I recently fell into enough adjoining land to build a small shop (24 x 34). My wife says it’s OK to build if I make it “cute”. She means a bit of stone work, a sliding barn door and a metal roof. I think I can do that.
I’m planning to replace some tools and need your comment. I presently have a Hitachi F1000 combination planer/joiner but plan to replace it with a Delta DJ-20 8″ jointer and a Delta 15″ planer. Are they good choices? I’m also thinking about an Oneida dust collection system. I intend to have a 9 or 10 foot ceiling with with a floor of cement covered with 2×6 sleepers and 3/4″ plywood so dust collecting pipes and electricity can run under the floor. What do you think?
I’m new at this posting business so let me know what I’m doing wrong. Thanks!
Replies
Unless they have come up with better seals I'd stay away from the sliding door, I have never seen one the was weather tight. We had wide swinging doors on the shop when I was a kid & they seemed to be nice & tight no wind blew in.
I have a "4 thick x 10' wide x 10' tall sliding door on the front of my shop its built out of wood and is insulated on the inside of it with "4 of styrofoam insulation I used whats known as rolling cannon ball track for it to slide on and to lock it I used cam latches on each side of the door. To weather strip it I went to the lumberyard and bought the type that goes on the sides of overhead doors this type of weather stripping is about "3 wide half the width is ridgid plastic and half has a plyable rubber gasket material it works really good and the best thing is I dont have any drafts or unwanted critters that sneak in around the door. When I was getting ready to build the door I had a entry door given to me that had two "12 side windows in it. I took the entry door apart and used the "36 slab metal part of the unit for my small entry door thats on the west side of my shop then I incorporated one of the "12 side windows in the top of the sliding door just about like Norm's. When I built my shop I intentionally didn't put in any windows other than the one thats in the sliding door But I did incorporate a lot of florecent lights so there aren't any shadows that can be casted. Well good luck on your shop and have a Happy New Near
Sincerely J.Clark
I envy you - sounds like a nice plan. I agree with what Bart said about the sliding doors; they just don't seal well. If you live in snow country, keep the doors on the gable ends unless you want to risk having a pile of snow or ice come crashing down on your head.
If you go with the higher walls, install your windows near ceiling height to free up wall space and avoid shadows. I like the idea of running the electrical and duct work in the floors - don't forget to include a few floor sweeps for easy clean up.
The Delta jointer is a good machine. As far as the planer goes, I'd buy a Jet or Powermatic instead. Same money, but about 150 lbs. heavier. (The Delta weighs 340 lbs. - a bit light for that class of machine.) The Delta has poly outfeed rollers compared to steel on the others. Jet won Popular Woodworking's Editor's Choice for that size planer.
Good luck, and keep us informed of your progress.
Jeff
I'm finally getting the framing lumber to start the shop. The cement floor has been poured. I'll probably post progress on Breaktime - have to get a digital camera to post pics. Don
You'll love the Delta 8" jointer. I've had mine for a few months now and really like it. That's not to say others aren't as good or even better or that I've had experience with anything else. Just that it's been a winner for me.
Things to check, though - My infeed table isn't precisely in the same plane as the outfeed table. I suspect this can be tuned but haven't gotten around to it. Why do I say this? If I square the fence to the outfeed table, it's a hair out of square with the infeed table. Or perhaps the fence is warped, dunno - nor do I have adequate tools to check the latter. But all the experienced woodworkers I've talked to say that as long as the fence is square to the outfeed table, that's what counts.
Be sure to install some sort of vapor barrier and/or provide for adequate ventilation in the sleeper space between the plywood floor and the concrete. You'll get dryrot over time without it. Be sure to let your concrete cure out at least 28 days to get rid of as much moisture in it as possible before covering it up. For a first class job, install a layer of 3/4" gravel or pea gravel under the slab as a capillary break to prevent moisture from being drawn up through the slab. Anything over 20'x20' and you're bound to get shrinkage cracks. Keep the water/cement ratio as low as you can and still have a workable mix. If you have this done by a contractor, too many times the finishers will 'soup up' the mix with excess water to make placing easier. If it were me, I'd live on the concrete floor.
Try to work in a second exit to the rear of the shop as an emergency exit. UBC code limits dead end corridors in commercial buildings for fire emergencies. You never know....
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
DENNIS02: My infeed table isn't precisely in the same plane as the outfeed table. I suspect this can be tuned but haven't gotten around to it. Why do I say this? If I square the fence to the outfeed table, it's a hair out of square with the infeed table. Or perhaps the fence is warped, dunno - nor do I have adequate tools to check the latter. But all the experienced woodworkers I've talked to say that as long as the fence is square to the outfeed table, that's what counts.
Dennis, Dennis, Dennis! Who fed you that pure, unadulterated bull puckey? If you do nothing but edge jointing and index on the fence, pretty much ignoring the infeed table, you might, just MIGHT, get away with it. As soon as you try to face joint, you're dead.
If the blades are square with the fence and the infeed table tilts outward, you will be taking off a triangular shaving, leaving a trapazoidal plank on the outfeed table. But you don't even know what's properly square with what!
