Progress? Some...

[Jack Llewyllson]

We're getting there, albeit at a "relaxed pace," on fitting out the shell.

Walls are insulated, electrical is trimmed, overhead lights are up, doors and windows are in, and a couple of little wall heaters are commissioned. Now we're slowly stacking shiplap pine up the walls.

The shell sits in our backyard, with driveway access down the side of the house (for cars and pickups; definitely not for large trucks). It can be repurposed as a two-car garage.

20210203_142919.jpg20210203_142943.jpg20210203_143011.jpg20210203_143030.jpgCompleted shell.jpg
The roll-up door faces south. First shot is looking south to north, then vice-versa for second image. Third image faces east (high windows over nearby neighbor's yard), and the fourth looks west ("bench windows" overlooking our backyard).

Last shot is the shell, looking down from our back deck.

Plans after walls and window trim include French cleats w/cabinets, roof insulation, overhead lines for compressed air, DC ducting, and one day maybe even moving in some tools.

Always prepared to panic about all the things I've overlooked or boloed , so feel free to let fly with suggestions.

Cheers,

Jack

[Jim Becker]

That's a great building, Jack. Really good choice to put those windows up like you did, too!

[Tom Bain]

Looks great ... how do you like that big Jet air cleaner? Thinking about getting one for my shop.

[Ron Selzer]

looking good
go with a jackshaft mounted garage door opener takes very little space
Ron

[Jack Llewyllson]

That's a great building, Jack. Really good choice to put those windows up like you did, too!

Thanks, Jim! A little natural light never hurt anybody... well, unless you count vampires.

[Jack Llewyllson]

go with a jackshaft mounted garage door opener takes very little space
Ron

You and I agree, Ron! If you squint at the south-facing shot, there's a light-duty Liftmaster fitted. It's the black blot, high up to the right of the roll-up door.

The door track runs about a foot below the trusses, so it gives pretty good clearance even when it's up.

[Jack Llewyllson]

Looks great ... how do you like that big Jet air cleaner? Thinking about getting one for my shop.

Thanks, Tom. The JET was a shelved orphan for close to 20 years, so it's got pretty low hours on it.

I like it quite well. It is surprisingly quiet unless you ramp it up to "hurricane" speed. At present, this remains more of a jobsite than a workshop, with the only dust collection tools in there being a shop vac and that JET. The vacuum snorfs up maybe 60% of the chop saw dust and 90+% of the jigsaw and sander dust. I run the JET at medium speed while I'm working; that lets me hear the radio.

When I bail out, I sweep quickly, then turn the JET up to max speed and set it to run for an hour before shutdown. Just before I drain the compressor, I blow residual dust up into the air, then walk out whistling. It's not a perfect plan, but overall it has stayed quite tolerable in there.

I do feel like I should pick up an extra remote for the JET, just in case. There's no string switch for manual override.

One thing to know about mounting the JET is: bring a buddy. It's not super-heavy per se (about 63 lbs. IIRC), but it's super awkward with the weight concentrated at one end of a long, wide steel box. Probably easiest to mount with eye hooks and chains, though I've always chosen to mount it solidly. This time up, it gave me firm reminders about my grumpy spine. My wife walked in, saw me wrestling it at the top of the ladder and about to lose. She quickly grabbed a backup ladder, scrambled up and helped me stabilize it so we could grab some bar clamps.

I had pre-mounted 1x4s across the top of the JET filter. My plan was to drop it between the trusses -- it's just the right size -- and screw the cross planks down onto the trusses. What did I not remember until I got to the top of the ladder with a big box in my hands? That the filter is the width of my truss center spacing, which is wider than the width of the truss clearance. Oops !

We balanced it across the trusses, popped a few (eight, actually) bar clamps from those two trusses to the next two outboard trusses, and slowly drew them apart until the JET dropped into place. It is TIGHTLY held in the white-knuckled embrace of those trusses. Replacing it may involve a sledge hammer, so I'm very glad it seems to work just fine at present.

I didn't bother screwing down the cross planks.