The first step for my shop

[Frank S]

We woke up to frozen water at the hose bib on the pump house but the water to the house was still flowing although slowly. I didn't think it had gotten all that cold last night just in the low to mid 20s but it must have been there for most of the night. However that still didn't explain the tap being frozen I have an automatic thermostat controlled  system to keep the inside a toasty 46° I opened the door and the light was on meaning the system was functioning then I noticed that I had somehow moved the heater the last time I was in the pump house and the tip over switch was not making contact so the only heat in there was coming from the 150 watt heat lamp. which should have been enough anyway I repositioned the heater so it would come on and about an hour later everything was thawed the temps had risen to around 30 as well.

 Then we went to a town about 40 miles away by the time we got back around 2 PM it was in the low 40s.
 Even though the pump house is mostly insulated I think I am going to wrap in in plastic for good measure. then latter on in the spring I plan on cladding it with some of the insulation sheets that I have to make sure it is sealed and if I can strike a deal with the lady who owns the 2 large brick buildings nearby that are falling down I might brick it. There are probably 20,000 3x3.5 by 12 red bricks that have already fallen in on those buildings. If she is willing to part with them I might even think about pouring a footer around the foundation to the house and brick it eventually.
 But anyway what I actually managed to get done today was to turn the master column over and finished welding up the areas that I just couldn't get to in the overhead position
 Now it is just all but ready to drop in the hole

[Frank S]

I had just a tad more welding to do on the top of the column this morning, then I did this,
 I swear I think I could lift the limit of the hoist with the pole laying flat, it has proved to be one of my most valuable builds in a long time

[Frank S]

Well the column is all plumbed to vertical in all directions welded in at the top and welded in at the bottom.
 I hit pretty close to my length measurement I was hoping to have it around 1/2inch too long then use a 8 tone hydraulic toe jack to lift the truss above to add preloading but it was only about 1/4" to 3/8" over length and as it turned out that was about all my jack could stand and I had to really sledge hammer it in place.
 the next thing was to come up with something suitable to put under the brace piping as a base so what better use than an old RV bumper
 I back filled to the top of the horizontal beam the column is welded to then packed it briefly then after placing the bumper in position I used the plate packer to force it into the already firm soil it took nearly an hour of running the packer back and forth on top of the bumper to settle it in then I scabbed some junk materials to the bottoms of the pipes to weld them to the bumper and welded the bumper to the column as well
 


the inside mount bosses for a jib crane

 the outside mounts to a jib crane

backfilled and packed to about the half way point I have more bracing to weld in place once I fill and pack another foot and a half

[Harold in CR]

This build is quite an engineering class. Amazing imagination going on here. Well done so far, Frank.

[Frank S]

Fill in and packed then packed some more then more fill and packed again and again until I had the hole filled right up to where the last subterranean brace was to be welded in now all bracing is in I finished filling the hole but haven't packet it down yet as my plate packer began acting up there is probably trash in the carb as ther is no inline filter on the machine

No explanation needed here we all know what this picture means

[Frank S]

The morning went well I now have 9 sheets up and have completely used up 1ne pile of sheet metal now I have to dig a lot of shorter sheets off of another stack before I can lift anymore to the roof

[Frank S]

From now on it will be piece meal for the roof the longest sheets I have left are under 25 feet long This would be just about right as the old building I tore down was 68 feet by 120 feet a large part of the roof had caved in due to Ice and snow there was only about 100 feet of one side that the sheet metal was not bent up due to the collapse of the roof I have used 22 sheets on the north side and 9 on the south so that would just about account for the full length sheets I had.
I managed to get 2 sheets down to make a full length run and 2 more for a partial before the cold front started to come in kicking the wind up to some 25 MPH gusts maybe the wind will be more favorable tomorrow.

[Frank S]

I had the roof down to the last 2 sheet for a while now but had many other projects crop up that needed attending Today the wind and the projects cooperated so I completed the roof.

