Slim's Double S Barn with a Room

An Introduction:
I joined Garage Journal back in 2015 after doing some research on an air compressor the I intended to restore. I lurked a for several months, and continue to do so. But it started a journey that has led me down many rabbit holes, and changed my outlook on my workspace and expectations. I thoroughly enjoy seeing huge, spotless red iron steel buildings and tidy post construction garages, but those things are simply out of reach for me at this point in time. Alas, I have to make do with what I have until I can afford to build something bigger and better. But I have realized that I can do better with what I do have. It will not be all that pretty or extravagant, but I hope that by starting a build thread here, you guys will help keep me accountable and motivated. A few months back I came to terms with the fact that I have analysis paralysis, and vowed to power through my condition to achieve some sort of organization in my workspace. I have accumulated a fair amount of decent tools and materials in my 40-some years circling the sun, but being able to put my hands on what I need when I need it is a constant challenge and frustration. So, here I am a couple months later, working my way through the challenges of a mixed use workspace, and asking for some advice along the way.
Some background:
I'm married to my college love, and we have 2 great kids, a 9 year old son, and a 6year old daughter. We live in the country about 50 miles north of Charlotte NC on 4 acres surrounded by our family farm. My dad and I raise beef cattle, barley, corn, soybeans, and hay. After getting married, my wife and I lived in a mobile home for several years before we could afford to build our home where we are now. My wife came with a horse, which I reluctantly accepted at first, and soon became a pair of horses. So the first order of business when we acquired land was to build a barn to house the pasture ornaments. I borrowed a track loader, and used the dirt from the basement of our planned home to build the pad for the barn near the rear of our property. Over the course of 2 years, my dad and I built a 36 x 46 pole barn with the occasional help of other family and friends. I bought the treated posts, trusses, and exterior steel. The rest of the lumber was cut down and sawed on a band mill. I got it finished just enough so it looked good from the outside and was functional, but never have finished it out the way I intended. Fast forward a few years, and we built our home, and along came the kids. We have been in the house 8 years this week.
Where I am today:
My barn serves me pretty well for what it is. It was truly built to house livestock, but I use it for my workspace as well. It is post construction, with the posts set on 12' centers. The right side bays are my workspace. The front 12x12 bay being enclosed as a planned tack room for the horse gear, but has since become my work room. It is a work in progress, so go easy on me. The pictures I will post show it at its worst. I am working my way through it. But I have to start somewhere, and this is it. I'm tired of typing from my phone for my first post, so I will give it up for tonight. I will fill in some gaps as soon as I have time again. Happy Garage Journaling!

This was a family photo taken recently. The lean-to on the left side is 10'. It is open for a "lounge area" for our horses. The center section is concreted, with a hay loft above. The set of bays left of the center is the horse stalls for the front two bays, each 12'x12'. The rearmost bay is open and used for storage. I have a homemade hoist above that bay to lift my truck topper off the bed and store it. My four wheeler and son's dirt bike are underneath the topper. There's also a stack of lumber on a rack on the wall. The set of bays on the right of the center are the tack room in front, which I am finishing out as a conditioned space workroom. The center 12x12 bay is plumbed for a future wash pit for livestock. It and the rearmost bay of that side are currently being used for workspace as well. I have a workbench back there, and most of my woodworking tools. It is a total disaster area at the moment.

View down the center aisle. Currently I have my drill press, small compressor, homemade parts washer, table saw, and random other bits and pieces there. I hope to open this up more as I get the room finished, and things arranged in their permanent places.

View into the room from the man door in the center aisle. The front wall is the only one that I have completed the insulation, and putting the OSB on the walls, so far. My benchtop is steel, cobbled together with an old drafting table base that I rescued from the curb several years ago.

The exterior wall on the right side with man door from exterior of the building. Small amount of insulation and one piece of OSB left to go there.

Electrical panel, and my toolboxes, all Craigslist finds.

Wall next to the center aisle of the barn. My customized HF 5 drawer cart, and a set of small drawer index card files. I will build subdivided boxes for each drawer to organize small parts as soon as I finish the room. I still need to finish insulating that wall, and one more sheet of OSB.

Thanks for looking in, I hope to update again soon!

