3rd Floor Shop

[Jeff Chaisson]

Hi All,


Currently I work out of my garage and spend more time setting up and breaking things down with the seasons (for car parking) than woodworking...thus I am looking at building my first workshop. So I have a space, as seen in the picture, that is approx 30'x40' with 14' ceilings, tons of natural light from six 6' wide by 9' high windows and some really cool wood trim all around. The problem is that it's on the 3rd floor. I'm thinking my best bet would be to install a lift of some sort to bring up materials and equipment (and to remove an old piano dated 1893). Stair case is decent, but would be a real pain to move sheets and equipment.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[Ben Rivel]

Do you have room outside to build a lift and can you modify the building to make a larger opening/door in the wall to access the lift outside?

[Jeff Chaisson]

Yes. I even have a 42" door to nowhere on the backside of the building that I assume was for the purpose of deliveries. The bottom of the door is approx 30' from ground level.

Does anyone have any ideas on lift construction for such an endeavor? Cheaper the better of course, but since I'm right in town I need it to look decent and safe.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've seen photos of old buildings (way pre-elevators) with haylofts or even shops in the upper floors. They have a door to nowhere like you have, and a beam sticking out above the doors. A block and tackle hangs from the beam, and stuff goes up and down on the end of a rope.

Actually, the beam doesn't have to be a permanent part of the building. It could roll or swing through the door to get outside.

This approach would be a zillion times less expensive than a real elevator, and wouldn't require permits.

Here's a pic of an old street in Holland. Notice the beams sticking out of the tops of the buildings. That's where the pulley hangs to lift stuff up the front of the building.

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There are pulleys with ratchets, so when you're pulling an object up, it can't go accidentally dropping down. And there are electric winches, so you don't have to pull the Unisaw up with just your muscles. And there are block and tackles, which act kinda like gearboxes; you don't have to exert as much force to lift something.

[Matt Day]

Very cool space!

A picture or two of the door and the outside of it would be helpful. I'm guessing some kind of hayloft type hoist would be best, if you can rig it up.

[Jamie Buxton]

Hoist is a good search term. Here's a pic of a hoist for an upper-story wood shop. The page has lots of construction details. http://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/ive-finally-finished-the-hoist-beam-for-the-workshop/

[Jim Becker]

That's really beautiful space. And yes, a lift of some sort is going to be necessary to avoid killing yourself... ;)

[Michael Stein]

No help on the hoist, but that is an awesome workspace! The reason for your post, materials in and projects out, would be the only downside I can see.

[George Yetka]

if you have everything ready to go and take a window out you could probably get away with a sign crane for a day for under a 1000 if you shop around. You will still be left with the issue of running materials up and down the stairs

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I love that space. I have seen many shops on upper floors. A lift is a must, but another option is a forklift- portable and no installation fee. You can move things up and down and also push them forward into the shop. Might end up cheaper too.

[Jerome Stanek]

I would put a extendable boom in so you can push it out the door when you need it and pull it in so the door closes.

[John K Jordan]

A friend of mine built a large elevator (about 6' square) from an old fork lift. He had rails welded to guide the elevator, mounted the fork lift frame to a concrete slab, and installed an electric pump to drive the hydraulics. He bought two old non-working fork lifts for scrap prices and made one good one.

I have no idea if such a thing would reach to the third floor but I've seen some that would go pretty high.

JKJ

[Jeff Chaisson]

Hoist is a good search term. Here's a pic of a hoist for an upper-story wood shop. The page has lots of construction details. http://tomstudwell.com/wordpress/ive-finally-finished-the-hoist-beam-for-the-workshop/

Thats quite the rig, I like it but I'm looking at about a 30' lift. Certainly in the right direction, thanks!

[Jamie Buxton]

Thats quite the rig, I like it but I'm looking at about a 30' lift. Certainly in the right direction, thanks!

It seems to me that the nice thing about the rope-and-pulley approach is that you can easily make it taller: you just use a longer rope.

[Alan Schaffter]

I have a second floor shop with a loft door at one end. I designed a stow-away I-Beam hoist that stows totally inside, vertically, against the wall when not in use. The mounts attach to the door header and the ridge beam (10' ceiling). I used it to hoist all my machines, including a very heavy, 21" Delta RC-51 planer, and still use it to lift materials (8/4 X 10' hardwood, 4' X 8' sheets of ply, MDF, etc.), and lower completed projects. I used a double line and pulley (good for 1350 lbs.) for the really heavy stuff. I removed the pendant switch and hard-wired the HF hoist so I can control it from ground and shop-level switches. Hoist and I-beam trolley came from Ebay.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P6070005.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P6070008.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P6070009.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC140051.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC140053.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/PC140058.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/Table-hoist.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P6070015.JPG

[Jamie Buxton]

Yeeha! That's what I'm talking about!

[Ole Anderson]

Another consideration: does the floor have enough capacity for your heavier machines? 14' ceilings are awesome.

[Randy Red Bemont]

Sweet setup Alan. I think this would work for Jeff too.

Red

[Kevin Jenness]

"And yes, a lift of some sort is going to be necessary to avoid killing yourself..."

Alan Schafter's hoist is a very well thought out solution. The last part of Jim's comment should not be ignored, though. Lifting heavy objects into the air requires attention to the safety of the hoist operator and anyone who might stray into the death zone.

[Jeff Chaisson]

Sounds really cool, wish I could see the pictures. Mine would have to lift about 30 ft, might be a little sketchy the first few times getting my equipment up there....projects and material should be fine. I may just end up renting a scissor lift for the day for the big stuff

[Jamie Buxton]

Sounds really cool, wish I could see the pictures. Mine would have to lift about 30 ft, might be a little sketchy the first few times getting my equipment up there....projects and material should be fine. I may just end up renting a scissor lift for the day for the big stuff

It sure does make me nervous to be thinking about using a fork lift or a scissor lift to lift big machines 30' in the air while I'm sitting in the driver's seat directly below said big machines. The rope-and-pulley (okay, strong rope and pulley) approach allows you to be standing to the side, or even up in the loft.

[Rick Fisher]

What a cool work space.. I would love that .. hope it works out ..

[William Shelley]

I know this thread is a year old, but I came across it in a search and I'm curious what the end result was/is.

A thought I had was that if you had a beam crane, you could cantilever the beams out the doors by 5-8 feet and run the crane out of the building, pick up your material, then drive the crane back inside.

[Bill Dufour]

Doors to nowhere, reminds me of the Winchester house. I would say a beam under the ridge board and allow it to stick out the end. maybe extend the eave peak to cover the beam from rain.

Last year they found a new room in the Winchester house. It was closed off in 1922 or earlier. The house now has 161 rooms. It did lose it's top story around 1906 in a quake so those rooms are long gone.

Famous stairway to nowhere.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/231161393345824731/
She is credited with inventing the covered driveway entrance to the front door so she was not completely crazy?

Bill D.

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-hay-loft-of-red-roof-barn-on-rural-farm-near-franklin-north-carolina-49529632.html

[Tom Bender]

Alan, that is genius! And an electric hoist is really what Jeff needs.

Jeff, what will the floor hold and what trouble will the noisy machines in the attic stir up.

Can you attach something like that to the wall or ceiling without breaking the building? May need an engineer to look it all over.

Awesome space.