 Now the mighty question is do I go ahead and continue with the 2000 sq ft lean to addition or do I build the North wall

[Harold in CR]

My opinion would be trying to block dust and rain from prevailing wind direction. Must be tough to do detail work during those conditions. I know down here it is. Keeping tools and cabinets, etc. from being covered in dust and whatever is a never ending chore.

 Nice that you have the biggest part done. Well done, Frank.

[Frank S]

My opinion would be trying to block dust and rain from prevailing wind direction. Must be tough to do detail work during those conditions. I know down here it is. Keeping tools and cabinets, etc. from being covered in dust and whatever is a never ending chore.

 Nice that you have the biggest part done. Well done, Frank.

Thanks Harrold Just having this much makes it feel like there has been some accomplishment.
 I can only d the North wall or the additional 33 ft extension right now.
 I can't do the East wall until I set 1 more column and then I could only do a bout 12 feet of the wall as most of it will be doors however to close in that 12 foot section against the north however I would need to move the container out of the building prior to closing in that section there is a 24 foot section of the East wall which can be done but not until I have hauled in the fill and leveled it the West wall will only be about  a 20 foot section joining with the North wall as the remaining 48 feet will be entirely made out of a series of cascading rolling doors similar to a hanger This leaves the South which will largely be made up out of the Allied Moving van with the container adjacent to it
 So as it stands right not the North wall will be my next victim

[Harold in CR]

Hey Frank
Everything OK with you and yours ?  Hope the virus has skipped over your area.

[Frank S]

Hey Frank
Everything OK with you and yours ?  Hope the virus has skipped over your area.

Hi Harold thanks for the inquiry. we are so far removed from everyone I'm hoping the CIVID-19 can't locate our zip code. but the problem is all of the panic stricken bottom dwellers who live in the big cities as much as 200 miles away come to town and try to deplete all of the stocks from the shelves in the couple of local retail establishments. So for that reason my wife and I try not to even go to town for anything unless absolutely necessary, which is something we are quite adapt at anyway.
 I have a few updates I need to post on the progress of my shop just haven't gotten around to doing it. mostly because I have been working on several other things I will try to remember to take the time to post an update later today or tonight

[Frank S]

Now that the roof is completed work on the building has progressed some I have been busy with other things though some I had put off for longer than should have been placed on hold but getting them done none the less.
 Anyway about the shop after the roof it was time to start moving more of the flex base clay fill so I could get my shop van placed on location

The next trailer that needs to be put in place is the one behind my Freightliner

With the machine shop van in place  I had to dig a trench and run a 2" conduit for electricity to it from the container

[DanG]

Heyas - how goes it? 

Been a long month since you last posted; here is hoping you and yours are well...

Note: I keep looking at that school bus chassis and scaffold and secretly hope you'll start doing music festivals...

[Frank S]

Heyas - how goes it? 

Been a long month since you last posted; here is hoping you and yours are well...

Note: I keep looking at that school bus chassis and scaffold and secretly hope you'll start doing music festivals...

Thanks DanG; I have given some thought about the bus scaffold myself. One thought was to mount bench rests and chairs on top of it the use it for hog hunts, another suggestion from a neighbor was to drag it to the center of my woods and rent it out to campers who wanted to sleep above the woods instead of sleeping in the woods. Right now I have a couple of groups who are wanting to come out and camp in my woods but I haven't had the time to clear a few areas of enough underbrush to make it safe for them to camp there without me having to worry that they will get a fire started and burn the place down. Last year I brush hogged an acre in the trees then raked the underbrush out and allowed one group to camp there for weekend and they still managed to let their fire get out of hand fortunately the only thing they managed to catch on fire was their tent.
 I've actually been busy doing some much needed work on the house replacing some of the siding cutting a 2 ft by 10 foot hole in the floor of the front bathroom so I could do some plumbing and drain work I had been putting off and leveling up one area of the kitchen floor. But now the wife has a choice of where she wants to have her washer and dryer they can be in the bathroom or in the back room that she calls her plants room or and don't tell her but I may buy her a 2nd washer and dryer this year so she can have one set for her clothes and the household things and the other set to do my  dirty sometimes greasy clothes.
 The shop, well little has been done on it except for mining and moving more fill leveling up the machine shop van and trying to get some things straightened up in there

