And so it begins...time to setup the temporary shop at the new property

[Jim Becker]

Time to cram all of this...

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Into this...

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Upsides...the electric panels are in that garage in the back, left corner so dealing with power for machines will be relatively straight forward. The kitchen is close for snacks as is the powder room to recycle said snacks. Downsides...about 440 sq ft instead of about 700 sq ft. Uninsulated and unconditioned...except for the insulated garage door which is a very nice quality unit. Neighbors are closer and the door opens to the street. But...it's a place to work until I can get a building up in the back yard (probably something like 24' x 36') once the old property sells and I can get through the local jurisdiction dance as well as escalating budgetary concerns. It's actually already being used as a "mobile shop" as I work through things that need attention in the new house. I also rented a storage locker locally where I'll park the majority of my material inventory and anything that will not need to be used.

Aside from getting the machinery, benches and tool cabinets moved "real soon now", I need to get lighting up and take care of the electrical needs. I did sell my slider so I didn't have to pay to store it for up to a year and will buy a new one once it has a place to live. I'm going to try the bandsaw/tracksaw combination for a bit to see if I can get by...which is likely since I use the CNC for a lot of the things I enjoy doing. It will certainly be an adventure!

[Andy D Jones]

Are you wanting to add heat and/or air to the garage, or are you going to grin & bear it until the new shop is up?

I'm guessing the left wall of the garage is an outside wall. Is it insulated? If adding heat & air, is it feasible to do it on/through that wall? And what would you do with it after the new shop is up? Portable units can use a window opening, that might not look out of place after it is a garage again. Or you could vent through the lower panel on the garage door, and repair/replace that panel after the new shop is up.

It may not be practical to put the CNC on a mobile base, especially on a sloped (and likely not even flat) garage floor. Probably everything else should be on a mobile base, if not already.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Scott Winners]

You sir have your hands full. Best wishes and good luck.

[Clark Hussey]

Great to see, you are getting setup. Looking forward to following your adventure, as you build your new shop.

[Jim Becker]

Are you wanting to add heat and/or air to the garage, or are you going to grin & bear it until the new shop is up?

I'm guessing the left wall of the garage is an outside wall. Is it insulated? If adding heat & air, is it feasible to do it on/through that wall? And what would you do with it after the new shop is up? Portable units can use a window opening, that might not look out of place after it is a garage again. Or you could vent through the lower panel on the garage door, and repair/replace that panel after the new shop is up.

It may not be practical to put the CNC on a mobile base, especially on a sloped (and likely not even flat) garage floor. Probably everything else should be on a mobile base, if not already.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

Andy, I am undecided about what I'm going to do about "conditioning" the space and yes, that outside wall is hollow and uninsulated. I'm more worried about summer than winter, honestly...and am very carefully eying a portable AC unit that I saw in Costco yesterday that's good for that size space. I'm not a fan of humidity and we have a bit of that here in the Delaware Valley. I'd have to cut a vent in the wall for it since there's no window and I'm not going to bugger that insulated garage door, however.

My CNC weighs nearly a thousand pounds. I do have casters for it, but they are only on it for moving purposes. Once I decide on a location, it will be back on the floor and shimmed level just as it is in the previous shop which also has a sloped floor. Everything else is mobile capable already so I'm good there. I'll have the same challenge with my main bench and the slope...when I lock it down in a position, it will also have to be shimmed level as it has been.

[Thomas Wilson]

Lights, camera, action! You have a lot of constraints on this shop because it is temporary, but it should be functional. It is somewhat freeing to do something simple and cheap. Reversible is harder but screw holes in the walls are easy to fix.

[Bill Dufour]

May I suggest a shed roof or at least a salt box roof oriented for solar panels. If you have time of day metering facing west has advantages over south.
Bill D

[Alex Zeller]

As they say, be like putting two bowling balls in a marble bag. Were there's a will there's a way.

[Jim Becker]

May I suggest a shed roof or at least a salt box roof oriented for solar panels. If you have time of day metering facing west has advantages over south.
Bill D

Not really relevant here...

[John Lifer]

I'll second the Mini-split unit. I got a Senville off of ebay that works great. I mainly bought for my basement for the heating aspect of it. But the AC works great and you can just run it as a fan. Went up really easily, my main issue was drilling a 4" diameter hole through 8 1/2" of concrete. That took an hour and $125 bit, but it is done. I'll probably add one in by main shop next year.

Oh, I tried one of those roll around portable AC units a few years ago. While it works, it is a big hassle and always in the way. Getting exhaust hot air out was always the main issue.

[Jim Becker]

Well...today was "move the screws" day! "Stuff's gettin' real...

[Jim Becker]

Today was "labor intensive"...for both my vehicle/trailer and myself. I moved all my sheet goods as well as all the specialty "shorts" and so forth from the old shop to the storage locker. I wouldn't be surprised if about 2000 pounds was involved. But the job got done. In the old shop proper, at this point, it's pretty much machinery. Gotta start on the upstairs this weekend...

Note in the first photos, I've already removed the tarp, tie-downs, tailgate and the sheet goods rack base from the trailer.
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[Lisa Starr]

Wow Jim, you get so much done in a day! I wish I was half as efficient. I'm still trying to find temporary spots for all the tools and stuff I had to take out of my outfeed table cabinet when it sold with my table saw sold last week. Of course, everything I go to do in the shop starts with, "I'll just rip this on the TS...oh, it is gone...How long until the slider is supposed to arrive...". Anyway, wow! I hope you find the temporary shop useful until such time you're able to erect permanent digs.

[Keith Outten]

That's a lot of work to load and unload in one day. My back would be killing me the next morning.

[Jim Becker]

That's a lot of work to load and unload in one day. My back would be killing me the next morning.

I resemble that remark...

But the bottom line is the work has to get done. Cleaning out the upstairs of the old shop building will be made more arduous because of heat. I originally intended to use my own trailer for getting rid of discards, but am rethinking my aversion to paying more for a small dumpster. It's about $50 a load (minimum charge) to drop a trailer load off at the local recycling refuse center and I suspect I'll need to do two loads. A dumpster may run about $400, but I just have to put stuff in it and be done with the task. I'll make that decision after I get all the good stuff out and can see what's headed to refuse/recycling.