Potential Move to Wisconsin

[Joe Scarfo]

Well... I may be moving from Tampa to near Green Bay and I have yet to figure out if the shop gets sold off, placed into storage, "loaned" to local buddies for future retrieval, or put into a trailer and hauled north.

I enjoy year round playtime in Fl, as long as the hurricanes stay away anyways.

If the shop moves north, I assume I'll have to enjoy playtime in the basement. My question has to do w/ finishing. Is anyone shooting finishes in the basements? Are you sticking w/ brush on finishes? Pack the pjct away until spring and shoot or brush outside?

If the shop gets sold off, it'll be a big garage sale sometime soon.

Thanks in advance.

Joe in Tampa... for now anyways.

[Pete Rosenbohm]

Joe did something hit you on the head!!!! Moving from Fla. To the iceeee cold of Wis. and all those cheeseheads:D I would still put up with the hurricanes:rolleyes: (not). Good luck Joe hope the move is beneficial. Comeback and visit when hurricane season is over.

Pete

[Gary Max]

When it gets cold we just brush everything.. some times it sits in the middle of the living room floor on a drop cloth. I have a huge coffee table sitting in the middle of my Kitchen right now. It wants to go to a show this weekend and needed a warm place to dry overnight. So where there's a will------

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Boy Joe....climate-wise....you'd be hard pressed to go farther from one extreme to the other........I mean you might go from Florida to Big Piney Wy....or Haver MT......and if you left the lower 48.....someplace in Alaska ...whew! But...they do woodworking there too! Good Luck Joe! :)

[Gary Max]

Bring the tools with you----it will be less work than replacing them. Unless it is time to buy BIGGER tools of course.

[Tyler Howell]

Cheese Ville! Now I'm really worried. :rolleyes:

Amazing things have done with garages and shops for winter use but we don't roll up the streets because of a little poor road construction weather. You just trade in that jet ski for a snow mobile.

[Thomas Prondzinski]

Joe

Bring em along,there's nothing finer that making wood chips while its cold and snowing outside. To me there is just about nothing finer and more relaxing than woodworking in the winter.



Tom

[Steve Evans]

Joe

I'm with Thomas. I love working in my shop with the fire going and watching the snow fall outside. Don't have to worry about all the yard work that you're putting off. A real peaceful time of year for me. Good luck and enjoy snow.

Steve

[Aaron Montgomery]

If you're moving to Green Bay (heck, anywhere in Wi) then any tools you bring with you had better be green or gold. (Green and gold is even better) Definately a bunch of green and gold zealots up there.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Come on up Joe! We would love to have ya. As others have said, MOVE the shop, it is going to cost you dearly to replace what you have. Even if you get top dollar you are talking at least a 25% loss on original prices. For that you should easily be able to pay movers to move them.

Anyway, woodworking in the winter is great, as others have said. During the summer my other hobbies keep me busy. In the winter woodworking is king! I don't spray finishes ever, but I have brushed/wiped on finishes in the winter in my basement. Make sure you turn the furnace, ON not automatic, this way it will run constantly and get rid of the fumes faster.

[Gredo Goldenstein]

I would like to chime in with a couple of previous posts....Woodworking in the winter is wonderful! I actually do very little of it during the summer. But, as soon as the weather starts cooling down and the leaves on the trees start to change the most beautiful colors, I start making sawdust. Sawing some quarter sawn oak, with a wood stove crackling away, while watching snow falling outside the shop sounds like heaven on earth!

Gredo

[Jim Becker]

Joe, you can shoot water based indoors all year 'round as long as the temp is reasonable in your shop and you deal with cleaning the air. But it's "safe" from the standpoint of fumes.

Now as to that move...we'll have to hold a collection to insure you have your woolies to wear, especially if your blood is "Florida thin"!! :D And unless you have the ability to replace anything you would sell off relatively soon, move the shop, IMHO. Long distance moves are by weight and you'll not be adding all that much in the scope of things. (do take the insurance, however...)

[Jim DeLaney]

...Long distance moves are by weight and you'll not be adding all that much in the scope of things. (do take the insurance, however...)


My movers are coming next Monday to move me from SoCal to NE Ohio. Yeah, the move is by weight - it's costing me avout 68¢ per pound for the move.

With a 400# cabinet saw, a 400# bandsaw, a 500# metal lathe, a 250# joiner, 350# (second) bandsaw, 600# bench, plus drill press, planer, Performax sander, and about 75 boxes of hand tools and hardware, I figur the shop is going to cost me between $2500 & $3000 to move.

Shipping the shop ain't cheap - Total move is estimated at ~12,500#. Cost, including some limited amount of packing, is just under $10K.... Still better, and less costly than selling off and trying to replace everything, though.

[Chris Padilla]

Hey Jim D., good to hear from you. I was wondering about your 180 degree move! :) Quite a change but I must admit that I envy you...I dearly miss 4 seasons and snow and fabulous skiing! :D

Take those last pics of the shop and then of the one in OH with snow all around...should be interestin'! :D

[Joe Scarfo]

Thanks everyone for the feedback...

