Above 1200 Sq/FT The ASYLUM - Happy 40th Birthday to Me! (Est. 2005)

E.rodz · Feb 18, 2013

It has been awhile since checking in . It looks like things are coming along nicely things are getting finished and you are using up sqirled away materials and stuff! keep it up and soon it will be time to just relax and enjoy! whatever that means? keep up the great work!

akdiesel · Feb 19, 2013

shopnut

Nice work on the railing rollers.
Now that you have plans for the parking meters you need to find a Meter Maid tri car. Not sure if you had them down there but you could travel the Shopnut grounds and hand out parking tickets, when your not busy doing other things of course.

shopnut · Feb 19, 2013

HOTFR8 - Yeah, a switch down low might be just as bad. But the idea of a remote switch reminded me I have a whole box full of X10 remote control modules. (See this link for some information on them: X10) At one point in time, I was planning to create all the lighting zones with those controllers, but later found out they don't play so well with fluorescent fixtures (at least at the time). I since have hard wired all the zones properly so I seem to have a surplus of X10 modules that I can use for other things.

I can easily create a 3-way circuit for the outlet up there and switch it from the loft or down below with the X10 stuff. Thanks for the pointing me in the right direction

E.rodz - Thanks. I'm not real good at that "relaxing" stuff - don't really have much practice :sad:

. But I'm really looking forward to getting some quality time with the project cars and bikes. I'm starting to lose sight of the fact they're the reason why I built this shop in the first place. BTW, I wish my Chevelle was even half as clean as that '70 you're working on - what a great starting point.

akdiesel - Thanks. I made some progress on the vertical stanchions that work in conjunction with those roller assemblies and will be giving an update shortly when I complete one more task.

You don't really see any of these meter maid cars here, but I know what you're talking about and remember them when I was a kid. Hey, maybe I can make a little extra beer money with those tickets - excellent idea!

HOTFR8 · Feb 19, 2013

shopnut said:
HOTFR8 - Yeah, a switch down low might be just as bad. But the idea of a remote switch reminded me I have a whole box full of X10 remote control modules. (See this link for some information on them: X10) At one point in time, I was planning to create all the lighting zones with those controllers, but later found out they don't play so well with fluorescent fixtures (at least at the time). I since have hard wired all the zones properly so I seem to have a surplus of X10 modules that I can use for other things.

I can easily create a 3-way circuit for the outlet up there and switch it from the loft or down below with the X10 stuff. Thanks for the pointing me in the right direction!

Not quite what I meant. So to clarify I have a power point high on the wall well above head hight below this I have a normal power point that has an extra switch. This extra switch activates the power point up high that is left on all the time.

Omphaloskeptic · Feb 19, 2013

Parking Meters?! That's genius!

I'd hate to think of them or the pump as being "sacrificial", but here's another JAWIFO in that regard -

- Ya' know those playground animal toys for tots that let them rock'n'roll because the rides are mounted on car (?) springs? Well, that might save the meters (and your truck's sheet metal) if you used the same idea for mounting the meter poles.

OR

- You could go the high-tech route and add some additional circuitry to the innards of the coin bank. I'm thinking of a proximity sensor discretely mounted behind each of the meters' plexiglass bezels and when you get too close to either of them, two things happen:
* A noisome (police) siren goes off
* The 'VIOLATION' flag in the meter pops up! :lol_hitti

P.S. - And just to keep it real crazy, the siren and the flag don't reset until you 'feed the meter' a quarter! lol

shopnut · Feb 20, 2013

HOTFR8 - Thanks for the explanation. Probably all I need is just a big old sign that reads “Turn off the fan, Stupid!” to hang up in the loft and I would always remember to do it

Omphaloskeptic - Great stuff! :thumbup:

I really like the idea of spring mounted bases for the meters to avoid damage. I have a couple of old garage door torsion springs that might just fit inside the tube to create a flexible meter base and be hidden :dunno:

And it would be great fun seeing my friends try to lean up against them and then fall over :lol:

And tripping the red VIOLATION flag if it gets bumped might catch my eye better than just the pole getting pushed back. Maybe I could rig up a little trip cord running down in the tube that actuates the flag when the meter “springs” out of the way (just to keep it simple for a change). I’m sure I could come up with a quarter or two to reset the thing.

It’s time to tear one those meters apart to see how easy this job really is.

