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Firebird 1

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Have only seen the first 5 min. will look at the rest later. Im gonna say the emporer has no clothes! Bad design going down 3' to get to floor level. That ramp is nothing but dangerous, no real stairway there, and no seal on the sliding door. Exterior view looks nice though!
 
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sbyrne92

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Damn thats a lot of money, but wood hangers/cabinet make me nervous. You think with all that money he could invest in some better storage.
 
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thewatusi

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^ yeah I get why he sunk it, but what a horrible execution.

A floppy ghetto 2x10 "ramp" and scrap wood piled up for "stairs" is nothing to brag about.
 
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PugetDude

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Great video... except for the $10 ramp over $10,000 worth of hardwood slabs..

If he hit the ramp when it was pouring rain outside, his next video could be in the Thread of WTF.
 
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ezover

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i only had time for a few minutes, but you guys are missing the most important thing he taught us in those few minutes.

even wood workers have an excuse for the wife on the reason to have 3 or 4 of the same tool :)

at least 2 table saws and 3 radiol arm saws lol.
 
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temoore55

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For all those that are hating the design, watch all his videos. He comes up with some great solutions to the problems you are pointing out.
 
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NUTTSGT

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code4pay said:
Franks a great woodworker and film maker the responses here remind of the **** you would expect in youtube comments.
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You might want to keep in mind that 98% of the crew at GJ is quite smart and helpful. They will point out various things to make life easier if you ask them a question. If you believe that everybody's comment here are stereotypical of Youtube, this may not be the place for you.

I can agree with the sunken floor statements. I understand the guy's thoughts but I'd say great idea but poor execution. Even the staged video of him carrying out a shelf with his wife, he failed to remove his wood filler piece. That is nothing more than a trip hazard.
 
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Stuart in MN

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I like it. He has some pretty impressive power tools.

On the other hand, he did block off his electrical panel in the corner of the room, and I wish he'd fix the wiring on the phase converter and put the cover back on.
 
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Caman

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That's a lotta cast iron! Jealous of all those machines.

If I "needed" to have a sunken shop like that, I would have put in a standard door with legal stairs, then built a stage in front of the door with a rolling chain hoist above to get the machines and projects in and out. Or maybe even have an electric walkbehind forklift in the shop to move stuff in and out. His way is just an accident waiting to happen.
 
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Jackfre

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Seems to me that for HIS needs and desires he did ok. He's a hobbyist not a production guy. I think a solid overhead lift set-up would be really nice in there. His last shop took 5 years to set up. This one will too. It must be nice being by a metropolitan area to have access to all that old gear. I'd get rid of at least a 1/3 of it, but he obviously enjoys re-habbing it.
 
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justanengineer

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To me it looks like someone spent a lot of money not really knowing what/how they wanted to do it. The building itself reminds me of a lot of single-story school additions/builds done back in the 90s, rather ugly and cheaply built but to each their own. From the temperature readings in his justification for building it split level like that, its appears to be rather poorly insulated, but with the sliding doors and gaps thats to be expected. I like quite a few of his machines, but frankly, based on the rest of the shop I'd be nervous using them wondering what wiring/safety/other shortcuts were done restoring them. Also looks like he went on a spending/hording spree with multiples simply sitting everywhere. The shop layout to me also looks rather cumbersome and I see a ton of safety issues throughout.

OTOH, it is a fairly nice effort at video production.
 
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Kaizen

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I've been watching him for awhile and makes some good videos. for all you worried about his ramp he did something different with those stairs that is a lift so he can wheel something heavy onto it and then lower it safely. he did some home made storage solutions
 
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code4pay

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NUTTSGT said:
You might want to keep in mind that 98% of the crew at GJ is quite smart and helpful. They will point out various things to make life easier if you ask them a question. If you believe that everybody's comment here are stereotypical of Youtube, this may not be the place for you.

