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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
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    Default Tinkerer's workshop

    Hi all

    Thought I'd post a few pics of my workshop build. It's been a much slower process than I'd have liked due to other commitments, but I'm finally building some steam and hope to start moving in around mid March. Wifey will be very glad to have her garage spot back =)

    The old shed ... good for garden tools but not much more
    Site cleared
    Layout plan and elevations for new shed
    New shed up and slab poured ... solidly compacted sand base with 100mm N20 slab, SL72 mesh, on plastic
    Interior view of rear wall. Note the floor socket (100 SHS 4.0 x 1000 deep) which can be used for tool stands and the like.
    Interior view of right hand wall.
    Interior view of front wall.
    Floor painted with Bondall Factory Floor Paint; Ametalin Thermalbreak 8 insulation fitted; fluoro troffers hung

    The Thermalbreak 8 insulation makes a huge difference to the temperature inside the shed on hot days, as you can see in this thermal image taken while I was installing it. It's relatively expensive but I'd highly recommend it. All the joints were taped and each sheet is installed continuous up one wall, across the ceiling and down the other wall so there are very few gaps in the sheeting.

    My plans from here are to install vertical Tophat 64 battens to all the walls with slightly compressed 75mm Earthwool R2.0HD thermal and acoustic batts between them, then line them all with 15mm F8 non-structural ply. Should let me hang anything I want anywhere I want and provide good acoustic and thermal insulation. No plan on any further finish for the ceiling at present.

    I'll then have it wired up with lots of 10A and 15A powerpoints including a couple suspended from the internal trusses, and am planning on running piped compressed air around the perimeter too. Consider this a 'tinkerer's shed' rather than a specific woodworking or machining workshop - I have a lot of other hobbies (offroading; multirotors; hunting; gadgets) that this shed is supporting.

    I haven't entirely decided on my final layout, but I'm intending something like the following:



    The Sierra has been a project of mine for many years and while rarely driven now will be hanging around indefinitely, so it needs it's space. It'll be pulled out of the shed onto the lawn when I need room to work in the shed itself. Having it there also forces me to keep a space clear should I need to work on one of my other vehicles.

    The tool post socket isn't really in a great position with that layout. It worked for the layout I had planned previously, but deciding to fit a planer thicknesser in changed my plans regarding the lathe position. What's done is done though; at worst it's just less useful than I'd hoped.

    I'm planning on building all work surfaces to 940H, particularly the workbench and wheeled fabrication table, so I have some options for infeed/outfeed and working with longer pieces. The workbench will be steel framed with 150x50 jarrah infill on flat, then a sheet of ply glued over that and an oiled masonite work surface screwed down to the plywood. Should provide a solid surface that can take load and a bit of a pounding, plus allow easy replacement of the work surface.

    The fabrication table will be all metal construction on HD levelling castors with a 1m x 1m x 20mm mild steel plate surface. It'll primarily be a welding table but I'm planning on having swing-up tool ledges on two ends that can fit my cold cut saw, SCMC and table saw flush with the work surface. I may also build a larger timber torsion table that can be hoisted up to the trusses when not required and dropped onto the fabrication table when needed.

    The major equipment I'm fitting in there is:
    - Ingersoll Rand SCD 25E10L compressor
    - Paramount Browns MMD45 mill (RF45 clone)
    - Linishall 200mm grinder w/ linisher
    - Hafco 30T pneumatic/hydraulic press
    - Hafco 76L parts washer
    - Weldsmart 200A MMAW/TIG and 40A plasma cutter
    - Dewalt 872 14" cold cut saw
    - Dewalt 745 table saw
    - GMC 14" SCMS (a bit junky, but still goes)

    I'm also eyeing off (and have SWMBO's approval for ):
    - Carbatec 10" planer thicknesser w/ spiral head
    - Jet DC-1200 dust collector (to be wheeled outside workshop when in use)
    - scroll saw (Carbatec or General; not decided)

    I've carved out floorspace for a 300x900 lathe but that will have to wait for a while. Either until wifey forgets the pain of the present expenditure, or my brother-in-law buys one for gunsmithing and stores it in my shed

    Anyways, that's a much longer post than I intended. Any suggestions re layout or my planned equipment purchases would be appreciated.

