Above 1200 Sq/FT The Ole Barn Workshop by BigNuge

[Swandog66]

Hi BigNuge
I have a 5 gallon parts washer that I’ve been running Mineral spirits in for 20 years in a garage with no heat.I usually just buy it gallon cans from Home Depot purely for convenience. IMO the Mineral spirits works as a good as any Safety Kleen or Zep I’ve used working as a mechanic. The first Dealership I worked for used to buy Mineral spirits in 55 gallon drums for the parts washers. I have heard that the water based cleaners work well but with no heat that’s not an option. Additionally I have a Freind who bought a 25 gallon parts washer for hobby use and when he saw the price to fill it with a cleaner he sold that and bought a 5 gallon. Hope this helps.
Dan

 

[BigNuge]

Well that didn’t go as planned....lol.

What can I say, life is busy and time flies by. I also admit, I’ve been on a major “screen time” reduction move for the last 4-5 months. It has been really good, it’s crazy how much screen time had cut into my family/hangin with the kids time.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to add a TIG welder to the stable for a while....and it’s finally happening. Just pulled the trigger on a new AHP Alpha-TIG 200X. With that, I had to wire a new 50 amp 240v plug for the new machine. While at it I wired a new 15 amp 240 volt outlet for the plasma cutter (which has been running on 120 for years). Built some shelves and benches to organize things even more. I thought a key part to the new welding direction would be a proper dedicated welding table. I ordered a new Certiflat PRO 3’x4’ table. I started looking for something on CL to use as a good rugged set of legs. Found a killer set on 4” steel caster, and it was exactly 3’x4’ already!

I’m taking tomorrow off to help my brother with some brake work on his car that’s needed for inspection. I’ll get a fresh set of pictures up for everyone then.

Hope everybody is well!


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[BigNuge]

Got a couple new benches finished up today, and did a quick brake job on my brothers car.

A few shots of the shop as it is today. Don’t mind the snowmobile there....it’s going to be out out back once I shuffle some things around....I hate it when things are packed in there like that.






















A few shots of the base to my new welding table. The new Certiflat top shows up next week.






Next up, get my welding table built. Then set up the welder when it shows up in April. By then I’ll be started on the new construction project on a new overhang on the northeast section of the barn (over the door and outside storage area). That’s going to be a big bunch of work because it involves excavating out all the loam in that area and replacing it with gravel (14’ x 24’ x 10” deep). Oh, and the siding is finally happening mid-spring....no rest for the wicked.


Hope everybody is well!



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[sdavis622]

Shop is looking great! That welding table is going to be a beast!

 

[xtremek]

Looks like you've been busy. The table is sweet.

 

[BigNuge]

Thanks guys....I’ve been having all sorts of fun in the shop! Can’t wait to get welding more!


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[BigNuge]

Got the table top in today! I un-crated it, and tried clamping it up with the ubolts I got. Well, it needs 2 1/2” ubolts, not 2”...lol.









I’ll be grabbing the 2 1/2” ubolts on Saturday morning, then gonna get it welded up and finished.

Now I just need the new welder to show up!



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[BigNuge]

Well that was more work than I thought....but it came out great! I ran out of wire on the MIG just after finishing the table.















Now we wait for the welder....


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[TurtleValley]

That table turned out great!

I am looking at ordering the same one. So now that you completed it, would you order and build it again? Just looking for insight into it or if anything needs to be changed.

Great looking shop. Not sure how I missed your thread.

Cheers!

D

 

[BigNuge]

That table turned out great!



I am looking at ordering the same one. So now that you completed it, would you order and build it again? Just looking for insight into it or if anything needs to be changed.



Great looking shop. Not sure how I missed your thread.



Cheers!



D

Thanks!

Now that I’ve done it, I would easily buy it again. As far as anything I’d change, I will be tweaking and adding things for a while. But I’d say the top itself is good the way it is. I wish I could afford the fabBlock table, but that was a lot more $$.

I’m going to be adding storage shelves and compartments underneath as needed. The leveling feet for the top were the way to go. Don’t have to worry about bending down and leveling the whole assembly, only the top, one handed and standing up.




