Renovation Has Begun On The New Tinker's Workshop

The hustle and bustle of moving into my new home has slowly started to subside and so I am now starting to focus my attention to putting together the new Tinker's Workshop.  Today I took out all of the ceiling panels and straightened out the mess that the previous owners had created by trying to be creative in the layout of the ceiling panels and  framework.  Here's what I got accomplished today.  

 The ceiling tiles had to be removed first to see what was hiding inside the ceiling.  Actually it looked better than I had hoped as only one light fixture needed to be removed and take a look at what insulation  had been put in along with the heat ducts that run into the space.

The ceiling tile layout seemed to be just a jumbled mess with all the tiles going every which way.  After looking at it for a bit I figured out what the previous owners were trying to do. 

The tiles had been laid out in a pattern where two tiles ran horizontally and then the next two ran vertically.  It looked ok but does nothing when trying to put in the lighting that this room screams for.  With what little lighting that was is this room it would be like trying to work in a cave with one candle. 

 Already the room is looking better.  I pulled the power to the only ceiling light in this 12' 9" x 24' 4" space and used two halogen work lights so that I could get some work done.  These two lights alone improved the look of the room by flooding it with about four times more light than what was there to begin with. Once I get the opposite wall painted white it will really brighten up the shop.  

 At this point I had almost all of the framework straightened out so that the new lighting can go in.  These will be mounted in between the joists above the ceiling tiles.  Each light will then be hidden and have a translucent panel which will disperse the light much more evenly.  At this point I am not sure how many lights will be put into the ceiling.  No matter how many I do put in it will be a vast improvement from what was there in the first place.

Here the framework has been all straightened out and the bent and or broken pieces have been replaced.  No more crazy pattern to try to figure out how to mount the new lights. This will make the new ceiling look much better.  I will have to check to see that I have everything wired up so that I don't get some panels sagging just because they are not supported properly.

The big white bundle in the middle of the room is the insulation that was next on my list of chores for the day.  This is R38 insulation that will help keep the space a lot warmer.  

 The outer perimeter of the room had no insulation in it to be found where the foundation meets the floor.  Not a good idea!

I cut sections of insulation and then added them to the spaces to seal up the new workshop.  This was not a difficult task but I was sure glad that I had gloves, a long shirt, and a face mask on.  I still itch just thinking about putting this stuff in but it's worth the effort and now is the best time to take care of it. It will pay for itself in a very short time for sure.

  In the next day or two I will figure out how many lights I want to put into the workshop and how to mount them.  Then I will get my friend Garry to help me to figure out how to wire it all up on one switch.  I leave the electrical stuff to someone that knows what he's doing.  But I suspect that by the time I get this portion of the job done I will learn enough from him to be able to take care of the rest of the basement myself when I want to install more lighting.  

  Who would ever want to have lighting in a basement that you have to pull a string to turn on anymore?  I for one am happy to live in the 21st century so I want my workshop and other spaces to come into the same century that I am in. A simply click on the light switch and the space is brightly lit with modern lighting.  That's all I need to  make me smile. Leave the pull strings to very old barns and shacks out in the woods thank you. 

   Check back for further updates on the building of the new Tinker's Workshop in the coming weeks.

Planning The New Tinker's Workshop

The move into my new home has for the most part gone very smoothly considering all that needed to be done. The obstacles that  have shown up I've managed to take care of in short order. Plus the fact that I have not had to deal with snow up to my eyebrows that has yet to show up here in the Midwest is always a big plus this time of year.  So I am very fortunate to  having gotten so much done in only a weeks time.  

  The house is slowly becoming home as I am settling in and with the arrival of my new washer and drier today things are starting to shape up as I had planned. A few more pictures are being put up on the bare walls and finding the silverware to make breakfast is getting easier every morning.  So with all of this coming together the next step is to start looking into setting up the new Tinker's Workshop.  This will take some time as all good things do but in the end will be a vast improvement over the old workshop.  

