My new shop...

John Pollman

Member
Messages
1,332
Location
Rochester Hills, MI
Well not yet. But I'm hoping that it will happen soon. Life has thrown me a major curve and due to chronic health issues, it's getting tough to work in the trades. I'm a licensed residential builder, but I don't build homes. I do general repairs, flooring, light remodeling, decks, flooring, etc. Well over the past week or so I've done a couple woodworking projects for clients that have come out very nice. One of the clients owns a small fairly high-end furniture store about a mile from my house. He liked the last project I did for him and he asked me about doing another one. It's for a customer of his and he said that if it comes out nice, he might have me make some more for him to sell in his store. If those go, he'll order more.

This is good news, I enjoy woodworking and it is therapeutic for me both physically and mentally. It's not nearly as physically demanding as working in the trades. I just finished getting rid of a bunch of stuff out of my basement and I'm thinking that I may turn it into a full blown shop. I want to make a spray booth that I can vent outside and get a DC system to keep the dust to a minimum. This could be the start of a new chapter in my life. This is what I have now and I'll post pics as it progresses.

Here's about 1100 square feet of heaven which should make a pretty substantial shop. And the good part is that it's a walkout so it makes large pieces much easier to get in and out without having to deal with stairs.

Shop1.jpgShop2.jpgShop3.jpgShop4.jpg
 
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Oh yeah, most of that stuff in the one corner is garage sale fodder for the spring. Everything else in the other corner (other than the gym) is probably garage sale stuff too.

This is gonna be fun!
 
you must be single if you have that much space in your basement free of clutter john.. i cant say as i have ever seen a lived house that clear in the basement:)
 
Well it wasn't always that way Larry. :D

A few months ago, I got ruthless and got rid of a BUNCH of stuff. I've got a few containers of "stuff" in the furnace room that I'm going to go through one at a time. I'll pitch what is trash, and the rest will get put where it belongs and ORGANIZED.

I've already got a rough idea for my spray booth. One that will be well ventilated to the outside. I've also got an idea for a nice sturdy work bench on casters (lockable). My next door neighbor has one and it's awesome to be able to move it around but it's also very stable when the casters are locked.
 
Good news!
I just got back from talking with my friend/neighbor. It's a go on the DC. He said no problem, I can use it to get set up and see how things go. If things go well I'll pick one up and get a permanent system installed. For right now I only need it for one tool at a time so I'll just hook up the intake of the unit to each tool as I need it. I've got a pretty good plan for a cheap and easy spray booth too. It's going to take a while so it's not going to look like a full blown "shop" at first, but it will get there!
 
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Jealousy abounds.

What a dream. It is nearly twice the sq footage I have and it is clear space. Utterly, WOW!

REALLY, REALLY do a lot of planning on the computer. I don't know the Grizzly software; whatever it is it has to be vastly superior to paper and pencil. The more you plan the more you are going to like what you get. Don't forget to sketch in traffic patterns, DC ducting, and far more outlets than you think you will ever need (because you will need them and it is a whale of a lot easier now).

If you don't have a sub-panel down there, I would strongly recommend that you do it. Oh yes, make it at least twice as big as you think you will need. DAMHIKT.

Put luminaires all over the place. One basic rule about ceiling/hanging luminaires is that they should be no further apart than one and a half times the distance from the work area straight up to the level of the light fixtures. Years ago I was a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society. I am not up-to-date on code. However, most of the basic stuff on position, type of luminaire, etc. is timeless. If I can help, let me know.

This is going to be work and take some time, but, darn, it is going to be fun!

Enjoy,

JimB
 
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Recently I bought a small portable Ryobi table saw. I bought a smilar saw by Skil about 7 or 8 years ago and it worked fine for a portable saw to take with me to job sites. But it could only rip up to 12", this Ryobi will do 25" and I needed that for a job I did a couple months ago. The problem with that Ryobi is that the miter slots aren't compatible with things like tenoning jigs and such. I've got a pretty nice old Craftsman saw that is a beast. The other day I was looking on Craigslist and saw a picture of a pretty nice contractor's saw that had a plywood base/storage unit made for it. It also had a nice extension bench that was the same height as the saw so that would come in handy. The base had three nice size open compartments for tool storage. Looking at it, something hit me. It had a back on it and the storage compartments were open on the front. If I just put a door on the front side of the compartment below the saw, I could put a DC pickup fitting on it and that would work fine for DC on that saw. I can also put it on lockable casters to make it easier to move around. It has casters on the factory base but they're a pain and don't work very well. With this Craftsman, I should be able to use a tenoning jig and I have a dado setup and moulding head set for it. I'm going to take some measurements tomorrow and maybe get started on a base for that saw. You've gotta start somewhere! ;)
 
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Good news!
I just got back from talking with my friend/neighbor. It's a go on the DC. He said no problem, I can use it to get set up and see how things go. If things go well I'll pick one up and get a permanent system installed. For right now I only need it for one tool at a time so I'll just hook up the intake of the unit to each tool as I need it.

Gives you a chance to shuffle your tools around as well without having to move duct work when you decide you don't like where you put them at first.
 
That's true. Yesterday I was doing some thinking about my spray booth too. I don't know if it's necessary, but I think I may have come up with a way to make a down draft booth like they use for painting cars. That could be really nice.
 
I think I'm going to stay away from spraying lacquer in the house. My brother has a friend that burned his house down doing that! If I do end up having to spray lacquer, it will have to be in the warmer months and I'll do it out in the garage. I've got a walk out basement so I'm going to set up the booth in one corner of the basement that has a window about 7' from the corner. I'm going to put some intake filters on one end or the booth and use a blower to draw air through. That window is a 72x48 slider and I think I'll just make a filler piece that I can open the window and install the filler and close it up tight against. Then there can be a connector for the hose to pass through. It should work pretty well and get the bulk of the fumes and such outside directly. I think I'll stick with spraying water borne finishes in the basement.
 
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