New Shop (The New Mossback Workshop)

[BonPacific]

The Mystery

I dug up the old rotted planks and... There was nothing but gravel underneath them. So now I need to grab a half yard to smooh everything out, but at least the shed floor will be stable. Still no idea what they were for originally. Best guess I could come up with was maybe an old tool stand for a compressor, since it's not far from a 30amp outlet.

Lighting

I got another 10 fixtures installed, and I am loving them. I screwed two fixtures to a piece of 2x2 scrap and hung that from the old fleurescent chains. It's not the prettiest solution, but it does even out the light nicely right over where I'm planning to put the main bench. I'll probably do another bar hanging over the front of the bay and I want to add a line of lights over what will become the stationary tool wall as well.

I had originally considered re-using some of my old feit fixtures upstairs, but they'd look pretty bad next to the new ones, so I hung the old fixtures out in the (sadly treasureless) woodshed.

Insulation

I called the outstanding insulation contractors. One hasn't gotten back to me yet and the other seems to have lost my bid entitely. So with no movement there, I decided to go ahead and tackle the garage doors.

Of course, the first thing I did was drive the horn of my lumber rack right into the bottom and mangle the whole damn door. An hour or so of swearing, clamping, and bending and I was able to get the worst of the damage out, fix the wheels that had jumped, and kept my airseal.

I went with EPS, for both its cheapness and its relative weight versus XPS. The doors are already becoming a bit of a pain to open, and who knows how long it'll take to get someone out to re-tension the spring and tune the track alignment. I may add another layer of something over the rails, for looks and to help with transfer through the metal bars.

A good sharp knife kept the foam pebbles manageable. One door takes three full sheets of foam and an entire roll of aluminum tape, but it already feels nicer working next to it.

The most important addition

Tunes! I had a little bluetooth speaker setup, but I finally got the old receiver and surround sound shlepped over from the old house and installed.

Between the heat (I can hold at around 65 when working during the day), lighting, and sound, the shop is finally at a point I could actually start comfortably working on projects. Obviously I'm not stopping here, but it's very heartening to have the space feeling comfortable.

Bonus

This cute little fella joined me today for lunch outside.

[Mark J]

What do think you will use to sheath the walls inside?  Or will you leave the insulation exposed?  

If I was going to sheath, I'd be sure to mark the sheathing for the locations of those studs, and the uprights.

Just looking at that structure now and I think it will have some advantages when it comes to hanging a simple tool rack, and some challenges when it comes to high load shelves.

[BonPacific]

I'll sheath the lower 8ft at a minimum. Probably going with half-inch t1-11, and I've been going back and forth between painted or natural. The bookshelf framing has pros and cons. Most of the beams will remain proud of the sheathing either way.

If I have to add some heavy shelving or mounts down the line I'll be able to pull down the plywood and add any vertical bracing as necessary.

[Chestnut]

I feel like every summer I had a pet salamander in my parents garage. My dad and I would get a lot of entertainment watching it eat crickets.

[BonPacific]

Question for y'all. I've got a plank half-wall running 2/3rds (~19ft) of the way between two bays of my shop. I'm thinking of taking one segment of half-wall all the way up, putting vertical lumber storage against it, and taking down the other half-wall. The difference in distance to the door or outside lumber shed is pretty negligible.

Would you take down the wall in the back, leaving a sort of "island" for lumber storage, or take down the middle section and stuff the lumber into a corner?

I can think of a hundred reasons to do either or neither and I'm hitting decision paralysis. Here'a a picture, though it's not easy to parse since my crap is all jumbled in the center if the room.

 

[Coop]

You’re probably not lacking in wall space as I am, in which case, I would take the entire half wall all the way up.

My answer to your question would depend on what is on the other side of the half wall and what your access needs to that area is. Also, consider what electrical receptacles you may need, if any, is on this wall. 

[BonPacific]

On 1/23/2022 at 5:28 PM, Coop said:

You’re probably not lacking in wall space as I am, in which case, I would take the entire half wall all the way up.

My answer to your question would depend on what is on the other side of the half wall and what your access needs to that area is. Also, consider what electrical receptacles you may need, if any, is on this wall. 