I can agree with the sunken floor statements. I understand the guy's thoughts but I'd say great idea but poor execution. Even the staged video of him carrying out a shelf with his wife, he failed to remove his wood filler piece. That is nothing more than a trip hazard.
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You might be right some one posts a video of some one elses pretty awesome garage and the responses are just negative.. Frank who seems a really humble guy is not on here so im not sure why people have to point out all the faults hes not asking anyone for help. Imagine if you i walk into your shop don't point out one positive thing just tell you all the things I think you did wrong in my opinon even though you didn't ask for it. It would reak of jealousy.
 
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Bob Hall

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I've followed Frank for quite a while on Youtube and on OWWM. He's a talented guy and I like seeing his machines and the cool videos. Gotta' say I never liked the drop down into the shop, but I think he made some comments on the reason, I forget the details. He's an architect and far better wood worker than me so I try not to wonder about it too much.
 
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Bricago

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NUTTSGT said:
I can agree with the sunken floor statements. I understand the guy's thoughts but I'd say great idea but poor execution.
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I've been a fan of Frank's videos for a long time. The stop motion videos are astounding, and the videos that show how he makes them are even more so. Just curious why you think the sunken floor design was poorly executed. What would be a good execution of that idea? Thank you.
 
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thewatusi

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Bricago said:
I've been a fan of Frank's videos for a long time. The stop motion videos are astounding, and the videos that show how he makes them are even more so. Just curious why you think the sunken floor design was poorly executed. What would be a good execution of that idea? Thank you.
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How about some kind of safe way to get in and out? That ramp is a joke.
 
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Hornman

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Thank you Ryan for showing us the video of an awesome home hobbiest woodworking shop. It was fun seeing the typical Architect's building techniques: celestory windows, single pitched roof (think 50's tract houses), self designed details (wood storage brackets, french cleats, dust collector housing), huge openings in the walls (in this case, fully insulated wall sections on trolley rollers), earth sheltering the building to moderate temperature swings (my favorite), and cobbling up his lighting instead of something commercial and more expensive. Yeah, he has too many machines in his shop, so do I. Do I wish I had a 16" Oliver table saw? Hell yes! Let's see a show of hands of everyone that regularly schedules OSHA to inspect their home shop.
 
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JMLangford

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I've watched Frank's videos before.....he does good work.

About his sunken shop I seem to remember seeing a video where he explains why he did it that way (might be his shop build videos)

Seems I recall him mentioning that he wanted a lot of ceiling height in his shop (tall machinery, swinging material around without hitting lights, etc.) but he didn't want the shop to rise above the height of his home.....so he built down! (?)

I'll see if I can find the video.....

edit: I found it.....


explanation starts at 2:45


.
 
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Ryan

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Some of you folks are just downright critical. Post links to your shops - I want to see them! :)
 
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trainer

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With all those machines that have a dedicated setup, I bet he could really turn out some volume.

My shop is the exact opposite of his. Average quality power tools and just a shop vac for dust collection. . I seem to spend more time moving things and changing setups than I do making sawdust.
 
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NUTTSGT

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code4pay said:
You might be right some one posts a video of some one elses pretty awesome garage and the responses are just negative.. Frank who seems a really humble guy is not on here so im not sure why people have to point out all the faults hes not asking anyone for help. Imagine if you i walk into your shop don't point out one positive thing just tell you all the things I think you did wrong in my opinon even though you didn't ask for it. It would reak of jealousy.
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Absolutely no jealous here at all. If the guy is happy with his shop, then good for him.

The responses I was referring to are about the stairs and ramp. Like I mentioned in my post, the board he uses for closing the air gap is a trip hazard, nothing more. The steps are not even close to a standard height and are just below knee height (atleast appears to be in the video) which makes it difficult to go in or out, especially carrying something large or as you get older.

