j.w.s. Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 So I took a plunge today, looked at and leased a new shop. For the past few years I've been sharing an 18x26 shop and needless to say it's a little cramped. To make a long story short, the Amish family my wife leases her horse farm from has another farm down the road with a bunch of storage and workshops. Found out there was one available and jumped on it. Shop size is 21x70 and it's essentially the basement of an old barn, cool in the summer comfortable in the winter. Stone walls, exposed beams, 10ft ceilings, water, pass throughs for a chimney or two, i can work 24/7 (no restricted hours), I can drive my truck through the door, 100 amp electric is included in the lease and the price is less than most people pay in car payments each month. I think I just lucked out! Now its down to the fun part, over the next 3 months I get to slowly move from one shop to another and build new forges and equipment from the ground up - all while my biggest 3 shows of the season are going on. Immediayely after the Renaissance Faires, I have a knife show the last weekend of October, I'll be running my first knife making class for the fall season on November 8 and need to have everything set up and broken in before that. Fingers crossed, but I'm psyched!J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 First thing first: install the dehumidifier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 First thing first: install the dehumidifier!Roger that, the owners are fixing the moisture issue after the tobacco crop is done in the fall. We've been leasing off them for 3 years and they never short on a project to fix an issue - they really believe in taking the best possible care of their properties. We just had a nasty few inches of rain the day before so it wasn't the best time to take pictures. Dehumidifier and gas forges are probably the first things to move in!J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 good deal J,,,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I've owned a 100 year old house with a field stone basement; proper way to reduce water in it was to move to NM and live on a slab! But a good dehumidifier plumbed directly to a floor drain helps a large amount. Noise will be an issue too; for classes getting a bag of the better foam ear plugs might be a good idea. I assume you have a good set of headphone hearing protectors already. GET A CO ALARM! You are too far away for me to make it to an estate sale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 I've got the Ryobi noise cancelling headphones. Really dissapointed that Ryobi changed them up with earbud style hearing protection. For classes I buy the heavy duty foam plugs by the bucket, they work great. They honestly don't work all that great. Anyway, I've got a CO alarm to install and am looking at ways to introduce fresh air circulation as well.J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 That space just looks the part! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottMitUns Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Nothing like that wide open, new shop space! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Nice space I just hope you have ventilation dialed in. Can you back a vehicle in or will you have to hoist your heavy stuff down?Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Nice space I just hope you have ventilation dialed in. Can you back a vehicle in or will you have to hoist your heavy stuff down?Frosty the Lucky.ah Frosty, he hid the facts from you in the text, where he mentioned the trap door that he could drop his truck through! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 (edited) Nice space I just hope you have ventilation dialed in. Can you back a vehicle in or will you have to hoist your heavy stuff down?Frosty the Lucky.I'm working out the ventilation right now. Now is definitely the time to do it, in the fall the owner is planning on concreting and covering the portion above the shop that's creating the moisture, so getting some sort of air exchanger in place is a priority at the moment, but I'm allowed to do what I want provided I do it at my own expense. And I can back my truck all the way down, so moving the air hammer wont be an issue (I built it to be able to move, and most importantly lay down in my truck bed).. although I also have a loading dock and one of my "neighbors" said I'm welcome to use his forklift to move, so I think I'm golden.J Edited July 30, 2015 by j.w.s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 . For classes I buy the heavy duty foam plugs by the bucket, they work great. They honestly don't work all that great.I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic, or if there's a typing error and the comment on things not working great was meant to go with the previous comment on the Ryobi head gear, not the foam plugs. I've used a lot of foam plugs over the years, some great, some almost not worth bothering with. The classic yellow EAR plugs are probably one of the best at blocking noise, but one of the least comfortable for me to wear. I've got some tapered softer foam plugs that don't cancel noise quite as well, but are a lot more comfortable to wear long term. I'd have to dig a bit and see who makes them. I picked up a jumbo