Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 40

Thread: Shop tour #1

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sterling CT
    Posts
    2,473

    Shop tour #1

    dear fellow ww's
    I finally got a digital camera and thought that I would show you all some photos of my shop. Here are a couple of thoughts with regard to these photos.

    1. When I began planning to build my shop the internet was just getting going, but what ideas I could find on the the internet I tried to use them in building my shop. I hope that by taking a look at these pictures, that some of you will also be able to take advantage of that research.

    2. Although I have a sense of pride in my work, I really do try to temper it with a healthy dose of humility. I hope that I do not come across as "bragging", because that is really not what I want to do.

    3. I wanted to present these photos in installments, not to drag the whole thing out, but to focus attention on particular aspects of design or construction.

    Ok now for the photos.

    The shop design is based upon research on 18th century english style shop/barns ( I live in an 18th century house in a historic district so I wanted it to sort of fit in) . They tended to be characterized by the "side door" style and hay lofts on either side of the door. The side additions are intentional, because as time would go by a "mature barn" would have had those additions. The brick chimeny is a feature from barns or shops that would have had blacksmith type of work going on. The overall size of the shop is 28X38 with a 18X18 second floor on the right side of the main door. There is a clear span the entire 28' length of the shop ( I had to use 1 steel beam that is 6" x 18" x 28 feet )

    The walls are 10' high which was traditional and also very functional for a wood shop that has to handle 8' stock. The windows are traditional 12 lite 6x8 fixed windows that are hinged at the top for air flow even in the rain.

    The building is built around a traditional post and beam type mortice and tenon construction. For the most part all the timbers are held together by riven oak pegs and a judiciouos use of 12" spikes. The frame is oak and the siding is hemlock and EWP. It is an insulated building built with a wrap and strap technique.

    My son and I cut most the trees down and sawed them up on our saw mill which is located on my brothers property 30 miles away ( I did end up buying some timbers in the end- a couple were just too big for the trees we had available - 2 needed to be 12"x6" x 20 feet . I did the design based upon lots of books on timberframing. All the oak beams are hand planed and all the mortices and tenons cut with hand tools and some power tools. As a side note my son ( now 22 ) knows how to work with his hands.

    The building has an insullated roof as well as side walls. The roof is traditional western red cedar. This presented a problem with having to vent the underside of the purlins that the cedar is nailed down to. The chimeny is built from reclamed brick that is about 200 years old. The doors are all 4'x8' or 5'x9' and 6" thick ! The doors swing on actual reclamed 18th and 19th century strap hinges on 1" pintels. We needed a car jack to lift the doors into place.

    The shop has an underground 3 phase 400 amp capacity feed to it. I only installed a 200 amp 44 circuit load center though; thought that was enough. Having the 3 phase was one of the best things I did.

    One the down side, I wish I had made it bigger !! That is why there is another building next to it where I store my lumber.

    well enough for now.

    Thanks for looking and hope you get some ideas for those of you who are planning on building future shops. Ask questions and if I can help let me know.

    enjoy

    lou
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by lou sansone; 03-10-2005 at 12:58 PM.

  2. #2
    Very nice. I can hardly wait to see what's inside.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    That is a very cool shop building! I looked at the pictures first and thought it was an old barn, I didn't realize that you had built it. I'd like to see the inside as well.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Vernon, Connecticut
    Posts
    510
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards
    Very nice. I can hardly wait to see what's inside.
    I've seen the inside- you're in for a treat.

    Bob

  5. #5
    Beautiful building Lou. You're right, it is very traditional and would fit in well in any old established New England village or town. Now how about instalment 2 ???
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Herndon, VA
    Posts
    547
    Lou -

    From the looks so far this is the shop of my dreams. You are a lucky man to have such a wonderful place to work.

    Mike

  7. #7
    Lou,

    That really looks great! Sounds like it fits in very nicely and is a HUGE space.
    Jeff Sudmeier

    "It's not the quality of the tool being used, it's the skills of the craftsman using the tool that really matter. Unfortunately, I don't have high quality in either"

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Baldwin City, Kansas
    Posts
    53
    Lou,
    I have been building doors for my shop and would be very interested in the details of your doors. How do you seal them? How do you lock them? Any details would be great.

    Thanks,
    Rick

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Lake Leelanau, MI
    Posts
    2,630
    Great Shop, I love the look. Gotta see the inside.


    John

  10. #10
    Lou,
    That is an awesome shop building and your attention to detail and tradition is great! I'll anxiously look forward to your next post.

  11. #11
    Lou,

    I only have one word........


    MAGNIFICENT!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Midland, Michigan
    Posts
    453
    Lou thanks for sharing. I'm not familiar with "wrap and strap technique" perhaps you will explain this technique. TIA. I know of one other SIP constructed shop but not with the luxury of post and beam.
    Work safe, have fun, enjoy the sport.
    Remember that a guy never has to come down out of the clouds if he keeps filling the valleys with peaks. Steve

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    New Orleans LA
    Posts
    1,334
    Worth waiting for, Lou. Now in the next installment . . .
    18th century nut --- Carl

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Grand Marais, MN. A transplant from Minneapolis
    Posts
    5,513
    Bravo Bravo, Encore Encore!
    TJH
    Live Like You Mean It.



    http://www.northhouse.org/

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sterling CT
    Posts
    2,473
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Stube
    Lou thanks for sharing. I'm not familiar with "wrap and strap technique" perhaps you will explain this technique. TIA. I know of one other SIP constructed shop but not with the luxury of post and beam.
    hi steve

    the wrap and strap is basically a build in place SIP. You sheath the entire building frame with a layer of wood. You then cover the entire surface with heavy tar paper ( I think 30# ) , and then build out all the edges, beam locations, and window openings with 1"x4" the thickness of the ridged foam that you are going to be using. In my case I built it out an additional 3 " ( I used foil faced cellotex which has the highest r value of any of the foams).

    The reason for building out the surface is to provide a place to nail the outer sheathing to. You then add the foam sheets to the outside of the building ( wrapping ) and hold it in place with strapping or some other method ( thus the name wrap and strap ). After the building has a layer of ridged foam all over it, you then sheath the whole building again. In my case I used kiln dried T&G EWP.

    Why did I go through this painfull process and not just order sips?

    I wanted the interior surface to have a hemlock random width look that would have been more traditional of old barns and such. This seemed the easy way to do that. In addition since the roof is cedar you need to build vented SIPs so that the shingles can breath from behind and it is hard to find vented sips. Finally I am just a gluton for punishment

    hope this answers your questons
    lou

Similar Threads

  1. Overdue Shop Tour. (20 pics!)
    By John Miliunas in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 70
    Last Post: 02-11-2005, 8:15 PM
  2. Time for a Shop Tour
    By Dick Parr in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 30
    Last Post: 09-15-2004, 3:02 PM
  3. Shop Tour
    By Matt Meiser in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 07-28-2004, 9:15 AM
  4. Shop Tour (pics)
    By Fred Voorhees in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 03-14-2004, 11:33 AM
  5. Link to shop tour?
    By Jerry Todd in forum Forum Tech Support
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 03-10-2004, 4:46 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •