Great to see you've got a new space. I love the brick, the floors and the lighting. And a nice set of machines for sure. Will be fun to get a giant bandsaw.
Great to see you've got a new space. I love the brick, the floors and the lighting. And a nice set of machines for sure. Will be fun to get a giant bandsaw.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
Looking good, Malcolm.
BTW, I think I have an almost twin of that bowfront in the guest room...it's a piece I restored/rebuilt years ago. The one I have has a pull out shelf above the top drawer by design.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
This is a very nice shop. My assumption would have been "hardwood floor is too nice for a shop!", and it would be a very nice shop floor, but I had never thought about the protection for chisels and "students", lol.
Aaron, I've seen a number of shops over the years that had a nice wood floor in the hand tool and assembly area that was separate from machining with a more typical concrete surface. Sometimes there are even separate rooms. Splitting it up even with just the flooring can be a nice compromise when space allows without the expense of doing all wood over an existing concrete floor. I kinda wish I would have had the funds to do something like that in my new shop, but alas...nope.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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The eagle has landed… the eagle has landed!!! I Moved the bench from the makeshift temp shop to the new shop today. Oh how sweet it is.
router table came out nice. I think it’s shown in the video I posted earlier.
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Awesome space. Very nice.
Regards,
Kris
Oh, that is a good day! Which patternmaker's vise is that and how do you like it? I think i remember it from one of you videos but don't recall.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
It is a Taiwanese (I think) knockoff sold by Highland Woodworking. I love it, and I am so glad that I hung it off that extension like I did, as I very often do carvings for repairing antiques, and being able to work all sides of the vise is a great thing. I added the Lie-Nielsen handle, which required me to lightly file the hole just a wee bit.
Edit: Well, it seems this vise is no longer sold by Highland, and I see Woodcraft stopped selling the one they had that appears to be the same vise under the Wood River brand name. I guess it’s a good thing I got it when I did.
Last edited by Malcolm Schweizer; 03-08-2023 at 3:27 AM.
That extension looks great in your big space for sure. And Yeah, I would love if LV brought back their pattern maker vise from 15 (20?) years ago-was out of reach then…not many options available now.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
I believe it is a fritter, but changed to “flitter” to make the saying sound funnier. That’s the way I always heard it was “flat as a flitter.” I do think, however, in parts of the Deep South (and being from there, I love that autocorrect capitalized that for me) a deep fried pancake is referred to as a flitter, but maybe it was derived from the misnamed colloquialism.
Well, do I have bad news… The landlord put in the wrong Sheetrock. It is not 2 hour fire rated. This means we have to skin over all the Sheetrock. Also, the ceiling needs to be done. We are working with the landlord to make it happen as quickly as possible. Also we have to add another rollup door to meet code. Again the landlord took ownership, but it sucks. We just ordered a Felder K540s sliding saw to be delivered in a few weeks. We are already doing work in the shop.
Always look on the bright side. We will have a nice ceiling and well insulated shop when done.
"Stuff happens"...and "this too, shall pass". At least the landlord is stepping up!
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
For sure this will pass, but maybe like a kidney stone! It requires us to move most of the machinery out and take down my beautiful wood rack to make room for the additional door. He is giving us storage in the building and very much working with us, and we are working with him. He is a great, honest guy, and a newfound friend.
Lots of lessons to document here for those following along:
- I am glad we chose to rent for now. This is a mistake I certainly would have made on my own, but would have had to pay for. Yes, I will suffer down time, but at least I don’t have to pay to re-Sheetrock the whole place.
- Check your codes and have an architect go over your plan. The landlord jumped ahead in a rush and the architect came in and said, “oh, this won’t work in a manufacturing facility.”
- Zoning and building use are huge factors. We knew this, and I think I discussed how zoning greatly impacted our decision to rent instead of buy. Apparently the body shop next door, spraying flammable paints and bringing in vehicles filled with fuel, DOES NOT have to have 2 hour fire rated walls and ceilings, and is ok with one rollup door. We, however, are considered “manufacturing,” and we have this requirement. Makes sense, right? (Sarcasm) This is huge, and I am probably going to do a separate thread in the business section on this: Woodshops count as manufacturing, and the difference in zoning requirements can be HUGE! I say this for the guy wanting to put a shop on their own property and do any paid work from it. You can get away with selling stuff on Etsy and flea markets and nobody may ever say anything, but you are technically breaking the law, and also if you throw some rags in the bin late at night, the place burns down, and your neighbor mentions to the insurance adjuster that you sell cutting boards on Etsy, you just got denied a claim.
- Keep a good relationship with your landlord, and don’t jump to the legal route. Technically (and we never would do this to him) we could sue for down time and cost of moving everything. What is the gain? Short-term money. What is the loss? Long-term relationships. What would happen at the end of that lease? You think he would want to renew if someone else wanted in? The relationship is much more valuable than short term gains, and legal battles aren’t ever short-term anyway. We see ourselves as partners in this, and are working an agreement to help with the upgrade as paid work to cover our losses.
- Always have money set aside and a worst-case-scenario plan. I have a huge customer project in the shop now, and then I am going to have to increase the lead time on any new projects because this is going to be a 3-week down time.
Will keep everyone posted on this.