[AT] Features wanted in a shop.

[Indiana Robinson]

	OK Dean, here is what I can think of at the moment.

Floor
Roof
4 walls
Doors
Windows
	I know it sounds like a silly statement but really "everything" else is just extras and 
at times we did not have all of the above or just barely did.
	I can remember my father telling about using a 6' x 8' chicken coop to rebuild model T 
engines in when he was a very young man. He could not stand upright in it. It was pretty 
open and he "heated" it with a small wick type K-1 heater. Most of his early life he 
didn't have a shop at all. About 1940 he took over farming his parents farm about 10 
miles from here and used a structure that was a cross between a garage and a small barn 
as a shop. It was maybe a 12' x 18' building. It was not wind tight at all and barely 
held tools, the work was all done outside. That was more shop than many Central Indiana 
farmers had in those days. Many had only a handful of crappy wrenches and a couple of 
hammers. I was always astounded at how few tools and supplies most of our farmer 
neighbors owned. My father had an air compressor with a paint gun, arc welder and a good 
torch outfit, a good big vise and a large anvil. A number of our neighbors made regular 
repair visits when something broke. The old neighborhood blacksmiths were vanishing then.
	When my parents bought this farm in 1951 there was no money to build anything for a 
shop. The good barns were needed for the livestock but there was an almost new chicken 
house with a concrete floor. It was about 16' x 18' and the overhead clearance inside was 
about 8' at the front and 6' at the back. It held the tools and the work other than bench 
work was again all done outside. Perhaps I should say vise work instead. I inherited my 
skills at "bench stacking" from my father...   :-)  One bad feature of that shop was that 
they had oriented it so that the single walk door faced the west and its bitter winter 
winds. Its location didn't lend itself well to changing it.
	Back in the late 1960's or so after the livestock was gone we took over what had been 
the dairy barn then later a hog barn as a shop. Actually a strip across one end about 16' 
x 36' was the shop and the rest was machinery storage  open on the east side. I have 
converted it all to shop which is 36' x 50' and waaaay too small for my needs. It would 
be way too small even if I could become neat and organized...   :-)   It is fairly crude 
and I need to do some remodeling to it.
	I am working toward adding a 36' x 36' addition to the south end of it, hopefully 
starting this fall. I could get by with less since I am changing the operation and 
leaning farther into retirement but I want to leave something that will be useful for my 
son no matter which direction he wants to go someday. Also as I retire more I plan to use 
it more. The addition will have a 14' overhead clearance and a door opening at least 20' 
wide. That is based on cab tractors and a fairly large SP combine. Working on old 
tractors does not require that much room.   :-) Then again you need room to work on 
several at once. The shop could also be used to raise giraffe if needed.
	 I love a pit for working on cars and trucks. We have discussed the pros and cons (and 
risk and legalities) of those here before. Since I don't like working on cars anymore I 
will likely forgo the pit in favor of a lift. I have seen some new portable lifts lately 
that show promise for my needs. I have an "old" single post floor lift that I was going 
to rework and use but decided I don't want to use it. It would eat a lot of space, I also 
have safety concerns about it.
	Much of my space needs are a result of my rather extensive woodshop which I am 
determined that I will someday get to spend some real time in. I have given the shop an 
even higher priority in the last year or so. It is where I go to work everyday... Even 
though I may not work in there on a given day it is where I start my day and work from. 
Even if I don't work in it I will normally be in and out of it many times a day getting 
tools and supplies. I just think it is time I quit delaying building it up into what I 
want (with-in reason).
	Short list:
Floor heat.
Gantry, not fixed hoist.
Welding area separate from wood working.
Isolated wood finishing area.
"Level" floor (mine slopes too much).
Floor not too slick to walk on when wet.
Bathroom.
Screened windows for night work.
Wood shop on wood floor.
Room someplace else to take non-shop stuff that migrates in.
Million dollar tool budget.   ;-)



-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. In America 100 
years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net