Thread: Sturdee needs help.

Originally posted by Sturdee
What is considered necessary for this? Any advice will be appreciated.

Peter.

A fridge

and beverage of choice

Originally posted by Sturdee
What is considered necessary for this?

Peter.

Hi Peter
One thing I would do is make sure you have an exhaust fan, I am applying some poly U at the moment in a large shed, 6x15m, and even given the size of the shed, the fumes are sometimes too much, especially when I cant open the big door.

Cheers, Al

If you're going to put an exhaust fan in your finishing room, I'd suggest that you think about the flammable nature of whatever you're using. Either use water based finishes, or an explosion proof (intrinsically safe & therefore expensive) fan, or failing that use a fan to push filtered air in from outside and exhaust from the opposite wall of the room.


Cheers,


Justin.

Originally posted by Gumby
A fridge

Gumby, it already has a small bar fridge and freezer as it is a storage shed. Unfortunately they will have to shift house to another shed to make room.


Peter.

I have started a course on furniture restoration and french polishing as my main aim is to restore our bedroom suite and other furniture. This is what makes the clean shed necessary as I don't want to tie up the workshop for this work.

As such an explosive proof exhaust setup is a very good idea, thanks Allan and Justin.

Please keep the suggestion coming.


Peter.

Lighting is VERY important. Even though you have a clear panel in the roof I would also look at installing lots of extra lighting so that there are no shadowed areas that could confuse the eye.

Also, although you say that you have power to the shed you do not mention how many power points you have. When I was running the cables for our kitchen I put in about 12 double power points. Everybody laughed at me but we regularly use just about every one of them. For instance, we needed points for the following items to be permanently plugged in:
Microwave
Stove
Cooktop
Exhaust fan
External lights * 2
Refrigerator
Clothes dryer
Clothes washer

(I have a very long kitchen and the last two are at the far end of the kitchen)
Apart from this we use the Jug, Electric frying pan etc.

Relatives are now wishing they also had large numbers of power points and ask advice on location etc. ... vindicated

if its a 3 x 3 garden shed sounds like a good little spray booth.

think about not insulating it & you could have a lo bake oven. Regulate the temp with a tarp.

Think about pickin it up, & putting a course of besser bricks under the edges & dropin it back down for some head room.

Lighting, shine a 1500watt QI from above thru the clear roof & the lighting isn't inside the hazardous area.

keep an eye out in the trading post & at the auctions for a flameproof fan.

or run a belt drive fan on a long shaft such that the motor is placed outside the duct and outside the hazardous zone. the shaft can be sealed with a bearing or such. ther are some small commercial units that work this way.

Buy a good respirator. the sundstrom is the unit of choice.

cheers

A blind to cover skylight as it concentrates heat, and as Murphy resides everywhere, you know what it will concentrate on.

That nice new french polish job and warp the top or worse.

I'd insulate it...nice reflective foil ceiling and walls.

The exhaust fan is a must, but I have been very impressed with the results (only one so far!) that I have achieved by leaving the dust filter fan on until the varnish was touch dry. Even if it didn't need to filter anything, the circulation seemed to stop dust settling on the object in question (a 16' timber boat).

They are easy enough to build, and if you want to recirculate the air,(after you have vacated!) which would avoid bringing fresh dust into the place, you can get an activated charcoal filter which will clean up some of the fumes for a bit.

We built a spray booth in one of our offices (for airbrush work) using an old wardrobe on it's side with box duct built into each end and a light on the top. Into each box we fitted two fire-safe bathroom exhaust fans, ducted to the outside air, and to stop the inevitable build up of paint and spray adhesive, we just used to slap a "man-size" Kleenex tissue onto the face of the fans (held by the vacuum of the fan). The easiest filter change ever!

The whole shooting match cost us four fans, and we could spray quite safely in an enclosed room, with fresh air supplied by the office air conditioning.

In summary, I would love to see an exhaust system with a blast gate that allowed it to become a filetered recirculating one when you were not in the room!

I look forward to seeing the pictures!

Cheers,

P

I can see it now - orange finishing jigs everywhere.

Here's where you can be a real help to Sturdee - suggest some finishing jigs.

I'll start: How about an orange grease gun loaded with UBeaut Traditional Wax?

If this was mine, a few options that would be included: explosion proof exhaust fan with filters, a vacume cleaner if you do any cleanup (and you will), a spot where you can scuff or do any minor sanding, a bench for mixing finishes, a water source in case you get anything in your eyes/face, good lighting, heating/humidity control, if your chemicals are combustible then an explosion proof cabinet, air supply and regulator for blowing off and in case you want to use a spray gun.

That's the short list, hope it all goes well.

use an orange paint brush,
I saw an orange paint stirrer in mitre10 the other day

I have started cleaning out the shed and hopefully by this time next week I will be ready to actually start on the conversion.

Here is some further information on the project. I have three sheds in a row, bolted together, sitting along the side fence and because of the land slope there is a drop of approx. 300mm between the levels of each shed. To make the appearance better the whole front of them is faced with white painted weatherboards which is the same as the house. At the end of the sheds there is the potting shed built in the same shape but covered with shadecloth and timber front. The shed closest to the house will ultimately converted to my wood storage shed, the second stores my garden equipment and the third is the one to be converted with the potting shed at the end.

The shed is 3M * 3M and has double opening doors giving an entrance opening of 1.4M. The height at the front and back is 1.75M and 2.05M in the middle. Whilst it is not very high it is not a great problem for me as I am only 1.65 high. In any case I am used to low ceilings as the main part of my workshop is 1.9M with a drop down to 1.75 for the beam and the other part is 1.85M with a drop to 1.8M for another beam. However raising the shed is not an option.

This is the plan so far:

I will definitely insulate and line the shed and install a blind to cover the skylight as required.

Electricity to the sheds is through a separate power circuit from the workshop sub fuse board. At this stage each shed has a powerpoint and simple light. I am proposing to install 2 double fluro’s in the centre of the roof. This will be supplemented, as required, with two mobile 150 watts halogen spotlights and adjustable desk lamps. I will also install sufficient powerpoints.

Along the left side of the shed will be a long workbench with a laundry trough and water tap. Underneath the bench will be storage for paint, drop sheets etc. Along the right side will be a fold up bench with shelving above for storage. A fireproof cabinet can be included in this.

I am considering building a small fold away spray booth at the back wall. For dust collection I will build a mini cyclone powered by an old vacuum cleaner, which can be mounted in the adjacent garden shed with access through the wall. For dusting of a small el-cheapo compressor also placed in the garden shed will do. If I am going to spray I’ll run a hose from the main workshop compressor.

For ventilation I am still unsure what to do , do I install roof ventilators with clean filtered air blown in from the garden shed through an adapted old evaporative cooler or do I get exhaust fans?

Any and all suggestions and comments or advice is welcome.


Peter.