If you were building the shop of your dreams, What would you have that you don't now?

We were picking out a shower stall. I liked one that stood in a corner, but it had a lot of frosty kind of glass. Angie said "It will be tough to keep clean, I am not cleaning it!!!" I picked out a plastic one with out all the glass. Enough said?
 
After 5 HOT, HUMID summers, I will finally have an AC unit in my shop this week. Part of that project included plenty of 220 and 110 outlets. Once complete, my "dust area" will become a DUST ROOM. After that, I'm just going to enjoy working while it's 95 degrees outside........planning my next UPGRADE :) I've dedicated space and 220 outlets for a milling machine and surface grinder.

I totally agree about the shower idea. We have an outside shower by our pool. Nothing beats getting all the CRUD off you BEFORE going into the house!!

Kit...a TWO story shop??? Doesn't this create a lot of overhead?? ;) :p
 
If you're going to have some "clean rooms", say an office/computer room/library and an assembly/finishing area, I'd recommend pressurizing those rooms with filtered outside air. That way no dust will go in as people open the doors, or forget to close them, or even seep underneath. You all know how that stuff likes to go everywhere.
 
I've been reading this thread and getting some very good ideas, I'll be hopefully moveing shortly and will be building a shop. Right now I have two benches and the forg and anvils are on wheels. What I am planning on is an outside smithy covered on three sides and the top, simple tin and two x four construction directly behind the shop which will be a half round quanson hut typ building with a seperate clean room with a deep sink. From my experiances and what I've read it will have a lot of power outlets and over head lighting, along with a good many of the flexible/swing arm type incandesant lamps on the benches. Oh yea, and a leaf blower to blow all the dust outside! May not sound like much, but right now that's my dream shop!:p
 
Will: I have been working on this shop for over 27 years, we all got to start somewhere and I sincerely wish you luck. I love the idea of the leaf blower. The knife making equipment is an investment, we can always sell it. I we were lucky when we bought it we may even make some money on it. (At least that is what I tell Angie) The shop is kind of another story, if I sell it, I have to sell the ranch. This encourages the old pucker factor when we start making decisions.

I noted one thing today. When I went to school, I always looked out the windows, probably 99% of the time, and could not conceive a school without windows. I figured a school without windows would be solitary confinement. Today I noticed for the first time, the windows in my old shop are absolutely filthy, bug juice from last summer. I never noticed! I love the light through them during the day and make good use of it but rarely look out. Must be some kind of motivational deal working there, the knives and thoughts are more important than the view.

By the way Will, I like that knife on your avitar!
 
thinking back to my school days, the reason i spend so much time looking out the window was boredom. i love light in the shop/garage but the only time i look out there is when my dog barks! i think this has to do with finding something that holds my interest.
 
Okay, Ed, you said "dream shop" so here we go... :)

I know you're looking for a school type set-up, so just multiply everything by 3-5.

Hydraulic Press

Nazel 4 or 5 hammer

25 or 50 lb. hammer

coal forge

very large vertical forge

small vertical forge

long horizontal forge

small horizontal forge

130 lb. anvil

350-400 lb. anvil

myriad of hammers and tongs

wire feed welder

stick welder

TIG welder

digitally controlled high temp salt bath

low temp salt bath

cryo dewar

Oxy/Acetylene torch

Plasma cutter

Shear

Several quenching outfits...oil, water (self-heated)

Rob Frink Grinder and my Burr King

variable speed/reversible disc sander

Bridgeport (type) mill (w/ power-feed)

Large and small lathe (power-feed)

Large drill press

small drill press (x 2 or 3)

baldor buffers

oscilating spindle sander

horizontal belt sander

belt converted surface grinder (power-feed)

stone surface grinder (power-feed)

chop saw

large metal band-saw

large wood band-saw

bead-blast cabinet

HUGE propane tank

2 or 3 lay-out and welding tables

several vises

lighting lighting lighting

control over said lighting (i.e some track lighting) to be able to really control the light for demonstrating heat-treating etc.

about 5 times as many outlets as I ever think I'd need

3 phase power!

more hand-tools than you could shake a stick at

Rockwell tester

Clean rooms with lay-out tables for leather work, finishing, etc.

LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL WINDOWS and VAULTED CEILINGS

a vacuum system that could suck start a Harley

lots of angle grinders

a big fat slack tub by the forges

a huge stone grinder (old school, but I'd like one)

a paragon oven

Well, that's some to chew on. I'm sure I can come up with more, but I'm tired...forging all day can cause need for that sleep stuff.

Good luck with it Ed!
Nick
 
Hey ED
I'm not sure if you meant, your going to put windows in or not?
IMHO windows in a work place will cause unintended light that will
often hinder your work, that may be why you got all that
bug juice left on yours :D :D
of course in the right room it's
not a problem, the bath room, mess hall, office, TV room maybe ?,
and in the show room.
excluding sky-Lights, and not limited to the aforementioned.
when I'm making, I have no clue there is a window there anyway
unless it's bothering me.
I don't do window anyway. but you can always shade them,
on the other side of the coin you'll have more space to hang tools
and shelving...on another note Angie said she's
not going to the Blade show with you..:(
bummer.the wife and I hoped to see you both there. see you there
if We can get through the crowd too your table :D :)
 
Man I love this thread and I've gotten a lot of good ideas out of it. I'm a big believer in windows, and when I actually build a dedicated shop some day the north wall will be glass, with the ability to completely open it and cover it.

Since I've been reading this over time I may be repeating someone else's suggestion, but rubber floor mats would be great wherever there isn't deep carpeting. Whenever we retire a throw rug from the house I put it on the floor in my shop, really makes standing for hours easier. I'd watch out for fire hazzard though.

Great thread, thanks a lot Ed. I want to be a student!
 
The electric power boys wanted $7,000 and a contract to bring 3 phase to the Willow Bow knife shop. Probably won't happen.

I have been thinking, a shower, why not a hot tub? Never been in one, saw one last month, they shure get talked up, I never could figure why.

The lybrary is a high point, I have thousands invested in books, many are in boxes and put away just because I don't have a place for them, it will be good times to visit them again.

I also wish Angie was comming to Blade Show this year. It was good times when we did shows together.

Nick that is quite a hope list. Most of the sophisticated machines would take me too long to learn. I do plan on about 10 buffers, all a little different but just right for their speciality.

The floor mats are mandatory and will be prevalent. I sincerely hope to be able to share time with all who wish to explore the frontiers of the high performance knife, and other stuff of interest.
Thanks for all the great dreams.
 
Ed, how then are you going to run the power to your shop?

$7000 is a lot of money,,,but is there a way around this problem?

my shop is about 50+ yards from my house. Last year the underground power that runs from my basement out to the shop broke. I had a guy from the power company come out with a tester to find the place so that I could dig it up by myself. (yes, they too wanted a huge pile of money to dig it locate the break) He located 3 different spots where he felt the line was broke. I dug and dug one whole weekend,,,hole after hole,,I didnt find anything broke, then on a hunch, I dug at the place where it looked like the underground power wire must turn and head up to the side of the outside shop wall. BINGO!... the power line was broke right at the bend.

I fixed it myself and saved a ton of money. From that day on, I just dont think the power guys are as smart and worth their high money they charge as they think they are...LOL
 
DaQo'tah-

I meant 3 phase power (three legs) versus single phase (1 leg) for running inustrial equipment.

Ed, that's a hefty price. I'm no electrician, but I do know a fella around here that put a 3phase converter into his 40X90' shop and he told me he did it for about $1500. It's neat because he actually creates the 3phase at the door of the shop...that way he can run several big machines and doesn't have to have a phase converter on each machine.