The other side of that half-wall is just the stairway and storage currently. Some day it could include a spray room, but that's the extent of any real ideation. The 4x4 posts onviously wont move so re-enclosing it would be easy enough to do.

Currently there's one outlet on each post.

[Chestnut]

If you can't make the decision now, don't. Get in the shop and use it and make the decision later. I don't think it's possible to set up a shop from the get go and have the locations set ahead of time. Get in the mindset that everything will change multiple times because it will. Then when something isn't working and you want to make a change it's a lot easier mentally to just do it.

I've moved my plywood storage area 3-4 times. It's gone out of and then back to the area I have it now.

Lumber storage has changed 5-6 times from various locations.

[BonPacific]

On 1/24/2022 at 6:03 AM, Chestnut said:

If you can't make the decision now, don't. Get in the shop and use it and make the decision later. I don't think it's possible to set up a shop from the get go and have the locations set ahead of time. Get in the mindset that everything will change multiple times because it will. Then when something isn't working and you want to make a change it's a lot easier mentally to just do it.

I've moved my plywood storage area 3-4 times. It's gone out of and then back to the area I have it now.

Lumber storage has changed 5-6 times from various locations.

This is a very good point. I fully recognize my layout will change over time. My issue at the moment is getting to that initial point though, since I need to leave the walls clear and accessible for ongoing insulation/electrical, but my current lumber storage is the back of my truck, which I need to clear out for other uses. I'd rather not just stack everything on the ground, though that's an option. I need to build a rack somewhere, and against the loft isn't any more work than the other options.

[gee-dub]

Just to add credence to the fact that the best laid plans . . . . I had almost 2 years of time to kill due to COVID delays, etc. while building the new shop.  The floor plan as well as the 3D plan got tweaked and tweaked during this time.  Despite all this I have moved one light fixture and added another due to not taking my own shadow-line into account when at the operator position on one machine. 

I moved the planer about 6" to the right but that was more to make the hose drape better than anything else.  I have been lucky on overbuilding the electrical requirements.  I also have two overhead cord reels so all the transient electrical requirements are easily met.  I have no doubt that some other change or adjustment is one project away 

[BonPacific]

The word of the day on this day, today, is storage.

It was getting hard to even think in the shop, so I took a break from electrical and insulation to deal with getting all the stuff out of piles on the floor. Specifically tackling two elements: lumber, and literally everything else.

Lumber storage

To begin, I needed to clear space along the half-wall/loft where I'm planning to store lumber. So all the ugly plywood that I'd pulled down needed a home out in the shed. I'd end up using several of the nicer sheets for shelving, but I needed to get it all together first.

CDX plywood base sitting on a 2x2 PT frame up on some concrete edging.

At one point the plan had been to store more lumber on the walls of the shed. After looking at the structure, I decided to limit that particular storage to construction lumber and bring the good stuff inside.

I extended the half-wall vertically with a sheet of 3/4" CDX and some 2x blocking to tie things together. Most of the weight remains oriented downward, so I'm not too worried about the wall's overall strength. The lower series of 2x12s are also a lot more rigid now.

At the 4' point I added a 1x3 rail which, combined with the thinner plywood backer, created a nice groove from which to hang moveable dividers (inspired by gee-dub). I used notched 2x3's with a separate slider screwed in at the back to give them a little more horizontal rigidity. The end rails are immobile. I still need to get some chain or bungees for safety, but with the angled bottom nothing has threatened to bbudge

I didn't discover any hidden nests of sapele, but this was a good reminder of what I did have in the back of the stacks.

The rack has about 80% of my hardwood lumber loaded. There's a catch-all section on the left, followed by maple, white oak , red oak, and walnut. Most of this came in an assorted lot I bought off another woodworker years ago.

Everything Else
Like a lot of people, I grew up watching Mythbusters, and as a result I have Jamie Hyneman's wall of storage permanently burned into my brain. I'm keeping my walls open and clear for the ongoing remodel, but the back of my lumber rack makes a natural place for storage. Lighter and bulkier items (foam, vacuum hose, etc) are up in the loft, but anything I'm likely to need while working lives here.

Simple 2x and plywood utility shelving.

