New Guy in Markleville Indiana

[BLHmachine]

Hello Everyone,

I have been on here for a while looking around and figured I should introduce myself. I live in Markleville Indiana. I collect Old school car audio and Old school BMX bikes. I love to work on cars and build all sorts of things out of any type of material. Wood, Metal, plastic, concrete, glass, etc. I have worked in the 12 volt industry since High School.

I have never had a proper garage to work out of but I am hoping to change that in the near future. Even the shops I have worked in professionally have been poorly equipped for the jobs I have been asked to do. They were big enough but lacked the proper tools for the job. I built custom interiors and speaker boxes for 15+ years between two shops and neither had a table saw.(I know, WTF). For about the last four years I have been managing a team of 12 volt installers that install GPS tracking equipment in all sorts of vehicles all over the country. Since I no longer build things at work I have an ever increasing need for a space where I can build and create things.

I will be turning 40 this month so it is way past time to get this started. I have just refinanced my house and pulled out some money to build my ultimate workshop. It won't be as big or nice as some on here but it will be better than anything I have had so thats awesome. My Fiance is awesome. She is almost as excited as I am at the prospect of me having a nice new shop. At the moment all of my tools are stored in a few different places and that *****. I can't wait to have all of my tools in the same place at the same time. I get the feeling that at that moment it will cause a tear in the fabric of space and time, but that will be okay. Because I will have all of the tools there to fix it. HaHa.

I am looking forward to learning things on here to help me build the best shop I can afford. Once I get going I will start a thread so everyone can check it out.

Thanks for looking at my first Post, Brian



Below are a few of the things I have done over the years.

Residential and automotive window tint
Car stereo installation & custom fabrication
Remote car starters
Motorization
Automotive body and paint
Custom motorcycle Paint and metal polishing
Vinyl graphics design and installation
Power sunroof installation
Leather interiors
Suspension work. Lifting & Lowering
GPS tracking equipment on anything with wheels and a few things without.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Welcome !

 

[50fordbob]

This is the best place you will ever find for ideas and advice about almost anything you will ever need. I live just west of Greenfield and north of US 40, We are not far apart. Bob

 

[drivesitfar]

BLH: nice first post. before you ask what size you should build your garage if you don't already have a plan and permits just a word of caution. the membership almost always says build it as big as you can afford. that said you still need money for tools and projects, but if you have the biggest garage you'll ever need those can come later.

also a word of warning you will always find a tool or something you didn't know you needed by reading and listening to the membership and even though we are a good bunch our wallets and yours pretty much stay empty.

welcome and ask questions if you have any. also if you want to post a picture under your name it is called Avitar in your GJ profile and you can change them as often as you like. some guys here usually stick with theirs for a while so others can identify with them. i know i think one of our biggest and best posters has an avitar that is a guy (forgot the name of the cartoon) typing on his computer and i for one have to meet him in person to say that his avitar isn't him. Kevin54 has about 25,000 posts and a lot of them are small books.

cheers

 

[1/2 Cup]

BLHmachine, hello and welcome aboard. Great intro I might add.

All the best with your new workshop, its always great to have your Fiancé supporting what you do, that makes a big difference.

Regards

 

[rburke65]

Hello and welcome from Ohio! You're going to like it here!

 

[furbyj1]

Welcome to the GJ!!

 

[BLHmachine]

Hello All,

It's ben a while since I have been on here but thanks for all of the kind words. As an update I spent all of the money I had planned to use to build my workshop. I purchased 2.8 acres on the west side of my property that will allow for an easier and bigger build. I had purchased 1 acre to the east but it has a pretty steep grade and a lot of big trees. I met with some contractors and started getting quotes and got some bad news. The slope would require a couple of retaining walls and they were going to be around $10,000 to $15,000. Plus trying not to cut down any of the larger trees was only going to leave about 30' X 40' for a building. That's a lot of money that would not be spent on the actual shop. Also I know that would be way too small. I had been working on trying to get the neighbor to sell me the 2.8 acres to the east and he finally started to budge. I got the deal done a couple of months ago. Now I have a mostly flat piece of land so I can build. I just have to see how much money I can raise by spring to get this thing started. Now back to pouring through all of your threads to find inspiration for my workshop.

Thanks, Brian

 

[Contender54]

It sounds like you're moving in the right direction.

I notice you collect BMX bikes.
I don't exactly "collect" them, but I still have my PK Ripper that I raced in the '90s.
It's just one of those things I've managed to hang onto.

 

[BLHmachine]

It sounds like you're moving in the right direction.

I notice you collect BMX bikes.
I don't exactly "collect" them, but I still have my PK Ripper that I raced in the '90s.
It's just one of those things I've managed to hang onto.

Yes, It was somewhat of an addiction for a while. HaHa!
It started out with a P.K. frame I found on ebay like the one I had stolen from me in 92. Building that up sparked an obsession with my old hobbies. Its starts out like a poor mans hot rod and then gets almost just as expensive once you start buying NOS parts that are super rare. I had about 6 P.K. Rippers, a few Quadangles, some Redlines and Hutches and many others. Now I am selling off some of the oldschool BMX and car audio to help fund the shop.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Welcome to the forum...

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

Hello and welcome to thee Garage Journal....

 

[KSeriesChevy]

Hello neighbor. I'm from Alexandra Indiana.

 

[BLHmachine]

So I have been busy working with a contractor on my design and trying to decide on my layout. The building will be 40' X 80' X 18. The bank has approved a home equity line of credit. I will know how much they can lend once we get the house appraised next Tuesday. I am pretty confident there is enough equity to fund at least 3/4 of the build. I will be trying to sell excess toys to fund the difference. I already gave them some cash to get started and the lot is cleared. I am hoping they can get started on the concrete in a couple weeks. I am so ready to have a place to put all of my tools. I will post a link to the build thread once I have it started.

Thanks, Brian