Buring the shop partial in the ground is a wise move to help regulate the temperature in the shop. When you regulate the temps, it helps keep the moisture in check also. Bravo to him on that move but he also has a huge heat loss with plastic panels at the roof line. I'd like to ask him a serious question, is he truly happy with the heating of his shop or does he just accept it for what it is ? I'm sure he knows now that that his sliding doors are a heat loss also.

If he were to design a new shop, would he make some changes from what he has now ? Probably, due to the fact that he has learned from shop #1 to his now current #2 shop. If he were to come to GJ, become a member and ask for imput on designing a new shop, would the guys here point out some issues with his design ? Sure they would, why ? Because these guys here are smart, they have lived and learned from their mistakes and mistakes that other have pointed out and help them correct their issues.

Would Frank be welcomed here at GJ, I'm sure he would. He looks to have to have some mad woodworking skills. He'd fit right in to a WoodWorking sub forum (hint hint) if we had one. As a matter of fact, if somebody personally knows Frank, ask him to visit the site and become a member. I'll be the first to throw out the welcome sign right now. Welcome to Garage Journal Frank.
 
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Brad54

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I watched 1/3 of it, and I'll probably watch the rest later tonight.

The plank ramp was definitely sketchy. If it were mine, I'd build a nice fixed, permanent ramp with cleat/treads in the middle--and I'd make them narrow, so a furniture dolly or other cart could straddle them. He's right--sooooo much easier going up and down a ramp with big pieces than tackling steps.

I also really like the idea of the sunken plan--great in the winter for insulating, great in the summer for keeping it cool. Huge ceiling and not obstructing the view from his house was a great idea. Once you get lights hung, and an overhead ceiling fan or something, you find out just how short a 10-foot ceiling is when working with 4x8 sheets of plywood or long 2x4s.

I also really dug his simple roof pitch, and the use of windows for lighting. Man, if a guy oriented his shop right, and put those windows on two sides so the sun never hit them directly, he'd have all the natural, ambient light he could ever want during the day. I'm filing that one away for the future.

Looking forward to watching the rest of the video.

-Brad
 
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macgyver37

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I have watched quite a few of his videos and also have seen his threads etc on OWWM. I am not a fan of the sunken floor myself because I do too many things where I want access to the shop with a vehicle etc. It is not my shop and he is the one that is using it and having fun in there and even showing his kids how to do things, so it doesn't bother me.

Anyway, He did end up building stairs app 3 months ago, this tour video is a few years old.

I also do not have a problem with using french cleats to hang alot of weight, they are quite capable and work well. Not everyone wants to buy premade storage, especially when they can build them.

This video is a moment in time, take note of when it was produced, he has done some changes since then, don't be so critical.
 
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mtnwalton

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Watched the video and read all these responses. My guess is his shop is way ahead of most represented on this site. Being a woodworker and retired machinist, I liked a lot of his ideas and thought process.

As far as the stairs frequently mentioned here, is it the ideal situation? not for me but I understand his reasons. If it were me I'd build removable steps that would still allow for hoisting equipment in and out without an extension boom on the forklift.
 
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justanengineer

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Bricago said:
Just curious why you think the sunken floor design was poorly executed. What would be a good execution of that idea? Thank you.
Click to expand...

For me personally if I had that much iron and a sunken shop I'd want a forklift and some way to drive in/out. Ive moved enough machine tools that I'm over dinking around, I wont even chase machines into/out of basements anymore without at least a walk-out door.

Realistically, he's not the first to build a split level anything nor is there anything wrong w/it. Many barns and garages are built split level with drive-in access above and below ground. I normally see two ways to get below grade, 1. poured concrete ramp on the outside notched into ground or 2. ramp on the inside. If #1, most folks put a simple drain at the bottom of the ramp tied into a french drain to keep water out of the building. #2 loses space inside the building, but if moving in/out isnt a regular occurence it could simply be a wood ramp that folds/hides elsewhere or overhead. Regardless, it only appears he's going ~3' so either isnt any real big deal.
 
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