Hello from Northern Kentucky


airgunner

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Hello everybody,

I’m new to this site but not WW’ing. I been into WW’ing throughout my life and use to be a member of Badger Pond if any of you remembers that forum?

Back when my kids were younger, my “shop” was my garage that was shared with a car, yard tools, ladders, bikes etc. so everything had to be mobile and “taken out” to use then “put away” when done which isn’t much fun or efficient time wise. Combine that with the normal parent stuff and I just didn’t have much time for WW’ing and didn’t get many projects completed. Over time my focus drifted toward my other hobbies while my tools sat and collected dust and rust :(

Fast forward to now and my “kids” are grown and serving in the Navy and I just bought a new house. I really want to get back into WW’ing and this time, I wanted a dedicated shop space. I know for a lot of people, the ideal space would be an outbuilding but for a number of reasons, I wanted something in the house so one of the main requirements when looking for a new house was something with decent sized unfinished walk out basement. 

After more than a year of looking, I found an almost perfect house for my needs and desires. One of the things that made it almost perfect was the basement. The house is a ranch with a large walk out basement with a couple of full size windows that provide a lot of natural light. The main shop space will be 18x38’ with ~14x12 “L” off of it that I will use for lumber storage, dust collector, etc. (still working out the layout).

It will take me some time to turn this space into a working shop (and even longer to turn it into my dream shop) as I’m currently in the middle of a kitchen remodel and to be honest, I just don’t work as fast as some of you do. First step for the shop is going to be building walls, insulation/sound deadening, electrical and lighting. Then I can start building benches, storage and get the dust collection figured out. I need to get some of my tools back into working order and plan to upgrade some of them as well. 

Anyway, I will have lots of questions and may even be able to contribute some too but I figured I’d introduce myself first.
 

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2 hours ago, Jfitz said:

Hi and welcome!  It sounds like you have a fantastic space to build up your shop.

Thanks. I hope so. Here are some pics of what I'm working with (consider this my first "Shop Tour" lol)...

The last owner started finishing the basement but unfortunately he didn't know what he was doing and did everything wrong. So I will first have to tear it all out so I can start from scratch and do it right.

I'd like to add a third window on the back in the 12x14 area but that may be cost prohibitive seeing how that's a concrete wall?

House-Basement.jpg

House-Basement2.jpg

House-Basement3.jpg

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1 hour ago, Jfitz said:

Wow.  That's quite a space.  Do you have a plan/layout for your shop yet?  Bear in mind you can always drop a few other walls to make "other" spaces - lumber storage, supply closet, spray/finish room ....

 

 

Nothing formal or on paper but I have a lot of it drawn up in my head. The first pic shows the main shop area which is the 18x38" section. The section behind the wall in the middle of the space in pic 2 will be split. The left corner from that view will be a 13x13" gun room (my other hobby). The other half will be the utility/storage room. There will also be an exercise room and a full bath in another section not show in the pics.

The 3rd pic shows the bump out that I'd like to put another window in. That is the 12x14' space and I'm debating whether I will close that section off or leave it open? I'm leaning towards leaving it open because I plan to finish this whole basement so that it could be easily converted into living space should I ever decide to sell/move. On the other hand, with a window I could build a closet in that space and call it a bedroom if I ever sell?

If I can get a window put in, I'm thinking I may put the lathe (the lathe I don't even have yet lol) in front of that window? On the wall to the right, plywood storage on the bottom with some horizontal lumber storage above it. On the left wall the dust collector and some vertical lumber storage. That area is wide enough that there will be plenty of room in the middle to do something else? I could close it off (or use some type of temporary wall) and put a bench in there for finishing but finishing in a room where the DC lives probably isn't a great idea? With the lumber and DC right there, might be a good place to park the planer and jointer?

IDK for sure yet? I'm just working out ideas in my head right now. I need to get and learn how to use SketchUp or something similar to help plan and visualize some of the ideas in my head. The shop will get it's own sub-panel and the cabling will be run in metal conduit outside of the walls so I can play around with the locations of tools fairly easily and figure out what works best for me.

Honestly, I didn't expect to have this much space to have so many options like a dedicated finish room! lol

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Welcome to the forums.  

That is a nice looking space.  Putting a window in the back space would be nice for adding more natural light but if you plan is to mainly us it for lumber storage and you DC unit, why bother, it may be more usable with out having t work around the window.  And you might  find with your DC unit in there that you will want to close it off some to cut down on notice.

Keep posting pictures as you go,  we like watching things progress.

 

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2 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Have to ask, is your handle related to former military activity, or perhaps another hobby?

It has dual meaning for me. Its partly an homage to my father's Military service (B-29 tailgunner in WWII) and my own interest in shooting/firearms and at one time, precision air rifles

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1 hour ago, airgunner said:

It has dual meaning for me. Its partly an homage to my father's Military service (B-29 tailgunner in WWII) and my own interest in shooting/firearms and at one time, precision air rifles

Sweet!  I am fascinated with air-powered firearms, but woodworking is an expensive enough hobby on its own...

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3 hours ago, airgunner said:

(B-29 tailgunner in WWII)

My hat is always of to anyone who served in our military, but tail gunners and turret gunners -  some of the most important guys on the plane in my opinion but their positions in the plane had their butts really exposed to danger.

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That will make a great shop. I wish I had that much floor space.

This is a bit off topic but reminded me of one tragedy during WWII.  It seems a bomber was landing at its home base after coming back from a bombing run over Germany.  The landing gear wouldn't lower so it was a belly landing.  The second part of the story was that the ball turret gunner was stuck.  The crew could not get the crew member out.  When the plane landed, the crew member was instantly killed.  We sometimes forget the sacrifices that were made by many men and women over the years.

 

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22 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Sweet!  I am fascinated with air-powered firearms, but woodworking is an expensive enough hobby on its own...

Yes, it can quickly become a very expensive hobby but I've realized that there are no inexpensive hobbies. Some are more expensive then others but If you get into anything deep enough it will drain your wallet quickly. I have probably a dozen or more interests but I've had to limit the number of hobbies I actively pursue because I don't have enough time or money for all of them!

I am absolutely in love with quality tools and IMO, firearms (as well as air driven rifles and pistols) are just another type of tools

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17 hours ago, Bankstick said:

This is a bit off topic but reminded me of one tragedy during WWII.  It seems a bomber was landing at its home base after coming back from a bombing run over Germany.  The landing gear wouldn't lower so it was a belly landing.  The second part of the story was that the ball turret gunner was stuck.  The crew could not get the crew member out.  When the plane landed, the crew member was instantly killed.  We sometimes forget the sacrifices that were made by many men and women over the years.

 

That is so true. I think those of us who have never served will never full understand or maybe even fully appreciate what it means to serve and what those brave men and woman have done for us in the name of freedom.

Their is no more truer statement IMO then.. "All gave some, some gave all"

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