    Cheers
    Tim (Moph)

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Dundowran Beach
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    Thumbs up

    Excellent WIP!! you have obviously put much time and thought into the planning!!!

    The effect of the insulation is a revelation. I woul;d not have thought that it would be so effective.

    I note your trusses are different to the usual trusses or portal frames we see. Do you intend to use
    the ceiling space for storage. Given the truss design I take it they can hold a reasonable load?

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
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    Perth
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    Default

    The trusses are just the standard construction methodology of the shed manufacturer (Highline Sheds) but I do like them over cold formed portal frames because they provide a little more flexibility for mounting things and light ceiling storage. They aren't beefy enough to take significant load long term, but I do intend using them to store a few lengths of general use 90x45 pine and 25x25x3 SHS laid across the bottom chords.

    I wouldn't be game to hoist an engine off the trusses as they stand, but with props at the adjacent node points they'd be fine. I did a quick truss calc on them when I first received the engineering drawings and they have plenty of reserve capacity for gravity loading over their full span distance; something like 2.4kN (~250kg) applied at either central node IIRC.

  5. #4
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    Dec 2015
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    Perth
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    Default

    The build is going slower than I'd like due to work commitments and a green waste collection that required me to denude the back yard of palms, but I'm making some progress. The Earthwool R2.0 batts are going in with 12mm C/D plywood lining on Tophat 64 vertical battens at 600 centres. Almost half way around now, but the second half has all the doors and windows to cut around...

    Couldn't get hold of 2700x1200 plywood sheets for love nor money in WA, so have had to make do with a 300 base strip around the bottom. I'll likely clad this with 2mm aluminium plate anyway as a kickboard, as I have a few sheets of that spare. The mismatch in grain to the back corner bay is intentional; this corner will have full height shelving and will be shielded from the rest of the workshop by a plywood wall on the back of the shelving, so I'm using up some of the dodgier sheets from the pack here where they won't be seen.

    So far as the ply goes, should I be finishing the surface with something once I'm done or is it okay to leave it raw?
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Perth
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    Default

    Good shed.
    Any chance of putting the DC and the compressor outside the shed.
    I reckon that two of the best things I did with my shed.

  7. #6
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    Default

    Thanks Bob. I can't really move the DC or compressor outside the shed unfortunately; it will have a boatport on one side but that's tight for room, and the other three sides are no-go's for other reasons. I'm a tinkerer rather than a dedicated woodworker or machinist though, so it likely won't bother me too much. If it does then I'll jump that hurdle when I come to it =)

    The dusty will be pulled outside the shed roller door when in use to get the fine particles outside. I'll just run a flex hose to the planer thicknesser or table saw.

  8. #7
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    Feb 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by Moph View Post
    Thanks Bob. I can't really move the DC or compressor outside the shed unfortunately; it will have a boatport on one side but that's tight for room, and the other three sides are no-go's for other reasons. I'm a tinkerer rather than a dedicated woodworker or machinist though, so it likely won't bother me too much. If it does then I'll jump that hurdle when I come to it =)

    The dusty will be pulled outside the shed roller door when in use to get the fine particles outside. I'll just run a flex hose to the planer thicknesser or table saw.
    Even if you only used the DC for a ~30 minutes a month or so that will be enough to completely coat the inside of the shed with fine dust.

    Sometimes its all that you can do but putting the DC just outside a large door also doesn't help with the fine dust that gets through the DC filters all that much because the DC makes the shed a low pressure zone and the air outside the shed a high pressure and it goes straight back inside the shed. It helps if you can get the DC around the sides one way or the other a bit, or close the large roller door as much as you can and fit an adapter board with a hole in it for some ducting to pas through. Roller doors are problematic anyway because of the gap up near the roof line.

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    It helps if you can get the DC around the sides one way or the other a bit, or close the large roller door as much as you can and fit an adapter board with a hole in it for some ducting to pas through. Roller doors are problematic anyway because of the gap up near the roof line.
    Good point. There's a sliding window in the side wall there so I could make an adaptor board and run it through that. It'll be right alongside wifey's clothesline that way ... perfect!


