WIP new Workshop -(bit long) Updated new pictures

[syntec4]

I have been working on the new workshop today. I have only been woodworking a few months but realized that I have big ideas and not enough space. Also the noise is an issue with neighbors and with the children in bed at by 8pm.

So, I was chatting to the farmer where SWMBO keeps her horses. He said that I could rent one of the Barns on the farm and use that as workshop if I wanted. The rent is nothing and includes all the electric and water I could need. :lol:
He is supplying the materials to fit it out as a workshop (flooring and electrical) for nothing as long as I install it.


Today I levelled the floor using the JCB on the farm and tipped in about 5 tonnes of hardcore for the base. tomorrow the whacker plate arrives along with the sand and it will be finished off. The floor will be paving stones, as there as many as I can use for nothing. We also installed some conduit, so that we can have a power point in the middle of the floor for the TS.

The walls will be lined with OSB and filled with insulation. A Hotspot heater will provide free heating.

When the floor is completed (When we have finsihed with the JCB) the front wall will be built using metal cladding with OSB inside and again filled with Insulation. Should be very cosy.

I cant wait to get moved in, and start making some things without tripping up over power cables and stacks of junk. My garage at home can be returned to its proper use - keeping bikes in :lol:

The approx sizes are 50ft x 30ft although we plan to partition off some of the space and have a separate finishing room. \/

I just need to save up for loads of new machines and hand tools now to fill it!
Have a look at the pictures as I aquired it. All the trucks and other garbage have already been shifted. I post some more after the floor has been finished and we start to line the walls and install the front wall.

Cheers
Lee.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee_harrison944/New Workshop/index.htm

 

[PowerTool]

What a top find!

And it's about the same area as both floors of my house

Hope it goes well,and keep posting the pictures.

Andrew (Only slightly jealous... :wink: )

 

[Pete W]

Well, someone's having a very merry Christmas

Looks like a lot of work ahead but the kind of work many of us would love, given the end result.

If you'll permit a slightly cynical thought in the season of comfort and joy, make sure you have some security about your arrangement going forward. It would be distressing to do all the conversion and upgrade work and then find the farmer needs it for something else (not suggesting deliberate skullduggery, but these things happen).

 

[trevtheturner]

:shock: Cor! Nice find, Lee. What's happening to the Chevvy truck?

Oh, and that's you in the Rogues Gallery then, when Chas sees this. :lol:

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Philly]

Congratulations, Lee!
Be keeping an eye on this,
Philly

 

[Waka]

Lee

You lucky so an so, congrats.

 

[syntec4]

I cant wait to move in

Trev- The Chevy truck along with the armoured car and 2 Jeeps is moving to another barn on the same farm. And the bloke in the picture is my Dad, you are welcome to put a picture of him in the gallery if you like! He's called Dave.

Petew- There wont be a problem with the length of stay. My family have had horses there for 20 years already. The farmer is a family friend. In any case I have not spent any money on the building, only the tools; so I always have the option to collect them. I think it will take around 1 full week of work to line it out and finish the floor. I think thats a pretty reasonable price to pay for even a few months of rent somewhere else, although I do appreciate you're concern :wink:

I might be able to go down today and start doing the wacking and laying the sand for the base if I can get away from the phone. I'll take the camera and take some more pictures if we get anything done.

Cheers

Lee.

 

[syntec4]

Happy New Year Everybody.

Just a quick progress report - or lack of actually

Christmas week has been a bit busy and the frost round here has prevented me from getting much done on the new shop as the mortar would be affected. I have now started to lay the floors. I didn't take the camera yesterday, but I'm almost half way

I'll be putting in the floor sockets for the TS today, the finishing the rest of the floor. The OSB is ordered for next weekend for the walls. Hopefully I can start the framing during the week after work.

With a bit of luck I will be moved in by the end of the month.

Cheers

Lee.

 

[syntec4]

Things are moving along a bit now.

I have not been posting too much on the forum as every spare minute away from work and babies has been spent at the new workshop.

There are some pictures here to see what I've been up to.
http://theguitardoctor.blogspot.com/

The lighting should be completed by weekend and I can start to move some tools and my bench in there. The first project will be to build some doors. The ones that are there now are just 3 sheets of ply shuttering nailed together. Not very secure. I will build some proper ledged and braced (is that the right phrase?) ones as soon As I get all the gear down there. Its now weather proof at least.

Cheers
Lee.

 

[dedee]

Lee,
that's coming along nicely.
What will you do with the area above the existing doors? Is that your only source of daylight?

Andy

 

[syntec4]

The area above the doors at the moment has a sheet of plastic in there. I have a UPVC unit coming that will replace it, and I'm going to put some windows in the front wall also. I will mostly be relying on good lighting though, as the doors are north facing anyway. Not a great deal of light to let in. Although I will be able to work with the huge doors open most of the year anyway, which will be very nice.
There are no neighbours to upset on the farm. Well the pigs, sheep and horses dont mind as they are quite a long way from where I am.

