Above 1200 Sq/FT Eastern Washington Workshop

[slodat]

Thank you for cheering me on! It has been a ton of work. I am really enjoying the results, though. The stucco building was built in 1953. The block walled 30x70 addition was built later. I'm guessing in the 60's or 70's, but haven't found anything solid to confirm. It was a body shop for a long time and then used as storage for the past 15 years.

I closed on the shop two years ago today. It's crazy how much work it has been to get it to this point. It's very close to where I want it, for now.

 

[drivesitfar]

SD: Congrats on getting that huge PAINTING JOB completed this early in the year. I know you have a lot of stuff on your TO DO LIST, but there is a lot less than when you started not to mention all the COOL TOOLS and STORAGE you've acquired and set up.

easy to cheer on a guy that has a goal and keeps his eye on the prize.

keep up the great work and best of luck on making a deal with the guy with the bulldozer for you lot clean up next door.

cheers

 

[slodat]

That huge painting job is far from done. I've only painted the walls shown in the photos above- about 1/4 of the whole building.

I appreciate the comments!!


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[drivesitfar]

SD: i know, but thought i'd give you some KUDOS. keep up the good work and since we are supposed to get mid 70's on Wednesday and Thursday i'm guessing you will get some good weather too later this week.

cheers and easy to give you praise cause you keep doing great work.

 

[slodat]

When I had the metal roof installed on the old building last year I had a different contractor take a look at the other roof. He suggested I get it coated as soon as I could come spring. I researched products online and decided to buy a 100% silicone roof coating. This stuff is not cheap (about $40/gal), but every indicator pointed to it being the best. I bought the material a few weeks ago.

A good friend offered to help. I'm grateful for my great friends!! First step was pressure washing all 2100 sqft. Then rinsing again, followed by clearing out the gutter. It didn't take long to dry in the morning sun..
Before:





Starting to get the coating on:




End of the job:


That was a ton of work. While this was not an esthetic job, it looks amazing! And, it is rated for standing water, which I have almost all the time because of the very limited slope. Should be good to go for several years!

 

[Stuart in MN]

The roof looks great. Should be nice in hot weather, too - the white will help reflect heat.

 

[xtremek]

The place is looking really good.

 

[slodat]

Thanks for checking out my shop and commenting. The roof coating was primarily a maintenance item. The secondary benefit of it looking great and possibly handling the heat a little better are huge bonuses. I can't get over how nice it looks from the highway now.

 

[drivesitfar]

SD: i've got a torch down flat roof on my home that we just had that expensive coating put on ours last spring. we re roofed our 2000 square foot home with 440 square foot garage so almost 2500 square feet maybe 25 years ago and our roofer that put on that torch down did the work putting on the new product similar to what you just did. he said he would expect 5 years and maybe 10 years before we would have to re roof our house.

not sure how old your roofing material is or how long ago it was applied, but it looks great now. in the 80's torch down roofs had a life expectancy of maybe 10-15 years so we are happy we are getting 30 out of ours. hope you get another 5 or 10 years out of your roof too.

I bet your shop is looking great as you drive up to it or drive past it and i bet you are getting positive comments from friends, clients and neighbors too.

good to see some sunshine isn't it and since you guys on that side of the mountains seem to go from winter to summer almost immediately i bet you'll have to start testing your AC soon as you work inside. all that new insulation should help a lot though so best of luck with that.

cheers

 

[zmotorsports]

I've been reading through your shop journey over the past couple of days. All I can say is WOW!!

Great job and attention to detail. It is coming along nicely.

Mike.

 

[slodat]

I've been reading through your shop journey over the past couple of days. All I can say is WOW!!



Great job and attention to detail. It is coming along nicely.



Mike.

Thanks for checking my shop out and commenting, Mike! It means a lot to me!

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for checking my shop out and commenting, Mike! It means a lot to me!

My pleasure. Very inspiring work.

Mike.