I was already using a combination of these bankers boxes and 6qt plastic shoeboxes in my prior shop and other craft spaces, so this was an expansion of my existing standardization, with a handful of clear flip-tops for bulky items like wire spools. The middle shelf is currently being used as a clutter-catcher, but is sized for another row of bankers once I have more permanent space for my fastener and hardware jars.

The file cabinet is for liquids/flammables. Paint, glue, etc. Got it for a steal at my old surplus place.

Clear space and a table
I already posted this in the bench thread, but with "Mount *bleep*" finally cleared away, I had room to knock up a basic assembly table to give me somewhere more constructive to pile junk. It's just some squared-up 2x4s, 2x6s, and two sheets of 3/4” prefinished plywood that the BORG had marked down. I sized it to match the height of my tablesaw, though I doubt I'll ever use it as an outfeed there wasn't really a compelling alternative presenting itself. The base and top are easily replaced/separated if I ever feel like lowering it for a project. A 4x8 assembly table feels like a ridiculous luxury, but the length has already proven handy.

Behind it you can see my high-tech ripping extension for the tablesaw, aka a 2x6x8 bolted to the back rail of the saw with a foot at the end. It was a necessity for ripping down lumber for the assembly table (roller stands and I have never gotten along). I'm trying to reuse every scrap of old construction lumber I've recovered or brought with me. Even once I get around to making a proper outfeed table, I might still keep this thing in the shed.

A name
I'm not sure at what point I did this, but I decided that the new shop deserved a name. So taking a cue from one of the classics and my own PNW heritage, I decided to try my hand at a little freehand sign carving.

It says "The New Mossback Workshop" if the image isn't clear. The original settlers and farmers of the Oregon territory were sometimes derisively called mossbacks. In the 1800's they were often said (in eastern newspapers) to have things too easy, as the crop yields and economic opportunity out here were so plentiful that they wouldn't need to work hardly at all to earn everything they needed and would succumb to sloth. There's a local historian/commentor who has been reclaiming the term and I enjoy it.

Definitely a bit rough, but for a first try I'm happy with it. I printed out the text in Copperplate Gothic and traced the outlines into a piece of scrap cedar. I totally screwed up the alignment of the second line, but trucked on anyways. The bulk of the work was done with a 90* v-bit in my little router, and I came back with a razor knife and flexcut gouge to clean up some edges and do the serifs.

Finished and hanging above the door.

[justaguy]

looks good

 

[Chestnut]

That sign looks awesome! Have you thought about painting the recessed parts of the letters? Or painting the flat and leaving the letters wood? It'd really make it pop and would also look like a county/state/national park sign.

[Mark J]

I noticed in your second picture you have some parallel clamps stored heavy side down.  That's how I've done it in my shop.  

I know everyone else hangs parallel clamps heavy side up, but this makes more sense to me.

[Chestnut]

2 minutes ago, Mark J said:

I know everyone else hangs parallel clamps heavy side up, but this makes more sense to me.

I think it makes sense if the head is sitting on the floor or a shelf like you pictured. I like the jaws to stay opened. It's not uncommon for me to use the same width opening multiple times in a row. Now it may sound really lazy but it saves me some effort from having to open and close the jaws of the clamp between uses.

[JohnG]

Aha! The secret to Chestnut’s unparalleled productivity has been revealed! 

[gee-dub]

On 2/6/2022 at 8:27 PM, BonPacific said:

Finished and hanging above the door.
 

That looks great!  In many efforts there comes a time when I reach what I call the "That's It!!!" point.  This is when all other activity stops until I resolve whatever it is that has bugged me for . . .  the . . . last . . . time.  99 times out of 100 this involves clean-up or organizational things .  Your recent efforts look great and will pay dividends over an over again.

[BonPacific]

On 2/7/2022 at 6:20 AM, Chestnut said:

That sign looks awesome! Have you thought about painting the recessed parts of the letters? Or painting the flat and leaving the letters wood? It'd really make it pop and would also look like a county/state/national park sign.

I did, even picked out a nice forest green I like, but decided that that would call too much attention to the flaws. Keeping it natural felt like a nice compromise and I smile every time I look at it, so I'd call that a success. This probably won't be the last sign I make, so as I get a little better I'll be doing some outdoor signs that'll definitely get painted letters.

On 2/7/2022 at 6:27 AM, Mark J said:

I noticed in your second picture you have some parallel clamps stored heavy side down.  That's how I've done it in my shop. 

