# New shop tour.



## HarryJM (Apr 2, 2020)

Well I have finished up my 10'x14' wood shed to shop conversion and thought you all would enjoy a little tour. Over the past few years I have posted some questions concerning this conversion and I sure did appreciate everyone's feed back that helped me make some decisions.

I had a 100 amp panel installed with plenty of outlets as the inside has 3 240 volt 30 amp outlets, 14 110 volt 20 amp outlets, 1 240 volt 50 amp outlet and the outside has 1 110 volt 20 amp outlet and 1 motion detector light.

I noticed that the plywood floor was a little spongy after I moved all of my equipment moved to the center of the shed during electrical installation so I decided to reinforce the floor. The shed as delivered has a 4”x 6” skid running down each side about 20 inches in and I decided to build up another beam down the center. Prior to that I reinforced the floor down the middle with inline cross bracing. I build a beam out of several 2”x 6” board screwed together with structural screws supported on solid cement blocks which were spaced under the board end-to-end joints. The supports for the new beam were also staggered between the existing cement block supports under the 4”x6” skids.

I built a platform out of 2 pieces of 3' x 8' ¾ plywood under my Logan 820 and Burke to help distribute the weight as the original plywood floor is kind of flimsily. I'm going to skip insulating under the floor and will build a skirt around the perimeter.

I installed a bunch of soffit vents under the eaves and insulated the walls and ceiling with Rockwool Comfortbatt R-15 insulation covered with ¼ plywood with many thanks to my 2x4 helps as I work alone. I installed another window on the end opposite the doors and also insulated the double door entrance. The ceiling is only 7' 2” tall and I have and an oil filled heater that keep it nice and warm this last winter and I also I keep a small oscillating fan running 24/7 to keep the air moving. No AC as I like to keep it opened up during the non-cold months and the mature oaks provide plenty of shad after the leaves bud out.

I also installed two rows of LED lights which my old eyes really like during the day. They are a little too bright at night although that is not an issue as I only work there during the day (isn't retirement wonderful!). They are wired into a wall switch and can also be individually turned on/off with pull chain. My only lighting prior to the renovation was a clamp-on light.

My insulated double door entrance showing the window I installed.


The thing with the disassembled motor is a 1956 Craftsman 10” floor saw that I'm trying to sell as I need the space and wood working does not interest me that much and I have gotten buy with my circular saw and jig quite. Next to the saw is my early 70's Delta Rockwell 17” drill press.


On the floor next to the drill press is my Famco 3 1/2 arbor press rated at about 4 ½ tons which needs a stand.


Attached to my new bench top (10' long, 27.5” wide, 1.75” thick southern yellow pine) is my late 70's Columbian D45-M4 5” vise. I bought non-swivel 4” Wilton machinist vise with the straight line lettering, that is sitting up in Chicago waiting for a ride down to Greensboro NC, and was going to install it but this virus put a hold on its journey down from Chicago so not sure what I will do with the Wilton.

Under the bench are my three tool boxes. The one under the vise is from the mid/early 70's that I used as my home tool box when I was a motorcycle mechanic. The one next to it is a Craigslist Craftsman Commercial Tool box that I bought from a retired heavy duty truck mechanic. The top for that one is under my Logan 820 lathe. And last but not least is my Harbor Freight box. The two brown tools boxes on the wall are old Kennedy 7 drawer machinist tool boxes.


I have two 1956 Craftsman bench top grinders, one on the opposite end from the vise and the other one stored on one of my shelf's. I plan on using one for grinding with a coarse and fine wheel and the other one for a wire wheel setup. Under the window are  my oxygen/acetylene tanks and I still need to buy hoses, regulators, etc. No welding inside the shop.


On my back wall is my 1952 Logan 820 lathe that I will be making new gears for with my other Logan lathe and my Burke end mill.


Next to my Logan 820 is my1944 Burke 126A horizontal end mill which came with vertical attachment, a Burke swivel indexing head without a name and one index plate and also original vise. I also have 6 involute gear cutters that came with the Burke that fit my vertical attachment.


Next to my Burke is my 1946 Logan 200 lathe which I will sell after I have my 820 repaired and running. Under my Logan 200 and behind my motorcycle mechanics roller sear is my early 50's Craftsman power hacksaw with another one under it that I plan on fixing up and selling.


Next to that is my Lincoln AC-225C arch welder, hand cart, 20 ton harbor freight shop press. Behind my 20 ton press is the frame and stand for my 1939 or 39 Delta 14” band saw which is another project to get up and running and once that is done I want to slow it down for cutting metal.


