New shop front

[Tom King]

This building was here when we first acquired our place.  The front T111 was rotting off the front of it.  I forgot to take a picture of the front before starting on it, but had one already here, although it had gotten in much worse shape with big holes in the right door.  First picture is a few years old.

This is after a couple of mornings work on it.  The Sun doesn't hit that side until just before 12, and I'm not working on it in hot weather in the Sun, so will only work on it in the shade in the mornings.

It will be painted a traditional barn red with white trim.  The doors are 10 x 10, so I'm using this pattern with new T111 on the doors to avoid showing butt joints.  The doors with be framed around the edges with white board, and the "X" over the T111 seams.

Each door had three 8" Tee hinges.  I'm going to weld some new more substantial hinges, and will include those in this thread.  I bought some 7" long hinge barrels with ball bearings, and some steel plates off ebay for less than buying one such commercially made hinge.  There is a Big jump in prices from hardware store hinges to substantial ones.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/293623371904

I had covered the rotting fascia boards with vinyl coated aluminum a couple of years ago when I had rented a lift for another job.

The building is 24x40.  I plan to add on another 24' wide addition on the left side that extends 16' past the back of the current building, and wraps around the back of it.  The back

16x24 foot on the back will be for welding and machine work, and the 24x56 a woodworking shop.  I had dug footings for it several years ago, but then we bought the rental house, my Mother moved in with us, and I filled the footings back in because I knew it would be several years before I could get to it.  I couldn't keep putting off redoing the front though.  

 

[sjeff70]

Did this building ever have gutters on it to shed away water?  

[Tom King]

No gutters.  It's a pole building with a slab inside.  Poorly built, but too good to just tear down.  I've been using it for a mechanic shop, and lately been doing some woodworking out of it.

I added a 24' wide shed on the right side of it years ago to store hay in, now storage for other stuff that we don't have so many horses.  I figure the easiest way to protect it is to build all the way around it, and do some grading.  The ground does slope away on the front, and right side, plus I regraded the back years ago.   At some point, I'll put a big covered area off the front of it too.

 

[Tom King]

Here's another view of it to the right.  I'm glad to have it, especially considering it was valued at nothing when we got this place, so paid nothing extra for it over the land price.  That's our barn, chicken house, other sheds, and part of our house to the far left.  There's about a 2 acre field between it and our house.  We used to use the field as a jumping arena, but we quit jumping horses years ago, so I let grass grow on it, and took the fences down. This is the highest hill for a good ways around here.  There's a lake view on both sides.

[Tom King]

Here's the doors open with the holes in the right door.  The holes has grown large enough for someone to crawl through since this picture was taken last Summer.

[Tom King]

I had avoided footballs in all but the last corner piece (the piece left out yesterday).  Out of the scraps, I was able to get two clear pieces, and only needed to make one rabbet to take the place of the one piece corner.  I just used a circular saw, and utility knife to make that one 2' long rabbet.

The hinges are so bad that one door sags 1-3/4" more than the one that's wedged up level.   When I make the new hinges, and install them, I'll screw a board across each door opening, with the doors in place, and wedge them up so the grooves line up.  I'll have to add something to the bottom of one door.  The floor is out of level side to side, so I'll install the trim pieces to fit that some kind of way.  Nothing about this building is plumb, square, level, or straight.

I'll probably paint them the red color tomorrow.  I'm going to paint the trim pieces white before I put them on, and probably do the caulking with Lexel, so I don't have to do much cutting in of paint. 

Once I get the doors finished, I'll scaffold it up, and replace the siding on the building front.  Probably going to add a little roof over the door openings.

 

[Tom King]

No work this morning.  Pam had appointments, so I had to stay close for my Mom.

[Tom King]

I painted all the cracks in the T111, but forgot to take a picture except soon after I started.  We wanted to see if we picked a good red-Sherwin-Williams Salute  https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW7582-salute     , and we're both pleased with the color.  It looks a little purple on my monitor, but it's really a slightly brownish red.

It was the first time I've ever done anything with T111 except spray it with stain.  I brushed the grooves with the Emerald, and it looks like one coat is going to do that.  I'm going to roll the rest of it, but will sand it some first to knock down the sharpest little pieces sticking up.  I did brush over some of the smoother parts just to look at the color.

Hinge parts are supposed to show up today.

 

[Tom King]

Only the 12- 3/8x5x7 steel plates came for the hinges.  The box weighs 30 pounds. 

 I'll drill the holes in the plates in next few days, even if the barrels haven't shown up by then.  Fasteners will be 3/8 through bolts, with a couple of small holes for screws to hold them in place, all with the barrels aligned, for drilling the 3/8" holes.  The framing 4x6's that the hinges mount to are bowed, so I'll need to do some shimming under the hinge plates before drilling the big holes.  The screw holes will let me use VIX bits for the first wood screw fasteners.