  10. #9
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge SA
    Posts
    3,339

    Default

    Hi Moph,
    One thing that I would do is to move the compressor from under the bench. Reason being that you'll need to drain the tank at least once a week or more in humid weather, either that or make a drain pipe that can be accessed from the outside of the shed. You'll still need to be able to get to the compressor for service and maintenance though.
    Like the idea of the socket in the floor, except when you drop that last ball bearing on a Sunday afternoon, when everyone is closed.
    Great to see that you have one of the best vehicles on the road/offroad also .
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  11. #10
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    Dec 2015
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    Thanks Kryn =)

    There's an auto drain valve available that I intend chasing down for the compressor. It'll also be accessible from the end of the bench if needed, though it would require wheeling the mill out of the way.

    The floor socket will have a plate cap when not in use, but it's only 900mm deep anyway - shallow enough to fish stuff out of with a magnet, vacuum or flexy claws.

    Any ideas as to what finish I should use on the ply? Wouldn't mind finishing the section I've lined already as that will let me get the shelves up and move some junk out of my way =)

    --

    Added a bonus pic of the Sierra in it's natural habitat =)
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  12. #11
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    Not a great deal to report since last update. Sealed the ply that I've erected thus far with Feast Watson Proofseal and gave it a coat of satin FloorClear polyurethane, then erected two of the three shelving units. Need to finish lining the end wall before the shelving against it can be loaded, but at least the shelf against the side wall is in its final position now allowing storage of some of my tools and boxes that were cluttering the place up.

    Hoping to make serious progress over Easter. With luck I'll finish lining the walls (excluding door and window trims) and start sorting out storage in earnest.
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  13. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Moph View Post
    There's an auto drain valve available that I intend chasing down for the compressor.
    i installed one of these valves a few months back and they work great. The one I have is adjustable to drain an x second burst of air every y minutes ( mine is a 70 L tank and is set to 1 sec every 45 minutes ). It's a bit disconcerting when it fires the drain but eventually you get used to it. The main reason I have my compressor outside is the noise, even though it is a relatively quite compressor any noise I can get rid of I do.

  14. #13
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    Dec 2015
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    Realised I haven't updated this in forever (mainly due to being too busy with work to work on the shed...) but there are a few photos I can post.

    The first is a thermal image from way back in the middle of summer (40+ degree day) when I fitted the Ametalin Thermalbreak 8. Pretty self explanatory - huge radiant heat load coming off the uninsulated roof, but greatly reduced by the sheet insulation.

    The second pic is the start of moving in. Lots more than that done now, but still sorting junk out of the house onto the storage shelves. The stuff from the garage is almost all in the shed now - even made enough room for wifey's car to drive into the garage!

    The next three show my new roller cabinets from Just Pro Tools (NSW). Nicely built but came with huge castor/fixed wheels (pair of each per cabinet) that were way too high for my liking - I'm building my bench to allow those cabinets to slide in beneath, so I dropped them down using some ball transfer units fitted to a 8mm thick load spreading plate. They roll beautifully in all directions on smooth concrete and have less than 20mm clearance between the bottom of the cabinet and the floor - perfect for my needs. Not a cheap modification though ... think it was almost $300 for the eight ball transfer units required for the two cabinets. Rated at 90kg per corner so 360kg per cabinet.

    Still have two walls to line and plumbing, electrical and landscaping to sort out before I can get machinery set up and start thinking about wall storage and workbenches. Ah well, no hurry
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  15. #14
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    Just noticed your grinder location n your plan is in between your lathe and mill. While that is handy it means you will end up with grinder grit on the beds which is not a good idea. Maybe try to shift it to the other side of the shed if possible?

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Just noticed your grinder location n your plan is in between your lathe and mill. While that is handy it means you will end up with grinder grit on the beds which is not a good idea. Maybe try to shift it to the other side of the shed if possible?
    Very true. I might move it across adjacent the roller door. The entire plan is flexible other than the workbench, storage bay and sink locations - there will no doubt be some swapping around when I get to the point of actually laying everything out.

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