The Hall of the Mountain King Restrat

[Thomas Wilson]

I had a thread going for a long time last year on my dream workshop which I modestly called the Hall of the Mountain King https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?273194-The-Hall-of-the-Mountain-King&highlight=Hall+of+the+Mountain+King. It is turning out really wonderful. Progress slowed tremendously in late summer through the fall as the builder got busy with other projects and subs just failed to show up when they were needed and when they promised. Anyway, the shop is nearing completion now.

Here are the finished beams. I used Heritage Natural Finishes Original Finish. It is a mixture of linseed oil, tung oil, beeswax, and pine rosin in a citrus solvent. It smells wonderful and is easy and forgiving in application.

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The hardwood floors are going in right now. Axl Rose is helping.
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The lighting is a mixture of warehouse lights, track lights, various barn lights and rustic style fans mainly for looks. The scheme is very versatile. With different dimming it can go from bright as daylight to romantic, if one is so inclined. I like the look.

I built the first shop furnishing this week and I moved a couple of tools into the basement for the task. It is a wood rack in the basement so I have a place to put the good hardwood that I have saved over the the years. Some of the lumber is 50 years old. There is a story but I will spare you. The bandsaw, SCMS, and a radial arm saw are in the basement. They will be moved upstairs when the floor is down.
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I will be making knotty white oak trim for the windows and doors in the main shop area so the tools will go in before the room is trimmed out. It will be finished in the same oil and wax finish as the beams. I also have a lot of shop furniture to build. I have hired a trim carpenter to help me. He is vastly overweight and has lots of health problems but he wants to work. He is knowledgable and accurate and has good judgement about what to do without being told. I can do the stuff that requires agility, climbing, or endurance. We will keep the pace slow. Only the shop will be trimmed with site-made molding. The apartment will be trimmed with commercial molding. He and I will do that first. The study in the apartment will have Williamsburg style crown, windows and door trim, chair rail and base moldings. The bedrooms will just have window and door trim and baseboard.

The only setback this past week was that the chimney chase sprung a leak in the heavy rain. I presume it is the cap that is leaking but none of us working last week wanted to climb up there to inspect. Repairing the leak and drying out the subfloor will set back the work on flooring and trim in the study. I am expecting to replace the cap with a better design rather than caulking the current one. I would not recommend our fireplace contractor. He substituted a cheaper model fireplace insert than he charged for, charged for flue elbows that he did not use, installed the firebox out of square and not plumb, and now, we have a leak in the cap. It will get fixed. I wish I could get him to pay for all the problems but probably will just let it go. He is just a crook and I don't want to go to the trouble of taking him to court and then still not get paid back.

There are a few other workshop threads starting up. Let me know if you have any questions about mine.

TW

[Eugene Dixon]

Been missing the updates. Glad to see they're back.

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks, Eugene. I thought I was posting too much and interest had diminished. Also I tried to fix the first two pictures. I don't know what happened to them.

[Jim Becker]

Wow...that looks stellar! 'Hope you can get that leak issue fixed quickly. Bummer on the fireplace install. Sad that recourse would be so difficult...there are too many folks out there that take advantage. :(

Suggest you consider keeping the SCMS downstairs where the lumber storage is so you can easily break things down before hauling material upstairs. Or keep an inexpensive one down there in addition to the one you have for the same purpose. I no longer have my CMS in the shop...it's upstairs in my lumber storage area and I don't miss it. Of course, I have a slider, so almost anything I would have used the CMS for back when I had a cabinet saw gets done on the slider for precision.

BTW, you can NEVER post too much on threads like these! Don't think that lack of activity/comments from others means there isn't a lot of interest. That's just not true. Many folks just like to look and learn without commenting.

[Thomas Wilson]

...

Suggest you consider keeping the SCMS downstairs where the lumber storage is so you can easily break things down before hauling material upstairs. Or keep an inexpensive one down there in addition to the one you have for the same purpose. I no longer have my CMS in the shop...it's upstairs in my lumber storage area and I don't miss it. Of course, I have a slider, so almost anything I would have used the CMS for back when I had a cabinet saw gets done on the slider for precision.

