Mike's New Shed Shop: Making Something out of Nothing

[Michael Yadfar]

I'm 19 and took four years of woodworking class in high school, along with some carpentry classes also. Woodworking was one of my biggest joys and I was very good at it and made some pretty advanced stuff. I considered going to school for further woodworking, but decided to go to college for something else with a bigger market, and I got completely free scholarship to that college. I had about $25,000 saved up and I already have a car and no student loans, so I decided to put together a woodshop with about a $5,000 budget. I did a lot of research on possible options, and renting wasn't feasible, and building a permanent shop on my parents property wasn't feasible either, especially due to the cost and the fact that I only plan to live at home for another 3-4 years. My parents gave me a 16'x9' storage shed to use, which we used to store yard toys and my dirtbikes. The challenge was that I had to relocate everything which I'm still in the process of, and I couldn't make any permanent altercations like block off doors or do anything visible from the outside. I insulated the shed and stocked it with tools I purchased. The following tools I purchased after extensive research were: Grizzly GO453Z Spiral Head Planer (new), Jet 6" Jointer (used), Grizzly GO555 14" Bandsaw (new), Ridgid Contractor Saw (new), HF Dust Collector (new), HF Scroll Saw (new), and various other tools and supplies. I also have gifted tools (Ryobi plunge router and some hand tools), and my dads tools from the garage including most my hand tools and handheld power tools, Craftsman Drill Press, and Porter Cable miter saw.

Here's the shed before made into shop:
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Here's after insulating with the various set ups, sorry for the sideways images, I cannot figure out how to fix:
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The shop is cramped, annoying to constantly change things around, but it's better than nothing. I typically used the table saw outside when cutting large stuff like plywood. I keep it heated to 55 degrees when I'm not in the shop, and about 65 when I'm working with a portable electric oil heater. The shop is actually pretty well sealed and insulated. I have R-10 foamboard in the floor, r-13 fiberglass in the walls, r-10 foamboard in the doors and some of the walls, r-20 foamboard on the ceiling, and energy star qualified windows. The heater keeps it at 55 on 1/3 of a turn on the thermostat low mode during a freezing day. I still gotta figure out what I'm going to do in the summer with humidity. I have 3 layers of paste wax on all my cast iron surfaces right now. As for electric, I have a 20amp 240V circuit, and two 15amp 120 Volt circuits.

[Michael Yadfar]

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Some more pics

[Bruce Volden]

Michael,

You're 19! ! ! ! I'm 61 and it took many years to set up a comfortable shop. The tools are the easy part. It sometimes does become a pain to move tools around for usage but, being young it will teach you proper preparation (steps) and that my friend will become a very valuable lesson. I'm glad you you have kept yourself from school debt (total ripoff IMO). My advice is to make use of what you have for nothing is ever as perfect as you can imagine it. You will adapt.

Bruce

[Gene Takae]

Hi Mike,
That's a pretty cool set up. I knew a girl that had an even smaller shed as a workshop and she told me that she placed 2 windows opposite each other so that she could stick long pieces of wood out of to work! 2 suggestions I'd like to make. Put up minimum 1/2" plywood on un-used wall space to hang cabinets, shelves, etc. without worrying about attaching to studs. Also, don't hesitate to make drop down storage from the roof rafters. There's a lot of space up there.

Good luck with your woodworking and whatever future endeavors you pursue.
Gene

[Michael Yadfar]

Thank you. The space isn't too bad, it's just a lot different from going to a full sized shop to this, but obviously it's not too big of an issue because otherwise I wouldn't have done it. I actually have two doors parallel to each other on the ends of the shed that are temporarily sealed off. If I needed to run a rediculous long piece of stock through the planer, I pretty much have unlimited distance. However, I don't see myself doing anything too big for this shed. The only issue is plywood, but one of the reasons I got the contractor saw rather than a stationary one is so I can use it outside which I do. It's actually a pretty underrated saw too, it's pretty darn accurate for a saw I got for $200 on sale. I've considered putting plywood on the walls too, especially because of the flammability of the foamboard also. I have plenty of roof space to utilize too, I've used it in the past to hang stuff

[Jim Andrew]

Michael, have been reading your posts for a while now, and have to write, I am impressed with your achievements! The college scholarship is great. Wish you good luck with your education. I took Industrial Arts classes for a major, and you can probably do better. My nephew got a MBA, and is doing very well, the company has allowed him to move back home, and work out of an office in his house. Technology is cool that way. Have another nephew who recently moved back to Kansas, he was at Lincoln, and got a higher paying job back here. He is a self taught IT guy. But he has a degree in ag economics. Any kind of business background will help you in the business world. My loss for sticking with shop classes, was being more interested in the world of work than the world of business. Business pays better.

[Chris Garratt]

Just awesome!

[george newbury]

Nice looking shop for a starter!

For the sideways pics - Several things may be happening, the easiest method is to edit the pic w/ MS Paint (or almost any draw software) and rotate it, and while in edit mode you can add arrows to point things out, dates, etc. Just do one and try and post it.

[Rick Potter]

You are going to be pretty busy at school for a while, and that size shop should serve you well, till you are off on your own. Congrats on the scholarship, and also congratulations to your parents whom, I am sure, are very proud of you.

[Michael Yadfar]

You are going to be pretty busy at school for a while, and that size shop should serve you well, till you are off on your own. Congrats on the scholarship, and also congratulations to your parents whom, I am sure, are very proud of you.

Im a freshman there now, and yea, I am very busy! During the week I live in my dorm, and I go home on weekends and breaks. I started this summer and just finished it now over break. I hope to get a few projects done before I go back, and on weekends I have time for some stuff.

[Michael Yadfar]

Nice looking shop for a starter!

For the sideways pics - Several things may be happening, the easiest method is to edit the pic w/ MS Paint (or almost any draw software) and rotate it, and while in edit mode you can add arrows to point things out, dates, etc. Just do one and try and post it.

I have a photo editing thing that came with my computer and for the first pic I turned it sideways and it still came up sideways!

[george newbury]

I have a photo editing thing that came with my computer and for the first pic I turned it sideways and it still came up sideways!
I had the same problem.
In the 3 photos as attached thumbnails:
First pic - as taken with my Samsung Note, appears ok in windows but when uploaded is on it's left side
Second pic rotated right with MS Paint - on my computer it looks like it is on it's side, uploaded it's on it's right side
Third pic - rotated second pic back

Pic below - rotated original right then rotated it left and saved it.
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Basically you have to rewrite the photo header file.
Some software (GIMP for example reads the orientation from the exif (header w/ the photo) and will prompt if it's not in landscape. There's a tool if you just want to rewrite the exif.
http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2009/04/derotating-jpegs-with-exiftool/