 

[slodat]

I really needed a day of screwing off.. and today was the day! I drove an hour to an annual old timey swap meet. Didn't find anything there that I needed to drag home. While I was there I got a response to a lowball offer I had made on Craigslist. Three hours driving in another direction to pick up this:


I didn't realize until after we parted ways that he forgot the helmet. I have a couple so not a big deal. I'd like to have three total for when my nephews visit. I went straight to the welding shop around the corner to trade the 60cf bottle in for an S size. While there I noticed a welding cart with drawers. One thing led to another and I had spent my allowance

A little tinkering, cleaning and what not when I got back to the shop and I have this:


I picked up the 135 on the left two years ago. It has 0.023 wire in it, which is good for really thin stuff. Most of which for me would be sheet metal. I've kept an eye out for a 240v MIG for a little bit thicker fabrication. That's where today's machine fits in quite nice. It came loaded with a 10lb spool of 0.030. I also have some 0.035 on hand. I got it all sorted out and it works great. All told for less than the cost of the welder new.

The top drawer has some metal dividers and is quite shallow. I made a mark on the side of a Schaller bin and went to work with the band saw:




That machine is ready to go to work when called upon. It will get used in just about every seat frame I work on. They always have some sort of crack, break, etc.

Speaking of seats.. I've been wanting a new (better quality) pneumatic grinder to run Roloc discs for shaping seat foam and other stuff. This Ingersol Rand came highly recommended and showed up today along with a couple of assortments of 3" Roloc discs.



Now, I'm relaxing for a few waiting for my buddy to stop by. He doesn't know it but his 110v Miller MIG will no longer be sitting on the floor. He just needs to clean this guy up a little

 

[Duker]

Nice score on the welder! I recently bought that IR disk sander. I have only used it once but I like the trigger versus the lever on my other grinders. I bought it so that I would have a dedicated grinder to use my Roloc type S pads. I got a whole bunch of them cheap on eBay a few years back.


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[Toolfool]

I've been thinking of picking up a small sander. Have to look at that one.

 

[slodat]

I've been thinning things out in the shop. Getting rid of stuff that I don't use or don't want, etc. Got a call this morning from a guy wanting a Craigslist item. One thing led to another..


Finally got a new welding hood on the way, too. I'll get power to the metal fabrication room at some point so I can use the TIG.

 

[slodat]

This probably doesn't look like much but it's a small milestone. I mounted the dust collection controls enclosure, mounted all of the components and got the power wired in. The 1.5" conduit to the sub-panel and gutter will be plenty for the current activated switches and whatever else comes up.

I'm happy to see this going together. I'm thinking the tablesaw will have automated dust collection on the first cut. I have to run conduit to wire it up, so I'm going the get all this business wired in from the start.



Not much going on in here, yet.

 

[Jo Diesel]

You gotta love when you get all done and the inspector just looks, doesn't ask a thing or ask to turn any thing on and gives you a pass sticker.

 

[slodat]

I have three more upholstery machines on the way. The lead times can be crazy long, especially when it's coming from Italy. My general philosophy is to have good equipment that will last and produce a great result. One arrived yesterday and I got to dialing it in today. It's a carpet serger. A one trick pony. It wraps a small yarn around the edge of the carpet, tightly thereby binding and finishing the cut edge of the carpet. It can be used on carpet alone or with a backing to make all sorts of mats.

When you watch the marketing videos for this type of equipment they make it all look easy and effortless. If only that were the case! This is a small sample of what hit the floor while I sorted out the tensions and adjustments..



This is some of the cheapest, flimsiest and in general worst case scenario automotive carpet out there. I figured if I could get it looking decent I was on the right track.



Here it is in all its glory, after kicking my **** all afternoon and evening:


This is going to be a really nice detail in my interiors. Happy guy over here.

 

[nine4gmc]

Awesome machine and sweet shears there too! I step away from your thread for a few days and you are almost finished with the place! Great work, keep it up!

 

[Finallygotit]

So that's how that's done! That is one stout (seems to be a word I'm using a lot these days) looking little machine.

