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Thread: Moving your workshop

  1. #16
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    Nov 2013
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    Leland, NC
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    OK, I am a veritable expert on this moving a shop stuff! I have moved mine 5 times in the last 20 years. That makes me an expert. Actually 6 since on this last move the shop was put in the garage for storage while the shop was being built.

    My big tip is UHAUL! Not about using their trucks, nope. But about using their MUSCLE. If you dig around their website you will discover that they have all these sub contractors who will show up at your place and muscle things off trucks, move them from a garage to some other place, etc. And they are incredibly reasonable!

    Unloading the truck into the garage cost about $200 and took three hours. Moving it into the shop took the same amount of time and $$$.

    We did a long distance move when we retired and it had to happen at the height of the moving season. There was no way we were paying a moving company well over $10K to move us. But the problem was loading and unloading the trucks, that was just too much for us. Problem solved with the muscle for rent guys. So they loaded up the trucks (we needed two 26 footers), we put the trailers for the cars on the back of the trucks and off we went. It was an 800 mile move this last time.

    I cannot say enough good about those guys. At both ends they worked hard, steadily and were careful with stuff.

    Also with that method we did not have to worry about theft. If there is any delay between packing up and delivery your stuff goes in a "secure" warehouse. And yes, things disappear. Though I do not think it is theft, more like they have a corner in the warehouse full of boxes with a sign in front of them saying "Who forgot this stuff and where does it go?"

    So that is my tip, rent muscle to move stuff, they do it faster, don't wreck their backs, drop things on their toes, etc.

  2. #17
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    That's a good tip, Ted. I wasn't aware of that service and I suspect most folks are not!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #18
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    Nov 2013
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    BTW, you don't have to be actually "moving" to use these services. If you are only moving one big honking item they will be happy to move it but will typically charge a minimum to do it. In other words what these guys want to do is work. What a concept huh?

  4. #19
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    Mar 2013
    Location
    Dublin, OH
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ted Reischl View Post
    I cannot say enough good about those guys. At both ends they worked hard, steadily and were careful with stuff.

    Also with that method we did not have to worry about theft. If there is any delay between packing up and delivery your stuff goes in a "secure" warehouse. And yes, things disappear. Though I do not think it is theft, more like they have a corner in the warehouse full of boxes with a sign in front of them saying "Who forgot this stuff and where does it go?"

    So that is my tip, rent muscle to move stuff, they do it faster, don't wreck their backs, drop things on their toes, etc.
    Totally agree with this assessment. Recently moved my developing shop from central Ohio to northern Minnesota in preparation for retirement, using U-Haul trucks and contracted labor from their website. I don’t think you can find a more cost effective method and the loaders/unloaders work quickly and with the strength and stamina of men 40 years younger then me, which they were!

  5. #20
    Thanks for the info on UHaul. I will definitely look into that service.

    Another big part of the question is what you keep/ship and what you sell/replace

    What factors did you use to decide to sell some equipment and simply replace it at the other end?

  6. #21
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    Nov 2013
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    Leland, NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Flippin View Post
    Another big part of the question is what you keep/ship and what you sell/replace

    What factors did you use to decide to sell some equipment and simply replace it at the other end?
    The only factors I used were:

    Had I used the item in the last five years? If I had not, was it an item that would be pricey to repurchase?

    Here is the interesting thing, ask yourself (and wife) the question: Are we ready to replace some of the stuff in the house anyway, like big bulky things, sofa's, easy chairs, mattresses, etc. Those things take up lots of space in a truck. We knew we were going to need two trucks no matter what. We also had a large attic full of "stuff" that got whittled down pretty seriously. Yanno, it is easier to say "Oh, I might use this again so I will toss it in the attic." Which is much easier than saying I will haul it down to the dump.

    Here is another trick. If you have two cars try to figure out a way to get one of them to the new house and leave it there. We did it by making two trips spaced about a week apart. That way if we needed to add an emergency overflow trailer to the second truck we could do it. Might also make your wife a lot happier not having to drive a big honking truck.

    Planning and figuring out the logistics of this stuff takes some effort.

    Before we decided to move I had already built the CNC machine, which is about 4 X 6 on its base. By the time we were close to moving I had already figured out I no longer needed the planer and jointer. The planer would have been no big deal to move, it was a DeWalt 735. The jointer was a different matter, fairly large and top heavy as all get out. So I sold those two and did well, getting almost as much as I had paid for them and only a couple of hundred under what it would cost to replace them. The CNC machine base was scrapped because I did not like it anyhow and then the machine itself was partially disassembled to make it easy to move.

    All the rest of my tools, and I have a LOT of tools were moved.

    Funny thing, we had some newer furniture that we liked and moved, but once we got here it did not really suit the house so that was sold and we wound up with new living room furniture. We see a lot of that around here, btw. This area attracts a lot of retirees from the north. Typically like most retirees they do a bit of downsizing when they move but hang on to too much stuff. A person can get some really good deals around here on almost brand new household stuff, dining room sets, bedroom sets, etc. This is all helped out by the fact that virtually no houses here have basements and two story homes are rare. Think high water table and hurricanes.