...



Thanks, Jim. I am very excited to finally see some progress. Since I will be doing much of the work now, I will be more in control. I will be doing handrails on the porch and stairs as well. I have a Craftsman-y style idea for the design. May give in to schedule pressure and use commercially available stair and handrail parts.

As my builder says about me, "You don't do things the way other people do." I guess that is a compliment.

I had planned to put the radial arm saw on the middle shelf of the wood rack a la Jim Tolpin. I am having second thoughts because I have a lot of lumber to store. The RAS can go other places in the basement. The SCMS will be a traveling companion. It is somewhat portable. I have used it in the Cave in Atlanta too. It can be where it is needed.

The radial arm saw is less accurate than almost any saw except me operating a handsaw. I can keep the RAS running true if I never use it for anything but crosscuts. That is a good idea anyway.

[Jim Becker]

If the RAS stays in the "dungeon", it can easily be used to break down boards. No worries about precision on the crosscut outside of your own personal safety. In fact, it might be a good machine for this because it can handle wide boards. :) I say this as someone that very rarely processes an actual long board for a project...your workflow may be different than mine. I break them down prior to processing them on the jointer/planer as they are easier to move around and work with that way.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with "doing different". :) :D So yea...that WAS a compliment, IMHO.

[Mark Hennebury]

Beautiful job on the shop.

[Thomas Wilson]

Beautiful job on the shop.
Thanks. I need to clean up some construction debris and then post pictures of the exterior.

[Thomas Wilson]

If the RAS stays in the "dungeon", it can easily be used to break down boards. No worries about precision on the crosscut outside of your own personal safety. In fact, it might be a good machine for this because it can handle wide boards. :) I say this as someone that very rarely processes an actual long board for a project...your workflow may be different than mine. I break them down prior to processing them on the jointer/planer as they are easier to move around and work with that way.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with "doing different". :) :D So yea...that WAS a compliment, IMHO.

I usually surface boards full length to see grain and checks. I mark pieces to cut in chalk then cross cut and rip as needed.

The builder and I are long time friends. He has worried a lot about the project but it will turn out great. Problems with subs have cascaded. It is a mixture of drug problems, building boom, and my unusual project. We will get it done eventually and still be friends.

[Tom M King]

There are towable man lifts that rent pretty cheap, these days. If he didn't do any better job than that on the chimney to start with, I wouldn't trust him to know how to fix it, and I wouldn't trust caulking to keep water out.

[Thomas Wilson]

There are towable man lifts that rent pretty cheap, these days. If he didn't do any better job than that on the chimney to start with, I wouldn't trust him to know how to fix it, and I wouldn't trust caulking to keep water out.
The fireplace guy is history. A real solution is forthcoming. The problem for any sort of lift is that the lot is steep which makes safe access to the chimney challenging. We had scaffolding for the siding and fake stone of the chimney. I will probably rebuild that. The builder came out with a ladder attachment that hooks over the peak of the roof on Friday. I told him don’t you dare climb up there. He is a month or so older than I. We will get it done and not let anyone get hurt. I don’t want any fools or heroes solving the problem.

[Tom M King]

If you have anywhere close to level to park, the lift I rented last week goes up 45 feet, and some combination of over 27 feet. The stabilizer feet are self-leveling. It'll work about anywhere you might park a car.

We had it on the side of a hill, trimming high tree limbs, after I finished the job in the picture It cost $210 a day, and was much cheaper than paying us to set up scaffolding, and Many times less work. It will handle 550lb., so you can carry a bunch of tools with you too. You park it, unhitch it, turn a key, push some buttons, and you're up where you need to be. It's battery powered, so it's quiet too.

