Shop Things to have in your dream shop!

[Susquatch]

Security cables are for cameras and sensors so you should already be warned before they cut the cable. Also on the shop end only the gas line enters the building through the outside wall so to cut the cables they have to find the source. and if they are willing to do that I doubt you are going to stop them. I tried the wifi route between the shop and house and found it to be a PIA.

As usual, I wasn't very clear. I was talking about the alarm monitoring service not the alarm function. Phone lines, internet cables, and other wiring is usually above ground where it enters the house. Easy peasy to cut. We recently added a cellular monitoring connection from inside the house.

Yes, I am leery of WiFi based alarm systems too.

 

[Hacker]

Good point, didn't think about it from that angle, I don't have a monitoring service. I use the internet for our security system. We live in a rural area and it is wireless, not 100% reliable but it is better then the alternatives.

 

[Matt-Aburg]

I did this when my brother lived a few doors down the road...

Got tired of intermittent disconnections though so eventually went hard wired... used a garden edger to make a slit in the turf and dropped a wire in and covered it up... easy peasy.

IF I even get my country house though, I'm opting for a cut and cover access tunnel, using precast concrete sections. Getting to the shop in a blizzard no problem.

Yes, I need a tunnel too. Under the school behind me and directly to the grocery store, across from it. I could have an entrance to the machine shop directly behind me in the school. (School closed last year) ... LOL

 

[Susquatch]

Good point, didn't think about it from that angle, I don't have a monitoring service. I use the internet for our security system. We live in a rural area and it is wireless, not 100% reliable but it is better then the alternatives.

Don't know your situation, but for me the insurance discount for having a monitored alarm service pays for the monitoring service. No complaints so far.

 

[historicalarms]

Years ago , the 70's , in Calgary there was a stand off / shoot out with the police , It got ugly , they had the place surrounded , cops on both sides , they thought the guy should have surrendered by now but he wasn't ready ,a few of em got pissed off and started emptying the magazines on their revolvers , the bullets went right through the building , I believe at least one cop was wounded by friendly fire . The guy was safe in the pit of that old garage ,They ended the standoff with a tactical vehicle , beat the hell out of the building . Situation awareness changed after this incident , so did the use of tactical teams and vehicles .

This is correct, I went through a process of trying to get a garage pit approved for a residential building customer in west Calgary shortly after Y2K and had arguments with several levels of municipality regulators to no avail. The bylaws in Cowtown were changed after the incident Gearhead relayed and the province fallowed that in short order I was told. The commercial places that Chicken mentions have to build their pits to conform closer to a basement sized dig. In a residential /garage setting you can still have it hollow-dug out under your garage with cantilevered garage flooring that is engineered to hold and foreseeable weight (we did one of those for my boss, very expensive)...but it can only be accessible from your basement and can not have any opening/entrance from the garage itself.

The govmt of the time really didnt like having to commandeer an armored vehicle from the army to root that guy out.

 

[PeterT]

Adam has a lot of nice stuff packed in home/business shop just to put perspective on utilizing real estate.

BTW he just started his own YouTube channel, not a lot of content yet but some cool stuff. Much of it above our pay grade, but personally I prefer this kind of content over 'unboxing a hammer' types.

 

[Dabbler]

His youtube channel is called "adam the machinist".

"Unboxing a hammer" priceless!

 

[Brian26]

When I built my shop, I ran 4" pvc pipe underneath the concrete floor and use that for my vacuum system. Mostly wood chips, but I can imagine it working for metal as well. Also, I took a lot of time - and some extra $$$ to make certain I had plenty of electrical outlets where they would be needed.

 

[Susquatch]

Mostly wood chips, but I can imagine it working for metal as well.

I wouldn't use that for metal. 4" is too big and would not have enough air velocity to carry them and they would eventually plug the pvc. Prolly work great for wood though. Good to be out of sight and not a trip hazard too!

 

[Janger]

When I built my shop, I ran 4" pvc pipe underneath the concrete floor and use that for my vacuum system. Mostly wood chips, but I can imagine it working for metal as well. Also, I took a lot of time - and some extra $$$ to make certain I had plenty of electrical outlets where they would be needed.

That's an interesting idea Brian @Brian26 - what if it plugs?

 

[StevSmar]

I’d like a bit more room so all tools have a permanent home. Not too big though.