box years ago when out at one of the construction conventions after testing a bunch the company offered. Others I've tried that were supplied by various employers, I won't even bother with. I have enough hearing loss developed over the years from not wearing hearing protection running power tools in construction to mess with what I have left. That's why I keep 3 pairs of top rated Peltor muffs on the truck. I think the lowest rated pair is rated at 29 db noise reduction. I also have some of the yellow foam EAR plugs rated at 33db and the tapered fit ones are just a bit lower at 32db. Muffs are my usual preference as I can raise one ear piece to hear when spoken to. My hearing loss makes it tough to hear what people are saying if I have plugs in. I keep the foam plugs in the glove box of all the trucks just in case. A friend of mine looked at me a bit odd one day. She commented that she needed to run to make it to the store to buy ear plugs because she was taking both her girls to a concert that night with tickets an aunt bought them. I simply opened the glove box of the pick up and asked her how many pairs of foam plugs she wanted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Pure computer error. I meant to say I love my Ryobi earmuffs, wish they still made them but instead they're doing these foam earbuds that just aren't that good. The original set has microphones on either ear that you can adjust. I've l itterally had conversations while operating my power hammer with them. The circuit's eliminate loud sharp noises but allow vocal ranges to pass through. Absolutely wonderful. The new design stop noise, but they're uncomfortable and rely on your phone to do the "noise cancellation". They're absolute c##p. The foam plugs I pick up for students are the yellow with a cord connecting them, I think I pay around $17 for a hundred sets. It's nice for them to be able to pull one out and let it hang around their neck while they listen to my instructions when needed.J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) So I got everything except for the air hammer moved today. Truth to tell I may list it for sale, let someone else worry about moving it and just build a new hammer, I've got some designs I'd like to incorporate. It's finally coming together and looking like a shop. Not so blank any more!J Edited August 30, 2015 by j.w.s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Looks nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Looks really good, I like that old 'bathplug' type chain one the craftsman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notownkid Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 It does look nice, can move without bumping into something. Word of caution from personal experience your compressors have what appears to be open pulleys as well as the bender? in picture 2. You talk students insurance inspectors when they show up or OSHA if you have an employee will have a field day on those. We don't even want to imagine if a student get hurt on one. I even got fines and almost shut down because my compressor tank hadn't been Hydro tested in 10 years, right it was 60 yrs. old and never tested, but the insurance tried to shut me down the same day for a hazard. Seemed strange they showed up the day after OSHA had visited. Had to replace the compressor as no one would attempt a test on a tank that old. Last I knew the farm it went to is still using it in their shop.Enjoy your new digs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 It does look nice, can move without bumping into something. Word of caution from personal experience your compressors have what appears to be open pulleys as well as the bender? in picture 2. You talk students insurance inspectors when they show up or OSHA if you have an employee will have a field day on those. We don't even want to imagine if a student get hurt on one. I even got fines and almost shut down because my compressor tank hadn't been Hydro tested in 10 years, right it was 60 yrs. old and never tested, but the insurance tried to shut me down the same day for a hazard. Seemed strange they showed up the day after OSHA had visited. Had to replace the compressor as no one would attempt a test on a tank that old. Last I knew the farm it went to is still using it in their shop.Enjoy your new digs.Nothing is fully assembled yet, but there's guards and stuff that had to be taken off for the move. That one compressor is actually an Emglo that was once used for an air breaker system for a really large tranformer. The compressor itself isn't that great for work duty so I use it as a 30gal storage tank and the motor and compressor will be coming off one of these days soon. I'm actually paranoid of compressor tanks (I've seen newer ones rupture) and this is the first I've had one inside so I'll be putting a cage around the whole shebang. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Looks really good, I like that old 'bathplug' type chain one the craftsman.I forged that out of boredom one rainy demonstration day.. 6 ft so far, the goal is to get my students to hammer out a link this year as their first hammering project and attach it to the ring - we'll see how far we can go. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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