  First off the old shop only had 180 square feet of workable space and that space had to house absolutely everything from scrap wood to snow shovels.  The new shop will have a grand total of 310 square feet out of the 1000 plus square feet of basement space that is available for anything I see fit to put into it. A vast improvement over the old badly crowded workshop.  As I said earlier, work needs to be done on the new space to make it a workshop and so I thought I would bring you up to speed  on what I am planning.

The sixties is still living in my basement space that will soon be  the new Tinker's Workshop.   Don't you just love the carpeting?   I already have a nephew that has placed dibs on the carpet and I will be more than happy to pass it on to him free for the hauling.

This rather ugly green thing is a bar that was left by the previous owners.  As I never will have a need for a bar nor would I want one in my workshop was the first thing that I dismantled and removed from the  space. 

The stairway at the end of the room will be walled off and a door put into far right corner.  This will seal the room from the rest of the house. Also a lot more lights will be added to the space to brighten up this poorly lit room. 

 Another task on the to do list will be to paint the green paneled walls white.  Something that will again brighten up the room greatly and eliminate the 60's rec-room look.  

Now with the bar removed it already looks better.  I will have to add more electrical outlets to the space to power all the tools that I have in the shop.  The acoustic sealing will remain to help with the lighting and keep the space more tidy looking.  I will have to to some rearranging with the panels as whoever set up the ceiling thought they would try to be creative with the layout.  It simply does not work the way I want it to be so I will update this as well.  

The single door to the right in this photo will be swapped out to have a double door instead that will be 60 inches wide once opened.  This will make moving large completed projects in or out of the shop a lot easier.

This image is what I have planned for the placement of the tools for the shop.  I wanted to close up the space to seal it off from the rest of the  basement.  This will keep the dust down from the remainder of the house.  In the image you will see the placement of the current power outlets.  It is obvious that what is there is not near enough to handle the tools that will be in the shop.  So now is the time to set up the new power layout as well.  This I will get together once I have finalized the new plan for the space.  If you have any suggestions about the layout of the workshop I would be more than happy to hear from you.  I have shifted things around several times already and thought this layout would work well.  I could be wrong of course so I welcome any input that you have to offer.  I will keep posting the progress of the new build as I set up the improved workshop and let you know how it is all coming together. 

Preparing For The Big Move And Finding Inspiration On The Road

This week I have been making numerous trips to my new home that I will be moving into in a couple of days.  The number of trips so far has now reached number nine.  NINE!  This seems a bit much but will in the long run be a blessing on moving day.  Nearly everything that can be boxed and moved has already been done.  So all the big pieces of furniture, tools, scrap wood, half finished projects and remaining odds and ends will be what is left to move this coming Saturday.  This is the first time I have moved in almost 33 years so to go to a new house is a big adjustment for me.  Not including all the work that this has been to get ready for the move. 

  The plus side to all of this is a better home, a new chapter for my life, a whole new town and the Tinker's Workshop will be bigger and better once it is set up.  The new Tinker's Workshop will be a vast improvement over the original shop so I am looking forward to exciting projects that have been on the drawing table for a VERY long time just waiting for the right time to start building them. All of this is both exciting and scary at the same time.  It will all work out I have no doubt and so I continue to push forward on the prep for the move and the day when I can get back to building in my new and improved workshop. Just the setting up of the new Tinker's Workshop will be good for at least a few good posts on how to set up a sweet workshop. It will be fun for me as well as informative and entertaining for you.  So check back and I'll keep you up to date on my progress.

   Also with all my traveling this week from the soon to be old house to the new one I came across this billboard on my route that I just had to post a photo of for everyone to see, chuckle at, and possibly inspire you to follow your dream.   This is what I saw.  Live your dreams and you won't go wrong.  Keep tinkering!

