Let There Be…TV???
I bought a used Dell Latitude E6430 laptop to use in the workshop. It would be easier to have Sketchup installed and have it at the ready in the workshop instead of having to run back and forth into my office if I needed to check something. It’s worked out great and it’s made life a bit easier in the shop. However, the small screen can be a hindrance at times. It would be nice to have a big monitor in the shop from which to work.
I didn’t really feel like trying to buy a new or used monitor for use in the shop. We have two LCD TVs in the house that we don’t use anymore. One was a 24” that we bought for my mom when we moved her into a full-time care facility. The other one was a 37” that we had in our house in Maryland and it’s moved with us twice since we got it. We used to have the 37” in our bedroom armoire, but after moving to Florida we never really watched anything on it. Once we moved to our new house, the 37” was moved to a living room/game room/arts & crafts area where it wound up not being used. After a while I just unplugged it and left it there.
I figured I could use one of these two TVs in the shop. The 24” just didn’t seem like it would be big enough. It would be a bit higher on the wall and I’d be standing/sitting a good 10’-12’ away. The 37” was a much better choice, but I had to figure out how I would mount it to the wall. We had bought a wall mount for the 24” TV and it was capable of supporting a good amount of weight for its compact design. I grabbed the bigger TV and weighed it. It was well within the capacity of the small TV mount, so I was all set. Now I had the task of getting the TV up on the wall (by myself).
Go Go Gadget...Anything
Where I planned on hanging the TV was in an awkward position (of course!). It would be above the highest point on my miter saw station, but the open shelving on the miter saw station stuck out from the wall a good 18”. It was going to be difficult to stand and work on top of my miter saw station just to drill the holes in the stud and attach the wall mount. It was going to be a whole other story actually getting the TV up there and hung on the wall mount.
I really took my time in planning out how I was going to move the TV in position. I absolutely could not let this thing slip and fall onto the floor. If I remember correctly, I think I used a combination of my hydraulic lift cart and a step stool in conjunction with the small foot-wide work area on my miter saw station to walk the TV up and lean it against my air filtration unit. This at least gave me a moment to rest to gather my thoughts.
I eventually got the TV hung on the wall mount, but there was a slight problem. The bottom of the TV could not be completely seen from the floor when it was pushed all the way against the wall. I needed to take the TV off the mount and raise the mount up a few inches. After a somewhat quick adjustment, I got the TV hung back up and everything was pretty much good to go. The TV is ever so slightly cockeyed, but it’s not so bad as to cause problems viewing the things I need in the garage.
This was a long overdue upgrade to my workshop. I’d always planned on hanging a TV in the garage, even before we moved into the house. When we were in the design stage of our house, I made sure to have an outlet added 8’ off the floor on that wall to enable a TV or WIFI extender to be hung and easily plugged in. The TV isn’t plugged into this outlet directly, as I have an old APC UPS behind the miter saw shelving for all of the electronics to plug into without worry of surges. The UPS is plugged into the outlet instead.
***UPDATE: November 2020***
It’s been a good nine months or so since I hung the TV on the shop wall. I’ve used it nearly every time I’ve been in the shop. Viewing Sketchup files on a large screen is great. Couple this with the laptop being connected, via Bluetooth, to my old set of speakers I have flanking the top of the miter saw station, and music and TV/movies sound great too.
I’ve got one slight unforeseen problem with the current position of the TV, and it stems from its proximity to the air filtration unit. When I have the air filtration turned on, the exhaust from the fan comes out near the TV and causes the TV to rock a bit. It’s not terribly noticeable, but I’m concerned that it could lead to some kind of failure of the wall mount either on the TV or the wall.
I’m currently in the process of reorganizing my workshop (again), and I hope to address and/or fix this problem at that time. More to come on this in the coming months.
***UPDATE: February 2023***
Back in July of 2021, the TV was taken down from the wall and the bracket used for another TV and another purpose in the house. Once the Rockler Miter Saw Station project was finished, the TV was simply set in place on its own stand. I had planned on using some pipe strapping to hold the TV in place.
In addition, during the process of tearing down the old miter saw station, I somehow damaged my old speakers and had to buy a couple of compact Bluetooth ones instead. They don’t offer the same amount of sound, but they are sufficient for my workshop, not to mention they take up WAY LESS space.
It has been 1-1/2 years since then and that TV has not moved the smallest fraction of an inch since its installation. I originally planned on adding some pipe strapping to help hold it in place to prevent it accidentally falling and possibly injuring me. However, given its total lack of movement, I will not add any strapping. Unless something changes in the near future, there likely won’t be further updates concerning the TV, short of having to replace the TV itself should it fail…it IS in a woodworking shop filled with dust, after all.