I didn't install this roof, but it's the third time I've had to fix part of it. That upper boom can telescope out another 10', or so, than in the picture. That soffit is 26 to 27' off the ground.

edited to add: I looked on your other thread. It looks to me like you could park it on that end of the house, in front, and be able to get to the top of the chimney from there. If you can get the swivel out past the edge of the roof, on that end, I know you can. This is a 4527. They also have a 5533, but I don't know what that one rents for. New, retail on them is 32k, and 42k.

[Thomas Wilson]

I have not seen one of those. It looks very useful for chimney work. It would be a challenge on my lot because of the slope on the chimney end of the house. I will convert the pictures I just took to jpeg and post them. The builder got a guy up there on a ladder and covered the chimney with a tarp.

[Jim Becker]

Tom, if you browse the OP's original thread, you'll see that this beautiful structure is in the woods on a fairly heavy slope. If I recall, they only cut/leveled enough to accomodate the foundation and the natural slopes are pretty steep. I don't think even that kind of "spider leg" lift could safely get to where he needs it to go.

[Tom M King]

Yes, I went back and looked at that thread. It doesn't have to be on level ground. The feet are self-leveling, or can individually be adjusted. We put it on the side of a hill that might have been 2' lower under the pads on the downhill side, than the other uphill side, to limb some trees on our point. I let the two feet on the downhill side down first, and then hit the self-leveling button. It can probably pick the trailer base up 4'. I know it has some limit, but I don't know what that is yet.

As I said earlier, looking at the pictures in his other thread, there is plenty of room on the "front" side of his building-assuming you can drive to the front. If he can get the swivel past the roof edge, he can reach the top of the chimney from that side of the building with the 4527. It will go over to one side 27' from the base, and the 5333 will go 33 feet over from the base. The 5333 could raise the lower boom in front of the building, and then go across the roof to get to the chimney top.

I put up new fascias on my mechanic shop building with it that day, and didn't move the unit. That building is 24' wide, with 2' roof overhang on each side, and ridge peak is probably 17'. I parked it straight in front of that shop, and out about 8', and that didn't tax its limits at all.

My clients with that old house are considering buying a 5333. They have three old buildings that I look after. The company name is Haulotte, owned by Biljax. They're a Lot cheaper than the self contained lifts that have to be moved on a semi-trailer. I think that 4527 weighs about 3900 lbs. My dually didn't know it was back there, and I expect even a half-ton truck wouldn't have any trouble pulling one.

From now on, we'll rent one just to set up the Alum-A-Pole scaffolding.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Tom, if you browse the OP's original thread, you'll see that this beautiful structure is in the woods on a fairly heavy slope. If I recall, they only cut/leveled enough to accomodate the foundation and the natural slopes are pretty steep. I don't think even that kind of "spider leg" lift could safely get to where he needs it to go.

We use these a lot...
https://www.unitedrentals.com/marketplace/equipment/aerial-work-platforms/boom-lifts/telescopic-boom-lift-150-4wd#/ Not necessarily from this supplier, but you get the idea.

They will operate on some nasty terrain, even as steep as Thomas', tho' I suspect with this 'big-lift' the difficulty will be maneuvering thru the trees? ...but maybe?

Crane and a basket?? Helo? Where there's a will, there's a way.;)

Thomas, sorry if this seems too flippant. I have had contractors that are gems, and some are warts. Seems like we share that.

[Tom M King]

Those are nice, but you can't rent one for 200 bucks a day, and the delivery, and pickup fees will be even more than that.

I got my 210 dollars worth out of the towable's rental cost, that day. I also fixed this roof, and dropped about a ton of limbs on our point that were too high for the pole saw (as well as putting on the two fascias.

The same clients that own the old house, also own this 19th Century store, several miles away. So I did four jobs, in four different locations, on the same day with that towable, all under the same one day rental fee. It's a good thing, if you can use it.

I quit bothering with subcontractors in 1974, after my first year in the building business.

[Thomas Wilson]

Hi Tom and Malcolm,

Here is a shot of the chimney wall. It is pretty steep.

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The grade drops about 10 ft over 26 ft from the front corner to the back. It is a little less steep below the shop, about 1 in 5 feet.

