Dream Shop - Old Shop Demolition finished. Demo photos added.

Notice the holes in the legs with bearings in them. When the lathe was new, it has two foot treadles and flywheel. It was converted to a line shaft probably around 1910, and then to a motor in the 1940's..
The only parts missing are the lead screw and the cutting tool post. I will probably never rebuild the lead screw, but have a tool post coming from a friend.
Her is a photo of one with the foot treadles and lead screw:
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Stacy it is looking good can’t wait to see the pics of it complete
 
Shop passed the inspection today. Final inspection is next Tuesday. It is just a formality, as there are no other permits beyond the physical building as of this time. The inspector gave me a few little things to take care of (mostly for my own benefit), which I will have done by then. Paid the contractor his last check this afternoon.

The inspector wanted me to put a handrail on the steps. It already has 2X4" rails down the steps. He said they are too wide, and the rails have to be between 2" and 2.25". Because I put five steps in, it has to have a code handrail. If I had made steeper steps and used four, The rail I had would have been fine.
I found a 60" piece of 3/16" wall 2" stainless pipe in the old shop and will cut the ends at 45° and weld up a dandy stainless handrail this weekend. He should love that beast.

After the inspector left, I finished mounting all the cabinets and cleaned up the whole place. I put all the stuff sitting on the floor and folding tables in the cabinets. Looks nice now. Then I started on the shelving and stairs. I had to move that entire big stack of wood ( a couple hundred 2X4s in 8-10-12, and 16 foot lengths) to get to the 2X12X16 foot boards for the stair sides … which were placed on the bottom of the stack when the guys unloaded the truck.
I'll work all day Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday and the shop should really start looking like a real shop. I hope to frame the walls and start on the workbenches. Benches will be built wit 2X8 lumber. I still need to take the two 4'X10' sheets of 18 gauge stainless steel to the machine shop and have them shear it into 2 foot wide pieces and bend a 1" lip on the edge. That will be the work surface on all the workbenches.

I really enjoy working out there all by myself getting things built. Got my music going all the time ( everything from Maroon 5 to Les Misérables), plenty of water to drink ( and an occasional beer), and chairs to sit in when taking a break or sketching plans.

Here are some photos of the cleaned up inside with the cabinets. The cabinets have doors that self store in the top.
The one shot of a bare wall is where I am building the downstairs storage closets.
Oh, and I plugged in the neon KNIVES sign for you guys!

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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith the shop is looking incredible! Color me green!

I know it’s late in the game and you may have answered this, so if I missed it I apologize, Why did you go with a wood building over metal?

wish I were closer, I’d stop by to lend a hand.
 
I live in a neighborhood in the city, not out in the country. A metal building would never get approved due to the architectural codes. The new shop matches the house and all the other homes around it. Wood also allows using the framework to connect everything to ( shelving, benches, walls, etc.). It will all make more sense soon when I get the next step of build-out done.

The second floor has 40 feet of shelf/floor storage down each side, plus 8 feet on end shelving. The shelves down the sides have a floor level with 6 clear feet of depth, the first shelf 4 feet, and the top shelf 2 feet. The center walking area is just shy of 8 feet wide, but I will try and keep it clear. Ignoring the center floor, that comes to a tad over 1000 sq.ft. of storage upstairs. Downstairs there is a storage closet 12 feet long and 2 feet deep by 9 feet high. It has five shelves. That is another 120 sq.ft of storage. There are wal cabinets and other storage cabinets downstairs, too. Even with all that space, I will have to cull a lot of stuff when bringing it in. Luckily, the old shop and its two storage sheds are still going to be there for storage for the time being. I only have to tear down the old woodshop.

Eventually, I will take out the stairs and build an elevator. Then I can roll carts with tools/HT ovens/ testers/etc. on them and store them upstairs down the center until I need them.
 
Good day yesterday. I got the doors for the storage closets made. They are 4X8 with pegboard faces. They'll go up in today.
I got one wall framed and the steel door that goes between the clean shop and hot shop installed. I had to do this wall before finishing the storage closets because this is the end they start at.
I also put up the stainless handrail for the porch steps.
I'll take a bunch more photos tonight before quitting for the day.
 
The sun is coming up, and I'm heading out to the shop in a few minutes. I will take a bunch of photos today and post then this evening.
Storage closets are done and doors hung. starting to frame the grinding room today. Then it is the upstairs shelving on Saturday.
 
Got a lot done Saturday. Dave, Zeph, and Tina came over to help pass up the plywood shelving for upstairs. After they left, I framed the grinding room walls and the last wall for the clean room. I brought over the track lighting and some other stuff from the storage unit. One of the things I brought was about 100 storage bins. These fit the shelving in the storage closets and I will put lots of stuff in them for quick access and tidiness. Just pull out a bin, and when done, put it back.

Notice that big stack of lumber in the previous posts is now just a few 2X8s and a dozen 2X4s.

One shot is from the stairs looking down from above.

I will



should get the work benches built in today, and take the stainless steel sheets to the machine shop to be cut and have the lip bent this Tuesday. I'll finish the upstairs shelving Tuesday, too.

Grinding room has a 36" wide glass door as well as four windows that look out into the hot shop. Plenty of visibility for people to watch as well as me to see whats going on or when guests come over.

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Very cool, your shop is coming along nicely.
 
1583706946805.jpg 1583707769889.jpg 1583707794716.jpg I finished the last wall yesterday and moved some stuff into the storage closets. Tuesday I will close in the grinding room and put up the benches. Thursday, I will finish the shelving and stairwell and everything else upstairs. The weekend will begin lighting and electrical.

If all goes well, I'll start hauling stuff in the following weeks. That will be a long process as I disassemble the old wood-shop, take everything from the existing smithy and grinding shop, and bring things from the storage units. The goal is to have the shop pretty much functional and the lot re-landscaping done by the end of May.
 
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Looking good! I like the bench design! I might steel that for my next “shop”.

how high did you make your benches?
 
IIRC, 30". I'll check tomorrow.

The angle braced leg design is very strong. It requires the bench to be securely screwed to a board going down the wall and across the ends. The effect is a rigid triangle which is actually stronger than a quadrilateral support as is seen with four legs. It works really well with very long benches like the hot shop will have. This system allows foot clearance all the way down the bench and storage below the bench. If you want a shelf below the bench, that is still possible. I will put a shelf under it for tooling arms and such later on.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
IIRC, 30". I'll check tomorrow.

The angle braced leg design is very strong. It requires the bench to be securely screwed to a board going down the wall and across the ends. The effect is a rigid triangle which is actually stronger than a quadrilateral support as is seen with four legs. It works really well with very long benches like the hot shop will have. This system allows foot clearance all the way down the bench and storage below the bench. If you want a shelf below the bench, that is still possible. I will put a shelf under it for tooling arms and such later on.
Click to expand...

That's fantastic! I'm totally stealing that for the next shop!

We are actually getting ready to go out to AZ to look at a house that has a 600 sq ft shop on it already!
 
I got the plywood all cut for the grinding room walls today. It won't get screwed on until after the wiring.
I then moved into the hot shop and put up the long workbench.
After that I did some clean-up and swept up about 10 gallons of sawdust.
Tomorrow is the upstairs shelving.
Monday or Tuesday morning I will drop the sheets of stainless off at the sheet metal shop for cutting and bending to make the bench tops. I drafted the cutting/bending plans and work order this evening.

I have a strong young man coming over Wednesday and Saturday to help with some heavy work and start moving the equipment in.

I put up the new shop flag, too. It will be hanging over a garden bed. It is adjustable for angle, but I put it low for the photo.
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