Darren's Shop

[Rob Keeble]

Darren i would say you dun great. That spray foam is clever stuff. Good idea there Alan and Glenn. Now at least you out of the draft and dust that can get blown in.

Oh i wish you had not shown that CNC machine. I get baited every time i see one of those. Its definitely on my to do list.

Hey did you ever do a post on building that? I know you have sown the seeds in my head in the past of the issue on how much use one of these gets after you done with the building one of them fever, but it aint stopped the fever. I am itching to do one. I suspect though i will not be happy with the results. I would really love to have a shopbot to play with.

[Darren Wright]

Hey did you ever do a post on building that? I know you have sown the seeds in my head in the past of the issue on how much use one of these gets after you done with the building one of them fever, but it aint stopped the fever. I am itching to do one. I suspect though i will not be happy with the results. I would really love to have a shopbot to play with.

I built the Jgro version in the link below, but they've made some improvements to it since the version I did.

http://www.cnczone.com/modules.php?n...category&cid=2

I did have a build log, but it's been long enough that it's been archived or purged. However they do have a bunch of DIY logs going on that site that you can follow along with. It's really not a hard machine to build, so should give it a try. I think with motors, controller and materials it came in around $300, but will have to still get software to run and design with.

[Darren Wright]

Well things have slowed down a bit and I've had time to consider some options for the interim to make things work better than they do now, which is mostly working out of boxes on the floor.

I have a couple of constraints as far as layout goes. Two large garage doors to start with. The main one on the front will be used for parking and automotive work. It's 16' wide and centered on the front of the building. This leaves about 7' on each side of it. I was wanting an office on one side as well as a place to sit and visit. Looks like it would be wide enough for the office part, but not so much for having a sitting area, so I nixed it for now. The office space will be heated by electric or a oil filled heater. The ceiling above will be a loft for storage.

The side garage door is a bit overkill (16'), Don't really need anything larger than an 8', so it will eventually be replaced with an 8' or a set of swinging doors. The tracks just take up too much space and that extra 8' would really make the shop part flow better or make for a better office area down the road. However I've partitioned around it for now and left some floor space for welding projects.

Since the first 40' of the shop has concrete floors, I'm trying to use as much of it as I can for shop. The gravel area will store lawn stuff, the trailer, and the majority of my wood materials (on racks)

I have to leave some clearance around the wood stove, so not much has been placed around it.

I've allowed for a finishing room next to the stove area, making sure the entrance was away from the stove. It will have proper ventilation and a non-flame heat source. I may also use this room for the CNC Router as it's noisy and usually is set to run which I can walk away from it for a while to let it do it's thing.

Anywhoo, this is what I've decided that I can do for now and what I think will work for me. I'm planning to put in a metal ceiling with cellulose insulation above it, then the walls can be put up.

I haven't added much in the way of cabinets yet, but these will be place around the DP and Miter Saw areas.

Thoughts?

[Darren Wright]

Here's another option with the office moved to the middle that I think I like a bit better. Also move the mechanics tools closer to the front of the vehicle and closer to my other tools.



Also moved the wood rack in the shop to keep the wood in a more controlled environment.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I like the new layout, Darren. Now if you'd just move that SUV outside where cars are supposed to live, you'd have plenty of room for a lathe.

[Don Baer]

Darren, what format do you have the lay out in if it Sketchup can you post a copy of the file I got a few ideas that I'd like to look at b4 I show em to ya.

[Darren Wright]

I uploaded it here Don.

Don't plan to have the truck parked out there unless I need to work on it or the main garage is as full as it is now with xmas junk, just allocating space for that in the mock-ups.

p.s. The rectangle on the wall next to the entry door represents the electrical panel.

[Brent Dowell]

Do you really have a rack with 5 cordless drills?

I downloaded the model too. Need to swipe a few of your components for something I'm working on....

[Rob Keeble]

Darren just an off the wall question, (i went back and looked at the building again). Is there no way you can use the space above the trusses.

What i mean by that is this. In my shop instead of using blown in insulation and a ceiling, i put my insulation R22 roxul between the top trusses and then covered it with the usual poly for a vapor barrier and then sheetrock. What this did in my case was give me a cathedral type of ceiling and i could use the space. Now when i look at the height of the building and i think of all that space being lost but still insulated lower down i am wondering??? Because when i see you partitioning the place then i am thinking mezzanine storage could be placed above some of the partitioned areas and you know what its like we always after storage even for houshold Christmas lights and other "stuff".

If you insulate at roof height then that mezzanine storage space could be heated as part of the shop.


I know you have to consider loads and you have to cater for the snow loads but could you not do a little reinforcing like lapping of the trusses in places to cater for the additional load if any.

I placed that polystyrene sheet that goes against the roof and keeps air flowing from the sofit thru to the vents before i put the insulation in.

Dunno just thinking aloud when i see how quickly the space gets gobbled up for various uses.

Dang i guess its never enough. The layout tool is cool. I dont have particular preferences related to your current layout but i do think moving the office space makes a big difference.

Does seem to me that the back end where the gravel is, is getting a disproportionate share of the overall building size for what it is going to be used for and the amount of time in each year. I mean grass does not get cut in winter right. So a huge chunck of garden stuff gets a huge chunck of the shop space because of gravel for only what 8 months of the year.

[Darren Wright]

Do you really have a rack with 5 cordless drills?

I wish, I plan to buy at least another 18 volt, an impact driver, and a small twist type driver. I was just finding models from the 3d warehouse that looked like what I had in mind, the drill rack was a bonus.

Darren just an off the wall question, (i went back and looked at the building again). Is there no way you can use the space above the trusses.

What i mean by that is this. In my shop instead of using blown in insulation and a ceiling, i put my insulation R22 roxul between the top trusses and then covered it with the usual poly for a vapor barrier and then sheetrock. What this did in my case was give me a cathedral type of ceiling and i could use the space. Now when i look at the height of the building and i think of all that space being lost but still insulated lower down i am wondering??? Because when i see you partitioning the place then i am thinking mezzanine storage could be placed above some of the partitioned areas and you know what its like we always after storage even for houshold Christmas lights and other "stuff".

If you insulate at roof height then that mezzanine storage space could be heated as part of the shop.


I know you have to consider loads and you have to cater for the snow loads but could you not do a little reinforcing like lapping of the trusses in places to cater for the additional load if any.

I placed that polystyrene sheet that goes against the roof and keeps air flowing from the sofit thru to the vents before i put the insulation in.

Dunno just thinking aloud when i see how quickly the space gets gobbled up for various uses.

Dang i guess its never enough. The layout tool is cool. I dont have particular preferences related to your current layout but i do think moving the office space makes a big difference.

Does seem to me that the back end where the gravel is, is getting a disproportionate share of the overall building size for what it is going to be used for and the amount of time in each year. I mean grass does not get cut in winter right. So a huge chunck of garden stuff gets a huge chunck of the shop space because of gravel for only what 8 months of the year.

Something to consider as far as using batts up higher. I'm actually making the ceilings above the office and finish room 8', so will have some storage above them. The roof is a 4/12 pitch, so I'm only loosing a couple of feet in the middle part of the building for upper storage space.

Also these plans are for the immediate use (for a few years). I'll have about $1500 to spend on steel, insulation, and other materials after the first of the year, so I'm only planning to cover about 2/3's of the ceiling, finishing out what walls are there, and building the new rooms and partitions. I do plan to either do concrete or a wood floor in that back area, it's just not in the budget for a while.