I know everyone else hangs parallel clamps heavy side up, but this makes more sense to me.

The interim storage is pretty similar to how I had them in my prior shop, with the parallels sitting underneath the F-styles to conserve wall space. Heavy side down does slightly increase the chances of them wedging shut, particularly on the older Jorgensens, but just feels natural with that wide and flat foot they've got.

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, BonPacific said:

I smile every time I look at it, so I'd call that a success.

That's my favorite criteria for success!

[gee-dub]

On 2/7/2022 at 8:42 AM, BonPacific said:

but decided that that would call too much attention to the flaws.

%s/flaws/character/

[Coop]

There needs to be a section on here, just dedicated to folks that have say, a 800 sq. ft. shop or greater. One of these days, my wife’s going to come out and catch me surfing this stuff and make me come inside! 

Great looking progress @BonPacific! 

[legenddc]

I really like that storage with the bankers boxes and shoe boxes stacked 1 high. I've been keeping some of my none-woodworking related things in more project specific shoeboxes (electrical tools, plumbing, etc.) but they're in stacks of 2 which is a pain. Definitely need some storage for parts of current projects like you have.

Keeping that shelf open is nice if you can. Gives you a place to put things before you are able to put them away. I would suggest adding a flat shelf on slides or some sort of platform for you to put a box on to take out what you need or put things away.

[gee-dub]

On 2/8/2022 at 6:57 AM, legenddc said:

I really like that storage with the bankers boxes and shoe boxes stacked 1 high. I've been keeping some of my none-woodworking related things in more project specific shoeboxes (electrical tools, plumbing, etc.) but they're in stacks of 2 which is a pain.

Amen.  Cubbies or size specific shelves are great for storage bins of any size.  I think we all have been attracted to the cool factor of stacking or interlocking tool boxes and bins.  My versions of those things not stand, stacked, in an outbuilding serving long term storage needs.  Quick, easy access to your storage bins makes your whole shop flow move smoother IMHO.

[BonPacific]

On 2/8/2022 at 7:28 AM, gee-dub said:

Amen.  Cubbies or size specific shelves are great for storage bins of any size.  I think we all have been attracted to the cool factor of stacking or interlocking tool boxes and bins.  My versions of those things not stand, stacked, in an outbuilding serving long term storage needs.  Quick, easy access to your storage bins makes your whole shop flow move smoother IMHO.

I like those interlocking storage bins (I use the Husky version) but only for things that tend to move together to a workspace, get used together, and then get put away again. Pretty much all stuff that happens in the craft room inside the house rather than out in the woodshop. I like the glass jars better for organization within the shop, as I can quickly grab either a few of something or the whole container and bring it to wherever I'm working. Plus the jars are free. For stuff like fasteners I'll buy the largest box I can to stock, and then decant as-needed into clear labelled jars.

On 2/8/2022 at 6:57 AM, legenddc said:

I really like that storage with the bankers boxes and shoe boxes stacked 1 high. I've been keeping some of my none-woodworking related things in more project specific shoeboxes (electrical tools, plumbing, etc.) but they're in stacks of 2 which is a pain. Definitely need some storage for parts of current projects like you have.

Keeping that shelf open is nice if you can. Gives you a place to put things before you are able to put them away. I would suggest adding a flat shelf on slides or some sort of platform for you to put a box on to take out what you need or put things away.

I'll probably keep a small section for "yet to be sorted"/red-tag, but I don't want to have a large area that tempts me to leave junk there. I'm not planning to go full 5S on my workshop, but I do want to try and embrace "a place for everything and everything in it's place" where I can.

It wasn't planned this way, but it just so happened that my old step stool is the perfect height/size to slide boxes from the lower shelf out onto. So I've been using that when I need to dig in with two hands for something. Once I've got the walls insulated I'll also be doing something more permanent with the storage under the stairs, which is currently where I've got my small power tools, and I may put a red-tag/sorting table on that side.

[legenddc]

Well you inspired me to add some of the plastic totes. Hung up an extra shelf I had, slapped some dry erase duct tape on the totes and put some stuff in them that was in my other little tool storage area. Will be moving these up once I get the shelves cleaned up more but it will work for now.