[Frank S]

OH yes and by the way I am beginning to start building a windmill for my well it will have a sail type fan the gear box will have some similarities to a conventional aermotor but instead of spur gears for the reduction gearing I will use chain and sprockets plus I wanted to have a much slower stroke per minute rate than the 3.91 ratio of most windmills. Our winds can be murder on the braking systems as the sail might keep spinning over 100 RPM even nearly fully furled
 My well is only 60 feet and if pumped slow enough the water stands to the 36 foot mark but even choking a bottom hole pump down to 3 gallons a minute will draw a significant amount of sand up I want to bring that pumping rate down to under 1.5 gallons per minute in 20 MPH winds so I will be constructing my windmill motor with an 8 to one ratio use a 2" cylinder with an 8" stroke pump this through a 150 to 300 lb sand/ charcoal filter up to a tower Then a solar powered demand pump to transfer the water to the water tower located some 450 feet away at the house.
 I will start a thread about it as I begin the build

[Frank S]

I'm beginning to think that this shop project is going to be one of those never completed tasks in my life.
 Just because I am retired it seems that everyone thinks that I do not have enough to do and my biggest problem is not having the word NO in my vocabulary if it is not my friend who I co own several semi trailers with hauling in more vehicles for me to work on then it  his truck needing worked on or one of the trailers. Or a neighbor who happens to be a welder and a mechanic as well brings over welding jobs that he is not set up to do. Or it is a mechanic who works for a construction company brings over mechanic work that he can't fix himself. Or my wife suddenly deciding that one of the bathrooms needs some renovations done to it, or she trashes her lawn tractor and I have to completely rebuild the mower deck. another neighbor manages to damage something on her trailer that I built for her and it needed repairing. And then there is me the most distracting person to my plans of all. I decided that having a skid steer around would be helpful in the shop construction so I contact a friend who had one that he hardly ever uses. to borrow or rent it from him. He explains that I am welcome to use it but it needs some repairs he said you can use it as is but if you can repair it then it will do a better job OH sure I can use it as is the thing was so squirrely you couldn't steer it between 2 buildings if they were 50 feet apart. I tore it down and fixed that problem only to find that it would go through 2 gallons of hyd. oil in an hour repair one leak after another until I have significantly reduced the oil leakages to a manageable amount and now I am discovering it has a high rate of engine oil consumption it seems to have a leak somewhere that the only way to repair is going to mean pulling the engine so much fun. the good thing was he told me he would buy any parts that I need if replacements are required. I just got finished rebuilding an automatic transmission in a friends dodge pickup and he has a suburban with a little cummins in it that needs some work to top it off I decided it was time to repair my Kubota excavator or at least think about repairing it so to do this I needed a forge to heat some badly bent up parts so I can straighten them well I have the forge about half way built then learn I have a 20 ft shipping container inbound in about a week and a half so this means I have to get back to work on moving fill dirt to have a place to set it when it arrives since it is full and I don't want to have to move it after unloading so back to work on the shop mining and hauling fill. I only hope everyone leaves me alone for a while     

[DanG]

sabbatical : sab·bat·i·cal  ( /səˈbadək(ə)l/ )

A period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other high-value worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.

Announce you've been granted a sabbatical so 95% of 'Urgent need' projects HAVE to be re-routed past your doorstep?

Well it wouldn't hurt to try : )

[Frank S]

sabbatical : sab·bat·i·cal  ( /səˈbadək(ə)l/ )

A period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other high-value worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.

Announce you've been granted a sabbatical so 95% of 'Urgent need' projects HAVE to be re-routed past your doorstep?