Lee.

 

[humanfish]

wow you have been mega busy =D> the floor looks great very sturdy
are you planning on getting some heavy duty cast iron stuff :wink:
when you get to the bottom of your link you really see how much you have done, it really does look great. i look forward to seeing the progress in the future

 

[syntec4]

Thanks Bad_Hypertension

yeah the floor is sturdy, we had an unlimited supply (free)of those ex-council paving stones. They are very thick, and very very heavy Still it should not move or sag at all, especially with all the prep I did on the base. I would have liked a smooth concrete floor, but the cost for a base that size would have been just too much.

I hope to upgrade my TS to something with cast iron yes

Not sure what yet. Maybe an Xcaliber or I quite like the Jet. Mind you, I'm gonna be a bit skint after all the stuff for the new workshop. Dust Extraction is the next expense.

Cheers
Lee.

 

[humanfish]

what a steal with those stones superb
it's a never ending cycle of buying. using, upgrading isn't it
are you considering the metal sprirolux type ducting for your workshop
extractors - more decisions to come then :-k

 

[syntec4]

yeah the stones really helped with the cost of this project. The council are glad to get rid of them. They are sick of all the compo claims from the no win no fee brigade, so the are ripping them up and laying tarmac over everything. They deliver as many as you want on palets. The farmer where my workshop is located uses them for all sorts of things. He's glad of them, especially as they are free. I used 8 palets full to lay the base. Luckily there is a big Fork lift on the farm, so I put the palets right by the workshop door. I couldn't have carried them things very far

WRT Extraction: I have never owned or used an extraction system before. I just know that I need one

The closest I have had before is a vacuum and a dustpan and brush. I will have to do some research and make some firm decisions on what machinery I will use or plan to use in the future. Obviously I have lots of ideas and some sketches of where I'm going to have the stuff that I already own, but this will change quite quickly I guess, as I get used to actually having some space to work in.

Lee

 

[Losos]

Hi Lee,

Had a look at your piccies - Could be a great shop when you're done. Interesting for me 'cos my barn has walls made of stones like your floor ('tho one metre thick) and I've got the OSB sheets on the floor. My problem right now is fixing to walls so I might end up puting OSB sheets on the walls as well, at least partially.

 

[Miles968]

Just a suggestion but I had good results making quite large doors for my garage (one leaf is 6 feet wide and 7 feet high) with a very simple approach. The door consists of two skins of 15mm plywood screwed and glued to a frame made up of 2*3" pine lumber with simple screwed corner joints, and adjusted to be square with a long diagonal, and an additional length under the vertical join between the two halves of ply on each face (the door is wider than an 8*4 of course). A few extra blocks glued in where needed to take hinge, bolt and lock fixings.

Sequence was to cut the ply panels to size, then use them to help lay out the frame parts, which were then cut and joined at the corners with simple internal 45deg blocks, just to hold them while gluing/screwing the frame to the first ply skin. Diagonals help keep it square...
Then the second ply skin is glued & screwed on, and once the glue is cured you get a really stiff 'torsion box' door panel that is not too heavy, even if it's this large. The stiffness is nice, makes everything very positively located for bolts/locks.

I might have some pics somewhere, but it's so basic it's 'not worthy' here...

hope this helps - if you needed it to be lighter, I think it would still work well even with much thinner ply, because the 'box' is so well secured all round. A couple of internal ribs might be useful if you go to 1/4" skins, though.

Miles

 

[Adam]

I might have some pics somewhere, but it's so basic it's 'not worthy' here...

Even if its basic, its amazing how many times seeing someone else solution helps you notice a good technique they used and think - 'cor, I should do it that way. If you get amoment, all pictures help our forum members.

Adam

 

[DomValente]

Hi Lee
Great workshop,one point though, my shop is in an old milking shed and the floors are concrete paving stones, try and put something softer in if you are intending to work there for long hours otherwise backache calf ache etc. is inevitable,

Good luck keep posting pictures,always interesting.

Dom

 

[syntec4]

Just a suggestion but I had good results making quite large doors for my garage (one leaf is 6 feet wide and 7 feet high) with a very simple approach. The door consists of two skins of 15mm plywood screwed and glued to a frame made up of 2*3" pine lumber with simple screwed corner joints, and adjusted to be square with a long diagonal, and an additional length under the vertical join between the two halves of ply on each face (the door is wider than an 8*4 of course). A few extra blocks glued in where needed to take hinge, bolt and lock fixings.



Miles

Thanks Miles,
I have actual used a very similar construction to what you have suggested. The big test will be in the morning when we fit the new doors. I'll post some updated pictures tomorrow evening. I have been installing the Hotspot heater today and getting the new bandsaw fixed.
My blog has some pictures if you are interested.

http://theguitardoctor.blogspot.com/

PS Pictures are always worthy round here


Cheers
lee.