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[BigNuge]

Howdy folks....

So the other night I was perusing CL and Letgo. I have been putting the feelers out for a horizontal band saw or cold-cut saw.

An hour or so into my digging and I found an add on Letgo for a “brown machine”. For those that don’t know, if you don’t title your add on Letgo the app/computer titles it for you based on it autonomously recognizing the object in the picture (use a picture of a grey 4 wheeler, it will title the add “Grey ATV“). Anyway, I come across the “brown machine” add, find it’s a Kalamazoo band saw! Do a little digging, sounds like it’s a solid unit. Guy was asking $500, said that he wanted it GONE. We settle on $300. I go up there today, it’s all there. I pay the man and load the thing up.

This thing is straight up Industrial Model (H9AW). It has the coolant system (works), which delivers to both blade guides, and hydraulic cut control (works). It is obvious that it has been sitting a bit, so I sprayed some things down with penetrant. With a little work I had all the moving parts moving nice a freely.

It could use a new blade, a new blade brush, and a good cleaning and lubricating. I’m not 100% sure I’m keeping it yet, it is way more saw than I need. At the very least I can clean it up nice and flip it....should be able to post a good profit on it. Or I’ll keep it and have a killer lifetime band saw.

Anyway, some pictures...















I’m looking for a IOM/parts/service manual for it....if anyone knows where I can get one I’d appreciate any info to that end.

Hope everybody is doing ok!




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[cvairwerks]

Books and parts lists should be available from Kalamazoo. I’d keep it for no other reason that it will outlast you and it’s built for heavy use. You can’t replace it with something smaller for the price and labor it would take.
Blades are available from various sources, and I use bandsawbladesdirect.com

 

[BigNuge]

Books and parts lists should be available from Kalamazoo. I’d keep it for no other reason that it will outlast you and it’s built for heavy use. You can’t replace it with something smaller for the price and labor it would take.
Blades are available from various sources, and I use bandsawbladesdirect.com

I just got an email back from them this morning! Now I have the book. I’ll be ordering a few parts that are needed, blade included.

Do you have a similar machine? If so, do you use coolant, or just use a blade that doesn’t need coolant? I’m sort of on the fence with the coolant. It will see sporadic use, and I don’t want a tank of coolant sitting there going foul on me (if I don’t need it).


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[BigNuge]

So as fate would have it, an opportunity to pick up an L-TEC Heliarc 250HF popped up. Does anyone have experience with these machines? Thoughts? My Chinese machine hasn’t arrived yet, I could cancel that order if this was a solid machine.



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[cvairwerks]

I’ve got a Wells 12x16 horizontal the I’m rebuilding. It can go with or without coolant. I think you can use water based coolant and store it in a sealed type canister and extend it’s life condiderably. I’ve never used it, as this will be the first piece of equipment for my shop that has a need for more coolant than a couple squirts of cutting oil.

 

[mxste3]

hi mate used a L-TEC Heliarc tig for 20 years doing stainless. titanium. aluminium in a sheetmetal shop as long as it has been looked after they are very good machine

p.s nice work shop

 

[BigNuge]

Thanks for the reply’s guys. I am going to just keep going through the band saw and get it cleaned up (already started). We’ll see what happens.

As far as the welder goes, the machine that’s up for grabs is in tough shape (visually), well used, and not able to be tested. All that said, I think I’m just going to stick to my Asian import that’s brand new. All told they would be about the same price to purchase.

Happy Easter all....


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[xtremek]

That saw looks like a beast. Nice score.

 

[BigNuge]

That saw looks like a beast. Nice score.

Thanks! I’m going to finish cleaning it up and see how it fits into the shop. If it’s too much I’ll flip it... it it is such a nice saw, I just might keep it.


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[BigNuge]

I think spring is brining the equipment opportunities out....I just got another one thrown my way.

Big Quincy duplex compressor (340 pumps) w/electronic alternator, mounted on a good size tank (I estimate @ 200ish gallons). Right now it’s set up with 3 phase motors. Thinking of grabbing it for a flip or part out and sell....