The stuff like the milling machine wouldn't really be neccessary at the shop you're building, but it would come in very handy for building tools and such in the shop. Same with the lathe, etc. But you did say the shop of my dreams... :D

Of course I don't remember the head-liners of the study, but I do remember one of those "studies we had to study" in college where they found most people are more out-going and productive in well-lit work areas...both artificial and natural light. So I stick by my LOTS OF WINDOWS and lights theory :)

The carpet sounds interesting, but from a guy with tons of allergies point of view...scarey!!! That would light a guy like me up like a fire. I'm sure it would be easier on the feet, but on the chance you got a student like me, they'd probably go into a serious allergy attack from that. I'm sure there are folks thinking, "well a guy like that shouldn't be in the shop then..." But I'm not going to quit making knives just because of it...I just have to keep the shop pretty clean.

I do like an alternative to just concrete though. For the smithy end of things I like brick, put down with intentional ups and downs. It keeps the pressure points continually changing on the feet and circulation working well.

For the grinder, hand work area....my dad has some mats that are made from recycled astro-turf. They are very thick, about 1.5-2" and look like an egg carton on the bottom. These are a dream!!! You would be amazed at how well they work and how much longer you can work standing on them. I really don't know where to find them, but with the net and all the people here, I'd think you could track some down.

There were a few things I'd seen mentioned so many times I didn't mention them...like the bathroom and air-compressor.

One thing that probably no-one but Ed Schemp would also think of. A chin-up bar. Hell no, you're not going to get most of these folks to work-out :eek: but the amount that the human back will compress over a day in the smithy is really surprising. Most fellas just don't realize how much more relaxed and less sore they'd be if they hung from a bar for a minute and stretched out. Now the same guys that would look at that and make some smart-ass comment, are the same ones complaining about how sore their back is at the end of the day ;)

Just some more ramblings :)
Nick
 
Good suggestion about the chin up bar, Nick. Personally though, I would be afraid that my big, heavy ass would pull the wall down! :D
 
A room for a shop besides my carpeted living room would be nice. And I'd like to have a edge grinder. Oh, and a Rockwell tested. Hardness tester first, then the edge grinder.

Roger
 
Hi.
One forge I saw had a section of pea gravel inset into his floor for the anvil, forge, and tub. He never had to worry about water from the tub, spills, fire, or cushioning for either his feet or dropped work. I will be doing that. Plus it is a little bit cheaper than concrete for that section.
Remember to build your mounting pad for the power hammers isolated from the rest of the floor so that your tools stay on the bench.
See you at Blade, Ken
 
Im not sure a dog door is a good idea...

I got a little cat door on my shop, and its nice for the cats,,,,but when Im walking out to the shop sometimes, and i smell that a skunk has been around the yard that night,,,I knida have a freaky feeling when i open the door to my shop as to what I might find....
 
Things I would Never put out in my shop...

1. a good Tv, (Tv is why I dont make as many knives as I could. Also the dust cant be good for a Tv anyway)

2. a computer...(goofing around ..like right now, on this computer is why I dont make knives too...)

3. a frige full of beer (oh, yes, I know haveing lots of beer always "sounds" like a great idea, but the truth is, that the first beer of the day starts to slow a guy's thinking down and soon the interest in making a knife gets lost)


4. a friends car... (he said he needed a place to work on it for only a weekend,,,2 months I was trying to work around that darn car,,,in the end he just towed it away haveing worked on it just 2 times)

5. a too small garbage can...(had a small cool looking can I got from my mom. it filled and became the garbage pile in the corner,,,then that section of the shop was the "pile"...(Note to self: Always make sure garbage can has wheels)
 
Ha! Good points DaQa'tah!

That brings up an interesting aspect into what other people would NOT WANT in their shop :)

Nick
 
Originally posted by NickWheeler
Ha! Good points DaQa'tah!

That brings up an interesting aspect into what other people would NOT WANT in their shop :)

Nick
Click to expand...

I wouldn't want a Walrus in my shop, nor a Lion. It's almost a toss up, but definitely no Walrus.:eek: :)
 
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