I've been 'offline' for a while because I had quite simply outgrown
the old shed and was sick of having wood stacked in what should have
been workspace. After a couple of months of intensive house shopping, we
decided there was nothing (flood-free) available with room for a shed as
big as I needed, so we...
....sussed
out a possible block of dirt and spent many evenings coming up with a plan to see if we could
make it all fit. I used 'FloorPlanner' to design it online - well worth
a look if you're building (
http://floorplanner.com/projects/28383793-ournewplace#details ) - the draftsman ended up using our plan to directly create
the final drawings which included a room at the front of the house to
become my 'Gallery', even if it is a little small.
I measured then simulated all of my storage racks and machines and
arranged them in the shed plan to make sure I could squeeze into it.
A
"wink and a nod" approval for our concept from the council and we bought the block...
After lots of adjustments and compromises with the draftsman and
builder, the real headaches
started and the build finally got under way (click on the picture to
play the slideshow and ignore the neighbours house that
beat us to the punch!)...
We got the keys just a week before Xmas and with the help of our
family and friends, it took just two days to move the house . . .
and six weeks to move the shed!!!
Metal-work
bench was set up first so I could get to work on the storage racks.
Next step was to get ALL my timber
inside the shed where I could access it easily at any time I wanted.
Stage 1 was to extend my old racks upwards to take advantage of the
extra height in this shed.
Still a lot of wood in the rickety old racks outside so I spent a
week making all the components for a nice big rack to go inside - which took
less than two hours to assemble. Turned out pretty good I thought!
Filling the new rack took a lot longer than assembling it but it is
so cool to have all my timber in one spot and there's even room for a
little more - what a bugger eh!
With the timber all sorted it was time to start organizing the
workshop side of things......
Shadow boards up for the woodworking bench. Plenty of room for more
tools there yet.
Shelving
units were arranged to create a 'store-room'. Once the budget and time
allows, I'll be building a mezzanine type floor over the top for more
storage and to help keep the dust out.
Clamp rack right beside the assembly table - luxury!
Metalworking clamps got a convenient new home too...
Even the lathe has it's own shadow-board close at hand now...
...and I finally have enough room to move the bench-drill off the
woodwork bench to it's own stand, conveniently placed midway between the
wood and metalwork areas so I don't have to clean up the swarf after
every little project!
Always wanted a washstand at the old place but never got around to
it. Made sure the builders included water and drain pipes before the
concrete went down so I could build this one. Used left-over iron from
the shed and scored the sink for $20 - whole stand only cost
about $100 to complete. Still looking for something to use for a splashback though - anybody got an old enamel advertising sign at least
1400mm long????
Due
to budget constraints, one feature that
will have to wait a while is utilising the 'service trench' I had formed
into the slab to house dust extraction and power cables for the bigger
machines. I
hate tripping on stuff or working around bits hanging from the ceiling
so the plan was to get some proper steel ducting but I will probably
just recycle the old PVC stuff back into use again until the doctors let
go of my wallet. Before I do that though I want to modify the flimsy old
Dust-extractor itself to make it easier to change the bags - I'll update
this section once I'm done.
. . . A year or so later . . . . . DC modified and installed outside the
shed (linky) . . . I
gave up the idea of upgrading to a metal modular ducting system as the
companies I contacted wanted to know my budget before they would give me
a quote! - obviously rolling in money already and don't need any more
business (however small!). I ended up rehashing my old PVC system to fit
in the service trench and it clears the waste from everything well
enough - the jointer leaves a little bit behind but I doubt it would be
any different even if I went to 6" ducting. No leads to trip over, less
than half the ducting length of my old overhead system, the blast gates
can be conveniently be operated by foot and the DC is switched on by
key-ring styled remotes hanging on the band-saw and over the
table-saw/lathe - loving it!
So
there you have it! I've started doing some woodwork again even though
the place isn't wired up yet, extension leads everywhere, but I will get
there eventually. Just loving my new 'Living room' ....