Vernmotor · Feb 20, 2013

Bad thing about signs to remind you to something .Is that after awhile you get use to seeing it there and stop reading it ! don't ask how I would know that LOL

Vernmotor · Feb 20, 2013

O yea Heck you get 25cents from your frends every time they lean on it !!! LOL

HOTFR8 · Feb 20, 2013

Or a sign on the door so as you leave it asks "Did you turn off the fan ?"

shopnut · Feb 20, 2013

Vernmotor said:
Bad thing about signs to remind you to something .Is that after awhile you get use to seeing it there and stop reading it ! don't ask how I would know that LOL

Very true. It sounds like there's a story begging to be told there Vern.

I probably just need someone with a baseball bat waiting to drive the point home when I do something stupid - that always does the trick!

Vernmotor said:
O yea Heck you get 25cents from your frends every time they lean on it !!! LOL

I need to invite a few more people over so I can pay for a couple more of these bike parts I've been ordering lately!

HOTFR8 said:
Or a sign on the door so as you leave it asks "Did you turn off the fan ?"

I actually have a laminated list that reminds me to turn off the well pump, air compressor, A/C, lights, radio, chargers, etc. I guess I now need to add one more to the list!

shopnut · Feb 20, 2013

FRAMING STARTS FOR THE DOOR DRUM COVERS…

I was waiting on the air curtain to show up before getting started, but when I called Northern Tool to ask why there was such a delay, I got the response we all hate to hear. The lady on the other end of the phone goes "Oh, this is very strange" as she looked at her computer screen. She went on to tell me the blower had gotten lost and ended up putting another one on order - 3 more weeks to wait!

So I decided to forge on and get the basic framing done. This part always takes me forever. Nothing is ever perfect in construction like this, so I really struggle when having to make compromises. The centerline of the loft above doesn't exactly match the centerline of the doors below. And then things aren't exactly level - it goes on and on. So I kind of split the differences and hope the imperfections aren't visible when the project is finished.

Working by myself, I build these hooks to hold the framing in place as I tweak it. In the picture, the long 2x4 is just set in the hooks so it can slide back and forth and shims are used to change the height of either end. The hooks are just made from scraps and I have plenty of those.

At this point one permanent vertical support is in place and a temporary diagonal brace holds it in position.

A hoop is built in the middle.

The center verticals and right side framing are added. It's starting to look like something now.

It's starting to resemble the concept sketch from awhile back and that's always a good thing.

Here's a shot that shows door clearances with one door open and the other closed.

The rest will have to wait until next time, but I'm glad I got a chance to break the ice - I'll be able to just bang out the rest hopefully quickly. There will be at least one challenge trying to support the light housing hanging underneath the drums. I think some special plywood gussets will do the trick though, but we shall see.

Omphaloskeptic · Feb 21, 2013

The D.D.T. is looking A-O-K!

JAWIFO....

The coin box of the parking meter could house a battery operated alarm and the siren horn could be mounted in the door of the coin box. A couple of cheap Radio Shack solar cells could be mounted in the bezel housing to keep the battery juiced and still allow the 'VIOLATION' flag to pop up and be visible. Instead of a proximity sensor, if the posts were mounted on your torsion springs, you might just use a mercury switch to close the alarm circuit.

=================================

When you start opening those meters up to see what makes them tick (pun), take some pics, so we can share in your fun!

shopnut · Feb 24, 2013

Thanks Ompha, I made some good progress on the DDT and will update y'all shortly.

Are you suggesting I give up precious space for all those quarters I intend to collect just to house some warning gizmo? - I like it! :thumbup:

They'll be the most high tech classic parking meters around. The mercury switch sounds simple enough too.

Sounds like a fun little project. And one that could actually come in handy someday. I almost needed it when I backed the trailer up bringing the manlift home. Having my brakes go out really threw me off and I wasn't paying great attention to that right corner of the trailer and almost side-swiped that column.

I just added the meters to the Task List so I won't forget.

shopnut · Feb 25, 2013

WORK CONTINUES ON THE LOFT RAILING…

The railings, with their new wheels for support, are rolling in and out great. But they still need some support and that’s where the fixed vertical stanchions come into play. This picture shows a short tube that served as a reminder to me that a full length version was needed. BTW, tubing for the stanchions (and ceiling grab rail) is just the upper rail for chain link fencing available at the home improvement stores.

This stanchion will have the ability to swing up out of the way when large objects are being lifted up in the loft so I wanted an easy way to pin it in either position. I looked at quite a few different spring plungers, latches, bolt-action toggle clamps and even bought some. But none seem to fit the need exactly so I just made my own out of commonly available parts. It ended up looking like this and that 1/2” rod will pin into the loft floor or engage a hanger on the ceiling grab rail.