Well it wouldn't hurt to try : )

Thanks Dan, but I have been o an unpaid sabbatical for 7 years now which works out about right because I had worked for right at 49 years of my life before that.
 Anyway I got up on the roof of the building this morning and completed covering the screw holes from the time the sheet metal had been on another building. Then I removed the final 3 tier section of scaffold which I had left at the corner of the building for access up there, but now it was in the way so it had to go.
next I mined up more clay fill and hauled about 25 loader buckets full. I hauled about 10 bobcat buckets to places that were harder to get to with the backhoe but even being an 863 or medium large bobcat I found it was less productive than the loader on the backhoe .
 Later I moved all of the stuff off of and from around my work table then tilted it up on its side and moved the buss scaffold across the front of the building so I can install the sheet metal on the end



All of the  grass area you see in the foreground will need between 10 and 20" of fill tapering down but before that can happen the top foot of the top soil and grass will have to be removed this area will eventually have an apron poured extending out about 30 feet in front of the shop but that will be a 30 yard pour in itself. So I shouldn't complain about these random jobs that come in as the money from them go into the building fund

[JW]

Im fascinated with the Bus placement, thanks for the pictures

 

[Frank S]

Im fascinated with the Bus placement, thanks for the pictures

The body or the chassis? The body was placed up there to serve as a probable office I might latter on cut it at the window line and raise the top a foot or so. they are pretty easy to raise I've done a couple so people could make motor homes out of theirs and have more head room. I left it sticking out over the end of the container because I wanted more useable storage on top of the container at the other end. I will build a solid floor on it or even possibly place temporary supports inside then lay some steel matting and pour a 4 inch lightweight concrete floor on it That actually makes the best mezzanine type floor .
 The tops of these intermodal containers will not support much weight unless a floor of some kind is constructed on them but the sides are quite strong so If I weld a 1/4x4 flat bar all the way around that becomes the form for the concrete and adds more strength to the top of the sides  once it is cured it will be nearly like any multi story floor in a building capable of supporting 200 to 300 lb per sq ft. dead load
 it will be about a 2 cubic yard pour

[SparWeb]

"The body was placed up there to serve as a probable office"

Imagine some day in the future, when the shop is an ongoing business and you've got some employees.  The inside joke between them will be "don't piss off the boss, Frank, or else he'll take you up into the bus and "drive you to school"!

[Frank S]

"The body was placed up there to serve as a probable office"

Imagine some day in the future, when the shop is an ongoing business and you've got some employees.  The inside joke between them will be "don't piss off the boss, Frank, or else he'll take you up into the bus and "drive you to school"!

Sounds like a plan to me

[Frank S]

Yard by yard foot by foot I am slowly getting some fill built up

[Frank S]

As long as the shop is nothing more than a roof over head there is not a lot of need for lighting during the day even once the walls and doors are in place if I were to install some sky light panels most of the time artificial lighting would not be required for most things. except on cloudy and rainy days when there will be limited light from the sun.
 However the lack of lighting means daylight hours only and most of the time this is just fine but for those times when something has to go out the next day and it is already sundown.

  So I bought a couple of 100 watt ultra thin UFO high bay LED lights to see how much light I can expect to have given that I place 4 or 5 on each of the 3 center trusses about 10 feet apart I could go with fewer larger lights but the fewer the number and the brighter the lights the deeper the shadows are more fixtures affords a better overlap which helps to reduce or  eliminate shadowing this is what a single 100watt fixture does

taken with no flash 50 feet in front of the shop

Taken no flash from the S.W. corner of the shop

no flash looking up at the roof

I think I will eventually have 12 to 15 of these in this section of the shop and 6 in the second section
2100 watts total of lighting in the 6000 square footage of the eventual size of the shop will use less electricity than the lighting I had in my old 6000 sq ft. shop and have twice the illumination  I had 15 of the 500 watt halogen and mercury lamps in that shop the energy consumption  was around 7.5 KW and only produced around 105,000 lumens of useable light
 These things cost about the same as just the bulbs of the other kind of lights plus put out nearly 1.8 times as much light per unit @ only 100 watts power consumption per disk. Additionally I will probably set them up so I have 3 to 6 zones so will only have the lights on that are needed
All calculations are approxamated

[DanG]

gee-haw, now appearing center stage, Farm Dog & Bobcat!