We had a huge boom truck come to lift the timber bents at original construction. He probably has some sort of people basket. It would reach from the driveway. The driveway is a semicircle around the shop. I am standing in the driveway taking this shot.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Those are nice, but you can't rent one for 200 bucks a day, ...

Never intended to imply they're cheap; just that they are available.:cool:

Sounds like you got your money's worth :: right tool for the right jobs! Sometimes an expensive 'tool', makes a long job short enough to pay for the tool - 3 or 4 times over.

Sometimes the way to solve a problem is to avoid it completely; maybe even 'park in the street' and reach over 'everything'. Patrick flew a machine over his house on a crane IIRC. And sometimes folks just don't know the extent of options that are available. (I have been enlightened numerous times on SMC.)

[Thomas Wilson]

The leak must be either from the cap or the interface between the roof and the chimney.

Here is the cap. Apparently this is conventional. The flue pipe is supposed to be caulked to the cap beneath the flared fitting. The flare just acts as an umbrella to allow water to be carried away from the junction. The creases make a slight pyramid to keep water falling over the edge and away from the pipe/cap joint.

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Here is the cricket that is supposed to cause water to shed either toward the roof or over the edge. They sprayed this with some sort of roof patch today. I don't think that would be a permanent fix.

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[Malcolm McLeod]

Hi Tom and Malcolm,

Here is a shot of the chimney wall. It is pretty steep.

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The grade drops about 10 ft over 26 ft from the front corner to the back. It is a little less steep below the shop, about 1 in 5 feet.

We had a huge boom truck come to lift the timber bents at original construction. He probably has some sort of people basket. It would reach from the driveway. The driveway is a semicircle around the shop. I am standing in the driveway taking this shot.

A good mason would probably just erect suitable scaffolding and have at it..?

++ Around here a good mason is one who actually owns staging (scaffolding); not the one who cuts up all your framing lumber to build rickety site ladders and walkways.:mad:

[Malcolm McLeod]

The leak must be either from the cap or the interface between the roof and the chimney.

Here is the cap. Apparently this is conventional. The flue pipe is supposed to be caulked to the cap beneath the flared fitting. The flare just acts as an umbrella to allow water to be carried away from the junction. The creases make a slight pyramid to keep water falling over the edge and away from the pipe/cap joint.

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Here is the cricket that is supposed to cause water to shed either toward the roof or over the edge. They sprayed this with some sort of roof patch today. I don't think that would be a permanent fix.

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Hard to tell with the spray, but I don't see counter-flashing??

I had similar problem once (and drew my attention here) ... I'd want the cricket to extend to the edge of the chimney on the left (of photo) and to the drip edge on right. The water will have some tendency to 'pile up on the flats' as it is today. And water is insidious!

[Malcolm McLeod]

By the way ... an awesome space!

[Tom M King]

Here's the only picture I can think of, that I have available right off, for a chimney cricket. The cricket itself has to be flashed. I typically don't even use caulking for any part of it. The counterflashing goes into a slot that slopes to the outside.
http://historic-house-restoration.com/images/CIMG1790.JPG

[Patrick Kane]

Man, that interior is AWESOME! Did you do the framing yourself? SIPs for the exterior?

I’ll be looking at those photos numerous times. That is the kind of space I dream of having one day.

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks for the help. I will be talking to the builder tomorrow morning. I don't know how the chimney or the cricket are flashed. The stone is thin layer of fake stone. I can't see the flashing either. I presume it is underneath. Right now we can blame the roofer, the stone mason, or fireplace guy. I am sure each one of them would want the other two to do everything possible before they come in and work on their part. Maddening.

The builder has scaffolding and so does the stone mason.

[Tom Bain]

I was wondering where this thread went ... glad to see you are almost nearing the finish line. The space looks amazing.

[Thomas Wilson]

Man, that interior is AWESOME! Did you do the framing yourself? SIPs for the exterior?