Here it is with the pin being retracted slightly. Full travel is 1.5"

Here is what the internals look like. What you see is a 1/2” rod about 9” long, a pipe cap, a sleeve, a spring, and a SS socket head cap screw that will serve as the release lever.

I hunted around a bit to find parts that fit snugly into the stanchion pipe and it turned out some inexpensive PVC fittings and a short steel tube worked great and created a low-friction sleeve for the rod to slide in.

The following pictures show one stanchion in vertical and stowed positions.

(Sorry, but to get back any further for the picture, I would've had to be hanging on the manlift railing

).

The tube with the slot in it was just a short sample tube to prove the design so I still need to mill the slots into the longer pieces now. And I need to attach the railing to it - I'm thinking some keyhole slots and shoulder bolts should do the trick.

Vernmotor · Feb 25, 2013

I want to know how you make that slot in the side of the pipe ?

Omphaloskeptic · Feb 26, 2013

^ ?+1

akdiesel · Feb 26, 2013

shopnut

Great clever idea. If I can, I will use that idea and I'm sure other s as well.

shopnut · Feb 26, 2013

Vernmotor/Ompha - Making those types of slots is exactly why I rigged up my makeshift drill/mill...

BUT... I was at the city garage when I built the internal pieces so I just cut this first slot on the sample pipe the old fashioned way (in this case, the hard way :sad:

) - a series of overlapping drilled holes, finished off with a file. Luckily, it was thin wall pipe so it only took about 15 minutes. I will try the milling setup on the real stanchion pipes when the time comes and I just hope they turn out as good.

akdiesel - I really can't take credit for it. I thought I could get some of these to work and ordered a couple because they can be purchased for under $10/ea.

But I would’ve had to cut and hack on them too much to make them hide inside the pipe for that clean look I was after. So I took that same idea and “massaged” it a bit to fit my needs. I know you’re no stranger to that process!

I’m sure I will use those purchased ones for some other project sooner or later.

shopnut · Feb 28, 2013

THE RE-ORDERED AIR CURTAIN SHOWS UP IN RECORD TIME…

It actually surprised me arriving as quickly as it did, but it was perfect timing because I was heading out to the Asylum the next day to continue framing on the door drum covers. And having it in hand took the guesswork out of many things.

The shipping weight stated 50 pounds and the curtain itself was all of that 50. At first glance, it looked pretty good. It is shown here with the remote control sitting on the far end. (The picture resolution is doing funny things to the intake grate)

I spent about two hours thinking and sketching up ideas on how to make this thing pivot for use as both as air circulation fan and air curtain. I even considered putting the pivot very near the balance point so that the power of the airstream would kick it over to one latched position and gravity (with the blower off) would flop it over to the other. But I came to the realization that it was going to take too long to build a pivoting mount so I took the easy way out (for now) and simply mounted it with the outlet directing airflow at my main work area. Please forgive my straight-forward approach - it’s so uncharacteristic of me

.

Here is the first gusset added to flank the air curtain. Four in total would be installed to mount the two curtains.

This shot shows the removable base plate that makes mounting a “breeze”.

The base plate was mounted up in the fan pocket over the door drum. It ended up being a fairly tight squeeze up there for it, mostly because of my clumsy mount.

The fan simply hangs on the base plate and a few set screws lock it in.

I was actually impressed with the performance of the fan. It had two speeds, and even on “LOW”, I could feel a nice steady breeze at 30 feet away. And the remote works great at that distance too. On “HIGH” it filled the entire bay with a pretty violent air circulation. It worked so good, I now ordered the second one for the other side.

I had to turn it off while finishing things up there or this would happen

Omphaloskeptic · Feb 28, 2013

If Mrs. Shopnut questions the wisdom of a second unit, simply tell her that you are buying it as a gift for her; on those hot, steamy Florida days when you both could get relief by standing in front of 'his' and 'hers' to get that great-feeling air-curtain 'facial' . lol Kinda' like the same effect as going 100+mph on the bike w/o helmet, especially when some flying beetle gets in the airstream; OUCH!

shopnut · Mar 4, 2013

Omphaloskeptic said:
Kinda' like the same effect as going 100+mph on the bike w/o helmet, especially when some flying beetle gets in the airstream; OUCH!

Hopefully we don't end up looking like this:

shopnut · Mar 4, 2013

PROVISIONS FOR LIGHTS UNDER THE DOOR DRUMS…

Continuing on with the door drum framing, I needed something underneath to hold the four light fixtures. With the gussets above the drums to mount the fans, the front face hanging down from the loft floor was pretty sturdy and provided a good foundation for the next step.

