Another Shed/Workshop?

[Jo]

I don't like the idea of several separate "shops" you will be forever flitting back and forth between them which also adds to the problem of heating - do you heat them all or have one hot and then feel cold every half an hour when you go back into the other. I was looking at log stoves for the new workshop they are extremely effective in the house and a single decent stove could heat the entire area using waste wood  that my friendly woodsman keeps dumping at my house

1. Make the new large building your garage and store the motorbikes, lawn tractor and the car if you currently house that all in the new main building. Have a covered in link to this from the existing. It is over 100ft from that building to the first door on the house it is too far on a cold winter's night to want to park a car and walk to the house. I had considered using the new shed extension for the bikes, lawn tractor, potting shed and fruit/veg storage. 

2. Move the big Colchester, Harrison and any other big machines into the front of the existing building. Add an insulated stud wall behind one of the garage doors and draftproof & insulate the other I was planing on adding another mill a bridgeport the existing garage does not have the head height

  You missed the point for the entire workshop/shed.

Jo

[Jasonb]

Ok now have a better idea of how youuse the existing and what you want to keep as is. So:

Front of existing stays as is as car parking and is partitioned off from the workshop at the rear like I think it is now.

New main building has lawn tractor, bikes etc at the front and divided to give a big machine shop at the rear.

Existing shop then has more space and with the machines currently in that you can do the stationary engines and most of the BB1s.

Still like the idea of a hot & dirty area this could be the small annex or a link building between the two larger ones.

Watch how much you increase the height as you will start needing planning if the ridge is over 4.0m tall. Also you start getting restrictions when you get to less than 1.0m from boundary so again may need to be a fraction narrower.

Agree the wood burners are ideal especially if you have a free supply of wood and it will continue although they don't light themselves 1/2hrs before you want to get into the workshop so its warm & ready to go.
Some would say you already have two workshops if you include the house facilities

[Jo]

New main building has lawn tractor, bikes etc at the front and divided to give a big machine shop at the rear. No only the extension as only the end is south facing so it will be cold, the main building will have maximum south facing = light

Existing shop then has more space and with the machines currently in that you can do the stationary engines and most of the BB1s. It has more than enough for me

Still like the idea of a hot & dirty area this could be the small annex or a link building between the two larger ones. It is currently in the spare bay in the garage, the major boiler hearth is outside on the back of the garage wall

Watch how much you increase the height as you will start needing planning if the ridge is over 4.0m tall. Also you start getting restrictions when you get to less than 1.0m from boundary so again may need to be a fraction narrower. I know I used to be a parish councillor, but this is a boundary onto agricultural land which means a different set of rules  and the main garage only has a 4 m ridge this new building will be "smaller"

Some would say you already have two workshops if you include the house facilities  

Still missed the point of it.

Jo

[black85vette]

I am having shop envy and you have not even built it yet!   

[Jasonb]

I just hope Jo does not see the "Kitchen workshop" thread 

[Jo]

Sorry I have and I had to move my Cowells out of the kitchen it scratched the table . It now has to live in the library whilst it waits for a friend so that together they can make little engines .

Jo

[Jo]

Having had a look at your workshop on photobucket my thoughts would be. (may be worth posting them here so people can see what you have to work with)

If any one is interested this is my workshop: http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,839.0.html but I was not planning on this being my workshop.

Jo

[PJW]

Hi Jo, If I had a choice My workshop would be joined to the house so I could run a radiator in there so I could work in the warm through the winter, i do have a fan heater in my shed but it is still cold so I cant manage a long session out there!

[Jo]

Hi Peter,

One of the advantages of having a lot of machinery is that they store up the heat. And where I get free electricity, when the sun shines ,  running a fan heater often does not actually cost anything. The result is often my workshop is hotter than my house especially in autumn and spring. This last week a single 2kW fan heater run for 4 hours a day (= 50p a day) has been sufficient to keep the workshop up to temperature.

Adding further extensions to the house requires planning permission. Where as I can cover half my garden with buildings without so long as I obey the not more than 4m at the ridge rule.

The other advantage of a seperate workshop/shed is it can be somewhere to "hide" from the rest of the household.

Jo

[Mosey]

I mentioned in my original thread about my workshop: http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,839.0.html that I had sufficient space behind my current garage/workshop to build another shed workshop. Well yesterday I took the tape measure out to see what was possible .

If I assume I want to leave say an 8ft clearance gap (for bringing models around into the play area) between this new building complex and the old garage I have 32ft of good building space. I don't want it too deep, the current workshop 21ft length is a bit long as it needs the lights on at the far end during dark winter's days. 16ft wide would fit nicely sort of ?corner to corner? to the main garage. But then I thought I could add an annex at right angles along the far boundary say 10ft wide by 20ft, which would allow the workshop area to increase if I wanted without have a visual impact on the garden .

Now a 32ft by 16ft workshop is a little bit big to heat so maybe I need to split it up. I definitely need a decent pair of doors on the end to allow large machine tools to be brought in, double glazing. Then there is the need for a storage area for all of those come in handies .

