[Guest]

Major reconstruction on the workshop just got started. Everything is getting piled up on one side of the workshop so that I can rip the old hardboard off of a dividing wall to run new electrical service along where the storage bench is going.

Plus I just spotted another add-on bench that I'll add on the outside wall for extra working space.

I could do both walls with this setup but I need somewhere to store the portable power tools that I've been collecting plus the drill press and router table.

I do have an idea from this side bench on how I can get lots of electrical service on the main bench.

[Guest]

The last two weeks were spent moving everything off of the dividing wall between my workshop area and my wife's sewing/crafts area.

All the partial kits got stacked on my small movable workbench and pushed over as far as possible but still allowing me to get down the storage shelves on the other side of the workshop, then the wall unit and storage rods came down, followed by shifting everything else over as much a possible.

This week was spent taking down the 30-year-old hardboard that was on the wall. I was expecting to find mouse droppings everywhere, so I was careful. Hardboard is not like drywall in that it does not break easily. So things came off in small sections or I pounded holes with my 2-pound sledge hammer until I could get my prybar in and start popping the board off of the nails.

Today was spent pulling the last of the hardbaord around, removing all the nails and putting the scraps in a tote bin pending getting them out to the curb on garbage day.

Here's how things look today....

Next step will be acquiriing concrete wall paint to do the cinderblock wall and fill in all the voids and such. Then breaking the electrical circuit that covers the entire basement into two 15-amp section (workshop will be on a seperate circuit except for some pot lights as emergency lighting). And finally p[utting up new drywall and starting on the actual shelving.

[Guest]

All I can say about the previous owner: he was a master electrician and not a master carpenter. Both the electrical work show all sorts of shortcuts (took two hours to figure out how the four flourescent lights, the wall plugs on the dividing wall and the three switches are hooked together. I'm still not sure so I am getting a friend who is a master electrian to verify my conclusions and to tell me where to make the break between the two circuits.

The wiring is such that you turn on the main flourescent light in the laundry area from the top of the stairs, then go past the central vac to turn on the flourescent lights in my workshop and over by the furnace, and then go around to the other side of the wall to turn on the light in the craft/sewing area.

I want to break the circuit so that if I plug in a tool and blow the breakers, my wife isn't also plunged into the dark and the main lights are still on.

The fortunate part is that when we moved in and had the service upgraded, I'd had a single plug run into the workshop from the main board. I'll be running my workshop off of that circuit. Once I get it cut off from the main one.

Houses that are fifty years old, tend to have four circuits: basement, upstairs, main level and basement. THe previous owner had added another four circuits but never went back to fix up his additions to the original circuits.

Oh well, got to go out to the BBQ and fix the ribs.

[bbbair]

You have a heck of a project on the go there!

Just watchout... it could take over your life for the next month or two... and that would interfere with your flying!

Good Luck! I look forward to seeing the finished product!

[Guest]

I realize that, and am probably going to be beaten over the head by the TEMAC CFI, President and the SE Zone Director, who are two of the nicest people you'll meet.

My schedule is being blown out of the water anyways: JRTRO (Jack Russell Terrier Rescue Ontario) equivalent of a fun-fly, my sister-in-law's 65th birthday, garage sale to get rid of the pile of stuff that we've been accumulating (sorry, all RC stuff got cleared out at the last Aurora MAC swap meet), gardening (mowing the lawn and helping my wife).

I also figure that the Wings and Wheels event at Downsview will have me helping out at the booth as well.

Somewhere, my regular job will come sliding in as well (backing up a co-worker who's off due to a major illness, plus my project fi9nally getting approved, p,us anything else my manager and director can think of.....)

All-in-all, I'm going to ahve a busy summer.

Today's job is going to Rona and checking out the concrete/cinder-block wall paints and sealers, plus the price on gyprock sheeting.

Priority will be breaking the all-basement circuit into three -- my wokshop -- will take just a bit of rewiring, the rest of the basement, and the staircase going down. That way, if either my wife or I manage to blow the breaker for our respective sides, the main light will still be on.