Dennis, you need to sit down at this jointer (allow yourself an entire day) and get it squared away, literally and properly. If you haven't the equipment needed to check your jointer, then buy them and learn to use them. Spending $100's on a good jointer and hesitating to spend $10's on the gauges you need to keep in alignment is being "penny wise and pound foolish".
I recommend the following:
6" engineer's square $11.50 Lee Valley Pg 3
24" straight edge $18.95 Lee Valley Pg 4
dial gauge w/magnetic base $33.90 Lee Valley Pg18
magnetic blade setter $29.99 Woodcraft Pg17
------
TOTAL: $94.34
How much did your new jointer cost? Hmmmmm?
Taunton Press has many books on tools and how to adjust and use them properly. Prices range from $20 - $50.
Now, in the immortal words of Dr Laura Schlessinger, "Go do the right thing!"
--
Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon
On the Redwood Highway
As usual, you're absolutely right, Lee. I hadn't thought through the process of face jointing since most of everything I've done using the jointer has been edge jointing to this point.
I did buy a good dial indicator and machinist's square that I check my setups with and will be getting a good straight edge. The first chance I get I'll dedicate some time to getting those tables nuts on!
Thanks for the brain thump, Lee.
...........
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
You may want to rethink your floor. Some of your machines, especially if they have mobile bases, may be far too heavy to support on a 3/4in plywood floor. I like the idea behind a raised floor but it probably needs to be much stronger. Put a vapour barrier below your floor, and as you live in the US think about in slab or under floor heating, or insulation between your slab and raised floor.
I'm jealous
Thanks for the reply. I'm new to Knots and am enjoying the response. Regarding the floor. I plan to double up on the 2x6 sleepers when I know where the heavy stuff will be. I think one of the values of the floor is the ability to unscrew a sheet of 4x8 plywood to change what's underneath (wiring, air handling, support, etc.)
Re: your floor - How about a compromise wherein you divide your shop into a "machine room" and a "bench room?" You wouldn't need a wall to separate the two spaces in order to put the wood flooring in only the bench room (where you'll spend a lot of time standing) while placing your heavy stationary tools directly on the concrete floor.
For that matter, you could pour your slab so as to create a 6" x 6" channel around the perimiter of the room in which to run your electrical and dust collection. By creating a 3/4" rabet along the edges of this channel, you could drop in 3/4' pressure-treated plywood and have a flush floor.
You might want to consider placing the dust collection equipment and air compressor outside the main shop, perhaps in an attached shed under the roof overhang, to keep the noise and the dust outside the shop.
Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to have rear door and have thought about putting the "noisy" machines out back. They would kind of hang from the wall because there's a steep bank out there. The contractor who works with our Habitat group suggest that I use 2x8 studs on 24" centers rather than 2x6's. He says the cost wouldn't be much more. That would give me more support for "hanging" the dust collector and compressors on the back wall. But, won't I be venting a lot of heat outside be putting the collector outside, or should I vent its exhaust back in?
Don,
If your shop is to be a conditioned [heated/cooled] space, you can avoid some of the losses associated with dumping conditioned air outdoors by installing an air-to-air heat exchanger. However, I'm not an HVAC contractor, and am not qualified to offer details.
There are many very bright professionals who visit this site; perhaps they can offer more detailed advice as well as a rough idea of the installed cost versus energy savings, i.e., whether or not the investment would provide sufficient economic return to make it worthwhile.
Good luck!
Jazzdogg
Don,
By the way, will you be able to safely access your equipment with it "hanging off the back wall"? You'll have to empty condensate from the compressor tank every day and empty dust bags occasionally.
Jazzdogg
Set your dust collector with a bag system and have a return vent into your work area with filters over it. This way your heat will be returned to your work area and the filters will keep the the dust and some of the noise out. I like the idea of the in floor heat but that will not work if you want to be able to remove portions for access. Good luck and I wish I had the room to move out of the basement.
Make sure the finished floor to ceiling height is a minimum of 9 feet! This will help when handling a sheet of plywood. The duct under the floor might be a little more difficult to tap into later if need be. My advice would be to epoxy coat the concrete floor and use cushioned mats at work stations. Hang the ducts from a 10 foot bearing height. The concrete floor allows you to put things on wheels to move around easier. Also the concrete is easier to keep clean. Dont forget to cast electrical conduit in the floor slab for the equipment in the middle of the shop. Good luck! - Sorry can't comment on the equipment!!!
Brian
I wonder why you would bother putting concrete down and then sleepers. Why not a crawl space with vapor barrier on grade and 2x12 joists.My shop is 20x 30 with round piers ( sonotube forms ) and 12" engineerd joists 16" o.c. with 3/4" osb nailed and glued. 1/4" luan over this for finished floor.Metal roof might be noisy when it rains?
Good luck with your new shop
mike
Thats one of the most relaxing sounds to me is rain falling on a metal roof but I quess if I had to live with it day in and day out it could probably get on a persons last nerve. And as far as putting concrete then floor joists I wonder if a person could use a product thats called stone crete its about half the price as concrete but packs hard so no critters can come up threw it. First put in sand then a 8mil plastic vapor barriar then the stone crete in layers and pack with a plate conpactor in between the layers until desired depth is aquired.
James Clark at the "PUTTERIN YANKEE"woodworking shop
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled