Shop Expansion

Ah yes, elbow room. Everyone needs a little elbow room.

  In my case it's really separating the machinery area from the finishing area.
The new work area will have work benches, a sharpening station and cupboards for the hand tools. This room will also be the area that I apply finish to the projects. Before when finishing I either did it inside the house or if in the shop I would have to curtail all machining activity.

 The new area is separated from the machining area by a door. The door is also weather stripped to help keep the dust at bay. I also managed to land a huge window to go in the east wall. This overlooks the pond, redneck tool shed and the new greenhouse. In the distance is the pasture with it's high grass and large trees in the back. It's a real beauty watching the sun come up in the morning.

 This room will also allow me to do some one on one instruction or small like 1 to 3 person workshops. The workshops could be something like making wooden spoons and spatulas for those who are just interested in trying to work with wood. They get to make something useful and take it home and proudly say, " I done that!" I call that class looney spoons.

 It will also be a great area to help those that wish to master a certain skill. Using hand planes, cutting the lovely dovetail joint and so on.

 I also covered the concrete floor with an air gap membrane and over-layed that with OSB plywood for a comfortable floor to stand on. It is also much easier on the tools when they roll off the bench top.

The ceiling is a little above 9 feet. It just feels better to me. It is aggravating when you spin a long piece and it strikes a light fixture. You either need a new bulb or you dent your workpiece.

Getting ready to side the building, and put on shingles

Lower horizontal siding. That needs some paint.

Vertical siding going on and some painting done.

I recycled some old steel barn roofing material into vertical siding. It'll do.

  The progress has been steady, the siding is near complete, cap the corners and horizontal banding, then the eaves and troughs, then wiring and fixtures. Hope to have it insulated an boarded up in a couple of weeks so I can move the benches over and get some of the goodies out of the trailer.

thanks for reading.
Ken