Good thread.
If I were building again, I would do a few things different.
First, build as BIG as you can. Shop floor square area is a finite
number in an universe of infinite number of machine tools...you will
never have enough space but you can lessen the pain of having too
little.
Second, I have found that I like to work outside if the weather
allows, especially if the job is dusty (woodworking), dirty (cleaning
the recent machine purchase) or dangerous (welding or foundry work).
In the current shop, I can raise a garage door and roll whatever I am
working out on the driveway. Now this may seem simple but it requires
you to plan on easy access out to the great outdoors aka a door
suitable for this purpose. Make it bigger than you think you will need
and a FLAT surface under the door so you have nothing to roll over.
Next you need a surface that will work for what you are rolling out. I
have asphalt for a driveway and one needs to be careful with solvents.
In addition, any platform carrying significant weight will sink into
the asphalt on hot days...a real pain. I may replace the first ten
feet of the driveway in front of the shop with concrete for this
reason. Having external hookups to air and electricity along with
external lighting for those times when the job lasts longer than the
daylight is also very handy.
Third, the shop I use is in a residential area with LARGE acreages,
the building is set back from the road a considerable distance and is
located in an area with LIBERAL zoning laws. With that said, one
"problem" I have had is with neighbors and the general public checking
out what I am doing. It should not come as any great surprise to
members of this group that many of our interests are not shared by
mainstream America. While I welcome any chance to share knowledge with
others, there will always be those who will make your business theirs.
While I am very good about making sure all equipment is kept inside
the shop, sometimes you need to leave something outside longer than
your neighbors think you should (a portable foundry cooling off after
a pour). Also the less visible your shop activities are, the fewer
people in the general public who will know that your building contains
expensive tools that can be quickly converted into cash. Security
always starts with limiting who knows what.
If I were to build again, I would incorporate subtle design chances to
limit my shop's visibility to the general public including the
neighbors. In my case, simply rotating the building 90 degrees during
construction would have made a considerable difference from keepng
prying eyes from focusing on my sometimes humorous efforts.
Fourth, I would also emphasize that insulating WELL in any climate is
likely to be the best money that you can spend. It limits temperature
swings that promote condensation on equipment which then leads to the
infamous rusting that we are all familar with. When I say insulate, I
also mean to include a vapor barrier in the floor. I have buildings
with and without vapor barriers and the difference in the rust
potential between them is like night and day.
Finally, I would build with resale in mind. One of the biggest reasons
why large metal working machines sell poorly is because potential
users are unwilling or unable to move them. With the mobility of the
population, repetitive moves of a multi-ton machine soon causes the
owner to realize that the machine is not the bargain he thought it
was. While we all lust over a wonderful metalworking machine with MORE
POWER, the vast majority of the public would see nothing but a big
ugly greasy lump of metal. The same goes for the building you build
for a shop. The more general purpose the building is, the more likely
the next owner will want it when you move. I have seen over and over
again where a homeowner has built a specialized area (greenhouse,
pool, darkroom) at considerable expense which has hurt the sale of
their residence. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing...a
building made specifically for machine work can be a hinderance to the
resale value of a property to the general public.
Good luck with the building effort and let us know how it turns out.
TMT
(GJRepesh) wrote in message ...
I'm looking into expanding my current shop. I would like some input from recent
shop projects. Comments on things you did right and wrong. What do you wish you
had done. Things you did that didn't pay off. Type of construction. I'm looking
for ideas. I'm near Dallas TX. I've talked to the city and know about size
constraints, etc. It can be 15 feet tall at the highest roof point.
My existing shop is 20 x 24. This would be incorportated into a larger shop of
28 x 40 or 30 x 40. One of my concerns is the existing slab. It was cracked
along the long axis and the back half has slopped into the good old tx black
gumbo. I have filled the cracks and the floor has held up the last eight years.
Shifts a little in the summer. Do I need to replace the slab? Have a foundation
company relevel and install support piers? Ideas? I probably can build part of
the expansion and move my machines into the new location. That would free up
the existing area to redo.
I'd appreciate some ideas.
Gary Repesh