New workshop

[Steven J]

I thought that I would post a couple of pictures of the new workshop I am building. I am aiming for a building with soul and character and keeping the whole thing from local hardwoods where the timbers will be visible. My target is to keep the costs down to the same as a prefabricated tin shed. So far things are looking equal or slightly over budget.

The floor area is 7 x 7m with an extra carport type area of to one side of the same dimensions.

The picture is of my and my dad putting the roof purlins on the trusses that I made.

I'll post some progress photos as I get time.

Steve

[littlejohn]

Looks good. keep up the progress. I dream of a proper workshop.....

[Lochmoy]

Looking good Steve. You're a man after me own heart.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Lookin' good so far and please do keep us up to date. It doesn't look like a bad spot to put a workshop either.

Jeff

[stringnstik]

Work Shed? Id be happy living there

[otis.drum]

looking forward to watching it progress.

[UPTHETOP]

Steve the view itself will be piece of mind congradulations.

Cheers Wayno

[dawallace45]

Good one , Please keep up the pictures , I love looking at other peoples workshops

David

[Gringa Bows]

Looks good Steve,should be plenty of work area hey ........

[Jayson Inglis]

You'r wife may think you've moved out with a shed like that. Great job.

[Steven J]

Thanks for the kind comments. I do feel very spoiled to be able to build this. It has been a dream for a long time now.

I guess it is really just a small house without any of the internals so I could move in one day. I might need to move in soon. Kylie might kick me out of the house if I don't start to balance my time on this project. I like to think that maybe one day someone might use it as a cottage or something similar. I wanted to build a workshop that was beautiful so that over the decades, it could take on a number of uses. I feel that it is a more sustainable way of using the materials. Who knows, 200 years from now, when the building is nearing its end, someone may salvage the roof trusses and use them again.

All of the roof timbers are Yellow Stringybark, the walls plantation pine, and the floor framing is Brown Barrel. The floor will be 200mm wide Blackbutt that I picked up at auction. It is a low grade board, but with work (lots of work) it will make a much nicer floor than chipboard or ply. The cladding is a skip dressed hardwood weather board. Skip dressed means that the board has some bandsaw marks on it after shaping. It still looks good and costs less than steel cladding.

As some have said, the view is really special from here. I was lucky enough to buy 38 acres before prices in the area went silly so I have plenty of space to choose from.

The roof went on today. Now I have somewhere to store materials out of the weather.

Steve

[dawallace45]

Steve
It's looking good mate looking real good ,

Have you already planed out the electrical lay out for the workshop ? for some reason most people leave this till the last minute and then rush it and then it's never quite right , best to have a idea in mind of where you want your big electrical tools like Lathe , Bench saw , Band saw , Big Linisher , thicknesser , Jointer , sliding compound mitre saw and probably most important your dust extraction system , mate down south has a great system , he has a large dust extraction fan in the wall and a dust extraction system just outside with cyclone and ducting around the walls with outlets at 1.2 metre interval , because he can be using large lengths of timber and wants room to move around he now has made up mobile bases for his gear and just moves them around where he needs them , also best to have benches and storage cabinets worked out ahead of time , also the same for lighting

PS mates workshop cleaning system is great , like me he's a bad asthmatic so wood working and bow making probably isn't the best hobby for either of us , like mine his workshop is lined , he keeps his workshop clean and dust free by turning on the dust extraction system and through wall dust extraction fan and blowing the whole workshop out with a leaf blower

David

[Steven J]

Started putting in windows today along with many other jobs. The windows are a double hung timber type window that I picked up at auction in Sydney. There are 6 windows 1500h x 900w. Kylie has been oiling them for me today and they have come up in beautiful gold and red hues.


David,

I have been thinking a lot about the electrical. I am cladding the outside before any internal fit out so that I have time to play and think before the walls are lined. One of the main reasons that I wanted to build a timber floor off the ground is to allow dust collection from and power to machines that are situated in the middle of the room. There might be enough room under the floor in one corner that I can place a dust extraction unit there.

I have placed the noggins in at 1.2m so I can drill up through the bottom wall plate to and drop down a wire for other power points in the future also after the walls are lined.

I have been thinking about a room exhaust fan also to help clear the air. Any suggestions?

[Stickbow Hunter]

It's coming together nicely.

Jeff

[dawallace45]

Steve

Your better off talking to the experts or at least the people who sell them , the one the mate has come from a furniture factory and is made for a area about 10 times the size of his so it works EXTREMELY well

David

[blu-dog]

Any more progress shots for us Steve?