I built these simple hangers to reach underneath the drums

Then the long 2x4 was added near the door opening.

Here is a close up of the hangers down on the ground where they were built. The short 2x4 represents the long one shown in the picture above. Lag bolts were added in key locations.

Finishing the end cap to match the chamfered profile above on the loft floor.

Framing on one side nearly complete. Two 12x48" light fixtures will install in those holes below the drum.

And finally, both sides complete and ready for vinyl siding. I will be installing white paneling on the underside where the lights go since there will be very little of it actually seen.

So the sides are roughed in and now attention will turn to the center section where an access door will be mounted. I'm hoping the door in the middle and the openings for the fans will keep the cover from looking too boxy.

As you might have noticed, there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of room for some kind of roll-up bug screen. I possibly could hang something from that 2x4 closest to the door opening :dunno:

.

IGO2XS · Mar 4, 2013

Looks awesome. You have the best documentation on GJ. Keep up the great work :thumbup:

shopnut · Mar 5, 2013

Thanks IGO2XS.

I've gotten accustomed to having my cheap old camera handy and it seems my lunch hours at work are a good time to piece the photos together along with a bit of commentary so they make some sense. After all these years, it's become sort of a routine for me, you know?

Yes, I'm a sick man, but aren't we all?

shopnut · Mar 7, 2013

AN INEXPENSIVE BORESCOPE…

I’ve wanted a borescope for a while now and when one turned up on Amazon for less than $40 I figured I would give it a try. Amazon Link

It simply plugs into the USB port on a little netbook computer and will take still pictures or videos of whatever I can get it pointed at. I understand that people were successful with attaching it to their smartphones running Android 3.1 or higher - that would really be convenient. If you look closely, the tiny camera head has LEDs to illuminate those dark areas being probed. I happen to have the camera pointed at the UPC code on the box and have it displayed on the computer screen.

Here I’m taking a look behind my stereo to see the model number and if I plugged that audio optical cord into the right port.

Here’s a close-up of my computer CF memory card slot. I don’t use CF memory cards so I never discovered the pins were bent on it (but now I know). It must have come from the factory like that.

Here’s a look inside my motorcycle cylinder inserting the borescope into the spark plug hole. Looks like I have a little carbon in there. Videos of this were really cool. Someone on the RZ500 website suggested to shine a light in the exhaust port to really brighten things up in there.

Here’s a look inside of Mrs. Shopnut’s old 1934 National guitar. That’s a little block supporting the resonator cone. I could have gotten close and seen the grain of the wood (in focus), but then you would wonder what the heck you were looking at. She saw me doing it and commented that there was several times she could have used that camera for checking other things inside her guitars. I guess since it’s her netbook, she should feel free to use it anytime

(Note to you guitar lovers: Since the neck of this camera is rubber coated, no antique guitars were harmed in any way during the filming of this episode)

The only thing that would be better on the one I bought is a capture button on the handle - it’s kind of a pain reaching back to the computer to snap a picture. I found that sometimes it’s easier to just record a quick video and extract any required still photos from that. But for $40, it does pretty good right out of the box. Maybe now I can retire the old mirror and flashlight.

shopnut · Mar 12, 2013

INTALLING LIGHTS IN THE DOOR DRUM COVERS…

The rest of the drum cover will be cladding in white vinyl, but I decided to simply use white paneling on the bottom side where the lights were to go. I cut it to width and mounted it up there.

Then I traced the light cutouts and removed them to remove the rectangles for the lights. The corner was trimmed off as well while it was down.

Here both sides are done and ready for lights to be installed.

The light is resting on the manlift basket and ready to go up. I bought 25 ft extension cords and cut off the female end to make long leads for the lights. All four will meet in the center between the doors and plug into a switched quad outlet. I didn’t hardwire these so I could easily remove them for door servicing someday.

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK…

I installed two of the lights before heading to bed. When I went to close the door for the first time, the right side door jammed in its track. This wasn't the first time it has happened and it gives me trouble every couple of years. I don’t think the installers lined things up very good on that one door since the other 3 always have worked fine. It was purely coincidental that it decided to jam right then and it really ruined my evening.

When the door jams while entering the top of the track, it creates a bit of slack on the corrugated panel and the outer wrap droops down from the drum. Well, I hadn’t planned for a ton of clearance in there anyway, and when that happened, it drug across the top of the light fixtures. This picture shows the screw that made first contact with the door panel.

The exterior of the door was scratched pretty badly in four different spots and of course it was right at eye height when the door was closed (grrrr).

I decided the next day I would give it more clearance.

ODIS · Mar 12, 2013

Always fun to see what you have been up to. Thank you for a great thread.

Ody.

shopnut · Mar 12, 2013

ODIS said:
Always fun to see what you have been up to. Thank you for a great thread.

Ody.

You are very welcome Ody. And thanks to you - it's nice to hear that, because from my point of view its mostly just a whole lot of measuring, cutting, drilling, driving, and... well, you get the picture.

A lot of my determination to see this through stems from the fine folks here on the Journal. I'm not sure I could have kept it up all these years without you all "coming along for the ride".

I'm hoping I will get to have some real fun in here soon!

machine_punk · Mar 12, 2013

I know what you mean...it is a whole lot easier to get motivated about arranging pictures and writing a long story about The Aerodrome Studio, when folks respond to the thread.

Are you 'almost there' yet? (ready to stop working on the Asylum and start working on project IN the Asylum?)

Kev

shopnut · Mar 12, 2013

I'm getting closer M_P, but the Task List is still mighty long. I think the individual tasks are getting easier though. At least there aren't any left like "Build front loft floor" - that was a killer (or at least a bone breaker

). It's probably time to update the list since I've made some good progress lately.

You firing up that torch in your thread makes me want to pull out the gauge set out of storage, buy some tanks, and give her a go again. Since that's all my dad had when we were young, its the first type of welding I learned. But "learned" is really an overstatement since I was never all that great at it. It mostly got used for repairs and I fabbed a few custom parts for the cycles (luggage racks and such). I wish I could offer some help over in your thread, but there's not much I remember anymore. Maybe lighting one up might bring back some memories :dunno:

.

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 12, 2013

Damn! A D.D.T. ding; I can imagine you uttered more than a few choice words when you made the ding discovery. That's the kind of incident that can drive you crazy; luckily for you, you are already committed to an Asylum.

I can only offer my sympathy and a bit of Confucian wisdom - "There is always a chance of a slip betwixt the lip and the cup"; you wind up with hot tea in your crotch!

Just an afterthought Shopnut, before the D.D.T. is completely buttoned up, it may be time to get the door technician back to 'tune up' the installation. Just sayin'....

shopnut · Mar 12, 2013

Yes, a few choice words probably sent the squirrels packing their bags in the quiet woods that evening. And I slid it back and forth a few times before I figured out what was happening which made matters worse. Sometimes I'm just not as cautious as I should be the first time I try something new.

Perhaps a call to the door professionals is in order, O, but I may have gotten to the root of the problem. I noticed the lead-in at the top of the track where it jams had a nasty burr on it. It had even chewed up some of the rubber edge strip on the door panel. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it so I blindly knocked it down with a file until it was gone. At least it seemed much better even before I re-lubed the track up there.

Red Leader · Mar 13, 2013

Glad to see that the nut house is in full swing! I've been away too long.

Bummer on the door...gosh that just reminds me of so many projects out in the garage. I know that exact feeling.

It sounds like you did get to the bottom of something. Here's hoping that door doesn't give you any more trouble. I like what you are doing up there for the lighting. Seems like you can always find a project out there

You Floridians can work out there in and out of season...because there is no out of season for you guys! Without a heater, it is no fun working in the cold months out here. I'm sure it is nice and balmy out there. Can ya send a little o that out here? Would'ya?

Wingnut65 · Mar 13, 2013

Red Leader said:
Glad to see that the nut house is in full swing! I've been away too long.

x2. I saw the new lights were on and so popped in. Its great to see these projects getting checked off on your To-Do list.

Sorry for the step backward. Possibly a 1x frame around the lights can drop them down enough to give more clearance with the doors. Or a grinder can knock off the extra length on those light fixture screws.

And I really do like the way you framed it and knocked off the corner. Nice attention to details!

And thanks for the borescope report. I didn't know they were that reasonable... (Meaning: I didn't know that I really needed one for that price...!) I am getting ready to replace our built-in stud and drywall entertainment center with a custom built oak one and I will be soundproofing several walls in the process. To know how successful that turns out, I just bought a dB sound meter to do before and after checks. Can't wait to get it and see sound levels in the car, in the shop, of the shop vac and so many more possibilities. Now, thanks to you, I have more shopping to do for cool electronics...

Red Leader said:
You Floridians can work out there in and out of season...because there is no out of season for you guys! Without a heater, it is no fun working in the cold months out here. I'm sure it is nice and balmy out there. Can ya send a little o that out here? Would'ya?

Yes RL, it has been rough. We can't come up with the excuses for not getting projects done like the snow is too deep or the shop is too cold or I slipped on the ice on the sidewalk in my flip flops... Wait a minute, that one sounds familiar. :headscrat

This morning we are back at a cool 49 with a high later at 65. And your observation is why many of us live here in the Sunshine State. We will have a place available whenever you want to head this way as well...

shopnut · Mar 13, 2013

Red Leader - I guess I was due for a little mishap. Things were going too well for a few weeks now :sad:

.

I do miss the seasons sometime, but only until I see the reports on the news about the northerners digging themselves out of a big snowstorm. That's when I get pretty thankful again about where I live. You need a heater over there, but after living in Wisconsin for the first 24 years of my life, I know the occasional shop-goer is still not that comfortable out in teh garage because all the tools are still ice cold for a long time after the heat is turned on. The garage really needs to be kept at a reasonable temp all the time and then cranked up a bit for an evening work session, IMHO.

I’ll be glad to box up some of our heat for you, but I’m not sure it will make it there. Do you think the post office will let me insure it?

Hang in there - spring is just around the corner.

Wingnut65 - I swear the same electrician wired both of our brains! You will see in the next post exactly what I did to solve my dilemma. Both revolve around your comments.

Thanks. That corner on the D.D.T. helps, but the whole cover still looks like an afterthought from a few viewpoints in the shop, mainly because of the way it blocks the windows. My solution? - Don’t ever stand there

Gadgets and gizmos - ya gotta love them. Don’t forget to pick up one of those IR thermometer guns - they’re always handy (might be able to check if the new entertainment center components are overheating from the comfort of your recliner!) Good luck on the new A/V system - sounds like one of the more enjoyable home projects.

shopnut · Mar 13, 2013

FIXING MY BLUNDER…

I guess I should be happy this issue reared its ugly head when it did, before the drum cover was trimmed out and finished (always look for a bright spot when things go wrong, I say).

To save a bunch of time, I considered adding a spacer just under the flange of the lights to push them down, but decided it would look better with the lights completely flush per the original plan. Plus I didn't have the exact material on hand to do it and I really wanted this behind me the next day. So I added a 3/4” spacer on the entire bottom just because a like to do extra work (when have you guys ever seen me take the easy way out?). This of course required that the lights and paneling to be removed. Arrows point to 1x4s and 1x2s that were used.

The paneling goes back up for the THIRD time! (I'm getting pretty good at it by now

)

To keep the screws from sticking up any further than they had to, I added some washers where the arrow is pointing. All the lights were then re-installed.

Now that the lights were below the plywood gussets, I decided to “line” the curved edges with some vinyl J-channel in case the door ever jammed like that again. It may scuff the exterior green paint next time, but I don’t think it will scratch it completely off like what happened this time.

Okay, on with the job!

Wingnut65 · Mar 13, 2013

Great minds think alike. Or is it just the engineer in me?

When it is all said an done, no one will ever know there is an extra layer of wood there. No one, except the thousands that will eventually read through this awesome build thread... :thumbup:

shopnut · Mar 14, 2013

Wingnut65 said:
Great minds think alike. Or is it just the engineer in me?

When it is all said an done, no one will ever know there is an extra layer of wood there. No one, except the thousands that will eventually read through this awesome build thread...

I would have to say engineer, because I for one don't fit that "great minds" description

shopnut · Mar 14, 2013

BACK ON TRACK…

Here’s a shot with the four lights installed (hopefully for the final time :sad:

).

With the doors open, it does a decent job of lighting up the porch. It should be plenty for any nighttime chores out there.

Before rust could form, I slapped a little touchup paint on those door scratches. One of these days, I'm going to wash the entire door

I had just a little time left over during the last work session to start on the center box. The narrow opening on the bottom front is what’s left after I sized it for my aluminum door set - about 13” wide. Although that’s plenty to get reels and door winches in and out of there, it’s not the best if I need to get my shoulders in there to torque on mount bolts and such. I may re-think this whole door thing. I can make removable vinyl panels with a lot less effort and probably end up with much better access. I always want things to look good, but never at the cost of functionality.

Red Leader · Mar 15, 2013

shopnut said:
With the doors open, it does a decent job of lighting up the porch. It should be plenty for any nighttime chores out there.

That front porch area is just begging for a bug zapper.

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Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member