Reserved for future use.

One more reserved.

Great looking building, loads of potential there!


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Well, in true holiday fashion, not much was accomplished since I made the initial post. Quite a few family gatherings, and some travel out of town made for little shop time. But I was able to get back at it last night and tonight to get a few things done. I finished the insulation and OSB on the two walls with the man doors, which leaves me with one wall to go. In order to clear things away from that wall, I have to move things around. One of my projects that I have started but never finished(a real problem of mine, but admittance is the first step to recovery), was the steel workbench. I like to have a barstool at the bench to work on small projects. In order for my knees to fit under the bench, I needed to raise it up. I also would like to be able to move it to the center of the room when working on larger projects so I can move around all sides of the bench, and not have to rotate the work on the table. I'm 6'-1, so I also prefer a taller bench anyway. So putting the bench on casters was the natural solution. I initially tried to put casters on the plastic square plugs that were in the legs, but they would not stay inserted with the off-center torque the casters apply. I became frustrated by that, and walked away for several months. But I have a woodworking project on the short list that the wife wants done that will be easier to work around the bench, so I got back on it tonight. The bench also needs to come out of the room so I can move my toolboxes off the other wall to insulate. The legs are 2" square tubing, so I found some 2-1/4" square in the scrap pile for sleeves. I will weld a piece of 2" square across the bottoms to bolt the casters to. Dad is sorta at a standstill at the farm with all the wet weather, so I am going to drop this off at his shop in the morning on my way to work. Hopefully he can weld it up for me tomorrow.


I hope to make some progress on the last wall tomorrow night. I intend to paint the walls before I move everything back in. Then I will insulate the ceiling and hang some used 5V tin up there.
Other than that, I made a cordless tool and charger stand to hang on the wall. It turned out pretty well, but I forgot to take a picture tonight. I am planning to mount french cleats on all the walls, so everything will be portable, and easily rearranged. I have lots of ideas saved on my computer, just need time to make them happen!

Made some progress tonight on the last wall. After supper, I went out to get my toolboxes off the wall so I could get them cleaned up and ready for insulation. But first I had do some cleaning to rectify some instances of flat surface disease. Quite a few piles of random bolts, washers, and screws on the edges of the rolling cabinets needed to be put away. With the workbench still up at dad's shop, I was able to shift everything to the front wall out of the way. I pulled some random nails that had previously been used to hang tool belts and my work apron. I vacuumed the walls and studs to remove the dust and spider webs that had accumulated over the years. At the beginning of the night:

After moving and cleanup:

I didnt actually get started insulating until.after 10pm, and it was kind of slow since each piece had to be cut twice. But I got it all done but one small piece by midnight. Wouldn't you know that I would run out of insulation with lacking one 34" piece!! But it looks pretty decent for a rookie insulator, I think.

I'm planning to get the OSB hung there tomorrow night, and Ill be ready to paint.

I love the look of your barn. We had one almost just like it growing up, but ours was red. Looking forward to some more pics!

jnkpile said:

Great looking building, loads of potential there!


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Thank you, jnkpile. It took a couple years to build in our spare time, but I am pleased with the look of it from the outside. Just need to get the inside to match! It's a work in progress.

Unruh said:

I love the look of your barn. We had one almost just like it growing up, but ours was red. Looking forward to some more pics!

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Thank you for the compliment, Unruh. I stopped by your thread as well, and love what you are doing with your space. I read it front to back. I built my kids a treehouse 2 years ago for Christmas, although it is not quite as fancy as yours. I'm going to steal your idea for doors for my storage cabinet later on, too. Doors are somewhat a pain, but they sure do clean up the eye appeal for a space!

cdsloop said:

Thank you for the compliment, Unruh. I stopped by your thread as well, and love what you are doing with your space. I read it front to back. I built my kids a treehouse 2 years ago for Christmas, although it is not quite as fancy as yours. I'm going to steal your idea for doors for my storage cabinet later on, too. Doors are somewhat a pain, but they sure do clean up the eye appeal for a space!

Click to expand...

Thank you! The problem with doors is that I somewhat justify not keeping the space behind them as organized as I should. I have been really working on not allowing myself to just throw stuff in there and try to keep it organized.