I’ll be looking at those photos numerous times. That is the kind of space I dream of having one day.
I did not do the framing. The walls are conventional 2x6 framing with an inch of spray foam and fiberglass bats. They called it flash and bat. SIP’s are hard for plumbers and electricians. The timberframer said he used to recommend them but doesn’t anymore.

I am trying to upload some pics of the exterior but my upload is apparently being throttled. We have HughesNet satellite at the lake house. Maybe the pics will get through in the middle of the night.

[Thomas Wilson]

The house color in evening sun. The light makes the color very bright in this picture. Most of the time it appears more deep red and less orange.

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My helper built temporary loading dock and steps for bringing in the machinery.
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[Thomas Wilson]

I wish my builder had pictures like that of my chimney.

[Mike Wilkins]

Gorgeous space and inspiring location for woodworking.
I feel your pain regarding contractors and subs. I have a driveway and carport project that is going on 6 months and nowhere near completion. At the point of finishing the framing/trim work myself and telling my contractor to take a hike.

[Jim Becker]

That temporary loading dock was a great idea. It would be good if you could keep it around somewhere after the fact in case you, um...upgrade something. :) :D

[Thomas Wilson]

Not much progress this week. The hardwood floors are done as far as they can be done. We have to fix the chimney leak before the floor can be installed up to the fireplace.

The leak has been diagnosed. I cut holes in the chimney chase in two places so I could see inside the chase. The water is coming off the roof against the fake stone veneer. The chimney is flashed at the intersection but the chimney extends beyond the roof edge. (Yes it is a bad design.) The water runs laterally off the edge of the roof at the chimney and out along the mortar seams before dripping down the side of the chimney chase. The chase just leaks through the OSB. I don't know why the felt backing on the underlayment for the stone is not waterproof. The path forward is to redo the cricket. Instead of a peaked design that sheds water left and right, we will put the peak right on the edge of the roof so that water is directed away from the edge and toward the roof. I will probably also have to spray the stone itself with sealant to waterproof it. The chimney is flashed under the stone veneer where it intersects the roof and that seam seems to be waterproof. The only evidence of a leak is where the chimney extends beyond the edge of the roof.

I ordered the trim molding(baseboard, casing, crown and chair rail) and doors for the apartment. Should be in today.

I will put up pictures of the trimmed out apartment when I get back to the lake. This was the weekend of the grandson's fourth birthday so I have been in Atlanta since Friday.

I am going to pick up the SawStop that has been stored at Woodcraft since December and set it up in the shop now that the floors are done. I can also bring a load or two of tools from storage that I can carry on the pickup and need right now. The move-in will be a bit gradual. I need to finish the duct work for the dust collector before we can close up the ceiling of the basement. A lot of my stuff will be stored in the basement until I finish all the shop furniture. I don't want stored stuff in the way of the sheetrock work in the basement. I will be moving the things needed for current work.

[Eugene Dixon]

Just encouragement to keep your post coming. I enjoy reading and seeing posts from the Hall.

[Thomas Wilson]

Looking for some missing posts.

[Thomas Wilson]

Just encouragement to keep your post coming. I enjoy reading and seeing posts from the Hall.
I will post something soon. Not much to report. My helper has some serious health problems. I don’t really think he will be back. It saddens me. He has COPD from working in a plant that made fiberglass camper tops years ago. He also beat alcoholism cold turkey. He was trying so hard to work anyway with me but his body is giving out. He is just 46.

TW

[Jim Becker]

Very sad to hear that about your helper, Thomas...there is some really good work being done with COPD in some major hospitals like Temple in Philadelphia. I hope he's exploring his options, especially given he's so young.

[Tom Bender]

Can you get some drone pics?

[Thomas Wilson]

Can you get some drone pics?
Inside or outside?

[Thomas Wilson]

Very sad to hear that about your helper, Thomas...there is some really good work being done with COPD in some major hospitals like Temple in Philadelphia. I hope he's exploring his options, especially given he's so young.
COPD is not his most serious problem. He is hugely overweight, has diabetes, and now has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He told me all that. My guess is that he has depression also. He was really trying to beat all that working for me, to prove himself again. He worked slow but that suited me.

