oldretiredjim's Workshop

I am changing this section to show the evolution of the shop. It all started with an old outbuilding after I bought the house in 2004. The house was a repo and everything needed some work. The outbuilding had 90# paper on it and it leaked. Not bad but it was visible. The building was insulated and sheet rocked. A few of the seams were taped but not many. It had a very old cracked fiberglass overhead door. The exterior was vinyl siding and a previous resident had used the building as a backdrop for pellet gun targets. Dotted with holes. I was told by neighbors that at one time a young woman and kid lived in the building.

It sat like this for several years while I worked on the house and garden. But by 2007 I had poured a pad for expansion.
The slab and inside were still just collecting things. I had a stove in the building but it was not very comfortable to work in. Poor lighting and drafty.

The real effort began in 2008.

The original building was 24 X 14. The addition would be 20 X 12. Removal of the vinyl and new T-111 siding, HD windows, metal roof.

By October 2008 it looked like this.

Looked OK but no chimney so no heat. I don’t have a record but I think I made the wall penetration in November 2008 and then I started to order the inside.

Triple wall stainless 3’ above the peak of the shop. No roof penetrations.

There was a new addition to the family so the plan to move the shop was halted and I began rearranging in the original building.

One of the first things I had to do was move the fuse box. And for a year the open space above the stove served as my junction box. Not all of my friends were duly impressed. They though a year was too long to have something hot wired. It was cluttered but functional.

Couldn’t get in garage door though. I started listing stuff on Craig’s list and over the next year cleared a lot out.

Still too much storage. And the biggest impediment to progress was the kiln hiding in the corner. All brick lined and needing a 50 amp dedicated circuit – it would never be used. I did eventually bring out 220 but it was on a 30amp breaker and would never run the kiln.

So it was time to negotiate a deal. If I could get rid of the kiln I would put in a new door and share the space with the bosses car. By now I had everything on wheels so I thought I could live with the compromise.

Insulated steel door. I had to cut 4 inches off the man door to clear the rails but it worked.

And that pretty much brings us to the present.

I moved stuff around, finished the wiring, insulated, and actually finished the rough sheet rock. Sheet rock on the walls surrounding the stove with a 1”spacer for dead air. I thought about paint but I don’t want to hide seams. I hang so much on the walls and ceiling it is way easier to find the studs. Pretty happy with it right now.

I have to plan all my projects including cuts so I know what tools I need to move. But it is pretty easy to get things done.

Here I am building a frame for a cabinet. I need the cutoff saw and I needed to rip a couple boards. My layout table is a 3 X 4 piece of OSB on sawhorses. Here I am working a couple old cabinet doors I got from habitat for humanity. Still have a few things to get rid of but not much. And I do have a happy boss.