I predict that this thread has legs.
Subscribed for updates.

So, I'll give a quick update to let you know that I didn't completely fall off the wagon. We went out of town for the weekend following my last post to visit my MIL's family for Christmas. Stayed overnight and took the kids snow tubing in Maggie Valley. Then the following week, I had to be out of town for work, so nothing got done. Late that week, I was able to finish the OSB on the last wall, and insulate the ceiling. I haven't painted yet, nor got the tin on the ceiling, but it feels good to have that much done so I can heat the room.

Still a lot of finish work to be done, but it's progress. Dad got my workbench welded up, but I haven't had time to paint it and move it back in. I wanted to get the walls painted first. Christmas brought a new puppy for the kids, which leads me to an entirely different set of new projects...

The wife wanted a "dog crate end table." I have been wanting a larger end table at the end of the new couch we got this spring, so I was on board with this one. Off to Lowes to buy materials. Some 8" wide 3/4" pine for the tabletop, and some 10' 2x4's. I glued up the top, and my thoughts turned to getting the table saw and jointer ready.

Both are stored in the open section of the barn, so rust is always a problem. I cleaned up the table saw top and the jointer faces. I usually sneak a tool or two in with every project, so this is no exception. I have been wanting a table saw sled, and I "need" it to get the new tabletop cut to size accurately. I watched some YouTube videos, and decided on a design. Ordered miter bars from Amazon, and another trip to Lowes for birch plywood. Waited a week for them to come. In the meantime, I have had some problems with the arbor pulley working its way loose and coming off from time to time. So I investigated and found that the aluminum pulley bore was wallowed out from running loose at some point. Gotta have a new one, so went by our local bearing supply house to pick one up. They carry Browning sheaves, but they didn't have it in stock. Another store did, so they would transfer it in the next morning. That night I was checking the saw over, and found the arbor bearings were getting rough, so I decided to make it all right while I had it apart. Bought new bearings and got the new pulley the next day, along with a new belt. Got all of that installed yesterday afternoon. She runs smooth as butter now. I worked until late last night cutting the sled to size, and gluing on the miter bars. But my first cut was not as straight as it should be. A full tune-up is in order. I started that process last night, but needed some supplies from Lowes again to get it accomplished. I did check the runout on my arbor after the new bearings, which is about 2 thousandths. Acceptable. Not great, but acceptable for the age of the saw and what I paid for it. I don't have the fancy a-line it kit to check table alignment, so I figured out a way to use my old miter gauge , a piece of angle iron, and my dial caliper.

The end of the miter gauge is tapped for a 1/4-28 bolt, but I couldn't find one last night. Got it today at Lowe's, and drilled and cut the angle iron to get my measurements. Turns out that my blade is 42 thousandths out of alignment with the miter bars from front to back.

Hence my crappy cut last night. I came in to research that, and make a post to GJ. More towards the weekend, I have a meeting tomorrow night that will impede my progress.

I didn't think that I would have time to get anything done tonight since I had a meeting at work, but I got out to work on the saw after all. After some internet research last night, I decided to fab up these brackets modeled after the PALS system that I saw in some videos.

Fabbing the brackets probably took a little over an hour, but I think it was worth it. I put on a brand new Forrest blade, and had the miter slots perfectly aligned with the blade in three tries. I was amazed it worked as well as it did. I put my old blade back on, and checked it again, and it was out of alignment 4 thousandths front to back.

I was really pleased. I need to level my table extensions and finish the tune-up tomorrow night, and I will be ready to move forward with the sled and the crate table project.

As nice as it is to have a high end cabinet saw, big fence system etc, just about any saw can work to decently tight tolerances if the fundamentals are corrected like you did with the arbor, bearings and alignment of the blade to the table. Good job.

Thanks, wasfast. This thing with the table saw is something that I should have done several years ago, but just never took the time. The saw is a Rockwell Model 10, and although it was not abused, it is apparent that no extra love was given to it in its' previous life. I am confident that it will perform equal to or surpass my woodworking abilities with a little TLC that I am giving it now. I need to finish leveling the table extensions, reset the 90* and 45* stops, and check the fence alignment tonight. I would like to replace the stamped extensions with cast ones like I have seen on other saws like it, but have no idea where to find them. I would love to have a router lift in a cast extension that would bolt right up, but I have no idea if such a unicorn exists.