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

Inside or outside?


Well, both!

[Jon Snider]

Just now catching up. Looks fantastic Thomas. Well done!

[Thomas Wilson]

Hi all,

A brief update on the workshop. It took a while to get the roof fixed, nearly 2 months before the roofers came out. They said they did not know there was a problem. The fix was to change the cricket so that it peaked right on the edge of the roof and caused water on the roof to go around the chimney on down the roof rather than go over the edge at the chimney. I asked to wait for a couple of good rains to be sure the fix worked, and I put fans in the holes in the chimney chase to dry it out. It seemed to be ok. Then, work shut down for the pandemic for 2 months.

I have continued to work alone but I am pretty slow. I have patched the holes in the chimney chase that I cut to diagnose the roof leak and did some other odd jobs. I have moved in the major power tools and benches. The drill press and planer were moved on Friday. The Sawstop, jointer, router table, Sjobergs bench and most of the hand power tools have been in the shop for a while. I had the band saw in the basement until Friday. The sliding miter is on the porch where I am working on the hand rail. We damaged the drill press and the band saw in moving them. I was able to order replacement parts.

The shop is a little underwhelming at this point because I have not built any shop furniture worthy of the room. When it was an open room the potential seemed unlimited. Now with my old shop furniture and metal shelfs from the storage units, I feel I have not lived up to the room's potential. Ultimately there will be no metal shelves. I will have base cabinets under the windows in the end wall, a nice outfeed table/cabinet, and customized accessory holders for all the power tools. I have big dreams to make all the cabinets and accessories fun and creative in design.

Right now, I am focused on hand rail for the screened porch and next the hand rail for the stairs. The goal is to get the certificate of occupancy so all the items required for that are the top priority.

Here is the main shop.

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And a view from the other side of the room
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The wood rack in the basement is nearly fully loaded with my stash of mostly cherry. This was the other part of the haul on Friday from the storage unit.
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I did the handrail with my own version of timber framing. I mortised the posts for a loose tenon and mortised the handrail so that it was open at the bottom so I could drop the handrail in place between the existing posts. It is very sturdy even though I have not pegged the tenons yet.

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Here is the railing so far.
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Here is a loose tenon that I made. Now that's a domino. Festool eat your heart out.

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Here is the plan for the Chinese Chippendale handrail that will fill in the space to the legal requirement for openings.

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[Jim Becker]

hah! Many of us would "kill" for a shop space like that! You'll get it to where you want it for sure. Nobody expects a pandemic on top of other issues!

Truly beautiful space, Thomas!

[Patrick Walsh]

Yeah omg,

That’s totally a dream space and situation.

Your just gonna hate being out there ;)

[Malcolm McLeod]

Attention Creekers; your attention please. The Hall is now open! ...a round of mead for everyone!

Once again, an inspiring space to say the least.

Edit: Just noticed the 'shorts' storage in the racks :: a great solution/use of space

[Eugene Dixon]

Been thinking the last 2 days that I was missing The Hall. Thank you for the updates. Here's hoping your roof stays tight and the chimney leaks never more.

[Thomas Wilson]

Attention Creekers; your attention please. The Hall is now open! ...a round of mead for everyone!

Once again, an inspiring space to say the least.

Edit: Just noticed the 'shorts' storage in the racks :: a great solution/use of space

I just cracked open a Corona. It seemed appropriate.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Impeccably timed! Will the bar service be on the Bois d'Elegance level? Or perhaps on the Skye Forest deck?

Regardless of where, I bet it's tasty. :D

[Thomas Wilson]

Been thinking the last 2 days that I was missing The Hall. Thank you for the updates. Here's hoping your roof stays tight and the chimney leaks never more.

I felt I did not have much to report. Amen on no more roof leaks.

[Thomas Wilson]

Impeccably timed! Will the bar service be on the Bois d'Elegance level? Or perhaps on the Skye Forest deck?

