My shop (barn, garage, storage building, etc.)

[fiatben]

I'm sure in the past people have posted pics of where they live (their shops I mean, after all I feel very alive when I'm building something).

But a quick search didn't turn up a thread, so I thought I'd share a pic of the place I call home.
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This is the corner in a 20x40 tin barn that was once a fish hatchery. Five years ago I cleaned it out, poured a concrete floor and set about dedicating it to repairing/restoring my Fiat 124 Spiders. It now contains most of my earthly belongings (thus, storage building) and still has my car stuff, including a mostly original '69 awaiting time and money (thus, barn as in "barn find"), and is where I fix my cars when they break (or at least I did when there was still room to pull a car in) (thus, garage).

My "shop" is approximately 10 x 13' but spills over into the area where cars are supposed to sit during repairs. Currently that area is where the Shopsmith sits in many pieces. Some day I hope to have actual wiring to the barn instead of the 120' extension cord that currently powers everything. (I know, I know)

My Dad has a really nice insulated shop building about 100 feet behind the barn but so far I haven't been able to talk him into letting me take it over!!

Any whooooo, just thought I'd share. BTW: This is not intended to show an organized, efficient workspace but rather the cluttered mess I muddle thru, and a lot of the stuff behind the wood tools is car stuff.

[baysidebob]

Flatben your shop is your shop, is your shop. Not everyone has total organization in their shop areas. As long as it serves your purpose it should be fine. Some day one of us will start a post of who has the most clutter in their shop. I am pretty certain that mine woiuld be iin the top 5. Not that I work in total disarray but I do work in total disarray.

I do question your use a an extention cord 120' in length. But that is also your decision, just be safe with it. Keep working on dad about using the other building. Most of us dads will wear down after awhile.........

Keep working that shop and be happy..........................

[fiatben]

I do question your use a an extention cord 120' in length. But that is also your decision, just be safe with it.

Oh, I agree totally! But as we say in the hills, "po' folks has po' ways." An you don't even want to know the plug-in it connects to!

We are currently discussing and putting money aside to run genuine power to the barn, complete with a service entrance breaker box. Hopefully by mid-summer it will be a reality and I can actually run the lights and a power tool at the same time without the lights going out (which is a real pain at night!)

[derekdarling]

Humble abode. the front of my shed is about 10" (inches) from the front of the SS. If it didn't have wheels, I'd really be in trouble. By the way, this SS is new to me, and I'm just beginning the tear-down and re-build. Any actual work will mean roll it out (under the carport) and work away!

[hagarz71]

It looks like a great place to get away and work on wood, except for the whole power thing.

[efmaron]

It dosen't matter what your shop looks. as long as you are happy and enjoy working in it, and also be safe.

[dlbristol]

Hey Fiatben, Do as much as you can on that wiring fund! I had to up grade the panel on my house to run a line to the shop and get everything right there, but I can tell you it made a huge difference in the shop's usability! Nothing else changed, but it made the shop 2-3 times more usable and my only regret is that I took so long to build up my wiring fund. I actually "cheated" a bit, because I had some things on the house that had to be redone, so I piggy backed off that. It was cheaper to do both at once. One suggestion from my experience, don't let your wife talk you into digging the line trench to the shop by hand. Love your sense of humor!

[charlese]

... One suggestion from my experience, don't let your wife talk you into digging the line trench to the shop by hand. Love your sense of humor!

I'll second that one!!! Shouldn't be hard to dig a little ditch through desert land - right? I managed to dig most of the ditch to one foot depth tried to proceed with a good ol' 5 ft crow bar - then had to rent a jack hammer to finish the job. After going to 3 ft. deep, man was I pooped! Couldn't even lift the hammer out of the ditch. Had to tie a rope around it to hoist it up. And the ditch was only 15 feet long! The ditch holds both the service electricity and the cable T.V. to the shop.

[fiatben]

I don't know about desert. Here in the Ozarks it's all limestone. When I tried to put out a garden, I just planted between the rocks and hoped for the best.

It's about a 100' straight run from the power pole to the barn. Awhile back I wired the barn with outlets all over the place, but will probably rework some of that and provide for more overhead power ('cause I'm so tired of tripping over cords). I've got a cousin with a backhoe attachment for his tractor, so if we decide to dig deep I'll have him come over. Just gonna drop some 8/2 in some PVC, tie into the 200 amp feed, slap a breaker box in the corner in the barn and enjoy not having the lights dim everytime I hit the ON switch on something. Hopefully, soon.

[JPG]

I don't know about desert. Here in the Ozarks it's all limestone. When I tried to put out a garden, I just planted between the rocks and hoped for the best.

It's about a 100' straight run from the power pole to the barn. Awhile back I wired the barn with outlets all over the place, but will probably rework some of that and provide for more overhead power ('cause I'm so tired of tripping over cords). I've got a cousin with a backhoe attachment for his tractor, so if we decide to dig deep I'll have him come over. Just gonna drop some 8/2 in some PVC, tie into the 200 amp feed, slap a breaker box in the corner in the barn and enjoy not having the lights dim everytime I hit the ON switch on something. Hopefully, soon.

Suggest 8/3! Two breakers(one lights other outlets). Ground barn end of run1