The Garage/Shop Thread

[ChickNorris]

A friend of mine bought an old chicken farm. The buildings are wholly amazing. Nothing like seeing rows of classic cars up the middle with a every tool & machine you could ever need within... talk about enviable.

Maybe he'll let me post a pic so you all can be green too.

[gnihcraes]

^ same ideas everyone has mentioned.

Electrician did his minimum for code inspection, I ran other outlets inside and outside, so glad I did. I still have things to change/add, but need to save some money for a bit.

Insulated to R30, can keep it 60+ with propane and kerosene heaters. Enough that I can stay in it all day.

Installed cheapo car stereo to listen to tunes, wired some old media speakers overhead. Jamming out right now.

Hard wired internet and phone from house to garage, got PC out here, can check vehicle stuff, order parts etc while in the shop. No more running back to the house.

No drywall, put up 15/32 chipboard, painted white.

Setup french cleats on the walls, tool panels are magnetic and on the french cleat setup. Can move any tool board to any other wall if needed. Magnets hold most all tools - just grab and go and stick them back when done. So nice.
No more tool box drawers for the most used items.

Got some antennas setup and ham gear out here too, can goof or listen as needed.

Most any machinery, table saw, welding tables and stuff is on WHEELS. Move that crap to the middle when not used. I'll move the truck out and wheel the power tool needed to the open bay to work on larger stuff.

[ChickNorris]

Yep with limited space & the ever changing material requirements everything is on wheels, even the material racks, save 1. Propane heat, full media, spend more time nesting out there & my husband makes fun of me because I live in the shop more than the house.

[gnihcraes]

Yep with limited space & the ever changing material requirements everything is on wheels, even the material racks, save 1. Propane heat, full media, spend more time nesting out there & my husband makes fun of me because I live in the shop more than the house.

Awesome huh. Go to the house to eat/sleep. (I have fluids and snacks in the garage though)

[ChickNorris]

I don't sleep but when I do...

[ChickNorris]

Oh... big upgrade was the partition panel for my alarm system & all the ancillary periphery. Being residential, I wanted the ability to disarm the shop or house independently. Yep.

I'd like to do more but I like firemen more than I hate thieves. Beware of owner isn't an exaggeration here, ask district 3. Teehee.

[Great-Kazoo]

Well the old one was 24x30 w/ 3 8x doors, 3.0 side entry, alarmed, window guards, pole barn. 10' side walls 2" spray foam insulated, mini-split (air/heat) 3- 220 outlets, 20a outlets 4' high every 6-8'. 60 gal compressor overhead air piped in to the entire shop. 12x36 lathe, a few different sized mills, welders, plasma cutter, tools, tools, tools. 1-1050, 2-650's 2-550's (more but who counts sold ones) a RCBS s/stage.
Multiple racks, Rolling drill press cabinet (Thanks Johnnyego) almost everything on wheels.


New one 24x30 2x3" galvanized tubing every 4 on center, 18' peak, 10' side walls, conduit already ran in the slab for power. 1-16' sectional roll up, 1-3.0 entry. NO windows. R-11 insulated entire structure. 4 post direct lift awaiting completion of building.

I'll do another 3-220 outlets. 3-20A 110 outlets along the 24' sides, 4, maybe 5 along the 30' wall. 4x8 flake board to cover the interior, painted white for better illumination. Probably 4 rows of 4' led's on trusses. 2- ceiling fans one pulling air up, the other end of building moving air down. So i have a moderately constant flow of air circulating. Mini-split will be done before summer.

No reloading, metal fab or other misc items at the time. Slowly as deals pop up i'll rebuild from scratch. As it was easier to sell off than move with us, everything in the shop. Thanks to a lot of you for buying, to make the move easier.

[gnihcraes]

Great-Kazoo, sounds like you've got it all planned out and cool.

LED Lighting, 8 foot commercial hard wire for $90 at home depot. I don't remember the brand, but I have three in this shop and it's plenty most of the time.

I think this is them: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...0CRI/300263606

[sniper7]

Still working on organing but we built a new house a couple years ago with a oversized 5 car garage. With nothing you could fit 7 vehicles but I have spaces for 3 vehicles to park with tons of room or 4 and still be able to work around and get projects done.

And last year I had my outbuilding put up, 30x50 with a couple 12wx14h garage doors on front (15’ ceiling) and a 8x8 single in the back.
5 smaller windows on north side up high, 3 large windows on south. All 2x6 construction with siding, shingle roof and stone front to match the house. Been working on electrical and got it finished up I think to where I want it. A couple wall mount openers installed, 14 LED overhead shop lights, 30+ receptacles, welder 220, a couple 7500w 200 electric heaters (didn’t run gas out there), wired for TVs, speakers, an opener on the back if I ever want one, and possibly 14x more overhead lights if I really wanted them. Also did motion activated lights outside, led flood lights on front and back that are visible from space, 5 outdoor receptacles for charging trailers or exterior lights or Christmas lights, light sensing led light by man door.

Still deciding if I will insulate and drywall since I have the house garage this one is more storage and I only turn the heaters on when I go out to work and it makes it into the 60s when it’s 20 outside so pretty comfortable.

[Circuits]

One bay of my 2-car garage is my shop space. Lathe, mill, press, bandsaw, compressor, grinders, drill press, workbench, tool walls and shelves. The bay's really only 1/2or 2/3 full, so I could move some junk out and fit another machine tool or two in there if I wanted to.