Modest 25x35 Fabrication Shop Build

[Trm303]

Hello all, my name is Trevor and I live in Cape May, NJ. I enjoy metal fabrication and machine work but due to my current lack of a work space, lately I’ve been cutting my teeth wrenching on just about anything with a motor and making repairs to any equipment that comes my way (in my driveway). I’ve read through countless builds on this forum and figured I would share my experience.

After (too) much planning, my garage build is finally starting to shape. As much as I would have loved to go much bigger, my budget has allowed for a 25x35x12 stick built shop. Due to my fixed square footage yet ever expanding repertoire of tooling and machinery, I intend to make use of every last inch as efficiently as possible to produce a modestly sized yet fully capable fabrication and machine shop.

I was able convince a friend of mine to help with the mason work starting with a full foundation followed by a 5” thick slab and a course of 6” block on top to get everything closer to the walls. My budget did not allow for under slab insulation so I sandwhiched a layer of tar paper between two layers of moisture barrier in hopes of some sort of thermal barrier however so slight it may be.

My girlfriend and her family run a construction company and I was fortunate enough for their free time and help with building. As the shop sits right now, it is framed and sheathed awaiting a roof and siding on my next day off.

 

[DavidR8]

Looking good!


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[CraigStu]

Nicely done.

 

[matt_i]

Like the start, you can pack a lot of stuff in place if you work at it

Be careful working at heights. One mistake can be life-changing.

Personally I don't want to fall off the roof so I've alternated between methods of screwing a bracket into the rough framing to which I'd attach my lanyard and harness or else throwing a rope over the peak that attaches to things like a truck or tractor with a knot at the peak.

I don't know if you have your electrical panel placed and a stub roughed-in but getting electricity to welders and machines is a key part as you already know. The more planning & prep you do early on, the easier it will be later.

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to the Forum from Southwestern California.

 

[rmack898]

yet ever expanding repertoire of tooling and machinery.

Do tell.

Nice start

 

[bad_idea]

Is that the girlfriend up there nailing the ridge beam?! She's a keeper. Better make her the wife ASAP. I catch hell getting the wife to hold the other end of something in the garage, let alone 10' up in the air.

Welcome to the forum. Be careful, this place is like crack. I came here with a 14x20 attached garage. I recently finished up building a 30x40 detached because of this place. You'll find you need tools you didnt even know existed!

 

[Trm303]

Thank you for all the replies, it appears as this forum is really the last thing I need as I have already added too many tools to my wishlist just from reading through some threads.

I have not made much progress lately but the building is now fully sheathed and roofed as of yesterday. I got my 16x10 overhead door delivered and my siding is now on order. I am off this weekend and hope to put some more work in.

 

[rmack898]

Just seeing someone standing so close to the edge with their back to it scares the **** out of me.

I'm currently on the couch recovering from a fall off the bottom rung of a 2 step ladder.

 

[Trm303]

Haven’t made anymore progress on the shop but I did find a deal on a new piece of equipment that was too good to pass up. I found a very cheap non running Skat Trak 1700C in Delaware. It was bought by a machine dealer in a bulk buy and it was not worth his time to diagnose which is the reason why it was cheap and sold as is. It has a Perkins 4.2l diesel which is a very hardy engine and parts appear very easy to find as the engine is commonly fitted in industrial equipment and boats.

Skat Trak is no longer in business but Volvo holds the rights and still offers a lot of parts for them still. I have worked on a Skat Trak skid steer before and they are very easy to work on, the cab lifts up and gives you full access to engine and hydraulics, everything is accessible and it seems that it was designed from a full serviceability perspective.

I took my buddy’s skid steer trailer on the trip to pick it up assuming that if his skid steer fits, this one must, right? wrong. Since I wasn’t driving back to Delaware with a different trailer, the guy was nice enough to help me take the tires off one one side and place it on the trailer with a very large loader. A blow out on i95 later, and it was safely back in Jersey.



Turns out the only issue with this machine thus far is wiring, with a couple of jumper wires in the correct spots, this thing turned over maybe twice before firing right off. All controls seem to work as they should which helped in the unloading process. With some tugging from my buddy’s truck and a slight disregard for safety, we managed to get it off the trailer fairly quickly. My first project is now parked in the shop. I hope to go through the wiring harness and un-hack the previous owners work in addition to a full service before I put it to work leveling out my yard and spreading around some road millings.

 

[rburke65]

Years down the road, since you have a 12’ side wall, you can add on to the roof line, and still have an 8’ side wall. And again, a great start.

 

[39Tudor]

Welcome from fly over country!
Great work so far and a great score on the skid steer!