A dedicated grinding and welding area.

A computer area with a nice desk, fridge and two recliner chairs. High speed internet.

Air conditioning.

 

[DPittman]

I’d like a bit more room so all tools have a permanent home. Not too big though.

A dedicated grinding and welding area.

A computer area with a nice desk, fridge and two recliner chairs. High speed internet.

Air conditioning.

Hell man if my shop was that nice I'd move from my house and into the shop!

 

[Mcgyver]

Space.

Over the last 30 years I've collected a fantastic collection of tools and equipment. Dozens of machines, dozens of cramed full tool boxes, electronics, horology, model engines, casting, welding, etc. I don't want to give up any capacity because each is a piece in the puzzle, but am so jammed in, using it is often less efficient than it could be. I need space!

In the last year I've added some wood working equipment. I moved the laundry from the basement to an abandon bedroom and promptly assumed the old laundry as mine, all mine. This was quickly ratified with some machines being dragged home. but I had to keep things small, a small room. Inca table saw, inca jointer/planer, bandsaw, rockwell dp and a Lee Valley bench I bought 20 years ago. So happy to have the added capability...but the dream has always been a full array of Felder machines and their dust collector. That takes a lot of space.

i'd also add a forge and sand casting if I had more space.

Then I'd like a plasma table, maybe a router table, a laser would be neat and heck why not a small water jet?

I need Space!

My wife would say the opposite.....he's taken over a two car garage and three rooms in the basement.....thank god there are walls to contain him, all he does it take over space!

 

[StevSmar]

Hell man if my shop was that nice I'd move from my house and into the shop!

I forgot the hammock and the Murphy bed…

I need Space!

Of course a list is of no real use unless it’s prioritized. And I think space would be first on my list.

 

[Tom O]

Hell I’d be happy just having my a** out there. Tools I have!

 

[fixerup]

I wanted to build as tight as reasonable, knowing it was going to be costly to heat. For that reason, and others, I surface mounted all my electrical. Insulation/vapor barrier penetrations are minimized. I used R22 Roxul in the walls. Thermal bridging has shown up in a huge way, due to the amount of wood in the walls. I insulated the headers above the man door and windows, but because I had to use 3ply LVL's above the overhead doors, I didn't have room. So, I plan to wrap the outside of the shop and house in EPS, as i am able. The shop will be easy since i havent done the building wrap or siding yet. The house is getting new siding. Getting the foam board has been the easy part. I picked up 3 dump trailer and 3 truck loads when they redid the roof on our local LCBO dist. center.View attachment 28157View attachment 28158

I had to dump it and run back and get as much as I could before it was gone

I insulated my heated floor with the same , but your foam board looks in really really good shape. I had bought 2" foam board from home depot and then saw an ad on craiglist for some 4" roofing insulation available at a roofing company. I brought back the foam board to home depot and pick up the roofing insulating foam board for 1/8 of the home depot price. I brought a weight scale with me and picked the best boards. A new board would weight about 7lbs , so I only picked boards which were under 10 lbs. Some of the roofing insulating boards were so water log they would weight over 20lbs plus...

Just started reading this post and there is lots of good ideas that I can only dream of.

 

[Gordie]

but I had to keep things small, a small room. Inca table saw, inca jointer/planer, bandsaw,

Following this thread with great interest. Please forgive this excursion for McGiver's mention of Inca woodworking machinery. Years ago, in the days of Tage Frid at Fine Woodworking these were the tools to have. What do you think of them today McGiver in relation to current machinery like Felder, ie combo jointer planer?

 

[Mcgyver]

So far I'm liking them, gives me capacity in an area that was strictly hand tools before so I'm grateful. They were the right size and being AL I could carry them them down the stairs myself. They are not in the same league as Felder, but that is comparing one those old mini Nissan truck to a Kenworth. The Inca are nice little machines for my small space, Felder wasn't an option....very large, very expensive and very heavy

Without money or space constraints I'd choose separate table saw, planer and jointer but all still Felder. I haven't seen anything that impresses me more. I guess that isn't saying much, haven't spent much time looking, but had the strong sense they were the were in a league of their own (quality and price) after seeing them at a show a long time ago.

 

[Gordie]

Thanks, McGyver. There's an Inca Table. Saw and combo jointer/planer. on Kijiji. I'm considering them. Ditto your remarks on Felder.