Regardless of where, I bet it's tasty. :D
A la table de Janicequimefaithumble!

[John K Jordan]

It looks a lot different from the last time I saw it!

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Really need to get up your way again.

[Thomas Wilson]

It looks a lot different from the last time I saw it!

435880 435881 435882 435883

Really need to get up your way again.

Hey John,

Come on up! We can do some math. The Chinese Chippendale panels are based on that high school favorite, the 30-60-90 triangle.

[Tom M King]

Looks fantastic. I did some Chinese Chippendale ballustrades very similar to that design. At first, I was going to do them with power tools, but found it quicker to just to mark, and cut each piece with a 12" crosscut backsaw, while I sat close to the job at hand. We painted the ends of every piece before assembly, so I just went down the line cutting the same set of pieces for each section, while my helpers painted the last set of pieces, that would be put up next.

[Mel Fulks]

Even as a kid I loved seeing Chinese Chippendale from a car window. It used to move as I watched it ! But now it won't.
Maybe you guys are using too many nails !!

[Thomas Wilson]

Nails, screws, or mortises?

I would be happy to do half as well as you. Since my panels are all rectangular, I am free to pick angles that have a detent on the miter saw so I will use that. I am setting up an assembly form on a sheet of plywood to ensure uniformity of the panels.
I will have no assistants. It is just I. I am using pressure treated pine, but will recoat with wood preservative after assembly.

[Tom M King]

I have about a hundred pounds of hand forged, wrought iron nails the right size, that we took out of the 150 year old Cypress shingle roof we found under a layer of tin, on that house. I held each piece in place with a stainless steel 23ga. pin, and then drilled a hole, and nailed in one of the old nails.

The pieces are 1-1/8" thick, as was typical of finish boards on the rest of that house. I forget the width, but it was wider than 1-1/2". If you look at the ends of that porch, in that picture, the 20th Century version made with treated 2x2's is still there. The new ones are Heart Cypress.

edited to add: The step stringers were old, but very solid, so no need to redo those. The trouble was that one side was a different slope than the other, and a different length. The best plans of measuring, and using a power miter saw went out of the window. I had to start one side, and sight the second side by the first side, or it would have had a very confusing look, when looking through both sides. That made the handsaw the easy way.

[Tom M King]

Here was the inspiration for that balustrade. The Hope Plantation, built in 1805. There were a couple of the original sections of the second floor balustrade left.

I thought the angles on the step Chinese Chippendale sections were too sharp, which made some of the members almost horizontal, so I made some full sized drawings to see how many sections to divide them up into.

The Hope house is larger than it looks in that picture. Window panes are 16x20 inches.

[Patrick Kane]

Superb. Precisely what I dream of having for myself one day.

[Alan Lightstone]

(snip)... Just noticed the 'shorts' storage in the racks :: a great solution/use of space

Thomas:

It's turning out beautiful. Awesome job.

Quick question - how did you attach/support the horizontal members in your wood rack to the large wood columns? It looks like it's carrying a huge amount of weight, and doing it well.

I love that solution for the storing the "shorts" under the long pieces of lumber.

[Thomas Wilson]

Thomas:

....
Quick question - how did you attach/support the horizontal members in your wood rack to the large wood columns? It looks like it's carrying a huge amount of weight, and doing it well.



I used solid 2x6 on the sides and cut 2x6 pieces between the 2x6 cantilevered beams. It is bolted it all together with 4 carriage bolts per joint to form a mortise and tenon joint. The horizontal beams have 1/2 shoulders to resist the torque. It was cut very precisely and the beams were very level unloaded. I should check again now that it has the lumber loaded. I used the same design in my previous shop. It held the same wood for a very long time. :)

[Bob Betker]

That workshop is absolutely magnificent looking. You should be very proud and happy with it.

[Thomas Wilson]

That workshop is absolutely magnificent looking. You should be very proud and happy with it.Thanks Bob. I walk about 6 inches above the ground when I go in.

