MEANWHILE! "WHEN I'M OUT IN MY SHOP". #15: Installing a new window.
I was going to cover over this window, I decided some extra natural light would be nice. Thanks again to Barb on taking most of these pictures.
MEANWHILE! "WHEN I'M OUT IN MY SHOP". #14: Vaulted ceiling, and Skylight
My garage has only a 7’ ceiling, so I pulled out the rafters, & added 2 X 4s with 9” plywood gussets to accommodate 9” R-30 insulation. I did this in my existing shop about 18 years ago. Doing this took out about 2” of sag in the old rafters.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had a small bubble type skylight leftover from the other shop that I hadn’t used, so I installed it in this ceiling. For such a small opening, 14 1/...
The American Craftsman WorkShop #12: Reorganizing and the Domino Effect
It Just Won’t Stop! I tore out some double doors at the end of the shop that I never use, I need the wall space to hang my clamps. I figure that since I started doing this little reorganization I might as well finish it. I usually bite things off a couple days at a time and then wish that I had finished or done more. There never seems to be a convenient time to interrupt my work schedule for improving shop conditions, but the payoff is always big when it comes to improved work fl...
The American Craftsman WorkShop #9: New Shop Lighting
Bright Light! Bright Light! Over the last couple of days I added lights to brighten the shop. Shop Light Envy After seeing the lights in Les Hasting's shop I was motivated to install more lights in my own. There is nothing like shop envy to motivate a guy. The Original Lighting The original lighting situation in my shop was poor and inadequate. I had three 4’x4’ units with 6 bulbs over the assembly and finish area. There was only one of these 4’x4’ l...
New Shop and house
After 5 months of not woodworking i am finaly back at it. The first words my Fiance said to me were “Thank god you have your shop back. Maybey now you wont be such an ass” Aparently i was driving her crazy. 5 months ago my craftsman tablesaw broke on me. Its an extremley long story. I will just say that when sears could not fix the saw they refused to replace it. Even though i had purchased the factory extended waranty I was told that i needed 5 or more cervice calls in order for ...
Building the Shop #3: Electric
My panel is full, so I have to put in a subpanel to get any room for shop circuits. I picked up a 100A 2 pole for the main panel to feed a 100A Square-D main lug panel with 6 positions (12 circuits). This is where all those years working with dad as an electrician really pay off. I figure I’ll need: 1 – 220v 20A circuit to cover my saw and any reasonable upgrades.1 – 220v 20A circuit for future dust collection (starting off with Shopvac)2 or 3 120v 20A circuit for g...
Building the Shop #2: Walls
So far, here’s the plan for “finishing” the walls. Subject to change as I see new and different cool stuff to buy. Exterior walls will be DryLok-ed, then Insulpink with 1×3 furring strips held by Tapcon screws right into the block. Sheathed with 7/16×4 x 8 OSB (at HD it’s only $1 more per sheet over sheetrock, and this will hold a screw anywhere, no hunting for studs). Inner walls will be OSB over 1×3 (no insul) One framed wall will be OSB ov...
Sketchup Models of Shop Furniture for a Small Shop #3: Bench Top Carving Bench
Edited 8/21/09: A couple of years ago I took an intro class on wood carving. The school had on hand some carving benches for the students to use but, naturally, I had to make my own design. Below is the design that I came up with. It was small enough for me to lug to class and large enough to handle most of the carving projects that I anticipate doing. It also allowed me the flexibility to accommodate various sizes of work and be able to reposition them without unscrewing and re-screwing...
Big move to the country
I know people move every day but I don’t suppose it is everyday that people move out of the city and back to the country. Well, maybe there are plenty of people who do that as well but for me it’s not even ‘back to the country’, rather to the country for the first time, ever. It’s the culmination of many years of dreaming and scheming. Some 30 years ago I heard myself say that I wanted to buy and live on 200 acres of forest. I can’t remember where I go...
New Grizzly Tools
Well, the bike is gone and the tools are here: I’ll be posting review on some of them here shortly. I spent most of the day in the garage playing with the new tools, and I’m very pleased. The only thing I haven’t used much is the inflatable drum sander, but that’s more for the wife than for me.