JO,
Please tell us why you want to build this shed?
What do you want to do there? (in as much detail as you can)
How would this relate to your overall shop needs?
Please put down the soft needs (such as warm, light, comfy, hide-out, etc.) as well as the usual quantifiable ones (2 lathes, storage, electric, refrig,  etc.)

This will help you and us to understand what you should build.
Mosey




Early thoughts any suggestions from anyone? And yes the double doors will have vehicular access .

Jo

[Jo]

Ok: Why do I want to build the shed?

Well I had always intended on putting the luxury workshop/shed in the corner of the garden the one in the back of the garage is just the starter. There is the risk, I know it is very small, that there will be in the future more than just myself making things and there is nothing worse than having someone in your workshop borrowing your tools. Best as Cherry Hinds told me to make sure you have separate workshops.

What do I personally build? Model Engines, Model ploughing engines and Locomotives in various sizes and scales. But that someone else may want to build might include a kit car, vintage motorcycles, bigger traction/ploughing engines or they may wish to work in strange materials (wood ). Storage: I have reduced my motorcycle collection down to two, they could be stored in there and there is always a multitude of other things and likely as not model storage that is going to be needed in the future because the house is already slowly filling up and that is just with my models . 

Soft needs: Currently I have: 5 lathes, 3 milling machines, 2 shapers, 3 drilling machines, engraver, 2 cutter grinders, 3 8ft benches, an assembly bench.... Best look at my thread on the workshop for further details. I plan to extend this further for myself with a bridgeport, Aceria F1, possibly CNC = why limit the possibilities just because of space.  And then you have to add the contents of an as yet underfined second workshop set up. So yes ability to maintain a warm working environment, light enough for detailed work are all needed. I wouldn't anticipate the need for a fridge (it is afterall the UK) , but we are talking about the need to have a hiding hole, me from him, him from me, hence the two workshops not one, preferably in separate buildings (to discourage tool borrowing ). 

Why now? Well my builder friend is short of work, if I wait a few years then it will cost more and my finances are less likely to be able to fund it. And the corner of my garden is winding me up as it looks a mess. 

Edit: And she who moves into the luxury workshop first is more likley to keep it. As they say posession is 9/10th of the law

Jo
 

[Jasonb]

Jo do you envisage keeping all the machines in one (your) workshop or would you keep say the big colchester and bridgeport in one and the smaller more used machines in teh new shop?

Also what form of construction are you thinking of? The old one looks like brick from the photos. I would be more inclined to go for a timber structure so you can get the maximum insulation within the wall depth. Say 4-6" studs with 70mm kingspan/celotex type ridgid insulation between studs and another 25mm layer on the inside then cover with plasterboard or 1/2" ply.

If the big machines stay in teh garage then a sturdy timber floor would be OK which would again allow for insulation, if you want all the toys then think about having part solid part timber floor so most of the time your toes will be toasty

Lastly I think I must be careful here as I do have a need to work with wood and have always fancied building a Fisher Fury if my current garage was not full of woodworking hachines

[Jo]

No the larger machine tools could go where was more appropriate. At the moment the workshop is tight on head space for a Bridgeport but a bit of wood work could sort that.

My inclination is towards brick or block work but that is because I do not understand the implications of a timber building because my knowledge of wood is poor. I enjoy laying bricks myself but my builder friend's brick laying is... well lets say it looks better under cladding or some sort of rendering. He is not a carpenter so I don't know if it would be within his capabilities to build it but his old partner was but he should have retired by now, so timber may mean finding someone else to do it. But would a timber floor be suitable for say kit car building or taking the weight of a 6" traction engine? Or would that be forced to take up the spare garage bay?

Fisher Fury:  I can understand your need. I put a deposit down to buy something similar about 15 years ago .

Jo

[sco]

I ummed and ahhed about a Fisher Fury about 10 years ago but then stumbled on a Strathcarron which was impossible to resist 

Perhaps we should have a thread on non-model engine interests?

[Jasonb]

As I said a sturdy timeber floor would certainly take a kit car but possibly not a 6" engine but that would depend on the subject. A tractor like the GMT may be OK but not a half size BB1.

By sturdy I would be looking at intermediate sleeper walls so span no greater than 1.2m and bring the joist centres down to 300mm rather than the usual 400mm. My own workshop is on a reinforced concrete slab, bearers on 400cts and then double layer of ply topped off with vinyl tile. If I did it again I would add some insulation as well.

The other alternative is to have a "heavy end" where the big machines and toys can stand but have the bench area and the lighter machines where you will be standing sitting most of the time with a timber floor but all at the same finished level.

For the walls I would have a couple of courses of brickwork and then set your studwork on that with a DPC between like this.  You could get the wall up in a day with timber which is a big advantage and a well insulated timber building stays much warmer. The outsid ecan be clad with weatehr boarding in natural oak as this garage or you can get some good man made boards is you prefer the painted look but don't want to paint.

I would also consider a couple of Velux type roof lights to get some daylight into the middle of the workshop.

Having had Subaru Imprezas since 1997 I don't really have a need for speed that a kit car can give and they are a lot more practical.