Unit came out of service in 2014, functioning normally. The facility upgraded their HVAC and eliminated the last of their pneumatic controls, this was the house compressor for their pneumatic HVAC controls.




Thoughts...? Any of you guys flip equipment this big?


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[BigNuge]

Did a brake job on my own truck. I have never had a vehicle develop pedal pulsation from bad REAR rotors....and that was the case here. Did rear brakes complete, including ebrake shoes, brakes are super smooth again. The ebrake works better than it ever has, even better than when the truck was new!









I also had to pull the ebrake “assembly” from under the truck and free it up. Toyota’s worst trait on their trucks is the ebrakes. For some odd reason they like to use moving parts made from steel...which freeze up over time if you’re in a salt state. I’ve worked on numerous Tacoma’s and Tundras, and they all do it. I use my ebrake EVERY time I park the truck, and mine still stuck (and burned up the ebrake shoes). In the end, I freed it up, greased it up, and with the new shoes and rotors the ebrake is better than new now.




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[Mr. Roboto]

Did a brake job on my own truck. I have never had a vehicle develop pedal pulsation from bad REAR rotors....and that was the case here. Did rear brakes complete, including ebrake shoes, brakes are super smooth again. The ebrake works better than it ever has, even better than when the truck was new!









I also had to pull the ebrake “assembly” from under the truck and free it up. Toyota’s worst trait on their trucks is the ebrakes. For some odd reason they like to use moving parts made from steel...which freeze up over time of you’re in a salt state. I’ve worked on numerous Tacoma’s and Tundras, and they all do it. I use my ebrake EVERY time I park the truck, and mine still stuck (and burned up the ebrake shoes. In the end, I freed it up, greased it up, and with the new shoes and rotors the ebrake is better than new now.




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That's funny, I just took my tundra for a state inspection, and the parking brake cable snapped when they tested it It's always something!

Did you end up buying that Quincy you posted about?

 

[BigNuge]

That's funny, I just took my tundra for a state inspection, and the parking brake cable snapped when they tested it It's always something!

Did you end up buying that Quincy you posted about?

What year is your Tundra? I just don’t know why Toyota doesn’t have their act together with their ebrake setups (on trucks specifically).

That compressor is mine now....just haven’t picked it up yet. I’m still processing where I’m going to stage it, and how I’m going to try and market it (part it out or packaged like it is).


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[BigNuge]

A little update on the barn.

I got my overhang up and roughed in.



















It was more work than I thought, but it came out great! I will be calling the fill with 3/4 granite when everything else is done.


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[BigNuge]

Aaaaaand at long last, the siding is going up! Got the street side done, and have moved onto the front wall (facing the house).











I will be doing something for faux sliding doors, the barn just doesn’t look right without the sliding doors (we just dropped them today).

Anyway, that’s where things are up to now. It’s slow going, gotta do all this on a poor mans budget...lol.

Be well everybody!


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[xtremek]

It's looking really good. Looks like you've been busy.

 

[BigNuge]

Thanks! It’s been a while since the last update, but a lot has happened too. I’m not sure it will ever end...lol




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[xtremek]

Thanks! It’s been a while since the last update, but a lot has happened too. I’m not sure it will ever end...lol




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I'm willing to bet paychecks, no it won't.

 

[bulletpruf]

Big Nuge!

Checking in after being gone for a while; looks like you've been busy! Glad to see you got moving on the Cougar; I read your post on the Cougar forum. Anything else to update on that?

Mineral spirits are hard to beat for using in a solvent tank.

Air compressor is awesome! Love the saw, too.

Keep up the good work!

Scott

 

[BigNuge]

Big Nuge!

Checking in after being gone for a while; looks like you've been busy! Glad to see you got moving on the Cougar; I read your post on the Cougar forum. Anything else to update on that?

Mineral spirits are hard to beat for using in a solvent tank.

Air compressor is awesome! Love the saw, too.

Keep up the good work!

Scott

Hey Scott! Glad to hear from you!

I had stepped away from all electronics. And, in turn, all forums. I check in once and a while when I have some quiet time.