Now for maybe the most important piece of equipment (the stereo system!) which consists of a Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver, a pair of Boston HD-8 speakers and a Pioneer SW-8MK2 Andrew Jones 100W 8" Powered Subwoofer. FYI – I usually do not listen to music when operating my equipment as that is a distraction from paying attention to what I am doing. I tend to be on the safe side (ear protection, face shield, etc) when operating equipment.

So now I have plenty to keep me busy getting my machines put back together and up and running. My shop time could be a plot for a Rod Serling “The Twilight Zone” television series where time does not exist.

Enjoy,
Harry


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## Stonebriar (Apr 2, 2020)

Nice job on the shop.  You have a nice work space there.


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## DavidR8 (Apr 2, 2020)

Looks great, super tidy!


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## mikey (Apr 2, 2020)

Wonderful shop and tour, Harry. You did a nice job cramming a lot of stuff into a relatively small space. I did notice that the bench tip is clean, though, and that just ain't right!

Congrats on your new shop!


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## HarryJM (Apr 2, 2020)

mikey said:


> I did notice that the bench tip is clean, though, and that just ain't right!


Yep and slowly working my way through yard spring cleaning and then let the fun begin!


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## Dave Smith (Apr 2, 2020)

congrats!! very nice place to work----I wish my shops were that neat. Dave


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## FOMOGO (Apr 3, 2020)

Thanks for the tour. Looks like you have all the bases covered. Really nice space. Mike


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## Alcap (Apr 3, 2020)

Very nice job you did . You gave me some ideas on things I should do to mine , thanks for posting , Al


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## tjb (Apr 3, 2020)

Beautiful work, Harry!  (From one organization freak to another.)

Regards,
Terry


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## HarryJM (Apr 3, 2020)

tjb said:


> Beautiful work, Harry!  (From one organization freak to another.)
> 
> Regards,
> Terry


I agree with you as clutter also seems to bug me.  I try to keep things in their place although its hard to keep up with entropy as a year from now I will probably have several projects in various states of whatever waiting for whatever to arrive. I had almost 20 years of stuff that I had to sort through/toss/store and ended up with 4 used truck tool boxes for storage of gardening tool/etc and other stuff not used on a regular basis. Now I have to clear our under my shop again and make some decisions on what to keep/toss as that seems to be a never ending cycle.


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## 7milesup (Apr 3, 2020)

Very nice Harry.  
There is a guy on youtube (Clickspring) that has a tiny shop and turns out amazing work.  I wish my shop was half as organized as yours.


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## Janderso (Apr 3, 2020)

I like how you built the bench around your tool boxes. Great use of space and very efficient.
Nice shop dood.


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## HarryJM (Apr 3, 2020)

Janderso said:


> I like how you built the bench around your tool boxes.


Yep and that is how I ended up with a 10' long bench and it seems that you can never have too much bench top space.


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## tjb (Apr 3, 2020)

HarryJM said:


> I agree with you as clutter also seems to bug me.  I try to keep things in their place although its hard to keep up with entropy as a year from now I will probably have several projects in various states of whatever waiting for whatever to arrive. I had almost 20 years of stuff that I had to sort through/toss/store and ended up with 4 used truck tool boxes for storage of gardening tool/etc and other stuff not used on a regular basis. Now I have to clear our under my shop again and make some decisions on what to keep/toss as that seems to be a never ending cycle.


In addition to loathing a messy shop, I have a more challenging problem that renders orderliness mandatory.  I can 'lose' something when it's staring right at me.  I can't count the times my wife has had to come down to the shop and help me find something.  The conversation usually goes something like this:

Me: "Hey, can you come down to the shop a minute?"
Her: "Sure, I'll be right there...What do you need?"
Me: "I can't find my glasses."
Her: "Hmm.  Well, when was the last time you had them?"
Me: "I have no idea."
Her: "Well, what were you doing the last time you had them?"
Me: "Don't have a clue."
Her: "Okay.  When did you realize you didn't have them?"
Me: "When I started looking for them."
Her: "What were you doing when you started looking for them?"
Me: "Trying to find them."
Her: "Well, where were you when you did that?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where?"
Me: "Here."
Her: "Where's 'Here'?"
Me: "Here. In the shop."
Her: "The shop's big. Where in the shop?"
Me: "I don't know."
Her: "Ugh! Well, what's the last thing you REMEMBER doing when you had your glasses?"
Me: "Working."
Her: "On what?"
Me: "I dunno."
Her: "Well, do you remember where you were standing when you were doing what you don't remember doing when you think you had your glasses?"
Me:  "I think so."
Her: "Would you mind telling me?"
Me: "Sure."
Her: "Okay, where?"
Me: "I think I was standing by the workbench, but I'm not sure."
Her: "You mean THIS work bench with 8 screwdrivers, a drill, 2 hammers, a shop light, 3 rolls of paper towels, a C-clamp, a pair of pliers and a welding torch on it?"
Me: "Yeah. What workbench do think I mean?"
Her: "Heaven only knows."
Me: "Well, are you gonna help me find my glasses or not?"
Her: "Alright, let me look."