Entertaining Destruction For My Thanksgiving

  As most of you have already seen on my blog I posted the loss of my garage space that was next to my house almost two months ago now.  A major fire had taken place in my garages that I had been renting and were destroyed along with some great projects, my motorcycle and Mini Cooper.  This as you can imagine has turned my world upside down to say the least.  
  Today was a good day at the Tinker's Workshop as the repair work was completed on my damaged home and the garages were torn down to top off the day.  I am here to say that I am glad the garages are finally being knocked down and removed as I have had to look at the devastation for these past two months every day I walk outside.  Not a nice thing to see or be reminded of over this time.  So without further rambling here are some photos I took today to show you how the mess is being cleaned up. The guy with the Bob-Cat was a real artist.  He could make that thing get up and dance. 

Here is a shot of what I have had to look at for the past couple of months.  Depressing to say the least.

The guy in the orange sweatshirt is the owner of this pile of rubble.  I would not want to trade places with him for anything.

Another shot of my garages or should I say the makings of another pile of rubble.

TIMBER!

Going,

going,

going,

going,

gone.

Strange to see the garages gone after looking at them for almost 33 years.  End of an era and lots of projects built in them over that time.  The really good thing now with the building knocked down is that it makes my home look that much better and I can even see down the street now from my kitchen window!  Improves the look of the entire neighborhood too. So there is a plus side to it after all.  With my moving to my new house in the coming weeks hopefully I can get this place sold in short order and move another step forward in my life.

  Yes this will be a Happy Thanksgiving for me here at the Tinkers Workshop and with this building (now rubble) being cleared away it's a very good start to the holiday weekend.  I hope you have a good turkey day as well!

The Gremlins Have Hidden A Lot Of Stuff Over The Years!

  A lot of things have been happening over the past few days here at the Tinker's Workshop.  In an earlier post I let you know that I will be moving very soon to a new location in Wisconsin due to the loss of my garages at my current home.  Through all of this a lot of people behind the scenes have been busy pushing through all of the paperwork that goes on with buying a new home and while this has been happening I have been packing everything that I can and started dismantling the workshop. 

   Just the workshop alone has been a huge undertaking as I have had to do this all by myself.  A lot of work had to be done just in this portion of the house to get ready for the upcoming move.  I thought it interesting to see the workshop once again as I had found it almost 33 years ago.  Needless to say I stuffed a lot of tools into a very small space to make the workshop actually usable.  It has been surprising to a lot of people over the years as to how I managed to create what I did in such a small shop. To compare the way it looks now with everything dismantled and scattered about to how it looked beforehand take a look at the photos I took today and the Tinker's Workshop title photo when it was all together.  Quite a difference. 

A portion of my living room is slowly being swallowed up by over 30 packing boxes already filled with almost all the small items that come with moving my home and the workshop hand tools, miscellanous parts, hardware and power cords.  I'm just happy that I am not also moving belongings of four or five more people.

The workshop is slowly being dismantled and the space cleared of years of hidden dust, dirt, and lost screws and nuts.  The gremlins manage to hide a lot of missing screws and nuts over 33 years.

  This pile of parts was my CNC machine.  I was able to take it apart in sections and only had to disconnect one stepper motor cable for the move.  This will make things easier to move and reassembly of the machine an easy task.  I already have plans to update the CNC machine to improve the setup on the  cutting bed to a full T-slot table.  Possible making this out of aluminum.  I also have some ideas on how to level the cutting table easier and quicker than the original desing. I'll this update to the machine once I get this big move completed and the shop set up once again. 

This photo shows the work table and the work bench taken apart ready for moving day.  Every little thing that I can do now will save valuable time when moving day gets here and I can head to the new house and workshop space.  The current floor space of the workshop had one area that is 12' x 12' and another area 6' x 6'.  A grand total of 180 square feet of usable floor space.  Very small to say the least. The new workshop will have a floor space that is 13'6" x 20' plus a storage area that is 12'9" x 24'4".  This comes to 580.25 square feet of usable floor space.  Well over three times the work and storage space of the current shop.   I love it!

  I received word today that my loan for the new house and ultimately the new home of the Tinker's workshop has been approved!  Another call came today from my realtor to see if I could show my current home to a prospective buyer.  So as I said earlier a lot of things are happening here at the Tinker's Workshop.   Can't wait for it to all come together.  Check back again for more updates as I post them.