Escape FROM my dream shop

[Chrisb62]

Bob is spot on..........but you can do what you want .

 

[shortykorte]

So if I spend 5 hrs at the Grove pouring, will you spend 5 hrs doing the same here?

Nice curb and weather vane.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Brotherhood of the traveling curb machine?

 

[rmack898]

Bob and Chris,
you are both spot on. I started this first 62' section of curb in the most inconspicuous place as I was not sure how it was going to work. This section of curb terminates at the palmetto where I started it and the mow side of the curb will most definitely be on the mow side once I progress a little further along. Wait till you see the big picture and it make better sense.

Shorty,
If you spend 5 hours here at the grove pouring concrete instead of adult beverages while you supervise, it would be a miracle and I would gladly give you 5 hours in return.

Willie,
Have machine, will travel.

 

[markrenner371]

Mac,

I don't know if you have moved yet, but I recently moved from San Antonio, Texas to Birmingham, Alabama due to a scenario very much like yours.

My brother found me a house in Alabama that was built by a former NASCAR mechanic. 1200 sq ft house, 4000 sq ft workshop and 4 car garage on 3 acres for less than I could build a metal building in Texas.

Climate down here is great, cost of living unbelievably cheap, and you are right in the heart of hot rod country. Down side is you will have to tell everyone you live in Alabama.

I've added just a few pics to give you an idea what $100K can buy down here.

Ron

waw right choice beautiful place

 

[shortykorte]

Sign me up. I rather work than drink adult beverages.

 

[cbacres]

Sign me up. I rather work than drink adult beverages.

Shorty, heat exhaustion is serious, please get checked out asap.

 

[rmack898]

Just when you get comfortable with how you have the shop configured and everything is working well, along comes a Craigslist add and now you have to reconfigure the shop.

Got some honey do things off my list and started doing prep work for tomorrow’s curbing adventure when I got a call back from a Craigslist add I saw this morning while having my coffee.

It was 3 miles from my house and at a price I didn’t even consider to haggle. I’ll pick it up tomorrow or Tuesday.
Like new hydraulic shear, 52”X16ga with back gauge. 3 phase and it come with a VFD.

I have 2 Pexto shears that will need to find new homes to make room for the new toy, I mean tool.

 

[shortykorte]

Nice



Edit: does King Enabler strike again?

 

[cbacres]

That damn Craig!

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I haven't looked on cl in a while. Maybe I should start again.

 

[cbacres]

Nice



Edit: does King Enabler strike again?

No. Mac is quite efficient on his own

 

[Chrisb62]

I haven't looked on cl in a while. Maybe I should start again.

Yes you should ....never know what might pop up for $150

 

[rmack898]

Chris I‘m pretty sure you didn’t go to Jax yesterday but I missed a Vidmar just like that for $100.

Nice find.

 

[Chrisb62]

Chris I‘m pretty sure you didn’t go to Jax yesterday but I missed a Vidmar just like that for $100.

Nice find.

Not in Jacksonville but Sarasota a couple of weeks ago, thought the bottom box was worth the $150......the drawers were through bolted to the top of the bottom box with huge holes drilled ......the top drawers are available to reduce the overall price.

 

[Toolfool]

Not in Jacksonville but Sarasota a couple of weeks ago, thought the bottom box was worth the $150......the drawers were through bolted to the top of the bottom box with huge holes drilled ......the top drawers are available to reduce the overall price.

I'm listening.

 

[cbacres]

I'm listening.

Road trip

 

[rmack898]

Are we invading, I mean visiting Chris’s shop?

 

[rmack898]

Today was wicked warm and tomorrow is supposed to be a little bit warmer but we decided to go forward and damn the thermometer.

I did some prep work and then ran the compactor. Mixed up a batch of mud and dragged Laura out of the air conditioned house. We got 3 batches of mud through the curb machine and got 29’ of finished curb in return. We are still learning the process but are getting better at it. I’ll prep tomorrow’s run tonight so that we can get an early start and be done before it gets too warm out.

 

[Chrisb62]

Are we invading, I mean visiting Chris’s shop?

Always had a open invitation.......I believe I’ve said it before..... may have to keep an eye on Shorty


The tool boxes all have locks......

 

[rmack898]

..... may have to keep an eye on Shorty

Ya think?

The tool boxes all have locks......

How many times have you actually seen the FL crew in action? Locks? We don't need no stinking locks.

 

[Sifan]

Locks? Seems like an encouragement to take the whole tool box.

 

[shortykorte]

Curb is looking good. I see the profile now. I stopped in the other night to help out but it was dark and the lights were out so I didn’t knock.

John you need tool cabinet?

I don’t look in a fellow’s drawers.

 

[racer-john]

If it were mine you couldn't lift it. Its a new one and weighs in at 90 lbs. empty...

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I opened this page to this.


I wondered if something new was happening. I was almost afraid to scroll up.

 

[cbacres]

I opened this page to this.


I wondered if something new was happening. I was almost afraid to scroll up.

If it involves Shorty, no telling.

 

[harley jim]

Is this the same as yours

SwayR6_2032 on TikTok

old forge #blacksmith @blacksmith502

www.tiktok.com

 

[rmack898]

Its very close Jim but not quite the same. That one uses a belt with a wrap around a pulley and a similar ratchet clutch. Mine has the same type of clutch but has a segmented gear that drives it back and forth. I'll try and get a good pic tomorrow.

Yesterday Laura and I got some more curbing done before it got too hot to work. We are still learning and getting better as we go. By the time we finish this job we should be pretty good at it. The hardest part is stopping and going. Once you stop because you're out of mud, getting going again after making a new batch of mud can easily wreck what you have already laid down. We had to take out about 4' of previously laid curb because we screwed it up on the re-start. Today was just too hot to even try to curb. We're hoping to get an early start on Friday morning and get some more curb done.

 

[harley jim]

That's what I should do around my flower beds, I like that a lot! I have been watching this guy,

TikTok - Make Your Day

www.tiktok.com

 

[rmack898]

That's what I should do around my flower beds, I like that a lot! I have been watching this guy,

TikTok - Make Your Day

www.tiktok.com

Jim, I have watched countless hours of YouTube curbing videos, I can’t bring myself to look at another platform and go down deeper into the endless rabbit hole but thanks for the suggestion.

I moved the new shear into its new home today. It was out with the old and in with the new.

Tomorrow the plan is to get up before the sun and get some curbing done. Laura has a big catering job for Saturday and will be cooking most of the day so I have to get her out there early if we want to get some curbing done

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Laura carried that in for you, didn't she?

 

[rmack898]

Laura carried that in for you, didn't she?

Laura didn't carry it in but she most certainly directed my how to do it.

It's been fairly warm out here at the Grove so we have shifted our attention to what we can do without wilting in the sun.
We got both MaxxAir fans installed in the van as well as the rest of the sound deadening insulation installed. Driving the van is noticeably quieter than before the sound deadening material was installed.

So the name of our homestead here in NE Florida is "Honu Grove". We have 10 acres of planted pine grove and it is inhabited by a bunch of Gopher Tortoises. Laura spent most of her adult life living in Hawaii and the Hawaiian name for turtle is "Honu" so we named our place "Honu Grove".

Today I was drilling holes with the drill press and in my peripheral vision I saw movement by the back door. In walks a big gopher tortoise. He walked all around the shop for about 10 minutes before I escorted him to the open garage door.
We have several tortoises that live close by and we know them all by the shape and markings on their shells, but this guy was a new player that we have not seen before. He had no fear of me and did a full inspection of my shop. He looks like the oldest tortoise we have seen here at
the Grove so we are going to call him "Pop".

 

[mybigwarwagon]

So, did the shop pass muster?

 

[Jayman17]

How long did it take pop to walk around the shop?

Jay

 

[bulletpruf]

That's pretty cool. Neighbor when I was growing up (southeast Louisiana) had a big gopher tortoise that lived in a burrow in his front yard.

 

[rmack898]

The last few week have been busy here at the Grove. Laura has been working on a sign for our driveway and got it finished so I installed it. This is a temporary sign until we get the gate made which will be a major artistic collaboration between Laura's painting and my welding. Might not get done till next year but it's on the list of things to do.

One of the things on the list to do was to install door openers on the overhead shop doors. The openers have been sitting on the shop floor for almost 2 years. Since I got the new shear and and had to run conduit from the panel to power the shear, I figured it would be a good time to pull an extra circuit for the band saw. Since I was running pipe, I might as well pull another circuit for the door openers. I have been procrastinating on the install for a long time.

I needed to make foundations to mount the openers on the wall. I had a half sheet of 3/16" plate but needed help to get it up on the work horse so I could cut what I needed. Laura came out to help and said that she should have worn boots and then realized that she had Florida safety shoe on and just lifted the plate up on the horse.

I finally got the openers installed, wired, and adjusted. I don't know why it took me 2 years to get around to finally installing door openers.

The camper that I lived in for 2 years while we were building the grove was sold this week and departed the property. The end of an era.

Our dog Etta basically told Pop that it's her shop and supervised his departure.

 

[56vette461]

The last few week have been busy here at the Grove. Laura has been working on a sign for our driveway and got it finished so I installed it. This is a temporary sign until we get the gate made which will be a major artistic collaboration between Laura's painting and my welding. Might not get done till next year but it's on the list of things to do.

One of the things on the list to do was to install door openers on the overhead shop doors. The openers have been sitting on the shop floor for almost 2 years. Since I got the new shear and and had to run conduit from the panel to power the shear, I figured it would be a good time to pull an extra circuit for the band saw. Since I was running pipe, I might as well pull another circuit for the door openers. I have been procrastinating on the install for a long time.

I needed to make foundations to mount the openers on the wall. I had a half sheet of 3/16" plate but needed help to get it up on the work horse so I could cut what I needed. Laura came out to help and said that she should have worn boots and then realized that she had Florida safety shoe on and just lifted the plate up on the horse.

I finally got the openers installed, wired, and adjusted. I don't know why it took me 2 years to get around to finally installing door openers.

The camper that I lived in for 2 years while we were building the grove was sold this week and departed the property. The end of an era.

Our dog Etta basically told Pop that it's her shop and supervised his departure.

Love the art work on the sign. What a great way to greet visitors

 

[Toolfool]

Laura is talented.
Dog is getting big.

 

[Toolfool]

I know I'm late, but Happy Birthday Mac.

 

[shortykorte]

Any updates on the van build or you just sitting around eating cake?