I was able to finish tuning up my table saw this afternoon. The table extensions on it had never been bolted to the fence rails before I bought it, so they were slightly bent upward from being moved and picked up by them. I had to improvise a way to bolt them so that it did not interfere with the fence sliding on the rails. Made another trip to Lowes for cap screws and some flange nuts. Worked quite well. Turns out this saw doesn't have a 45* stop, so I only checked and tweaked the 90* stop. Last, I set the fence parallel with the miter slots. Tune-up complete! On to working on the cross cut sled. I glued up the front and rear fences, clamped them well, and called it a night.

Attention since last week has turned to getting the crate end table done. I made pretty good progress on it Saturday and Monday. Much of both of those days was spent setting up the router table, and cutting the dados for the wire panels to slide into. As of tonight, I am almost done with the construction phase, and about ready to move into sanding and painting. I didn't think to take pics along the way, so you'll have to settle for door construction pics.

Overall of the crate. The bottom is a replacement tray made for the metal store bought wire type crates, large/intermediate size. The door will be a sliding barn type door.


The wire is a galvanized sheep/goat panel from TSC. The sheep/goat panels are expensive compared to the regular cattle panels, $70 vs $20. I bought one that was slightly bent, and cast to the side for 25% off. Being bent really didn't matter since I was going to cut it up anyway, and had plenty of area to choose the straight portions. It really wasn't that bent up in the first place... I used a 3/8" straight bit in the router to cut the dadoes for the wire to slide into, which protects the pup from the slightly sharp cut edges of the wire.


Wire panel fit up in the frame, and attached with pocket screws.


Barn door rollers attached to the face.


Door closed, fit seems pretty good.


Door open. The bottom track is 2" angle, 1/8" thick with a piece of flat bar welded to the back for attachment purposes. It gives the door a full track for the bottom edge to slide in opposed to the narrow guide that the barn door track kit came with.

I've been bad about updating this thread, but I have been busy. Just not on actually working on the barn. Rather I have been working on a few woodworking projects. I finished up the end table kennel.

While working on that, I needed a cross cut sled for the table saw, so I made one.

I wanted to make some finger joint drawers for a couple projects, so I made a jig for the router table.

And started a drill press table.

And made the wife a simple trinket box for Valentine's Day.

I made some good progress on my drill press table tonight. I was able to cut the dados for the t-slot bars, and got them screwed in. Then I was able to finish up the cabinets for the drawers, and get them attached to the bottom of the table. Tomorrow I hope to fab up the fence, and get started on the drawers. Not a bad night, considering that I didn't get started until about 10pm.

Made pretty good progress on the little table this afternoon. Got all four drawers made except for the fronts. Got the top banded with some red oak. And started on the fence. The fence still needs a hardwood board on the face so that I can attach a Rockler t-track top cap. That will allow me to use an adjustable stop. (And allow me to use that top track that I mistakenly purchased thinking that it was 48" rather than the 36" that it was...). I still need to router a square to hold a sacrificial block under the bit.
Then it will be time for a quick sanding, some stain to blend the different types of wood, and a couple coats of shellac.

I am impresssed with your work. Can you show some of the tools or jigs you use?

Thank you, Unruh. I can post some pics later, but I can assure you that my equipment is none too impressive. Most of my major pieces are older, decent quality stuff that I found on Craigslist. I'm one of those guys that can't afford the highest quality equipment. But I also think that a guy can produce some nice projects with "decent" equipment that is well maintained and tuned. As in many cases, the devil is in the details...
No progress to show today. My son had his final basketball game of the season this morning. This was his first time playing basketball. He had a really good coach, and he learned a lot in the last couple months. They were undefeated until today. It was a great game but they came up short. But he scored his first goal of the season today in the last game, and I couldn't be more proud. Proud of him for trying something new to him, and for sticking with it to the end. We didn't get home from that till around lunchtime, and I spent the rest of the day helping clean the house. We have my wife's cousin and his family coming to visit next weekend, so some extra cleaning was on tap. Maybe I can get to the shop late tomorrow evening.

I love your barn, very cool. Have you been up to any more projects lately?

I’m enjoying your thread. There are very few people I’m my neck of the woods with similar home shop interest as I. Good to know that you are out there. I also vote for you to share more photos!

Wow. I can't believe that it's been two months since I updated this thread. life has a knack for interfering with shop time. We are currently in full swing of ball season, and both of my kids are playing. So many of my evenings are spent at the ball field this time of the year. I'm still working on some finishing touches to the drill press table, building inserts for the drawers to organize commonly used bits and forstners. It still needs a quick sanding and a coat of finish. Friday a week ago I happened upon a garage/estate sale where I picked up some goodies. One find was this Dunlap 115 7396 bench grinder, complete except for one tool rest. I have torn it down, and am in the middle of a little restoration on it.

I also picked up a Craftsman 1/2 horse motor that I intend to clean up good and fit with buffing wheels on each end.

I scored a set of three Lufkin micrometers, 0-1", 1-2", and 2-3". They all appear to be in good shape.

Also a set of Mac crowsfeet, and a set of Bonney crowsfeet. Several SK ratchets, lots of misc. sockets, extensions, a set of SK universal sockets, a Hein Werner porta-power, and an old ignition parts wall cabinet. All for $120 bucks.

I still need to finish up the walls in my work room and paint, but my ADD tendencies tend to get the best of me.

I said in the previous reply that I had decided to do a little restoration on the Dunlap bench grinder. Here is what I started with.

No pics of disassembly, but here are a few progress shots.




Bearings cleaned up well, and will be repacked and put back in. Eye shields will hopefully get new glass. I still need to strip and repaint the wheel guards. But it's coming along nicely.

I was able to work some more tonight on the bench grinder. Got a new cord soldered in, and packed the bearings with some GL-2 polyurea grease. I wire wheeled the wheel guards and wiped them down good with carb cleaner. I put it all back together for a trial run before I painted the wheel guards. I'm no electric motor whiz, by any stretch. It wouldn't run, just hummed. After quite a bit of trial and error, I figured out that it wasn't activating the centrifugal start switch. It needs to be assembled in a certain sequence to compress that switch before assembling the opposite side. After I got that figured out, it ran smooth as can be. I pulled it back apart, cleaned the guards again with carb cleaner, and shot on two coats of paint. I'm hoping for final assembly this weekend.

Getting closer on the grinder. Got the wheel guards back on tonight, which leaves only the tool rest and eye shields to go. Both need to be wire brushed and painted. But it's close to finished and usable.

In the meantime, I am going to try to get my work bench back in full service. With the acquisition of the grinders, I decided to go with the hitch receiver mount under the work surface. I don't want to drill any more holes in the top, so I decided to mount a 2x10 with the receiver bolted to it underneath. The front and back channels of the edge are just the right thickness for a 2x to slide into. I can then run some lag bolts in from the edges to hold it securely. Hard to put into words without the pictures I forgot to take tonight, but I think it will work perfectly, and be solid enough for the grinders and other lighter duty tools while leaving the top flat. I wouldn't trust it for a vice under heavy work, but I have the vice mounted on the other corner of the top. I also need to drill a hole in the side of the receiver tube and weld on a 1/2" nut to take a jam bolt to take out the wiggle, which I plan to do in the morning. Pics to come of that tomorrow.

The grinder is looking great. Mike

Thanks, Mike. I still need to paint the tool rest and shields, but I moved forward with a new mount. I have seen others use a 2" trailer receiver mounted under their work bench for "not as often used tools." I decided that it would be perfect in my case for the grinder and buffer, since I don't plan to use them daily. However, I did not want to drill more holes in the surface of my bench, nor have exposed fasteners on the surface, so I had to figure out a way to bolt it underneath. My work bench is an old Lyon(or similar, I'm not sure of the brand) stamped metal top. The rolled edges are slightly less than 1-1/2" deep, so I cut a 2x10 the right length to stretch front to back, drilled the 1/2" holes for the bolts, recessed the heads with a forstner bit, and epoxied them in. When it was dry the next day, I slid the board in from the edge (the endcap unbolts to allow access), and ran screws in from the bottom to hold it in place. It was a really tight fit, so the screws were probably not necessary, but hey, a little insurance never hurts, right? I bolted the endcap back in, and bolted on the step-bumper receiver that I bought at Horror Freight. It made for a slick little addition to the bench. I then fabbed up a simple mount for the grinder, and shot on a coat of paint. Turned out pretty good, I think.