Yes, DIY is always fun and takes tons of time. Alternate would be to hire a contractor ($$$ that could be spent on planes and other important stuff.)

[dean2287]

I rebuilt my workshop last fall, it's a very worthwhile project but definitely takes some planning and patience. Its all worth it in the end. Storage is the big thing so take a good look at all the stuff you need to keep hidden away. Good lighting is a good investment, and its worth the time to make a really flat and level bench. I got a small used bar fridge for $25 which is great for glues etc. and a drill press that was on sale.

Biggest thing I've found with mine is that you can never have too much bench space! The more the merrier. I went with a peg board on the wall over the bench and really like it, as well as a large metal storage cabinet with a bunch of little drawers for screws etc.

[Guest]

I just spent the better part of two hours in the basement rafters with a high-powered flashlight, trying to chase down where all the wires went that were associated with the break-out box located above the main flourescent light. Haven't figured how the switch is connected to the rest of the wires unless it's a giant star configuration with the switch wire being used to break the incoming power to the light itself.

I think that the best thing to do would be to get my fellow church member who's a retired master electrician to come by on a Saturday or Sunday and earn a fast 100 dollars or so reconfiguring that rat's nest and then connecting the two sections to seperate circuits. Good news on that is that there are two singular circuits already running into the area (one powering a single wall-plug on the far side of my workshop, and the other powering two wallplugs and the transformer for the household alarm).

I'll check with John if this is doable and legal.

One suggestion that I have for everyone is to get hold of a RF circuit detector (stick the RF unit into a wall-plug and identify the circuit breaker associated with that plug) plus do the old flip-the-breaker game to identify lights. I've got a floor plan of all the household levels and outside plugs.

That floor plan has been pulled out of the circuit breaker cabinet and been stared at a lot lately. I'm also updating it as I go through the trace-the-wire exercise.

[JimMcIntyre]

BTDT, on my second now.

Creative wiring seems all to common, I found some nasty accidents waiting to happen. whenever I find the all-in-one light receptacle doubling as a multi-junction now I just bite the bullet, dismantle it and start over. Safer and the end result is much better.

As for shop organisation, in a smaller shop (and they're all eventually too small regardless of size), flexibility is the key. I don't attach benches to the wall anymore in fact, i try to attach as little as possible. parts organizers are on wheels to be wheeled to where the work is progressing. etc. the tops of these make nice portable benches for chargers etc.

I like to have a 'cutting' bench with the benchtop tools like scroll saw, bench sander sander, grinder bandsaw etc. easily interchangeable (basically an interchangeable rack system ).

Just some ideas...

[Sukhoi 68]

Its well worth the time and effort! I was able to turn a once closed area due to closets and poorly planned walls into a purpose built hobby room!

Scott

[Guest]

Originally Posted by JimMcIntyre

BTDT, on my second now.

Creative wiring seems all to common, I found some nasty accidents waiting to happen. whenever I find the all-in-one light receptacle doubling as a multi-junction now I just bite the bullet, dismantle it and start over. Safer and the end result is much better.

As for shop organisation, in a smaller shop (and they're all eventually too small regardless of size), flexibility is the key. I don't attach benches to the wall anymore in fact, i try to attach as little as possible. parts organizers are on wheels to be wheeled to where the work is progressing. etc. the tops of these make nice portable benches for chargers etc.

I like to have a 'cutting' bench with the benchtop tools like scroll saw, bench sander sander, grinder bandsaw etc. easily interchangeable (basically an interchangeable rack system ).

Just some ideas...

Good ideas, Jim, and I'm going to pretty well do that. One of my woodworking magazines had a bench design that used plate-mounted tools to get more efficiency out of small spaces. However, I need shelf space to spread things out, and cupboards to put the big power tools away in, plus wall-mounted racks to hold the partial projects.

I've finally had it with the IKEA Sten shelving system and want something permanent and without the ability to sway.

I also have to find a way of storing sheet balsa so that it doesn't start twisting along its length. Any ideas, anyone?