workshop In A Tree

When you retire, you downsize!

In 2017, we were living in a four-bedroom house with a large two-car garage with everything I needed for the DIY workshop. When retirement time came at the end of the year, I donated almost all of my tools to our son and his family, thinking I would never need them after we moved. I was wrong!

In March of 2018, the remodeling of our mobile home in Ormond Beach began, creating the need for the purchase of a new collection of both power and hand tools. The problem, however, is where am I going to keep them? Instead of a two-car garage, I now have a 10-foot by 8-foot shed with a sloped ceiling, 8’2″ high on one side and 7’3″ high on the other.

New projects require new tools, and new tools are an expense that we did not need, so I began looking for alternatives to the big brand-name stores. After all, I am not a contractor. What I needed were tools for the DIY man, tools used for the occasional project, and that’s when I learned about Harbor Freight. It was a store I’d never heard of when we lived in Tallahassee, Florida, but apparently popular in the Daytona Beach area.

Stepping away from the popular brand names, a couple of my most recent purchases were router bits, bar clamps, and some hand tools. The Pittsburgh brand quick-release bar clamps are an exceptional value by comparison. As was the HERCULES 1/4 in. Roundover/Beading Router Bit that is a quarter of the cost of the popular brands.

Larger tools, like the air compressor, sanding table, et al, are in our daughter’s and son-in-law’s workshop for use when doing larger projects.

Shrinking The Shop? Navy Training Pays Off!

If there was nothing else I learned from five years of service in the US Navy, I did learn how to fit five pounds of anything into a two-pound container, i.e., making use of what little space you have aboard a naval vessel. So I set to figuring out how to make this “shed” into a workshop. It is not an easy task, for certain, but as time passed, I learned to fit more and more into what I had to work with.

It wasn’t just a matter of space to fit the various tools and supplies, but also a matter of work surface. At first, all I could create was storage space, i.e., something that could hold a lot of weight. Using 2″x4″ framing, I could accomplish what was needed by attaching cross shelving, thereby eliminating the need for support posts. Voile’

As the first few years passed, the shop morphed, and it continues to do so. In recent months, I installed what are known as ‘French cleats.’ When I remodeled our laundry room in early 2023, I moved most of the cabinetry to the shop. I converted it in early 2024 into a large workbench, incorporating the tool chest I purchased shortly after retirement (before I learned about Harbour Freight).

Since the workshop transmutations began, the number of projects I took on was many, not just for myself but for others in the community. Once those in a retirement community learn of someone who can use tools and accomplish tasks, the word spreads. In the meantime, I continue to seek affordable tools and materials, as it seems there will be a never-ending need to upgrade, modify, construct, and add on to retirement living.