Turning a tool shed into a shop

[PHPaul]

Built myself an "air dryer" out of 3/4 copper. Air will enter upper left, exit upper right through the wall of the tank room and out to the loop around the shop.

Oil tank for furnace installed and plumbed.

STILL waiting on the (expletive deleted) power company. I'm thinking another call to the Public Utilities Commission may be in order.

 

[PHPaul]

Got this from the power company today:

"I wanted to let you know that your service planner, Josh, has order the Dig Safe. The Dig Safe clears on 8/23/21. Shiella, your coordinator, will release this order on 8/24/21 after the Dig Safe clears so your order can be scheduled with our line crews. Our timeframe for these types of orders are 15 business days. So for your order, it will be energized anytime from 8/25/21 – 9/14/21 as long as weather and emergencies allow."

Good thing I'm not in a hurry...

 

[PHPaul]

Ran a loop of 3/4" RapidAir Maxline today. A kit with all the fittings (less the chuck) for three drops and 100' of tubing was $200-ish.

VERY nice stuff, the air blocks are nicely machined out of billet aluminum, all the fittings are either stainless or brass, and includes drain valves at each drop.

I was a little worried about bending the tubing without kinking it, but it turns out the 3/4" conduit bender I bought for the electrical work is perfect for that.

If I was going to run a LOT of that tubing, I'd make or buy the straightener for it (it comes coiled up) but I managed with a 3 foot piece of appropriately-sized PVC and the trusty Beer Belly Clamp.

Still waiting on the electrons, hoping for this week coming. Pretty much everything else is done, less the furnace. Keeping an eye on Craigslist for that and if it doesn't happen by cold weather, I'm pretty sure my propane salamander will git 'er done as well insulated as the building is.

 

[PHPaul]

Spotted a down-draft mobile home furnace on Craigslist for what seemed like a fair price and only 100 miles away.

Been seeing all sorts of furnaces, but they're either priced into the stratosphere, located way-the-hell down around Portland or Kittery, complete junk or all of the above. A lot of "The heat exchanger is cracked but it works okay" stuff.

This one was $250, just removed from the shop and works fine, solid heat exchanger, just needs a thermostat. Sounded too good to be true but had to go look at it. Amazingly, it was just as advertised and included the tank valve and filter canister along with a bunch of chimney and ductwork tin.

I'll build a base/plenum to set it on and connect the ductwork to and have my furnace guy whip a tune up on it and I should be good for heat.

 

[PHPaul]

WOOHOO!!! I finally have power! Talking to the crew, they have 14 guys to cover the entire county (and Hancock is a BIG county) which explains some of the delays. Bureaucratic BS covers the rest.

Now I can start moving in!

Once I start getting set up, I'll post some more pictures.

 

[PHPaul]

There are sparks coming off the rivets on my back pockets!

Hit it at 5:30 this morning. Wired up the welder outlet, moved two welders and plasma cutter into their new home.

Also moved and set up the 2x72 belt grinder, the porta-band with it's stand, the drill press with cross-feed table and vise, and adapted a HEAVY metal table for the buffer/grinder.

Moved the big tool box and the shelf/drawer unit and all contents.

Also moved a couple of pallet loads of little stuff. The forks on the Cabota got a workout!

Younger Grandson is scheduled to be here tomorrow and we'll heave the furnace up on the stand/plenum and move the air compressor and lathe.

Then there's just a couple of days worth of wiring and plumbing the air compressor, running the ductwork for the furnace and moving all the little schtuff down from the garage. Prolly wind up putting up a sheet's worth of pegboard too.

Ordered $500 worth of welded metal 18 drawer parts cabinets from ULine so I can organize all my hardware and get rid of the raggedy old cabinet it's in now. If it weren't screwed to the wall, it'd collapse. After I move the left-over construction materials and clear up another 8 feet of wall, I have another parts bin to get down there too. I should go through it and throw about half that crap away.

 

[PHPaul]

Grandson showed up on schedule and we moved the heavy stuff. The lathe was ALL the Kubota wanted to pick up. I didn't have room to hang anything off the back for a counterweight while maneuvering in the garage and as I transitioned from the garage floor to the driveway, I got daylight under the left rear. Once I got it outside and unclenched my cheeks enough to get out of the cab, I went down and put the mower on the back. MUCH happier that way.

The compressor was a bit of a beast to work with once we got it in it's space, but there's JUST enough clearance to close the door.

Picking the furnace up and setting on it's pedestal/plenum turned out to be pretty anti-climatic in comparison.

Now I just have to finish plumbing the air, wire up the motor starter for the compressor, wire the safeties for the furnace and run the duct work. Shop is usable as is except for the lack of air.

 

[PHPaul]

Shop is about 95% finished. Waiting on a flexible isolator to hook the air compressor up and need to finish the duct work for the furnace.

Got most of my "stuff" moved in today, tho I'm sure I'll think of things I missed off and on for a while.

 

[hman]

Looks nicely organized (at the moment). I can think of only one suggestion right now ... add some kind of "grit barrier" between the belt grinder and the lathe. Possibly something easily moved, for when you have long stock that hangs out of the spindle.

 

[PHPaul]

Looks nicely organized (at the moment). I can think of only one suggestion right now ... add some kind of "grit barrier" between the belt grinder and the lathe. Possibly something easily moved, for when you have long stock that hangs out of the spindle.

Thanks for the compliment (and prediction...) I'm really looking forward to actually working in it and messing it up!

The shield is a good idea and I'll probably extend it to cover the wall behind the belt grinder AND the wheel grinder. Perhaps I can scrounge some old plexiglass or something like that.