 

[Trm303]

Years down the road, since you have a 12’ side wall, you can add on to the roof line, and still have an 8’ side wall. And again, a great start.

Thank you, and my thoughts exactly with the room for growth, I may or may not already have the addition planned out [emoji28]

 

[cbacres]

Welcome Travis, nice shop you have going there.

Great find on the skid steer, based on your building, fixing things, safety, you’re definitely a chip off the old block.

I really like the Ford pickup.


Craig.

 

[Trm303]

Thank you Cbacres, and that is my buddy’s truck, I will let him know he has an admirer haha.

Haven’t posted in a while but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been making progress. Installed all the windows and got the whole building is sided. The overhead door would have been up by now but it was missing some hardware which should be arriving this week.

I started wiring in the lights while I am waiting for my buddies excavator to arrive to dig the trench for utilities. I am now just working off extension cords until I get electric ran and a sub panel hooked up. I am looking forward to getting getting the building weather tight so I can start moving in some tools.






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[Glemon]

Looks great!

 

[matt_i]

Nice Custom Deluxe! (R30 I presume?)

I was intrigued to see large logs used for rollers good job of using what you have!

 

[Trm303]

Nice Custom Deluxe! (R30 I presume?)



I was intrigued to see large logs used for rollers good job of using what you have!

Thanks Matt, It’s an 86 so technically it’s still a k30, I swapped a 12v Cummins in with a 5 speed trans about a year ago to compete with the newer trucks.

 

[racerboy]

Shop looks great!

From a fellow Jersey boy (though I’m about as far away from Cape May as you can be and still love in NJ)


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[loganb]

How goes the move in and interior finishing?

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[Trm303]

It has been a busy last couple months, ALOT of overtime, ALOT of side work, and not as much time on the shop as I’d like to admit but it definitely is moving.

Aside from some metal work left to be done on the skid steer bucket, the skid steer is up and running and has been put to work spreading millings and cleaning up the yard. Including a full service and a new seat, I’m in it for $2800. Parts are starting to dry up which is concerning for me so I will be looking to replace it with a Case 1845c in the future but in the mean time I am on the hunt for a gooseneck machine trailer.

I have since got my garage door installed, all the electric ran, plumbing for a wash sink, insulation and just recently most of the drywall. My buddy hooked me up with a truckload of free LVL beams and I built a full width loft 6’ off of the back wall. In the pictures you can see my Black Friday purchases including an Ellis 1800 bandsaw and still in box Reverberay Radiant Tube heater. I have made quite a few new tool additions that went straight to storage until I’m done the interior work. The only other addition that already made it into the shop was the Kobalt top box I picked up for $150 on clearance at Lowe’s, you can see a glimpse of it next to my shop pup.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Shop looks great! And I really like the exterior colours you went with.

Will you be painting the inside?

 

[Trm303]

Shop looks great! And I really like the exterior colours you went with.

Will you be painting the inside?

Thanks!

Yes, I am thinking white ceiling and light grey walls, possibly a two tone with dark grey under the windows


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[Slick111]

Question how much celling height did you gain with the coffer trusses in the 25' span

 

[Trm303]

Question how much celling height did you gain with the coffer trusses in the 25' span

I got an extra 2’ of ceiling height and saved a significant amount on lumber going that route.


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[Adk Mike]

Cape May is a cool place. My daughter lives there. I visit a couple times a year.
Nice Shop !

 

[Slick111]

I got an extra 2’ of ceiling height and saved a significant amount on lumber going that route.


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Thanks your shop looks nice I am planning a similar build in the near future

 

[Trm303]

Slick111, they say build it bigger than what you want and that is my only regret thus far.

Not much of an update but when I poured my pad originally, I also poured a 4x7 slab on the back corner of the building for a utility room to house my compressor, water heater and RPC. Due to it not being on the permits I buried it along with my gas and water lines prior to getting my final inspection. With the weather getting nicer, I unburied the slab and laid a course of block to match the foundation.

I managed to score some used lumber from one of my future in-law’s job sites. With the price of a 2x4 at around $7, I opted to pull all the nails out of the used stuff. I also pieced the sheathing together with 1/2” plywood cutoffs. I framed the room inside the shop then when it was time to put the roof on, I moved it outside. This weekend I picked it up with the skid steer and placed it on the foundation and quickly sided it to the shop as if it was always there. I’m waiting on a loaner brake so I can set up the sheet metal. While this was going on outside, my girlfriend was spackling the inside getting it ready for paint.

I hope to have it painted in the next week and I can then begin my much anticipated move in day.

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[TimTaylor75]

Great building! Looks like a nice space!

 

[Trm303]

I got all the prep work finished and decided on some colors. I opted to do the entire ceiling and upper walls in a light grey to keep it from looking dirty and a dark gray on the bottom with a lime green stripe. I’m planning on continuing a black and lime green color scheme throughout the shop.

I hope to do a very thorough clean up this weekend and if I’m lucky I’ll be moving in some machines and equipment.





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[Trm303]

While I had the scaffolding up, I hung the Reverberray tube heater and got that out of the way. I was also finally able to start moving some of the lighter machines and tools in and figuring out the layout. I have a pretty good idea where most of this stuff will go but as I start pulling more stuff in from storage, I’m starting realize I forgot about a lot of stuff I need to find homes for.

I also bought a lot of this equipment in untested or in unknown condition and immediately put them into storage so It’s safe to assume that at least some of the stuff is going to need repair. My current plan is to get it all up and running in order of importance and then slowly take each one out of commission to repaint/rebuild. I have a few days coming off next week and I hope to pull a favor and borrow a big enough forklift to get my lathe and large drill press in the shop.







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[Motoman1100]

303,

The place looks great! congrats, I know you're excited to get in there and have some projects started.

 

[rmack898]

I have a pretty good idea where most of this stuff will go but as I start pulling more stuff in from storage, I’m starting realize I forgot about a lot of stuff I need to find homes for.

Once you get everything where you want it, you will move it around at least 3 times before you're happy with it. No matter how well you think you planned it, you're find something you don't like about the layout.

Ask me how I know.

 

[Trm303]

Thank you Motoman, As you can imagine my patience is wearing very thin as I get closer to being able start projects again haha

Rmack898, Does one of those 3 moves count the one from NJ? Lol

 

[rmack898]

Rmack898, Does one of those 3 moves count the one from NJ? Lol

No it doesn't. There were at least 3 internal moves within the NJ shop,(maybe more) my memory is not as good as it used to be.

And there have been 3 complete moves of most machines here in Florida since the the move from NJ.

But just remember that one killer deal on Craigs List or Market Place can upset the whole thing and make you start from scratch.

 

[cbacres]

But just remember that one killer deal on Craigs List or Market Place can upset the whole thing and make you start from scratch.

Man, is that a true statement!

 

[Trm303]

Made a trip to the steel yard an got a ton of steel figuratively and quite possibly literally! I bought everything I need for some benches, tables, storage, and ALOT of extra for any upcoming jobs. I also called in ahead of time and had some diamond plate sheared and bent to cover the face of the loft beam.

In my travels I happened upon the exact single phase motor I need to convert my Doall bandsaw (brand new leeson) nearby on Facebook so I picked that up on the way home. I have blades on order and everything appears to be in good working condition so I hope to have the saw up and running in the next week.

First official project will be a welding table. I have a 4x8 sheet of 1/2” steel sitting around and I’m contemplating table sizes now. I’m thinking in the ballpark of around 32”x50” on lockable casters to be able to move it around and make more floor space when necessary. I will be drilling it to be able to use some of the fireball jig tooling.

For the rest of my bench tops.. my buddy has claimed that he will be dropping off a 16’x5’ steel road plate that is about 1” thick for the rest of my benches. They will be unnecessarily heavy but free is me.




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[jollygreengiant]

That loft looks sharp covered in diamond plate!

And a 16' x 5' x 1" piece of steel? Wow, that is a big piece of steel. If your using it for benchtops the benches will likely outlast the building itself lol.

 

[Trm303]

That loft looks sharp covered in diamond plate!

And a 16' x 5' x 1" piece of steel? Wow, that is a big piece of steel. If your using it for benchtops the benches will likely outlast the building itself lol.

Thanks jollygreengiant, I am very happy with how the loft turned out!

As for the steel... he has assure me those are the dimensions but I’m going to have to see it to believe it before I go through the design stage and he drops off something like a 4x8, haha. If he does come in with a 16x5, cutting it up should be interesting!


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[Trm303]

I was able to move the remainder of my tools (that were stored offsite) into the shop including a Doall radial arm drill press and Syncrowave 250. I was concerned about the skid steer being able to lift the 2100lb drill on and off the trailer but it actually handled it very well. The last of the machines to be moved inside is a 16” American Pacemaker that is still in my garage.

Inside the shop I didn’t get very far, I did manage to plumb in a small utility sink. About a year or so ago, I picked up 3 pretty good Vidmars for $400 off of FB that I immediately put into storage. Taking advantage of the nice weather I prepped and painted one in hopes of setting it and being able to start organizing the shop and getting rid of some of the clutter that is forming. I’m going to keep grey color scheme going.




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