[Steven J]

Making some good progress, but no photos yet. Things take time when you are working on your own part time on a project like this though. Kylie left our camera in Sydney. She is heading up this weekend so I will have some photos shortly.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Looking forward to some more photos Steven. I am sure it is a labour of love.

Jeff

[jindydiver]

I am looking forward to seeing what is produced in a workshop like that

[gundy]

Is power close by Steve and if not, was it expensive to run it to the site?

I am looking at something similar.

Looking GREAT by the way - I'm jealous!!!!

[Steven J]

Kylie finally brought the camera home so here are some updates. There is still a bit to go, but the end is in sight.

Even though I have not yet finished the cladding I have started laying the floor so I have more room to work. The boards are 200mm wide so they go down pretty quickly. I picked them up as reject boards from an auction. They look pretty good in the photos as you cant see the details, however they have splits and knots and cracks but they still look great as a workshop floor.

Cladding up into the gable takes time. You have to climb up the ladder (1) measure the rough length of the board get down and find the right board. Cut the angle on the board climb the ladder again (2) place the board and mark of the length to join over the stud. Climb down and cut it. Climb up (3) and nail it off. That's three trips up the ladder if things go right, but things do go wrong, and boards need reworking. The old legs get pretty tired.

Guy, power was about 40m away. I had a electrician friend buy the cable for me to lay and he can wire it up later. So far the cable and conduit came to about $400ish. It will cost a fair bit more before I am done. Most of the other materials I have sourced cheaply, but it is hard to cut corners with the wiring.

You can see that I have insulated the whole thing with Aircell insulation. Nothing worse than sweating in the summer and freezing in the winter. I also anticipate that the building will take on many uses over the next century, and it is hard to retro fit insulation later.

Do you like my cedar door? It only cost me $40 - and it is brand new! The photo is on a bit of an angle because the sun was too bright straight on. I'll take some photos in the afternoon light.

School holidays are coming up soon. I'll probably have it finished then.

Steve

[alaninoz]

Coming along nicely Steve, though as you say, working above the ground (floor) gives the legs a work-out.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Looking great Steven, more like a weekender than a workshop.

Jeff

[Steven J]

Jeff, you are not the only one that thinks so. Kylie is threatening to turn it into guest accommodation, or rent it out as a B&B

After a tough slog of another 10 weeks of term, I have two well deserved weeks of holidays coming up. (What, I hear some of you choking in the background). I will have the 2nd week to hopefully finish of the cladding, installing the floor and maybe moving the doors from my current garage/workshop that will become the kids rumpus room.

After that, there are electricals to run and then lining. If you say it fast, it sounds easy doesn't it?

Steve

[Stickbow Hunter]

Jeff, you are not the only one that thinks so. Kylie is threatening to turn it into guest accommodation, or rent it out as a B&B

NO!!! Tell her it's Aussie tradition that a man has gotta have a workshop.

If you say it fast, it sounds easy doesn't it?

Yeah it does but I know only too well the work involved. I have been helping my kids renovate an older home over the past six years - raising it and restumping, redoing the bathroom, fencing etc etc. Very very timne consuming if you want it done well. It might be slow work but it is very rewarding and saves a lot of money when you do it yourself.

Jeff

[Steven J]

Kylie is only teasing. She knows the rules. She also knows that if she insisted, she would have to put up with me building another. She also knows that somehow the next would be bigger and more complex.

Just so you can all laugh, here is a photo of the first 'shed' that I built. We planned on living in it while we built the house, but are still in here and comfortable 7 years later. This is a 12 x 8m two story stawbale shed. It is now a nice little 3 bedroom home. I'll never get it back now

Steve

[Stickbow Hunter]

That is a nice looking shed, eerrrr I mean house. Yep, she better let you keep the new one as a workshop.

Jeff

[Steven J]

I had the chance to get a bit more work done today. The cladding is totally finished now, although I still need to add a skirt board to cover the floor framing from the weather. It took some mucking about to get the last boards installed below the door sill and above the windows.

I had to make up some dodgy looking scaffolding to get me up to the window height. Don't worry. Everything is nailed and clamped, and braced back and pegged into the ground.

The floor boards are all down. The boards have lots of little checks and splits because they are a seconds product. I plan on going over the floor with a twisted wire brush on the grinder to knock of the splinters before I seal the floor with a mixture of floor oils and vanishes that I have left over from other jobs.

Next job is to get the wiring run so I can line the walls.

Steve

[stringnstik]

Just fabulous Steve, looking fwd to the first bow dust. Youve taken the great Aussie mans shed up a notch or 10

[Chase N. Nocks]

Yes I could see myself deliberately getting into trouble just so the wife doesn't have to stand looking at me.