And while I was typing this, looks like the hinge barrels came.

[Tom King]

I went over this evening, and fiddled around with the hinge parts.   The pin is 3/4".  I had a couple of thrust bearings with 3/4 I.D. that I didn't end up using for what I bought them for, so will put them on the bottom hinge pins.

The hinge barrels have a single ball bearing under the top, with a grease zerk on top.  Those would probably last a long time, but I'm going to put those thrust bearings down close to the ground where I can change the bearings when I'm 90 years old without having to take the whole doors down.  I'll let the thrust bearing carry almost all of the weight, so there should be almost no wear on the upper ones.

I have the holes laid out on the first one.  I'll use those marks to set the drill press vise, and drill all twelve of the hinge leaves with the same setup, then on to the next one, and so forth.  They will be ground and welded after all the holes are drilled, and the edges tapered down some.

They're going to be some STOUT hinges, but the big doors should work well for a Long time.

Each hinge will probably weigh between 7 and 8 pounds.

I have two welding helmets, so my BIL will watch and learn something about welding.  A MIG welder is really nothing more than a Really Hot, hot melt glue gun.

 

[Tom King]

This morning, I had the supplied air rig out to sand a couple of chairs Pam was working on for the porch, so I decided to see how I wanted to sand the doors before I went any farther with painting.  

First I tried 120, and ended up going to 60 grit.  It knocks all the little T111 splinters down quickly, but still leaves the surface rough enough to see that it's not smooth, while still being able to run your hands over them without anything snagging.

I only painted about 1/4 of one door before the Sun caught me.  At least I know what I want to do with them now.

 

[Tom King]

We drilled the holes in the hinge plates yesterday, and welded them up this morning.  My BIL says when the Archaeologists dig this place, these will be the last things left, and they will say:  "  expletive deleted!"    I told him they looked about right to me.  I was teaching him a bit of welding in the process, so the beads aren't the prettiest, but I'm sure they're plenty strong.

One Bosch 3/8 cobalt bit drilled all 56 holes in the 3/8 steel plate, and seems still as sharp as when we started with it.

The bottom hinge on each door will be removable from the outside for easy replacement of the thrust bearings from on the ground.

The center hole in the side with five holes is for the screw that holds them in place while I get them aligned good, before I drill the bolt holes.  They will have four through bolts on each side of the barrel.

Each hinge weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces, not including the thrust ball bearings on the bottom hinges.

I wish I had a bead blaster, but don't have anywhere to put one right now, so I have to figure out the best way to get the mill scale off of them so they can be painted.  The hinge barrels are painted, so they are easy.

 

[Tom King]

I forgot I had the Eastwood SCT (surface conditioning tool).  It made fairly quick work out of the hinge plates.  I tried several wheels on it, and ended up using the coarsest nylon bristle abrasive wheel I had - 80 grit.

They were primed with Eastwood 2K two part spray primer and black chassis coating that I had bought for another job, but never used.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-2k-aerospraytm-ceramic-chassis-black.html

 

[Tom King]

Thinking that these hinges are not going to be that attractive, I'm looking at 1/8" aluminum plate to put some long false tales on them.  Everyone that drives in here sees that building, so I'd like to make it look attractive.  Any that might be close to big enough would cost half a grand by the time I did both sides of six of them 5" wide to start next to these hinges.

I've never cut aluminum shapes with a bandsaw, or scroll saw, so am looking at blades too.  Any suggestions are welcomed.  

These are the only ones I've found wide enough, but they're too busy, and not the look I'd want, plus not long enough.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/143021134637?var=443381220825

 

[wtnhighlander]

Tom, I've cut just a little bit of aliminum, using standard wood blades, and it worked quite well. Turn the speed down if you can. Flat aluminum plate or bar scrolls nicely at lower speeds.

[Coop]

With your property and the lake staring visitors in the face, I doubt seriously that your black hinges will draw their attention. Looking good like they are! 

[BonPacific]

I'm with Coop. False tails sounds like an unecessary embellishment. Chunky and practical like you've got seems like a perfect fit for a barn. A little modern maybe, but certainly not detracting.

Worst case, if you think they stick out after getting everything together you could just paint them white to match the trim and they'll probably disappear.

[Tom King]

Thanks guys.  I had already decided to just put everything up, painted, and see how it looks.  I saw some simple black "hinges" on a new restaurant in town yesterday, and they didn't look too bad.  

If I do decide to cut up some aluminum for fake hinge straps, my BIL says I can save some money if I just steal road signs.