Exactly four nano-seconds later:
Her: "There they are."
Me: "Where?"
Her: pointing, "Right there?"
Me: "Where?"
Her: "Just look."
Me: "At what?"
Her: "At the only 8 square inches on your workbench that doesn't have anything on it."
Me: "I still don't see 'em."
Her: grabbing my head, "Right THERE."
Me: "Oh. Thanks!  See? That's why I married you!"
Her: "Shut up."
Me: "So what's for supper?" ... "OUCH!"


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## francist (Apr 3, 2020)

Great job Harry. As others have already said, you’ve pulled off a super effort to get maximum use of minimum space. I love it!

-frank


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## AGCB97 (Apr 3, 2020)

Did you buy or scrounge the laminated bench top. I'd like to have one like that but not going to tear out the 3/4" plywood.
Nice job!
Aaron


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## HarryJM (Apr 3, 2020)

tjb said:


> In addition to loathing a messy shop, I have a more challenging problem that renders orderliness mandatory.  I can 'lose' something when it's staring right at me.  I can't count the times my wife has had to come down to the shop and help me find something.  The conversation usually goes something like this:
> 
> Me: "Hey, can you come down to the shop a minute?"
> Her: "Sure, I'll be right there...What do you need?"
> ...


Cute story and how true, how true!

When I was a Honda motorcycle mechanic in the mid 70's to mid 80's I would sometimes loss my my favorite 10mm wrench which was a very poplar size for motorcycle engines, etc. So after looking all over the place, including my tool box, I would take out another one and then sometime later on I would look down at the motorcycle lift and see it setting their in plain sight. Just figured it was my brain having a little fun with me.


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## HarryJM (Apr 3, 2020)

AGCB97 said:


> Did you buy or scrounge the laminated bench top. I'd like to have one like that but not going to tear out the 3/4" plywood.
> Nice job!
> Aaron


I had it made at a place called the Hardwood Store of North Carolina in Gibsonville NC. They sell wood by the board feet and have the experience doing glue ups.

On another forum that I belong to someone told me that they used E-Z Lok thread inserts in order to allow for wood movement, with an oversize hole for the bolt.

So I decided to use that method and secured the top to the 2”x4” base with E-Z Lok brass threaded inserts screwed into the bottom of the top spaced about 2 feet apart around the perimeter and one in the middle of the four cross supports.

I drilled a 1/2” hole in the 2”x4” base for the 1/4”-20 bolts that screwed into the E-Z Lok inserts. The bolts (with a washer) are just tight enough to keep everything sold while at the same time allowing for wood movement, which will happen in a non-climate controlled shop.

After a few days of sitting in my shop, while I made the base, the top bowed down the middle a little less than 1/8” so I sanded down the four cross supports to allow for that.

All in all I am very pleased with how it turned out as I have a very sold workbench that is a please to work on.


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## HarryJM (Apr 4, 2020)

FOMOGO said:


> Thanks for the tour. Looks like you have all the bases covered. Really nice space. Mike


I did lots of pondering about what I wanted and then figuring out what was the best way to accomplish and then how to do it by myself except for the electrical installation. So all in all about 2-3 years of planning and building.


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## 7milesup (Apr 4, 2020)

tjb said:


> In addition to loathing a messy shop, I have a more challenging problem that renders orderliness mandatory.  I can 'lose' something when it's staring right at me.  I can't count the times my wife has had to come down to the shop and help me find something.  The conversation usually goes something like this:
> 
> Me: "Hey, can you come down to the shop a minute?"
> Her: "Sure, I'll be right there...What do you need?"
> ...



LOL LOL LOL
That was too funny TJB.


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## 7milesup (Apr 4, 2020)

HarryJM said:


> Cute story and how true, how true!
> 
> When I was a Honda motorcycle mechanic in the mid 70's to mid 80's I would sometimes loss my my favorite 10mm wrench which was a very poplar size for motorcycle engines, etc. So after looking all over the place, including my tool box, I would take out another one and then sometime later on I would look down at the motorcycle lift and see it setting their in plain sight. Just figured it was my brain having a little fun with me.


When this happens to me it is actually quite scary.  I think that I am losing my mind.


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