    My biggest advice? Do not work yourself and wife into a snit over a move. It will work out in the end and anything that seems like a big deal will be forgotten about a week after you have moved in.

  7. #22
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    While I agree with Ted's logic for culling, I'd apply that mostly to the smaller tools and accessories. For stationary equipment, it would be more like "what would I really like to upgrade" so I enjoy things more or can do things I have been unable to do. Those are the tools I'd sell and repurchase as an upgrade at the other end. But of course, Ted's point does still apply to the bigger things...if you haven't used it in a very long time, consider why and it it's unlikely to be a part of what you do going forward, divest of that, too.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #23
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    Mar 2003
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    San Francisco, CA
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    PODS also has "muscle" available, at least in the San Francisco and San Diego areas. You can load the POD yourself, or have them send over a bunch of guys to do it at your direction. A bunch of guys is a terrific choice.

  9. #24
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    Nov 2013
    Location
    Leland, NC
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    I viewed it as an opportunity to reassess where my woodworking was going. A lot of guys interests change over the years. I started with making some outdoor "furniture", adirondack chairs, etc. Then as my skills improved I started making more furniture items for inside the house. Obviously we can only make so much furniture unless you want your house to look like a furniture store. That is true for a lot of things with woodworking. Then I got into the box building phase. Same rule applies, you only build X number of boxes and then you have enough boxes and so do all your relatives and friends. There was the carving phase too. And the turning phase.

    So what goes on now? A little of all of it actually. But I learned that some of the must haves that one needs when making quite a bit of furniture are not so needed anymore. Or something else replaces them. With the cnc machine I also got rid of the mortise machine and the horizontal router table. Just do not need them anymore. If I need mortises I do them on the CNC. For items less than 36 inch long I can also do the tenons on the CNC. I can still do tenons on long pieces by using the RAS and then fitting them to the mortises.

    That is what I mean by reassessing your woodworking. I have not had a planer, jointer, mortising machine for over five years now and do not miss them. What I do use a lot is the TS, RAS, drum sander, cnc machine, mini mill.

    If anyone is wondering how I get an edge straight without a jointer I have two methods I use. The first is an aluminum extrusion that fits on the unifence. It is 8 foot long and deadly straight. I break most things down so I rarely have a need to joint anything over 6 feet anyhow. The second method is the cnc machine which I use for smaller things. What about the planer? For anything under 3X4 feet I just put it on the CNC and surface it. The DeWalt 735 could only do 12 inches anyhow. If there is not a big difference in the second side I run it through the drum sander, if not I flip it over on the CNC. Yup, it is a little slower but I am retired so no big deal, I am not running a business here.

    All that said, if money is not an object and you have lots of space in your new place, heck, keep it all and add some more!

    My shop is small, 14X28 and I like it that way, everything is close by. I spent a lot of time figuring out where things went before building it. Everything has a place to live and I am good at putting things away when I finish a project or at the end of the day. Of course after doing this for 45 years a person figures out a few things about how they like to work in a shop.

  10. #25
    That's a lot of my soul searching now.

    What do we really want to pay to move?

    Expecting to downsize, so do I really want to move that 6 piece sectional? 5 & 7 year old washer & dryer? (They don't make them like they used to). And I'd bet that we'll find some boxes that we've never opened in the 34 years we've been here.

    My machines are mostly old and bought used. Maybe sell them and buy some new combination machines, e.g., jointer/thickness planer. Or go to an approach that requires less power tools.

    I expect the decisions will be put off until the finances become clearer. My druthers would be to move with two suitcases and one car. Not realistic.

    We still have to select the spot and determine what type of workshop I'll have. A lot can change in 3 years

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    Western PA
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    Mind listing exact models of what you have? Also, where are you moving to? Did you check what craigslist looks like on the other side? I have some stuff that would be mildly difficult to replace--20" jointer with tersa head and restored PM72 with big CI extension table--, stuff that could be replaced in a year of searching--20" italian bandsaw, 20" byrd head planer, 3hp cyclone, jessem router table, and Felder slider--, and finally, stuff i wouldnt think twice about moving--rockwell drill press, lumber, drum sander, and probably sell the small CNC too.

    If I had a Wadkin PK, and i was moving to the moon, i would be packing that saw up and taking it with me. Unless i was emotionally attached to a unisaw, i would sell it for $1000 and then buy it or a pm66 for $1000 on the other end of the move. That was the point i was trying to make before. There are some things that can be sold and then purchased used net zero. It took me the better part of 10 months searching the entire country to find that 20" jointer. In that time i saw 3-4 other machines for sale that were all north of $8,000. Barring really good luck, it would be difficult for me to replace the machine with a comparable model in a timely fashion.

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