A Facelift without the Kenny Rogers Look

As always, I underestimate everything.  I really wanted to not wait until I had a huge amount of information to report, but again find myself needing to write a rather long post.

The summer was, well, fantastic.  I got to go to my first hands on training with Seth Rolland, we entertained quite a bit, ate a lot of good barbecue, took some great hikes and I got to shoot a lot of "film".  It's still bizarre for me not to consider the medium film.  You'd think I'd be over it, since the digital age of photography has enamored me like the young Swedish maid that I've always tried to talk Sylvia into would.  Like wood working and design, photography will be a life long pursuit.  There's no way to get to a point that you've mastered the art.  You can always get better and I will continue to try.  You can check out my photography at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30350434@N07/ or click on the little Flickr badge on the right of the blog. But, for now, the shop is back in focus and I'm excited to have everything mostly the way I want the shop organized to function well.  I'm what my doctor likes to call ADHD.  She says I'm not truly OCD because I fidget too much.  I have a "need" to have a place for everything and everything in its place.  I tend to come in and blankly stare at things when they get too "out of hand".  I do realize that my sense of what is out of hand varies greatly from the norm, but my little behavioral problem is actually something I embrace.  Most times our weakness is our strength and vice versa.

So, changes.  Let's see. I have a new heating and cooling system for the shop.  I put in a ductless heat pump (DHP).  Now that I have this unit for the shop and the DHP system I had installed in the house a couple years back, I'm thinking my 1000 gallon propane tank will last a good ten years once I get it filled again.  That's a lot of barbecues!! 

I took down eight feet of shelving to enable better vertical lumber storage.  For now, I have shorts on the remaining twelve feet of shelving, as well as assorted kitty litter bucket.  They're the new version of old five gallon buckets I used to collect.  Quite handy.

One thing I'd been waiting on was a proper outfeed table for the table saw.  I knew approximately what I wanted, but once I found out I was going to be able to take the bending course with Seth, I put it off until I got through that.  I couldn't easily build the table like I had studied and seen on Marc Spagnuolo's site, The Woodwhisperer because I really don't have anyone that is readily available to lift heavy objects.  To see how it is supposed to be done check out Marc's video.  This table is to be my outfeed/assembly/bending table.  Instead of the approach Marc takes, I started with a simple box as a base that was level and square.  I don't really need more storage, so did not opt for a set of base cabinets.  Once the box was in place, I put the box skins (plywood) down.  I drill pocket holes in all of the "ribs" to enable me to suck the bottom skin up to the ribs, which it seemed logical would be level, if set atop the level base.  Luckily, logic prevailed.  Here is an in progress shot of the build.  

After the ribs were set, I glued and brad nailed the sub-top to the ribs.  Through out the process I checked for flatness with a long piece of steel stock I have for just such occasions.  I have one corner that dips about 1/64", which bothers me, but not enough.  Next came the final, top layer which is only screwed down.  This layer is to be sacrificial, but I'm guessing it will be years before I need to address it.  The entire assembly sits about a 1/64" to 1/32" below the level of the table.  Oh yeah, I also replaced the off cut table for the saw with one of the exterior doors I still had.  The original was very cheap particle board.  The last things to do were to route out the miter slot extensions and install a shelf to house the veneer and bending equipment. 

I needed to run a new dust collection leg and needed some extra pipe and fittings, so now was a good time to rebuild my sliding compound miter station's dust collection, install a proper fence and finally get a table on the right of the saw.  The design for the dust hood originated from Mark Hochstein over at Gunpowder Woodworks.  He has a phenomenal shop and recently completed a very beautiful dining table.  You should definitely stop by and check it out.

This new hood is very effective and once I get the rubber/plastic strip curtain in place will work even better.  I increased the pipe diameter to 5" and being the first branch out of the cyclone, there is plenty of CFM.  The strip curtain will provide velocity and direct it wherever the saw penetrates the curtain.  Quite ingenious of Mark.

Adding another leg to my existing system was relatively easy, as I have a couple Ys I installed to facilitate expansion as I grew into the shop.  Here's a shot of the piping in the crawl space.  To all my energy and building associates: YES, I KNOW I'm supposed to have a vapor barrier down.  I'm in the desert and will get around to it one of these days.

After getting the pipe secured below, I got all my Ys, corners and blast gates install up top.  I also installed a boom arm to use on any tools that will require dust collection.

Since I'm getting ready to start designing some lamps I went out this weekend and got all the parts to make a hot pipe bending rig.  It will also come in handy to do small bends on scale models for future designs.

I told ya it was gonna be a long post!  The next thing I'll be adding is probably a proper router table.  I've been using a top and fence I made years ago that mounts on a couple saw horse.  I have the dust collection port in place for when I get around to that.  

Thanks for stopping by!

The Green Shop - Trusses and Heating Systems

So you've figured out how you're going to build the shop. If you're like me, you decided to do it yourself and probably went with traditional (in the U.S.) stick framing. Hopefully, you will choose a better alternative than fiberglass batt insulation. If not, remember to go crazy with the caulk and foam, and be extremely anal in doing a "perfect" installation of the batts.

Now for the truss system. This one is easy. It's gonna cost a little extra, but go with what is called a raised heel or energy truss. If you use a traditional truss, you do have a way to do a "better" job of getting the insulation all the way to the edge of the eave, but it will cost more than if you had originally purchased the energy truss. Three years ago, when I started my shop, I didn't know about energy trusses and therefore took the more expensive route. When it came time to spray the foam in my wall cavities, I hung the sheet rock on the ceiling at the eaves and had them also spray eighteen inch in. That is the approximate distance in from the eave I had to go before I could get an R49 (15 inches) of blown in cellulose.

If you opted to build on a slab and plan on a traditional (again, only in the U.S.) heating and cooling system. Think seriously about a conditioned attic. The idea is very similar to what I discussed in "Slab or Crawl Space". You would place the insulation against the roof, not the ceiling and you will not be installing vents. See "Slab or Crawl Space" also for how heat moves.

I installed a traditional HVAC system. I've since learned about ductless heat pumps and plan on installing a multi-split system in my house. I currently heat with propane and, like all fossil fuels, the cost has been rising dramatically and I believe will continue to only go up in price. The system I'm planning on installing will pay for itself in less than five years. That is my house. My shop is another story. Because it is so energy efficient, I'll be holding off until the price of propane goes up another $2.00 or more. In both cases I will be keeping my existing units in place as back up. While these ductless heat pumps are very efficient, they do have a threshold for how cold the air can be and still be able to have heat extracted.

If I was building my shop today, I would install a single or double unit ductless heat pump and have, as back up, a couple electric resistance wall units or a few portable units. We rarely get very much below zero and don't stay there for long.

I hope The Green Shop posts have been helpful to those of you who are building, or have built, a shop. If you are planning on building a house, most of what I've written about also applies. Get your contractors and sub-contractors involved, and on board early on, if you plan on building a highly efficient green house. Again, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. If I don't know, I know people who do. Also, make sure to check with your local utility to see if they offer free, or low cost, household inspections. There are a few very lost cost measures anyone can do to their house and get a good return on the investment.

P.S. For photos of my shop, check out the Flickr widget in the right hand column.