I've seen a few folks do that trick with the hitch. Clever, and a good space saver.

When I had to change our the platform hitch on the van last year, I saved the old one to use for something like that.

QST has been rather scarce over the past few weeks, with both kids playing ball, getting the crops in the ground for the year, and spraying. But I have squeezed in a few hours her and there. In some of the previous photos, you can see my some of my work bench, which has been on saw horses for several months due to my analysis paralysis. I finally tightened the screws and got it put back together the last few evenings. Added casters to the frame so it can be moved easily, stripped the top of all the previous layers of paint and chemically removed all the rust. I blued the top using cold gun blue for a rather unique look. I wire-wheeled the frame and got a fresh layer of paint on it. Re-installed my Rock Island No93 vise that I restored a couple years ago, and built a new drawer to make my most commonly used tools readily available. I'm planning to sand and paint the drawer tonight to make it match, and I picked up a yoga mat for a liner, as well as some of the HF drawer organizers.

Nearly two months have passed since I updated the thread...I have got to get better about posting here!!
Several projects have been completed, or nearly completed since I posted last. The first was a sofa table for the living room of the house. We bought a new couch last year, and my wife was not able to find a sofa table that suited her. So off to Google images to find something that was of her taste. After many hours of searching, she finally settled on a design that was simple and a satisfying project. Constructed mostly of 2x construction lumber, it fits in well with our simple country home. I was not completely satisfied with how the Watco Danish oil came out, but that is a mistake that I will have to live with for the next 50 years...
(Pic will be uploaded here later)
The second project was a small bench for our bedroom. She had been on the search for an elliptical machine to replace the treadmill that lived in the corner and served more often for a clothes hanger than a piece of exercise equipment. The treadmill made her ankles hurt with its use, so she wanted something with a lower impact. Out with the treadmill, and in with the NordicTrack 600 elliptical. With the removal of the treadmill, we no longer had a place to put the humpteen pillows that are on the bed while we sleep. Another exhausting Pinterest and Google search ensued, and a design was selected. I procured a couple of school chairs after a visit to the Re-Store and local salvage store, and the construction began. I removed the seat and backrest, and cut the frame in half to extend it out. Glued up another panel from 2x6's, and after some welding and a lot of sweat, I ended up with this...

The current project is re-working the shelves in the linen closet. We built our home about 10 years ago, and part of the "package" was wire shelving in the closets. I detest wire shelving. But it came with the home, so we have lived with it until I can do better. The wire shelves in the linen closet are not nearly as deep as the closet itself, and the angled support brackets get in the way and restrict use of the available space. I am in the process of removing the wire shelves and replacing them with full depth plywood shelves. It will greatly improve the utilization of space, and provide some relief for my OCD.
I received a care package from a fellow GJ member yesterday. Oldironfarmer was kind and gracious enough to send me one of his custom aluminum hammers, and a memorial 1/2 Cup emblem. I cleaned the surface of my breaker box in preparation of a suitable home for his work, and placed the emblem on the "sparky box" in Steve Church's memory.

I had also promised Andy that I would reserve a place on my hammer rack for one of his aluminum hammers, and post a picture of it there when I received it. Keeping my word, and honoring 1/2Cup's signature line: Corporate Policy in the Shed Downunder on my weekly To Do List from now on and that is " include at least one trivial job on that list every week" I spent some QST wiping down my hammers and oiling them, as well as sanding the rack and applying a Watco Danish oil finish. I also swept the surface of my workbench and applied a coat of oil to preserve the blued finish. I will think of Steve each time I do this from now on... Andy's package came with a handwritten note, stating that I had received the only custom hammer with this feature. I'll see who is perceptive enough to find that and point it out...

THANK YOU, Andy for your gracious gifts. I hope that I can do them justice, and can repay you in some small way down the road..