More Man Cave improvements
- Thread starter Dave Budd
- Start date
Managed to get a couple of days in the shed after the Moot and Gathering, so I now have a floor! 22mm flooring chipboard on tanalised timbers, all above a thick damp poof membrane. The walls are clad in 6mm ply (except the corner, where i found I was one sheet short! 
). This weekend, the doors!
I wish I'd thought to set a camera up to film the chainsaw coming through the wall
). This weekend, the doors!I wish I'd thought to set a camera up to film the chainsaw coming through the wall
if you are having trouble seeing the pictures here folks, then try the album I have on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dave.budd.77
https://www.facebook.com/dave.budd.77
Now I see it.
if you are having trouble seeing the pictures here folks, then try the album I have on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dave.budd.77
Here we are again Finally looking like a workshop now! The doors are on and bolt from the inside, so the only access is via the main doors as has always been the case (only now I can stand under the porch instead of getting wet when I unlock it!). The lathe and mill are in place, but as yet untested due to me not having wired up the leccy yet. Next up, some more flooring and another bench. Then I can start wiring before I move the bandsaws and wood lathe in from the main room
Getting there, slowly!
Benches in place, all mounted to the wall and braced.
I got the lathe onto a runway using the forklift on the tractor. Then pushed/pulled it along until it was at the end, when I realised that it was facing the wrong way and had to turn it 360 on the spot! The trestles are cheapies and rated for 50kg each (well, 100kg per pair). The lathe weighs in excess of 150kg, much care and buttock clenching was needed in the moving.
The new toys, in place!
Finally looking like a workshop now! The doors are on and bolt from the inside, so the only access is via the main doors as has always been the case (only now I can stand under the porch instead of getting wet when I unlock it!). The lathe and mill are in place, but as yet untested due to me not having wired up the leccy yet. Next up, some more flooring and another bench. Then I can start wiring before I move the bandsaws and wood lathe in from the main room Getting there, slowly!
Benches in place, all mounted to the wall and braced.
I got the lathe onto a runway using the forklift on the tractor. Then pushed/pulled it along until it was at the end, when I realised that it was facing the wrong way and had to turn it 360 on the spot! The trestles are cheapies and rated for 50kg each (well, 100kg per pair). The lathe weighs in excess of 150kg, much care and buttock clenching was needed in the moving.
The new toys, in place!
And where's the one where you went 'Oh bother!!!' 
But joking aside they look like some seriously nice kit Dave
But joking aside they look like some seriously nice kit Dave
Thanks Steve. 
There was a slight hiccup at the start of my heavy lifting and moving. I didn't notice how much tilt was on the back of my tractor and managed to knock the mill off the top of the pallet. Fortunately, the Chinese manufacturers had packed it for a choppy sea voyage and the 1/2" thick plywood box that the mill was bolted to managed to protect it
There was a slight hiccup at the start of my heavy lifting and moving. I didn't notice how much tilt was on the back of my tractor and managed to knock the mill off the top of the pallet. Fortunately, the Chinese manufacturers had packed it for a choppy sea voyage and the 1/2" thick plywood box that the mill was bolted to managed to protect it
My pleasure Dave :evilangel:
At least you get the sympathy vote for such a heart stopping moment
At least you get the sympathy vote for such a heart stopping moment
Thanks Steve.
There was a slight hiccup at the start of my heavy lifting and moving. I didn't notice how much tilt was on the back of my tractor and managed to knock the mill off the top of the pallet. Fortunately, the Chinese manufacturers had packed it for a choppy sea voyage and the 1/2" thick plywood box that the mill was bolted to managed to protect it
View attachment 32179
no picture until next week, but I'm pleased to say that I now have power in the new room I wired in a ring main today and tested all of the machines to check they work. So far so good! Next up, to rig up the air lines from the compressor and to insulate the new half of the gen shed (sound insulation, not warmth!)
I wired in a ring main today and tested all of the machines to check they work. So far so good! Next up, to rig up the air lines from the compressor and to insulate the new half of the gen shed (sound insulation, not warmth!)
At last, it is finished! 
This extension has consumed approximately 2 tonnes of timber, 350kg roofing steel/fibreglass, 6kg of nails, 600 screws, 35 oak logs (14-26" in length, 8-14" in diameter) have been sunk and rammed home, 40m electrical wire and a great deal of swearing. All of the new building work this year has cost somewhere short of £2k (not including the machines of course). The only power tools used were the chainsaw to cut the oak logs and a cordless drill/driver, everything else was my very own muscle power; oh and I did the WHOLE thing on my own! The whole building now measures about 25mx8.5m! :Wow: I now have my main forge and grinding room, heat treating room, leatherworking and jewellery room, sandblasting and airtools room, machine room, covered steel storage and a honking great porch!
A small tour of the new bits then
My bandsaws, positioned so that when cutting long stuff they have a door to poke through on either side of the room The cupboard has some hand tools (planes, drills, etc) that have been rusting in the other room fo years. It also contains some axes.
Most of my steel comes in 3m-6m lengths, so is on racking out the back. Other bits such as O1, 52100 and more special steels are in small pieces and are kept indoors and dry.
My wood lathe, that has always suffered from the damp noxious air, is now in a dry home.
Shiny new toys! Mill and metal lathe.
Sheet metal working area, still a work in progress. My welder and plasma cutter live here now, as do various sheet metal tools such as hand shears, jenny swage and my amusingy named "mighty mini bender". I'll be putting doors on the front of this too. The white board is to have hand tools pinned to it as well as measuring tools.
Into the next room, my sand blasting cabinet might actually get some use now that it isn't buried in junk!
and another room, the Power House. In here I have my noisy dirty and voodoo generators. So my battery bank from the photovoltaic setup, diesel generator, large petrol driven compressor and small electric compressor.
and finally the front porch. Here I plan to have a bench, my large hand shear and maybe a small kitchen area. Until they all get sorted, it is housing the extra and left over timber. Also, the packing crate from my lathe has been rebuilt and is full of kindling fo lighting the forge and my kelly kettle
For anybody thinking about building their own workshop from scratch like this. It does cost less than buying off the shelf, it is possible with limited experience and tools, you can build whatever you really want. But the best piece of advice I would give: Just get somebody else to do it for you! I just wanna make stuff and not build things!
This extension has consumed approximately 2 tonnes of timber, 350kg roofing steel/fibreglass, 6kg of nails, 600 screws, 35 oak logs (14-26" in length, 8-14" in diameter) have been sunk and rammed home, 40m electrical wire and a great deal of swearing. All of the new building work this year has cost somewhere short of £2k (not including the machines of course). The only power tools used were the chainsaw to cut the oak logs and a cordless drill/driver, everything else was my very own muscle power; oh and I did the WHOLE thing on my own! The whole building now measures about 25mx8.5m! :Wow: I now have my main forge and grinding room, heat treating room, leatherworking and jewellery room, sandblasting and airtools room, machine room, covered steel storage and a honking great porch!
A small tour of the new bits then
My bandsaws, positioned so that when cutting long stuff they have a door to poke through on either side of the room
The cupboard has some hand tools (planes, drills, etc) that have been rusting in the other room fo years. It also contains some axes.Most of my steel comes in 3m-6m lengths, so is on racking out the back. Other bits such as O1, 52100 and more special steels are in small pieces and are kept indoors and dry.
My wood lathe, that has always suffered from the damp noxious air, is now in a dry home.
Shiny new toys!
Mill and metal lathe. Sheet metal working area, still a work in progress. My welder and plasma cutter live here now, as do various sheet metal tools such as hand shears, jenny swage and my amusingy named "mighty mini bender". I'll be putting doors on the front of this too. The white board is to have hand tools pinned to it as well as measuring tools.
Into the next room, my sand blasting cabinet might actually get some use now that it isn't buried in junk!
and another room, the Power House. In here I have my noisy dirty and voodoo generators. So my battery bank from the photovoltaic setup, diesel generator, large petrol driven compressor and small electric compressor.
and finally the front porch. Here I plan to have a bench, my large hand shear and maybe a small kitchen area. Until they all get sorted, it is housing the extra and left over timber. Also, the packing crate from my lathe has been rebuilt and is full of kindling fo lighting the forge and my kelly kettle
For anybody thinking about building their own workshop from scratch like this. It does cost less than buying off the shelf, it is possible with limited experience and tools, you can build whatever you really want. But the best piece of advice I would give: Just get somebody else to do it for you! I just wanna make stuff and not build things!