The cougar, well, it has been started. Unfortunately I have already got to the first “stopping point” with it. It needs a lot, as you probably already know from the Cougar forum. Complete floor pan, torque boxes, complete front frame rails and extensions, rad support, and some rocker repair. Parts are gonna run me $3k+, and I need to upgrade the shop to be able to handle a car on a rotisserie. For that reason she is being moved to a storage shelter behind the barn so I can begin the work on the shop this winter. All that said, I’m not officially stopping the work on it, but it does have to wait until some other high priority items are handed before dumping money into it.

Thanks for checking in!!


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[xtremek]

I get the unplugging. Can you do me a favor, and either post the Cougar build here, or a link to your build on the Cougar forum? And I so get setting the proper priorities. I'm still collecting the parts for my COE build when we can afford it, while moving the property and house forward. Good luck.

 

[BigNuge]

I get the unplugging. Can you do me a favor, and either post the Cougar build here, or a link to your build on the Cougar forum? And I so get setting the proper priorities. I'm still collecting the parts for my COE build when we can afford it, while moving the property and house forward. Good luck.

Yeah, unplugging has been good. Just noticed that I had my face buried in the phone way too often.

I linked the Cougar build on CCC above (post 190). I haven’t updated there in a while, not much to post until I am able to go to the next stage (drop big cake on parts).

The siding project on the barn is proving far more expensive than expected. Window repair, sheathing repair, aluminum trim work.

I’ll get back to the car soon enough.




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[tarmy]

A little update on the barn.

I got my overhang up and roughed in.



















It was more work than I thought, but it came out great! I will be calling the fill with 3/4 granite when everything else is done.


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I just got a 14x6 14,000 lbs dump trailer similar to yours...

Do you use a sway bar or load leveling set up or just the hitch? Thanks for any insight...

And I like your ummm...remodel!

 

[BigNuge]

I just got a 14x6 14,000 lbs dump trailer similar to yours...



Do you use a sway bar or load leveling set up or just the hitch? Thanks for any insight...



And I like your ummm...remodel!

Hey, yeah that dump trailer belongs to a friend of mine. It’s GVW is 15.5k. In the pictures I have 5 ton of crushed concrete in it. The trailer has a pintle hoop, and I just borrowed his pintle draw bar. No weight distributing hitch or anything. I just put 40 PSI in my air bags and the truck handled it great! I wouldn’t want to go any sort of long distance with it, that’s at the max of the trucks capability (numbers wise), and I’m not a fan of pushing things to their failure point. Really, that’s 3/4 ton (or higher) country.

Thanks!




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[Mr. Roboto]

Hey Nudge, good to see ya, the Barn is looking great! The new siding and roof really changes the whole feel of the structure. Keep it up!

 

[BigNuge]

Hey Nudge, good to see ya, the Barn is looking great! The new siding and roof really changes the whole feel of the structure. Keep it up!

Hey stranger....good to hear from you.

It’s been a long time coming, but it is really coming together now!

Your place is coming along great too! You said it about he heat we’ve had! It was extremely difficult to get anything accomplished with heat like we’ve had. I’m done with it....ready for some more moderate temps. You know, the stuff we can actually work in and not die...lol


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[BigNuge]

I can’t believe this is my barn....the pictures don’t do it justice.





Still have 2 walls left to side, but I am amazed at how it looks now!

I’ll be adding a pair of wrought iron handles to the faux doors up front, as well as a pair of black barn wall lights to accent the place.




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[xtremek]

I wasn't a huge fan of the roadside (it's the size of the windows, I think), but the door end is AWESOME. Good call on the fake doors, they break it up without cluttering it up.

 

[BigNuge]

I wasn't a huge fan of the roadside (it's the size of the windows, I think), but the door end is AWESOME. Good call on the fake doors, they break it up without cluttering it up.

Yeah, I’m not in love with the street side windows. However, I am not going to sink a ton of money into replacing them when they are all there and doing a fine job of letting light in...lol.

 

[xtremek]

I'd make the same exact call on the street side. But that Door end is sweet. I know I've already said it, but I really do like it that much. Seriously, AWESOME