New Shop, Very Excited, but, Man, I'm Dumb

OK. Got the air sorted out this afternoon. Thats step one. Step two is cert of occupancy, insurance ($1050 a year sound right for liability and property?), and business license in a new city. That'll be tomorrow, and I've talked to the city, and they're easy to get along with (it seems).

I bought the components for the first workbench. Its a 24' long bench along the north wall. It includes 4 cabinet/drawer combo's. This will allow each of us to have a little space of his own (Dylan, myself, and two full time apprentices). I have a bank of 6 school lockers also, so everyone has a spot for their clothes, etc. On the south wall I will build a 16' long workbench. That will house 3 KMG's, the chop saw and a 1x42 by kalamazoo. The dust collection and compressor go under the stairs along with some furnituremaking tools I use every so often like the big planer.

Phil Dwyer said:
Make sure you don't do the same thing with the electrical polarity! And remember, hot goes on the left, cold on the right! :D
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LOL. That made me laugh for sure. I hope I don't! I was an electrical engineer before this knife thing, so if I make that mistake I really have no excuse!

tattooedfreak said:
hahahaha curtains and cakes... Seriously though, I am a little jealous as well. Good luck, and make sure you have a floor plan for everything. Although that will probably change as you bring stuff in hehe.
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We made floor plans. This is the third shop for me. I'm hoping its as big a leap as the 2nd was!

fast14riot said:
I am assuming you got black steel pipe, right? Because black plastic (abs) is not pressure rated.
-Xander
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Yes I did. I read a lot about the PVC exploding, and went ahead and got the black pipe.

I'll post pics as things get done. Right now its just a space with shit everywhere, and pipe on the walls. (Connected to the compressor, tested and holding air.)

Edited to add that, of course, this new shop project will be followed IMMEDIATELY by the, 'Andy Finish My Basement' project. Drywall. Yippie. At least all the power is run...
 
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Yesterday Dan and I built the first workbench. More of a countertop area. 1.5" thick furniture plywood top. 4 unfinished hardwood cabinet bases. 23' long, 27" deep. Above that will be pegboard then shelves. There are 3 compressor ports over that bench. All we have left on that one is to put the edging on there. I have a lot of curly Maple. We're going to cut it into strips and use it for the edging. There is a nice 4" lip that is the thickness of the top so you can clamp to the entire length. This bench will hold the HT furnaces, kydex area, etc.

The other wall will have a 16' bench. The KMG's will be there, a 1x42 belt grinder, and a chop saw. I'll post pics of the first bench this evening.
 
That seems a little pricey on the ins. Might be worth getting a couple of more quotes. Found it important to really make sure you're comparing apples to apples when talking to those guys. Congrats on the new shop!
 
I'm waiting for the second insurance quote now. I'm hoping it comes in cheaper.
 
Congrats on the new shop. I am green with envy! The layout sounds great. Can't wait to see more pictures as your shop progresses. Thanks for sharing.
Jim
 
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Fiddleback said:
I'm waiting for the second insurance quote now. I'm hoping it comes in cheaper.
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I had to sleep with my agent to get cheaper prices, but it worked.

Hey, my agent is my wife!! (and she said, ya, insurance should be cheaper than that, but then again we are in a different state)
 
Looks good !!!! I can feel the energy emanating through my puter screen... :D

another way to go through all the hoopla is to create a fictitious business and use fiddleback as a subsidiary.. but that's water under the bridge, this expansion of yours is the way to go!!!!

What is your primary use for the compressor??

take care,
 
I use a tapered carbide burr to clean the scale out of drill holes after HT, or to enlarge holes after HT. But mostly just blowing dust out of my way will be the primary use. I have thought a lot about a sandblasting cabinet, but haven't decided. For 01, it wouldn't help me much (rust like hell), and thats my primary steel. What I'd do with it is handle related anyway. We'll see. Right now I want to settle in and be sure this is working still...
 
Alrighty. Progress pics. The first shot is taken from the bay door looking in. You can see the air port pipe up on the wall. I am just rough placing the cabinets using 2x4's to ajust the spacing. The bench will go on these cabinets.

21020119DSC00016-vi.jpg


This is a detail shot of the black pipe compressor line. The bench for the KMG's will go on this wall.

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This is the first bench all put together. We're going to face the plywood edges with curly maple. I got 30 board feet yesterday for the task for $1.80 a bf. Hehe. Cabinetmakers, ... They think its trash. There will be pegboard over this bench, then two shelves with lighting underneath them.

21020119DSC00024-vi.jpg


The rest of the pics are just random 'move in' pics. The first shows the front door. You can see the side yard there. The landlord doesn't mind me turning this into a dog run. I'm really stoked to take Boudreaux with me to work.

21020119DSC00018-vi.jpg


This is the front workspace. We will have a leather bench in this room, a PC, two tables for glueup, random not dusty task areas will be in here(kydex rivets and such). Its more space than we're using for this now.

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This is the 'office'. We haven't decided exactly how to use this yet. For now its our eating spot.

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Is the teddy bear you main kydex guy?? :D

looks good Andy, wished I was closer I'd donate some of my time for a knife making tutorial.. :)

you guys are making some decent progress, you figure you'll be in by Monday??
 
No. We're building the second bench tonite, and I'll be doing wiring this weekend. We'll start the move once the wiring is done.
 
Man, that was interesting. We did put on moisture traps. Might go ahead and put a slope in the pipe. Thats a good idea. Neato writeup.
 
12345678910 said:
There is quite a lot more to piping air than I knew.
Water in the lines is miserable especially when blasting.


This is interesting
http://www.ch601.org/tools/Neil/DESIGNING SHOP AIR SYSTEM.pdf

http://www.sharpe1.com/sharpe/sharpe.nsf/images/pipe-layout-1.gif/$File/pipe-layout-1.gif
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My Linux computer isn't displaying a character correctly. What should the minimum size be for the drop lines?

Use 2" or greater diameter pipe as the first leg of your system where the air compressor connects
to the air piping system, and no less than " for the runs and drops.
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