Just a couple of if-its-not-too-much-troubles... I'd keep number of units on each branch circuit down, the inrush current for the first three or seven hertz acts like a short circuit until the driver circuits go fully active, so voltage drop and each unit accepting what the ones ahead of it in line is rejecting adds to the wear and tear aging of everything in system...

Also - the cooler you can keep the driver / emitter heatsinks the better, longer life and more lumens -- some open air for a smokestack effect to ramp up, not held close to obstructions, yet have a shade to block the sun heated roof IR from being a heatlamp floodlight keeping the LED heatsinks from shedding heat as designed...  Amazing to see what a few degrees Celsius does to output and projected hours-between-failures and that's on non-chinesium fixtures

[Frank S]

Thanks DanG, as you know I plan on insulating the roof but still at that I agree that wicking the heat away form the driver is paramount. I have already experienced premature failure of some 9 watt 600 lumen bulbs in my kitchen fixture that encompasses the bulbs deep in a glass bell what I have done for these is to order some E26 to E26 extensions which will allow for more air flow around the base of the bulbs.
  Years ago I set up the lighting in a commercial building that required several hundred thousand total lumens of lighting these were ballasted high bay fixtures requiring 277v current to prevent anyone from simply leaving all of the zones switched on and throwing the master switch I set every zone up on a delay circuit straight from the master then each individual fixture for every zone was delayed the offset timing cause a Maxwell Smart effect where the lights came on one by one but over time the system paid for itself in energy savings alone.
 I wasn't planning on going to anything near as elaborate for my shop but may install this http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/369913_ENG.pdf

[Frank S]

This morning

This afternoon The  problem today was I had to clear off over 4 feet of overburden in an area of about 30 ft by 20 ft to get down to the clay.
 My wife says I am starting my own mountain
So I wound up only excavating about 20 loader buckets full of fill

[SparWeb]

"Frank Mountain" is already taken in the USA.  Though maybe not in Texas...

[mbouwer]

Hoi Frank,

It will certainly become a nice spacious workshop.
That's also what Midwoud said with whom I had a telephone conversation.
Beautiful area to live by the way.
If I lived in that region, I would definitely want to come and help you.

Greetings Rinus

[Frank S]

What I plan on doing with the ever increasing hole in the ground once I have removed all of the fill material I will require and the shop plus surrounding area has been hardened up with the clay. I will fishbowl the sides and seal it so it will hold water. There are several way to seal it Bentonite is one of the best but several truck loads will get expensive. A far cheaper alternative is Billboard tarps or custom ordered lightweight vinyl tarps you can get them up to 150 feet wide and 350 feet long or large enough to cover a football field but I will probably buy the cheaper used tarps and overlap them then cover them with a bout a foot of soil water retention problem solved the sandy clay soil will complete the sealing effect by holding the tarps down then it will be just a matter of waiting for the rains There is a slight hill sloping up in 3 directions from the hole so if I create run off slopes to it even if I have to burry more tarps to accomplish this I should wind up with a nice half acre sized pond eventually

[Frank S]

 Adding the fill is an agonizingly slow process mostly because I used the back hoe to help pack down each bucketful that I spread, byt driving back and forth over it several times
 after the morning greasing all of the zerks I started with no stock pile excavated enough fill for 35 loader buckets full then hauled and spread that and dug up enough for another 20 and spread that
 









 I really need to set up a spray bar to wet this stuff down periodically

[Bruce S]

Frank;
That hole sure would be a nice place for some scuba lessons !
My PADI has expired , but still!

However the dirt does look a bit too lose could be a safety issue .

Cheers
Bruce S