Water based finishes... I should've thought of that.

I'll have to work through a way to save / ship the tools. I figure, to replace everything w/ new, would approach $20K or so. I'm not interested in selling and then rebuilding the collection, it took over 20 years to get it where it is now.

Thanks for the ideas... water based in the basement it'll pbly become. W/ a separate heat/cool source, that should keep any dust from scattering through out the house.

I seem to remember dust getting through out the house when I was just getting into this when we lived outside Chicago.

I'll let you know if the move happens.

Ciao
Joe in Tampa...

[Kent Cori]

Joe,

I did it in reverse: Wisconsin to Florida. I was tired of shoveling snow but one thing I dearly miss was my basement shop. It can be much better than working in a Florida garage in August.

Things to look for will include poured concrete walls rather than block (less moisture leaks in), adequate electrical capacity (it's easy to install 220V outlets in a basement but you need the amp capacity first), external entrance if at all possible (much easier to carry in sheet goods and carry out large projects), 9 foot ceiling height minimum and of course plenty of space. You'll want a portable dehumidifier for the summer too.

I grew up in Titletown and it is a great place to live. Just make sure you buy good long johns! ;)

[John Miliunas]

Hey, we'd love to have you, Joe! :) Yeah, the hands get a little cold, but we have warm hearts! :D Sheeesh...You've even got a great WW store up there and you'd be pretty close to our own reknowned Dale Thompson, up in Peshtigo! :eek:

I agree on the other stuff: Move the equipment and use water-based finishes. If you have a way of refreshing the air (without circulating through the house) then you can even keep your favorite oil stains to use, as well. And you're right, seperate HVAC of some sort will help with the odors AND the dust. :) Good luck in whatever decision you end up making and be sure to keep us posted. :cool:

[Dan Mages]

Movin from warm, sunny Florida to cold, snowy, cheesehead infested Wisconsin? Are you sure that you are okay? You will need to work on your woredrobe a bit. You will need a jacket like this to handle the winters. Its calf length, goose down filled, Gor-Tex lined, and if properly dressed, it will keep you warm on those -30 mornings. All yours for $279.
http://www.llbean.com/products/mens/18616/images/M18616_New_Khaki.jpg
Dan

[John Miliunas]

You will need a jacket like this to handle the winters. Its calf length, goose down filled, Gor-Tex lined, and if properly dressed, it will keep you warm on those -30 mornings. All yours for $279.


Oh puleeeeeze! That's great if you're going to be out in the cold for several hours at a crack, but if it's just from house to car to work, here's the rundown and mind you, I'm gettin' a bit old here, so it's not entirely accurate for you younger folks! 45*deg, you might want to put on a long-sleeved shirt. 32* to 44*, a windbreaker is kinda' nice. 20* to 31*, the leather Packer jacket goes on. 0* to 20* deg., I usually throw on a flannel shirt under the Packer jacket. Below 0*, you start to layer it, including some long-johns and maybe a nice Badger sweatshirt. If it's -30* or less and you're out there, you're either snowmobiling or ice fishing and have enough "anti-freeze" in you, that it really don't matter what in the heck you're wearing! :D :cool:

[Joe Scarfo]

Maybe I should've mentioned it.. but I'm not a Fla native. I lived in Honolulu for 3 years before moving to Central Fla. Now that doesn't mean I'm unfamiliar w/ cold.

I went to High School in North Michigan and walked to work at my part time job. I should also mention it was always below 0 and UPHILL both ways!

The first dinner out w/ my wife, after our first child was born, it got to 50 below.

Yeah... i know the freakin cold, it's why I've avoided it since 1975, except for that short 18 month stint in the mid 90's in Chi.

Gawd I don't want to go up there again, but family pressures can be an incredible pull.

Tks everyone for the woodworking advise.

I'm day dreaming about building a place w/ a deepend basement. I figure it'll be 11' deep. That way w/ the finished cieling, I'll have 10' to work with. Besides, the deeper you go, the cheaper it is to heat n cool.

[Dan Mages]

If you venture out on a Sunday morning and find Green Bay a ghost town, don't be alarmed. You will not find the people at church, you will find them at the stadium tail gating before another football game.

Dan

[John Miliunas]

If you venture out on a Sunday morning and find Green Bay a ghost town, don't be alarmed. You will not find the people at church, you will find them at the stadium tail gating before another football game.

Dan

Got that right! A buddy of mine got seats to a game once and behind him noticed this older gentleman with an empty seat next to him. He mentioned something about it to the older fella' and the old Packer fan said, "Yup. Wife and I have had season tickets since the 50's, but she's gone now." My buddy says, "Well, you coulda' gave it to one of your kids, couldn't you?" The saintly old man retorted, "Yup, I offered, but they decided to go to their mother's funeral, instead!" :eek: Hard to beat dem dar Cheesehead fans! :) :cool: