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

Red Leader · Mar 15, 2013

Wingnut65 said:
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.

Ouch! (literally, haha)

Touche, my friend

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 15, 2013

Yeah, two INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH BUG ZAPPERS; I.S.B.Z.'s! lol

The I.S.B.Z.'s should probably be 3 phase, 440 volt units run off their own gen set as your first line of defense against the bug invasion. Of course, if you go with a couple I.S.B.Z.'s with those specs, they should be then considered an OFFENSIVE weapon! :shocking:

The ***** units would be there simply to thwart any survivors from mistakenly staggering into the Asylum.

Now, if the 'Big *** Fan Co.' would only incorporate an I.S.B.Z. into one of their units, you could mount a couple of them on the A.A.A., run them off the 'Gigundous Juice Generator' (G.J.G.) at max speed, and rest assured in the knowledge that any critter making its way into the Asylum would need to be dealt with by the judicious application of a 12-guage 'flyswatter'! :rocketwho

Shopnut, in regard to building your C.R.U.D.E. cover, have you considered building a sheet metal '3-sided' shell (with bottom lip)? You could build the metal door into this shell for normal access, but when you need more 'elbow room' you could simply undo some knurled nuts on the shell bottom/sides and the shell would slip down to the floor allowing you free access to all the guts of C.R.U.D.E. Central Control.

shopnut · Mar 17, 2013

Red Leader - I seem to recall that little episode too.

Omphaloskeptic - LOL. With a bug zapper that powerful, I could see bolts of lightning shooting over to the neighbors yard as well and taking care of pest control in the whole 'hood (hopefully they keep their dogs and cats inside though :shocking:

). And that G.J.G. could be used for some other things too like big machine tools! :thumbup:

You're going to be disappointed, but I'm taking the easy way out with lift-out vinyl planks for access. I figure if it really doesn't work out, I can always add some hinged doors or something up there. Good idea on the panel though - something along those lines may be used down low where all the switches will be located.

shopnut · Mar 17, 2013

AFTER TEN YEARS OF OWNERSHIP, I STILL LOVE MY TRUCK…

My truck turned 10 years old in January and I must say, I think I love that thing more than the day I brought it home new from the dealer. This is the last year Chevrolet will be producing the Avalanche and I considered trading mine in. With the versatility of the midgate allowing long items to be hauled, it's really is the only truck for me. So I'm sort of torn whether to trade it in on a new one to last me another 10 years or just run this one for another 5 or 10. There are some nice features on the new one, but it's really tough to justify paying that hefty price tag to get them. With under 50K on the clock, my truck still feels new.

It was a beautiful day to take a ride on the cycle, but it stayed in the garage this trip because it was time to haul another load of big stuff out to the Asylum. It wasn't a huge load, but it was kind of pricey - about $550 worth.

The vinyl siding material got stored up in the 12' deep pockets built into the side lofts until it will be used.

The lumber was stashed away in my lumber loft above the porch.

A LADDER FOR THE UPSTAIRS OFFICE ATTIC…

My boss is always watching out for me - you gotta love that! I told him a while back that I was looking for a cheap/simple ladder for my Asylum office storage area and the other day he comes back from a Lowe's run at lunchtime all excited. He told me they had a small attic ladder on clearance over there that I better take a look at.

Well it ended up looking like it would work perfectly so I snatched one up.

It's been a while since I have shown any pictures up in my office. There's an attic above the stairway with sliding doors at about 7'. Here's a shot with the ladder set in there in roughly the spot they will be mounted.

The ladder is extremely light (but hopefully strong enough) and should be easy to shove it back up in there to close the doors.

It includes a spring assist arm to help retract it after using. I also saw some latches to lock the telescopic sections together, but I haven't ripped the package open yet to study everything closely.

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 17, 2013

"With under 50K on the clock, my truck still feels new. "

Hey Shopnut, if you still love your truck after 10 years and 50k miles, why not just keep it? You could own it another ten years before you even hit 100k miles; just think of the ROI for such a vehicle! You'd get raped on a trade-in, no doubt about it. So, keep this one in your garage, and keep your money in your wallet. If you bought the new truck, you'd be spending what - $30+k after trade-in??? Just think of all the things that money could buy.....

Wingnut65 · Mar 18, 2013

Tough call on the Avalanche... But 50k is just breaking it in. I just cleared 18k at 11 months...

So, are you going to need another ladder to get up to get your loft ladder?

shopnut said:

shopnut · Mar 18, 2013

Omphaloskeptic/Wingnut65 - Yeah, I really dread thinking about having a car payment again after seven years without one. But I also worry about all the electronics on my truck getting up there in age too. I'll need to make a decision in the next few months, I guess. It should be a fun thing, but I actually hate buying new cars.

Wingnut65 - Hopefully no second ladder is needed if the plan works out. I can reach the sliding doors okay to open and close them since that lower molding matches the height of the molding on the entry door and that really isn't that high on a standard door (you can see it in the very right side of the picture above in my post with the doors closed.

Of course, one always needs a backup plan. Mine is to call on my lovely assistant to use the included pole that came with the kit.

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 18, 2013

"Yeah, I really dread thinking about having a car payment again after seven years without one. But I also worry about all the electronics on my truck getting up there in age too. I'll need to make a decision in the next few months, I guess. It should be a fun thing, but I actually hate buying new cars."

That, I guess, is what keeps me from buying new. I just bought my daughter a 2013 Mazda3 hatchback (she loves, loves, loves it), but the literally 100+ hours I spent on-line and emailing, reading car mag reports, and searching for the best buy about drove me (further) insane!

I'll suggest this to you, unless you've already decided that the 2013 Avalanche is the only truck that will ring your bell. Start making monthly 'truck payments' to a special savings account, and keep driving the truck you have now. Have the money deducted from your paycheck and have it direct deposited to your 'truck account'. When your truck finally needs a MAJOR repair, then you can decide whether to take the money from your 'truck account' for the repair or buy a new one without trading in the old truck! You can always then have the old truck towed to the Asylum, park it and repair it at your leisure; that's what the Asylum is there for, isn't it? Having a trade-in just makes it easier for the 'stealership' to play head games with you on a new car purchase IMHO. You can repair the major malfunction with new or used parts, and sell it for much more privately than a dealer will give you, again, IMHO. LOL In the meantime, you will have 'adjusted' to monthly payments, your budget won't suffer, and, best of all, your 'truck account' will be accruing interest! I wouldn't worry about not finding 'THE' truck down the road; the longer you can wait, the better chance you'll have of buying a truck with absolutely the latest and greatest innovations available in the marketplace. Hey, maybe they're looking at inventing what would be George Jetson's truck (if he was a DIY kind of guy), and its prototype is due out for the 2023 Detroit Auto Show; which is just another 10 more years of current Avalanche ownership away. Wouldn't that be just too cool --- a Flying Truck; gives new meaning to the term light duty truck. :lol_hitti

Oh, just one more thing to provide incentive to keep your current truck, take out a 'make-believe-truck-loan' and run the numbers through a loan amortization program to show yourself what the REAL cost of that new truck would be throughout the life of a loan. It's REAL SCARY! :scared:

Happy Trails, and KEEP ON (AVALANCHE) TRUCKING! :rocker:

shopnut · Mar 19, 2013

O - I like the idea of tossing money into an account for repairs (or a new truck someday). It’s sort of like a Health Savings Account for your car if you are familiar with HSA's. I probably should start doing it.

Agreed with the trade-in at the dealer - I don’t let them play that game with me. I always ignore the monthly figures they toss at me - I know what I want to pay for the new vehicle and what my trade is worth. I can do the math on the financing after that. It’s really tough to get them to boil it down to those raw numbers sometimes, but they eventually do it if they want to sell me a car.

On the Avy, I got 11K off the sticker AND I traded my old pickup for just $2K shy of what it would fetch on the open market retail. I only traded it in because of the convenience factor of driving in with one and away with the other (rather than the hassle of selling it myself) and the tax advantages.

Yes the time-value of money can be sobering! Socking some away might just get me closer to that flying truck. Think how easy it would be to dump the bed out

akdiesel · Mar 19, 2013

O's got some great advice. Just bought the wife a new smaller SUV to replace the Denali XL (10 years old) since we are down to one kid now. They wanted to give me $7000 trade in. Kept it and sold it my self for $10,500.
There are three thing dealers have to work with:
1- the price of the vehicle.
2- the trade in value.
3- in house financing.
I've always tried to take the last two out of the question with selling my own vehicles and researching the interest rates of all the banks.
Lots of people do wait till the last minute to replace or simply sell their vehicle due to lots of reasons and the dealers end up winning because of this.
Not that I buy a lot of vehicles but I never purchase a new vehicle off the lot. I order my vehicles. Too many test runners, and with a new vehicle with 100 test driving miles is a used vehicle since you can not tell how they test drove it.
Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I hate to see people loose money.

shopnut · Mar 19, 2013

More good advice akdiesel and spot on. Its nice to have others watching out for me (and the rest of GJ clan). I've only bought 3 new cars and two new bikes in my life, so I'm certainly no expert on that dealer negotiation thing. Maybe that's why I dread it so much :dunno:

shopnut · Mar 19, 2013

A SECOND FAN FOR THE MAIN BAY…

Northern Tool called up to let me know the second fan had arrived (I selected the free "ship-to-store" delivery). So I go to pick it up and much to my surprise, the store associate wheels up with two of them on a cart. The missing fan finally showed up! I have no idea where it has been floating around these past 7 weeks but there it was. Anyway, I was entitled to one of them and told them the whole story so they could send the other back.

Here it is on the bedslide of my Avalanche.

Installation was a piece of cake since I had already had the first fan mounted in this spot. Here is the base plate mounted in the recess.

This is where the manlift really shines. It takes me and the goods to the perfect height for installation.

the first thing once up there was feed the cord through a pre-drilled hole.

Then just "hook" the fan in its bracket and tighten up some screws.

Here's both of the fans up in their 13' high perch.

I was worried about the remotes being "coded" the same, but that wasn't the case. I can use one remote for one and it is ignored by the other fan. Cool!

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 19, 2013

Now all you have to do is to remember which *****'s button you're pushing! lol

We all want to know how effective those two units are; do a video of the 'Spring Hatch Offensive'.

akdiesel · Mar 20, 2013

shopnut
It will be interesting to see how well the fans work. The new shrouds look great and that looks like a perfect location for the fans. For me Mother Nature does a great job keeping the Mosquitos at bay.

hippie2cams · Mar 20, 2013

Whew!!! I just caught up. Been reading the whole thing I'm almost wore out.
Man what a build I started out just looking for some ceiling ideas and had no IDEA what I was getting into. Used to be alurker but now a member great group and some fantastic builds glad to be here

shopnut · Mar 20, 2013

Omphaloskeptic -

They certainly know which of my buttons to push to get me going! I’m honestly not expecting the fans to make a big difference fighting off the bugs the way I ended up mounting them. I took the easy way out and I can only hope they send a few of them in a tailspin. BTW, I would say Spring has already sprung - they're expecting near 90 degree temps this weekend! I better go prepare for battle.

akdiesel - Thanks. I started on some of the trim work (which I will report on next) and the next work session out there should (crossing fingers) allow me enough time to fully clad the drum covers in white vinyl. That should make a dramatic change in the way things look in the Asylum.

What I can say about the fans so far is they fill the entire place with a nice cooling air circulation. And they quiet, especially due to the fact that they are at the far end of the shop in relationship to my workbench. So far, so good!

hippie2cams - You're wore out? Think how I feel! :eyecrazy:

I'm doing all the designing, building, photographing, and writing (well, maybe I can't really claim my poor excuse of the last 2). It really keeps me busy, but that's the way I like it.

Welcome to the forum. This place is a bit addictive so watch out. There's a lot of great people that are amazing eager to help others, so if you have a question, don't be shy.

BTW - You're not the only one that had no idea what they were getting into! I'm a little guilty of that too - seven years of banging away on this place and counting. Wow - how time flies!

shopnut · Mar 20, 2013

GETTING CLOSER TO INSTALLING SIDING ON THE DRUM COVERS...

I didn't have much time to get a lot accomplished after installing the fans, but I did manage to make some headway on the door drum trim work. I changed my mind about installing a door in the center section and ended up removing the 2x6's that made the opening so narrow. Simple lift-out vinyl panels will provide access to the mechanicals in there. If I don’t like it, I can always add a door later.

The white vinyl J-channel is added.

I next finished off the recessed boxes around the fans.

Most pieces where simply cut to length and installed, but the lower pieces took a little more work to get them in the shape I needed. The original "as-purchased" piece is on the left. The custom trimmed and formed piece that was made from it is on the right.

Both fan boxes trimmed out.

It's almost ready for the vinyl siding which should make a BIG difference.

Vernmotor · Mar 20, 2013

I am not sure I get it on the fans. I thought they should blow down to the opening of the door so it created a air door so to speak. Be mounted where your lights are ?

shopnut · Mar 20, 2013

Vernmotor - You are exactly correct on how they work and that was the original plan. Go back and read this post Reply#1899 and it should explain things. Initially, I'm going to be using the blowers only as air circulators (which they do a darn fine job of).

I kind of let myself (and possibly some of you) down a bit, but I'm on a mission these days to get this place generally finished up before the hot summer months. I'm hoping to be down on the ground working on little details when the temps go up.

Vernmotor · Mar 20, 2013

Ok I read that before and did't sink in.. so you just got two big *** ceiling fans now ??right LOL

shopnut · Mar 20, 2013

More or less.

Ompha got me thinking about installing some traditional style blade fans hanging from the center rafter. I even ran wiring for them. But after looking quite a while, I couldn't find anything cheaper than these blower fans that I liked enough to hang up there. So here I am. I think I will prefer the clean look these will have when its all finished over something hanging down in the middle. And the spiders won't have blades to build webs from

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 20, 2013

As much as we all enjoy seeing your efforts at height, I think we will breath a collective sigh of relief to see you back down on Mother Earth working on (and documenting) all the cool projects that the Asylum was intended for. Looking forward to lots of great work in the future! :thumbup:

shopnut · Mar 21, 2013

Yeah, all this work up high is for the birds

I'm not sure I remember what it's like to work down at ground level, but I'm looking forward to it. I just need to get drum covers, loft details, and rafter covers behind me first.

Thanks for following along all this time Ompha.

shopnut · Mar 25, 2013

TRIM ON THE DOOR DRUM COVERS (Part 1)…

I made some tremendous leaps forward during this past work session (well at least in my mind anyway) and let me start with finishing off the door drum covers (D.D.T.). First, trim was needed before the final vinyl was added to the covers. A reasonably priced profile was found in the concrete aisle to hide the rough edge of the paneling that surrounds the lights. J-channel will be added on top of it to hold the vinyl planks on the front face.

This stuff was really easy to work with, but I hope it doesn't turn yellow eventually due to UV exposure. This series of pictures show a mitered corner piece I added to the end of the cover. Sorry about the blurry one.

Here's one finished corner with J-channel ready for siding.

And all the trim finished on both sides as seen from inside.

shopnut · Mar 25, 2013

TRIM ON THE DOOR DRUM COVERS (Part 2)…

I needed something to hide the raw framework from the view of someone standing on the porch. I found some acceptable profiles at Lowe's that fit the bill. These come in 12' sections and rather than risking trimming an end incorrectly, I used a short piece of scrap to figure out the exact shape I needed. It was then transferred to the full length piece

I found that an unsupported edge can sometimes be a bit wavy so a vinyl "starter strip" can be slid on for extra support. In this picture, a short section of the starter strip is shown on the left while the trim piece with the strip installed is shown on the right.

The piece installed. It hides the mess up inside there nicely.

Here's a close-up view.

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 26, 2013

Well dang, it's almost like you designed it with the finish materials at hand! lol

The D.D.T. is really looking clean, and by the way, you are lucky to find the right profiles to do the finish. If that were me, I'd be left wandering the aisles at HD looking in vain for the 'Unobtainium Doohickies' (left-handed thread of course)!

shopnut · Mar 26, 2013

Omphaloskeptic - Thanks. Sometimes my planning pays off; other times its just pure dumb luck (But I’ll take either one!

)

Twice in the last month, I was on my way out of Lowe's with supplies on the cart to do certain job and stumbled on something else that would do the job better and cheaper. The first one was corner trim for the loft plywood floor (that task is coming soon). I had 8’ sections of aluminum on the cart from the metal raw material area (like where they sell threaded rod and such). I was at the back of the store when I finished my shopping and began making my way to the checkout. The aisle I first started heading down had something big blocking it so jumped to the next aisle over. Halfway down the aisle, I spot the stair tread trim pieces that were perfect. Not only did they have ribs extruded on them to keep me from slipping, but they also were about half the price of the angles already on my cart.

The other were these vinyl pieces just shown at $3.50/each compared to the $15/each pieces on my cart. The originals would have needed some extra “processing” before using them for my application so back they went.

I guess all I’m saying is it pays to keep your eyes (and mind) open for things that might work regardless of what their original intended purpose was.

And don’t worry - you’re not the only one with a couple of those Unobtanium Doohickies on the shopping list.

shopnut · Mar 27, 2013

VINYL ON THE DRUM COVERS (Part 1)…

Getting the framework and trim in place takes all the time. It took one full day to trim it out, in fact, due to all those mitered joints! But with all that in place, what you see in the next picture took about 20 minutes to accomplish.

One side done. I just bent the siding around the 45 degree corners.

And the other side. I think more time was spent grabbing the camera to snap a few pictures.

Some shots showing the corner details. I did this so the window would not seem so blocked and I think it helped.

An overall shot with both sides done.

And one shot with the center finished up.

shopnut · Mar 27, 2013

VINYL ON THE DRUM COVERS (Part 2)…

Here's a few more shots to go along with the prior post (since 7 pictures is the limit per reply when uploading images).

Hooray - another Milestone finished!

Vernmotor · Mar 27, 2013

Wow that looks real nice ! Great job

Omphaloskeptic · Mar 27, 2013

* The D.D.T. rocks! *

JCQuick · Mar 27, 2013

wow that does look good for a job that was done while you were high :lol_hitti

shopnut · Mar 27, 2013

Vernmotor - Thanks. It's kind of funny to look back and think about how this was one of the quicker projects around here :sad:

Heck, I only started it like maybe two months ago - tops!

Omphaloskeptic - Rocks? Glad to hear it. But to me, it mostly camouflages, illuminates, and most importantly, BLOWS!

Thanks for the help along the way - someday I may actually get a chance to work all those great ideas of yours in.

JCQuick - When I was high? No, that's probably when the idea popped first in my head! Come to think of it, I think that's when most of the Asylum ideas were born

Thanks buddy.

(Truth be told, I've been a little more careful lately when working up high by trying to keep a clear head - just too much at stake, you know?)

shopnut · Mar 27, 2013

FRONT LOFT RAILING (Part 1)…

The last piece of vinyl hadn't been installed in the D.D.T. for more than 1/2 hour and I was chomping at the bit to knock off another one. I decided to finish the last of the design/build work on the front lost railings. Before I could give the railing its final paint job, the vertical stanchions still needed work.

First they were cut to the proper length. Next was adding provisions for the homemade spring plungers on the bottom end. I used my converted drill press to mill the slots in the tube. Shown here is my trial run in the original short sample of tube where I developed the plunger parts.

Here’s a close-up. You can tell by the microscopic chips that I was running it pretty slow. But it did the job regardless of speed and the slots in the tubes ended up looking professionally done.

Next up was some “keyhole slots” to allow quick attachment of the railing to the stanchions. I didn’t bother milling these because they’re easy to do the old fashion way. I used a step-drill to make the 2 different sized holes

And then a quick trim and file job produced the finished slot. I’ve made so many of these for other projects, I could make them in my sleep!

And here is the shoulder bolt the slots will engage. Later pictures will show that a white sleeve is added on the shoulder to keep things snug.

shopnut · Mar 27, 2013

FRONT LOFT RAILING (Part 2)…

After seeing the earlier pictures, some of you may be wondering how the heck all this fits together. Well, this picture and the ones that follow should explain it for you. The stanchion mounts in a top hinge and pins in the floor. The pin is retractable so the whole thing can swing up out of the way for full access. The railing (actually a telescopic ladder) can also retract out of the way.

Here’s a close-up of the connection. In this picture, the hole has not yet been drilled in the floor. I want to make sure everything is perfect before I drill them because I basically have one chance to get it right.

Here are some additional close-ups to help explain things.

Here’s a good shot showing the roller that keeps the ladder from sagging.

And one last overall shot from below.

Next will be full disassembly of the railing parts and overhead grab rail for painting. The ladder itself will not be painted since I think that would make the slide joints bind up. The grab rail mounts will be painted black to match the rung loops on the ladder and give a little contrast. The galvanized tubing will be painted in a similar silver color to add another layer of protection against that white corrosion that can form.

akdiesel · Mar 28, 2013

shopnut

Yes indeed. Great job on the siding installation. The lighting is also looking great.

schwalby · Mar 28, 2013

Pretty dang cool.

shopnut · Mar 31, 2013

akdiesel - Thanks. Now I just need to get the controls for the lighting all sorted out. I haven't seen an update from you lately - are you all finished making your creations? (I hope not!)

schwalby - I'm glad you stopped in and take a look. There's more for me to report on as soon as I can put it all together in some update replies.

Happy Easter to all (or whatever you may call your spring holiday). It's time for me to go egg hunting!

akdiesel · Mar 31, 2013

shopnut

I purchased Insteon light controls to be able to turn lights or other electrical items on remotely with my iPhone. So far they work great.
I don't think I will ever be done since there are some really great ideas on this site that keep me going.
I have the frame work of the Unistrut done and the ladder is in use daily, but I've had to slow down due to a broken thumb on my right hand from a snowmachine mishap.
We are taking a trip down to Orlando in May for the kids, too bad it won't fit in for Wingnuts party though.

tinbender 66 · Mar 31, 2013

Your attention to detail is what we've come to expect. Never boring here! Awesome work!

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

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