Background:

So I'm one year older today. That means I'm one year closer to having to get me one of those neat 4-footed cane thingies. It also means I need to find a way to enjoy my hobby without spending so much time out in the weather.

So it's time....

The wife tells me I can put together a workshop, but I can't have her laundry barn, or the mold storage shed (we do ceramics), or the kiln shed. That doesn't leave me too many choices...

So this is what I have to work with:



I get the lean-to addition on the right, between the laundry/storage shed and the goat pen.

Ok, first up is the cleaning out of a typically neglected catch-all. This is what it looked like this morning:


This is what it looks like now. Please ignore the spots in the pics. Those are dust particles reflecting off of the flash, NOT a dirty lens!









Loaded up for the dump!


I'll tackle the bench tomorrow or so. It was actually two feet longer, but the extra length was just thrown on, and wasn't stable...so I took it off.





That was all I could do in one day. I'm gonna call the electrician tomorrow to upgrade my main service entrance, and to help me get a new run out to this building.

This project will be done in hap-hazard spurts, as time and funds allow, but I hope to get it functional by late spring.

Suggestions and comments?

 

Are you gonna insulate it? Brrrrrr.

 

I don't think so, but I do plan to seal it up a little better. I have a little wood burning stove that I may put in it just in case I have to use it during the winter months. I'd originally intended the stove for the kiln shed, but I've since moved the clay work into another heated space, so the stove is currently unused.

Sounds like man-cave heat to me, huh?

 

Don't forget the stereo, beer fridge, and the big screen tv.

 

Why do you think I'm getting power pulled into the cave??

 

I've been thinking about buying one of those prefab single-car garages to use for a shop. So expensive though. X_x

It's difficult to get the bikes into the house though... I have to rig up a ramp to get up the porch stairs... And there's no way to get the truck into the living room lol.

 

What are the dimensions of the space you'll be working in? Are you going to put a door on the opening (garage or otherwise)? I'm assuming you'll be widening that opening so you can pull the truck in there.

 

Wow! That was a lot of work! You are a man of action. Good job!

What are the dimensions of your "cave"? We might have more suggestions if we knew what you are working with.

And, speaking of cave, they are dark and work spaces shouldn't be. So, one of the upgrades needs to be lighting. My thoughts are documented on my web site here: Lighting & Electrical. And, as an update to that, while my friend the electrician talked me out of all the lighting I had planned, that was a mistake. There is no such thing as too much light when working on intricate things like carbs. So, go for more rather than less, and supplement with "task lighting", meaning light right on the project, or task.

 

In my garage, which you can see in my thumbnail, I have 5 dual fluorescent lights. That garage isn't very big and I have plenty of light in there. But, I also have a retractable work light hanging from a rafter as well. I insulated the garage with R-19 batted insulation and my heater thanks me for it. When my grandfather built the garage he didn't want it for more than storage. I dug the trench and wired into my main breaker in the house and have 8 outlets around the garage and a 220 for those rare moments. Just some ides. You can never have too much light or too many outlets (unless you're using them all at the same time )

 

Dang internet! Wrote an update last night, and hit the post button, just to find that our DSL had gone down. Lost the stupid post....

Anyways, I agree with everyone on the lighting issue. I plan to install more than adequate lighting...overhead, bench, and mobile. With my eyes the way they are now, I need all the help I can get.

Most importantly, I'll need to divert emergency power to the structural integrity field generators, otherwise I'm gonna have a hull breach at the back wall. It looks like this was originally built with scrap building supplies, so I plan to repair it with the same. Scanning Craigslist and other outlets should net me the needed items to tighten up the walls and roof.

Power is forthcoming. I'm waiting on the electrician to show later this week. I'm installing a large enough panel to handle all my needs for 120/240v now, and in the future.

As it's raining today, and will be for the next couple of days, I'm at a stand-still right now. I'll get some dimensions and post 'em up a little later.

Thanks everyone, for your interest in my little project!

 

Some of the best race cars in history were built on dirt floors...

 

I'm sure you know, but you need to go with T-8 fixtures and not T-12's. The latter are being phased out and at some point getting the tubes will be impossible. But, the T-8's come with electronic ballasts so are quick to come on, and they are much more efficient. Further, as outlined on my site, you can get tubes that have a high degree of color rendering so things look natural.

As for the "mobile" lighting, I bought a "Snap-On" brand trouble light at Costco for ~$35 a year ago, one of the cord reel types that mounts on the ceiling or wall and pulls down. I put "Snap-On" in quotes because it is a piece of junk and surely isn't a real Snap-On item. So, I can't recommend that one.

 

Got a question for you guys.

I'm going to panel the back wall with sheets of 7/16 OSB. When I get a little better situated, I'll do the outbound side wall, but I'll have to add some studs first in order to bring everything out flush. I don't want a half-assed wavy wall, know what I mean?

Here's my question, and I know it's something that would probably get me a spot on Jeff Foxworthy's website, but if I take a bunch of good pallets, and level them along the whole floor, couldn't I cover them with OSB like the walls? At least then I'd have a solid floor, right?

Don't laugh at me, I'm just asking...

 

I was planning to use pallets for the under-floor of the prefab vinyl garage/shed I was looking at getting for a wintertime bike shop...

The plan was to put down some pea gravel, rake it level, then put down cinder blocks for the pallet braces to sit on. Then I'd fasten the pallets together with some lag bolts. I wanted to be able to winch the whole shed up on the back of the old IH cattle truck and move it as a complete unit if I ever moved to another Leaf Shack....

But then I decided that $2500 is too much for a 8x16 shed, and I'll build my own out of scrap whenever I get 'round to it...

Edit: Heck, maybe I'll build the whole shed out of pallets......

 

So, you want a really wavy wall?

I'm not sure it would work, but the only way it would work is for your joints in the OSB not to be the joints between the pallets. But, wouldn't that raise the floor up quite a bit? How thick are the pallets you are thinking of?