A Really Nice spot. well done.
A Really Nice spot. well done.
Five grand for ductwork? Ouch!
Nice shop- open and well-lit. Have fun.
Great looking shop. I know you will enjoy spending many hours working in it. Congratulations...
Army Veteran 1968 - 1970
I Support the Second Amendment of the US Constitution
Beautiful shop, well done! Love the transom windows.
$4800 to be exact, and that was after I eliminated a floor sweep for the lathe and a drop to the miter saw. I’ve always just used a shop vac for that and will continue to do so. I must say, the Nordfab fits together quickly and very securely, and is easy to redo, if necessary. I am happy I went with it. Oneida provided the flex hose, hose clamps and hangers. Attaching the hangers to the ceiling was the hardest part of the installation. I screwed 2 ft segments of angle iron to the ceiling rafters, and used S hooks to connect the hangers to the iron. Definitely a two man job!
The wall behind your hand tool bench looks strikingly similar to what I hope to have installed someday when I get more space. Please do update us in 6-12 months if having the tools like that works well for you. If you were already doing it in your old shop I guess you like that arrangement just fine.
I can't quite decide what you are making with the templates down on the far wall. Are those patternes for rocking chairs?
You mentioned your old shop so I searched back for that post. It too was very nice but significantly different. I would love to hear your thoughts on what changes were improvements versus constraints that you just had to live with in the new building. The old one came ready made but this one you had built to your specs. My shop is more like your old one: two levels, wood floor, eye level windows, and dust collector on lower level.
The last shop was very nice, but I really craved more wall space, which is why I went with the transom windows. I sacrifice natural light, but I love having my tools on the walls close to where I need them. The other big improvement is the floors. The old shop floor was plywood laid over ceiling rafters and just wasn’t solid enough to dampen vibration, particularly noticeable with my bandsaw. The new floors provide a solid, vibration-free surface for the bandsaw and other large equipment. To me, vibration-free equipment is more important than easy-on-the-feet floors. Others may feel differently about that. The new floors are also much easy to keep clean—they sweep up beautifully. I also upgraded my dust collection system substantially—my new 5 hp cyclone is much more powerful than my old 3 hp unit, and the nordfab ducting is virtually leak-free. The square footage of the old shop was larger 850 sq ft/floor, but all of the major equipment was on one floor, so the new shop seems more spacious. Having 10 ft Hugh ceilings is also great (8 ft in old shop). The two things I miss in the old shop are 1) driveway access and 2) a separate room (on the first floor) for finishing.
It's interesting that you call out things that I'm desiring for my proposed new shop building...10' walls, for example which I am truly looking forward to...and that you lament the lack of driveway access, which will likely also be the case here because of where I need to site the building to both meet zoning requirements as well as to avoid taking down live trees. I've been giving thought to using some transom type windows, too. I will have some regular windows, too, as I'm not particularly wall bound with how I utilize my shop, but using those shorter, but higher up windows can add a lot more natural light without compromising usable wall space as you note.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...