| Blog series by TheDane | updated 288 days ago | 6 parts | 7136 reads | 66 comments total |
Part 1: Week One - Progress!
(Initial blog entry: http://lumberjocks.com/TheDane/blog/29725 ) Some real progress this week on the new shop. Our contractor took care of the structural problem created by the house’s previous owner (he “accidentally” removed 21’ of a load-bearing wall!), and got the new walls framed in. Friday, I went over the power and lighting requirements with the electrician and picked up the new overhead shop fixtures. I’m giving some thought to cabinets f...
Part 2: Let There Be Light!
Once the walls were up, the new shop area (with only a single 100-watt light bulb in the ceiling) was literally a black hole. No more! We installed a 100-amp sub panel, 4 four-tube overhead fixtures, and a total of 10 120-volt outlets (9 of them 44 inches from the floor and 1 in the ceiling). Though my machines are all wired for 120-volt, several are convertible to 240vac, so we can to easily add 240-volt where needed. The contractor will be back this week to frame in the service doors,...
Part 3: Moving along ... slowly!
Wrapped up the carpenter work this week … installed service doors into the main part of the garage and into the storage room, insulated new walls, sheathed main garage wall with drywall and buttoned up the OSB wall in the storage room. Spent two days painting … it probably comes as no surprise that painting OSB is no fun! I used a PVA primer, then applied a coat of semi-gloss enamel. To speed up the painting, I bought one of Wagner’s ‘Power Roller Plus 995’ un...
Part 4: Shop Cabinets Arrived Today
Cabinets arrived today … these came from RedLine Garage Gear of Green Bay. Looks like pretty high quality stuff … paint is powder-coat, drawers are dovetailed birch, and the hardware is first rate (full extension drawer slides, euro-style hinges, etc.). I had originally planned on building cabinets myself, but it would have taken months, and I finally decided I would rather use my time builidng stuff I want to build (cabinets aren’t really my thing)! Installers are ...
Part 5: Move-in Day!
Got the cabinets installed today and moved the tools in from storage … nothing is put away yet, so the cabinets and drawers are empty (wonder how long it will take me to fill them up?). Speaking of the drawers … they are terrific. All dovetailed birch with powder-coated fronts and full extension slides. There is a major change in the tools in the new shop … I sold my Jet Workshop saw and bought a Saw Stop PCS175. I wasn’t looking to spend the money, but now that ...
Part 6: New Shop Finished (for now)!
I’m finally at the point where I can call the new shop finished … at least for now. It is ready to use and I have even turned out a few projects in it. When we moved in April, 2012, the new house had a 3-stall, 1450 square foot garage. Unfortunately, they had blown out a load-bearing wall when they added the 3rd stall and the trusses were sagging, so we decided to sub-divide. The door on the left leads to a storage room … home for the lawn equipment, lumber storage...