 

 

[Tom King]

I finally got both doors painted red.  It took a gallon and a half of SW Emerald to paint the 200 sq. ft. of door surface.  After sanding and feeling like the T111 needed to be painted with a brush, I think I'm done ever wanting to paint T111 again.  I'll think of something else to use for the rest of the front of the building.

[BonPacific]

A soft and thick nap roller is the only thing I've seen really give good coverage on t111. I've done okay with a sprayer, but only on older stuff that was thinner and weathered.

[Tom King]

My BIL and Wife came back for a few days before heading out with their Airstream.  We have one of the doors ready to mount the hinges, so will probably have that one swinging tomorrow.  I still need to be able to get in and out of that building, so we are only working on one door at the time.

I screwed a couple of short pieces of 2x4 into the header to keep the door from falling out, took the old hinges off, and have mounted the treated 2x8 on the building that will properly space out the hinges to account for the trim boards on the door.  With the two short 2x4's just holding the door loosely in the opening, we wedged it exactly in place where we wanted it to end up, and mounted the 2x8 by judging the gap between it and the door.

All we have to do is mount the hinges, making sure to keep all the barrels aligned, take the short 2x4's down, and the door will be hung on the new hinges.

When we get both doors hung, I'll add the rest of the trim pieces.  That way we can be sure both doors will align to the eye with each other.

I decided to put a horizontal piece of painted dry treated 2x12 at the bottom of the wall partially because it seemed like a good idea, and partially because the 2x8 was exactly 10 feet long, and I needed 10'2".

 

[Tom King]

While he was here with his hybrid F150, we decided to go down to the little bathroom house that I stopped working on last Spring, and cut the section of floor out where the shower will go.   His generator wouldn't pull the saw more than 15 seconds at the time though until it tripped a breaker, so we quit that until I have time to carry the generator down there.  

The saw says it draws 15 amps, but I think that's just when it doesn't have much load on it.  It went right through the concrete when it did cut though, and the water feed kept all the dust down, so at least I know it will do the job.

https://www.amazon.com/Steel-Force-Portable-Electric-Circular/dp/B08TVWK6PP/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1B4SZVOT93VHU&keywords=14"%2Bmasonry%2Bsaw&qid=1665166365&sprefix=14%2Bmasonry%2Bsaw%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.c3015c4a-46bb-44b9-81a4-dc28e6d374b3&th=1

Looking at that ad, I feel good that I bought that saw when it was $185.

[pkinneb]

On 10/7/2022 at 1:16 PM, Tom King said:

While he was here with his hybrid F150, we decided to go down to the little bathroom house that I stopped working on last Spring, and cut the section of floor out where the shower will go.   His generator wouldn't pull the saw more than 15 seconds at the time though until it tripped a breaker, so we quit that until I have time to carry the generator down there.  

The saw says it draws 15 amps, but I think that's just when it doesn't have much load on it.  It went right through the concrete when it did cut though, and the water feed kept all the dust down, so at least I know it will do the job.

https://www.amazon.com/Steel-Force-Portable-Electric-Circular/dp/B08TVWK6PP/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1B4SZVOT93VHU&keywords=14"%2Bmasonry%2Bsaw&qid=1665166365&sprefix=14%2Bmasonry%2Bsaw%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.c3015c4a-46bb-44b9-81a4-dc28e6d374b3&th=1

Looking at that ad, I feel good that I bought that saw when it was $185.

He couldn't pull 15amps on a 7.2KW generator? 

[Tom King]

I'm pretty sure the saw was pulling more than that.  I was making a full depth cut, all the way through the old, really hard concrete.  I just decided to quit, and go do something else rather than wasting all that time.  If I had stopped and thought about it, I should have made several passes not at full depth.  The saw would seem like it was working pretty easily, but then something caused the blade to slow down even though it wasn't binding.  I expect it was flexing.  The old floor was nothing like level for the saw base to ride on.

I'm pretty sure I can get it with my generator, but we were taking too much time this morning on that.  I think I'll hang my amp clamp meter on it next time to see exactly how much it's drawing  The ad says 2600 watts, but also 15 amps.  2600 watts at 120 volts is over 20 amps.

The floor drain was also clogged up, so the water wasn't running away.   It will make it a lot more pleasant working conditions in that spot if I unclog that drain line, but didn't want to take time to do that this morning.

I just thought we could go knock the cuts out since his truck was here, but didn't work out that way.  Sometimes it's best to punt.

[Tom King]

We have that one door hung, and swinging.

I knew it was supposed to work this way, but it's almost unbelievable how smooth and quiet it is.  You can give it the slightest push, and it will keep going from the slightest inertia.

I was a bit worried that the 1x6 white trim boards would be too narrow, but with just the one up it looks like the width is going to work out fine.  The white will only be surround on the outer edges of the doors, with an X across the diagonals, all 1x6's like the one under the hinges.