Yesterday, my two granddaughters built a wooden box with me. Really special. Plus their moms, my daughters, got some rest time. We are all at the lake house which is near the shop and it was raining.

[Thomas Wilson]

Some big milestones have been reached this past week so I thought I should update this thread. The biggest milestone dollar-wise is paving the driveway. The gravel driveway was washing into the street which I thought was unneighborly so paving has fixed that. For those curious about current prices for paving, I paid about $2.80/sq ft for regrading the existing gravel driveway, additional stone, compaction and paving in the hills of East Tennessee.

Here is the driveway smooth and compact, ready for asphalt. This was end of the first day.
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Here are a shot of paving. They used the paving machine like a box for smoothing the original gravel and for laying down the new gravel. Versatile machine for a small operator.
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A few shots of the driveway. They almost finished paving on the second day, about 10 ft short (out of 1000’ of driveway).
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I give up on getting rotation right. On my end, every shot is correct orientation. For SMC, I rotate every shot 180, save, and the rotate another 180 and save all using the Apple Photo app. If I correctly select the spun version, the orientation on SMC is correct. If I select the original, it is 90 degrees counter clockwise. Only problem, in my photos, both versions look the same. The Info on the photos does not give a clue for last modification. So turn your head sideways for that third photo.

[Tom M King]

Looks great. I gave up on getting photos oriented correctly here too.

[Thomas Wilson]

The second big accomplishment was the garage door. I had to finish the dust collector ductwork and the contractor had to finish sheetrock and painting and trim. And, the door had to be ordered and manufactured before it could be installed. Each of those steps took many months. Now I will be able to back the truck in the garage to unload. This is huge because when I unloaded from the steep driveway, the load wanted to unload itself. Now unloading will be safer and easier, and a cart or trailer hitch crane can be used so I won’t have to lift and carry.

The door is an Amara Designer Choice 3200. It is 8’ x 10’. The size is necessary if I want to store a ski boat in the basement. The insulation value is R-19.
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The door finish is a durable Sherwin Williams acrylic latex, but I will repaint it with the Benjamin Moore trim color used on the rest of the house. I will use a chemical deglosser to prepare for painting because of the embossed surface. Regardless, I will have voided the warranty on the door’s finish.
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The opener is a Linear Door LDCO801. It is belt driven. The door’s counterbalance spring is torsional.
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[Thomas Wilson]

The basement of the shop is mostly finished now. The contractor’s trim carpenter finished the stairs recently. They look good. By my measurement, the handrails are only 32” above the nose of the stair (should be 34” to 38”). We shall see if the inspector notices.

Here are some shots of stairs and room.
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[Kyle Stiefel]

Amazing place!

[Jim Becker]

Looking great Thomas!!

[Thomas Wilson]

Thanks guys. I can hardly believe it is almost finished.

[Jim Becker]

Um...it's NEVER "finished"... :) :D

[Thomas Wilson]

It almost has its certificate of occupancy. But yes, the list is long. :)

[John K Jordan]

It almost has its certificate of occupancy. But yes, the list is long. :)

OK, I really need to pencil in a date for a visit, still overbooked. maybe this winter if we have a rainy season?

[Thomas Wilson]

OK, I really need to pencil in a date for a visit, still overbooked. maybe this winter if we have a rainy season?
It would be great to see you anytime. I think we can count on rain.

Edited to add: If anyone in the East Tennessee neighborhood wants to drop by, let me know. We can have a party.

[Ron Selzer]

very nice place. that driveway will be much better now, can't wash out. any snow will melt off quickly
Ron

[Thomas Wilson]

very nice place. that driveway will be much better now, can't wash out. any snow will melt off quickly
Ron
Yes. The problem with asphalt around here is the freeze/thaw cycle. It is almost daily from November to March. Any crack will admit some moisture that freezes and thaws daily expanding the crack. Sealing is problematic because of reduced traction on the 20-23% grade. They can add sand to the sealer for traction. I don’t know how well it works or if it affects durability. I am hoping the asphalt lasts 10-15 years. I should be out of the woodworking biz by then.