 

[slodat]

Awesome machine and sweet shears there too! I step away from your thread for a few days and you are almost finished with the place! Great work, keep it up!

Thank you! I know you recognize these machines and what they mean to the shop! I'm far from finished but I'm closing in on version 1.0!

Those Kai shears are the only ones you reach for after you get a pair!

Thanks for stopping by, Nines!

 

[kevinn1243670]

I've done some marine stuff

 

[slodat]

Continuing the exterior paint prep. Did a bunch of pressure washing stucco. Hit the retaining wall while I was at it. Huge difference!




Inside now enjoying the a/c continuing on the dust PLC install.

 

[slodat]

This just showed up.

 

[Bib Overalls]

OK, I'll bite. What is that tall, round thingamajig? Mother of all sawdust ducts?

 

[slodat]

Exhaust fan with ducting.

 

[54earl]

That is a lot of duct.

 

[slodat]

 

[RivennHewn]

You're going to need a lot of Pookie

 

[slodat]

You're going to need a lot of Pookie

??

What do you mean?

 

[RivennHewn]

Old timers term for duct sealant.

 

[drivesitfar]

SD: always something cool going on at your shop. i thought your dust collection set up was pretty big, but whatever you are building now looks gigantic. i'll sit back and watch and learn while you do it. keep moving forward and looking great.

RIV: I can't recall the term POOKIE cause i always used aluminum or DUCT TAPE.

ALL: speaking of DUCT TAPE when did it get so cheap cause the stuff at HOME DEPOT and COSTCO falls apart especially if out in the weather for a few months. anybody know of the better brands or where to buy good DUCT TAPE or do i need to call up RED GREEN?

 

[RivennHewn]

Drives,
Not to derail the thread, but duct sealant is a gray, brush on, kind of rubbery product that outlast duct tape and actually seals the duct(if applied correctly)

If you use tape, I recommend
http://www.nashuatape.com/

 

[drivesitfar]

Riv: thanks for the link and it had a nice video with plenty of information on it that plays while you are looking at their products. sounds like great stuff. i don't think we are really HIJACKING SD'S thread since he is actually doing some duct work and maybe he's already got a plan or if he doesn't you mentioned a couple nice options.

SD: good luck and still wondering how you are going to use all that ducktwork. i also like the warning signs posted on the ductwork to the shippers and handlers.

 

[slodat]

It's an open face spray booth.

24" exhaust fan and auto damper.


6' duct with roof curb and storm collar:

 

[slodat]

That damn Craigslist..



4 x 8 plasma table. It's a bit of a project, but the price was right. Gecko 540 control with torch height controller.

 

[Toolfool]

Damn, is right !

 

[nine4gmc]

Other than a highly trained crew, is there anything else you need for the shop? [emoji3]


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[slodat]

You know, it's funny you say that. I have a buddy that owns a top end audio shop. We talk tools, swap ideas and in general give each other a hard time in the best way possible. I told him a while back I really only wanted a few things left for the shop.. and a CNC plasma was next. Maybe next year. Then day before yesterday a good buddy in town sent a Craigslist post to me. One thing leads to another and I brought this guy home.

It needs some stuff. The torch height control that it came with is an antique. The Geko G540 stepper driver is a good bit of kit. And it looks like a good power supply too.





I already have an unused Dell computer that I can run the control on. I think all told I'll have about $6k in a 4x8 with torch height control, Hypertherm 45 XP that's controlled by the software and a few small bits. It's not in the budget for now. So, I'll get it sitting in its place and get back to working on other things.

I did get it assembled before I called it a day last night.


The PO didn't use it a whole lot, so there's some finish work to be done on the table itself. As well as a slat table, water box, and cable management.



I really want to cut it down in length. I don't have any interest trying to wrangle 4x8 sheets of pretty much any thickness of metal. It's just too heavy and hard on the body.


This weekend I've been in the process of getting everything into its final resting place so I can get the shop sorted. It's going well and in a way the plasma is helping with that floor plan layout.