"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
om...
The need to have a smooth flat surface along the access path to your
shop where you will roll items in and out is a real one.
Concrete... I'm happy with the way our new place worked out. Previously
had a concrete driveway apron with exposed-aggregate finish that was pretty
but not helpful for rolling any kind of steel or other small wheel.
For the new place we got a "light broom" finish, that is a tradeoff because
it will eventually wear smooth enough to possibly be a hazard, but it sure
is easier on the wheels.
Same here, the shop slab is flat and extends 6" past the door, then
transitions in-line to the apron. There is no step or joint, just poured
against the edge of the slab, it has held up OK for 4 years.
The overhead door is a 9' wide x 8' high that is under a 24" overhang and is
on the lee side of the building anyway. No water entry to date.
8' out from the door, before the apron slab was poured I set two pieces of
4" sched 40 electrical conduit in footings and plumbed them carefully.
Plated welded to the bottom, the open end is about 12" above the slab.
After the slab was poured, they served as sockets for a lift frame built
with 3-1/2" sched 40 pipe and a wide-flange beam. The 3-1/2" pipe
eventually got welded to the 4".
There's a good photo he
http://www.metalworking.com/DropBox/...iles/beam6.jpg
The scaffold in the photo had just been used to erect the frame, a rush job
so we could get that lathe out of the back of my truck.
I tend to like to put alot of wire in a building. I (over)wired my
building for power (single/3-phase with over sized wire), alarm, high
speed ethernet, video and telephone. Along with this, I installed
copper for air and a dust collecting system.
My evil twin brother apparently.
The fact that PVC fails dramatically while copper will fail gracefully
is enough reason for me to pay the extra price for copper.
Having done a bit of research ... after the fact ... for air I have a few
hundred feet of 3/4" sched 40 PVC underground, bedded in sand. Transitions
to hard copper or galvanized steel before turning up towards the surface.
Black pipe or copper above ground & in walls.
If you have a large access door, make sure you have it wide and HIGH
enough to roll your lifting device with load through it. I have a
gantry crane (1 ton) that is too high to roll through my 8 foot high
access door in my shop. I should have seen that problem before I built
I chose a 2nd story instead of a high ceiling. For indoors, I use a pallet
jack, a set of machine moving carriages or as last resort a cheap engine
hoist.
Bob