barn saved, near Philly

[Bob Riefer]

DURING

So... The building is tipping over, entirely unsafe, completely unusable, freezing cold (it's January at this point)... and I have no skills at all.

So I read and read and read... and talk to barn owners... and builders... and Amish barn builders... and I figure out the order of operations goes like this:
1) pull it as straight as possible
2) fix posts/foundation/sill
3) everything else

Interestingly, the "everything else" is what gets the ooohs and ahhhs from most people, whereas the "pull it straight" and "fix posts/foundation/sill" was where all the really cool and hard work ocurred. Shrug.

I used 6 come alongs to pull the building over a 1/2 foot straighter. It still leans, but it's much better now. This was a scary and noisy process. I left myself multiple exit routes at all times, wore safety gear galore, and just went very slowly. A building this old isn't real keen on being moved, but move it I did.

After the building was straight and braced to high heaven, I lifted each rotten post in the building and spliced in good wood on top of a cement footer. To dig the footers I had to first unstack huge foundation stones, then mix and pour. Meanwhile the building is suspended on jacks for a few days at a time. I had NO helpers at all, so it was relatively slow going.

The center post in the building is the most important post. Mine was completely hollow. So I had to support all the way to the roof with jacks, and entirely replace it.

Also shown here is a lifting rig I built to lift the front of the building. This worked nicely, I would use this method again.

Framing the back wall (the wall that once swung freely when kicked) was validating step in the process. I added two intermediate posts where there were previously none... over a 25 foot span!!! This allowed me to suspend a sill between the posts and build up from there. The sill and framing in this area is not structural as the posts do the work, but they definitely add strength and give me a place to attach sheet goods.

And finally, I contracted out one step in this process... the floor.

[Bob Riefer]

AFTER (edit: see previous page for BEFORE recap)

Well, you guys have seen the best "after" shots already, but for sake of a complete recap post, here's some basics..

Basically, I have a 15 x 15 "exercise room" (or office, hangout room, multipurpose room etc.). This room is finished like a rustic living room essentially. Our farm house is too small for us to have a space like this inside, so it's a big bonus space for us.

Behind the exercise room is my "shed space" where the mower and kids toys etc. are stored. I'm building a separate board and batton shed next summer, so this will then be mostly for kids bikes and lumber storage.

The rest of the first floor is workshop as seen in this recent youtube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQc75UKIaU


The second story of the barn is wide open (not pictured here), but the plan is:
- 20 x 25 finished recreation room space
- 15 x 25 storage space

Upcoming projects I will be tackling (apart from woodworking shop setup stuff):
- exterior siding
- re-roof (may hire this one out)
- front deck


I hope you enjoyed the history tour This site is an inspiration to me and I hope I have given something back.

[Bob Riefer]

Conclusion:
When people tell me I'm crazy, or give me that "you're crazy" look, when I tell them that I will become a professional woodworker, I just think to what I've done so far. The dedication to the cause, the perserverence, the depressing amounts of hard labor... If I can do that, I can do anything. Hard economy, lack of experience, time shortage while working my day job and raising my kids and spending time with my wife... all of that can be overcome. It'll take me years to get there, but I'm on my way.

[Todd Crawford]

Looks great Bob - you should be proud! Can't wait to see when you get all your tools set up and start churning out some creations!

[Bob Riefer]

Thanks Todd! I can't wait either. This last step of the journey is agonizingly slow. On a single income, it's just very tough to pay for the family AND make all the needed purchases to get a woodshop going. Right now, I have dust collection and knives/blades/glues/clamps to pickup still.. And lumber! ha ha. But I can't wait to be making furniture instead of being a builder.

---
We have paint! I bought 3 gallons of white from habitat restore for $0.75 total. Well, it was spoiled... So, I made a witch's brew of tan paint from several 1/2 gallons in the basement. Turned out fine and the space is much brighter now. Funny how a simple thing like paint can change a space.

[Bob Riefer]

baby steps towards the finish line...

tonight, I took an odd shaped piece of free corian counter top that I got from my brother in law, and turned it into my "fastener and sorting station"... where all things fastening and sorting will be. Built some slat wall with some scrap material and hung some of my bins. More to do, but it's far enough along for a fun post

fastener station1.jpg fastener station.jpg

[Bob Riefer]

A couple of things have happened lately.

One, I finished the sorting/tool station, which allowed the nook under the stairs to be dedicated entirely to design/office/literature etc.
work center.jpg work center 2.jpg work center 3.jpg work center 4.jpg

And two, I brought home the harbor freight 2hp dust collector. I'm pushing the exhaust through a Thien Baffle (thanks Phil!!) and then venting the rest outside. The duct work has yet to be attached, but we tested, and have a nice visible cyclonic action happening.

dust control bag holder.jpg

[Bob Riefer]

Well, nothing like redoing a project one day after finishing it in the first place! ha ha. The large footprint of the original design was driving me crazy, and the long duct run to exhaust outside wasn't what I wanted, but I really liked how the original design collected the dust in a bag instead of a barrel (easier to tie up and discard).

So, I modified to this stacked assembly which reduced the footprint in half, and the exhaust run is now about 12 inches instead of 7 feet. The intake is directly in line with where the main trunk will be. The connection between the blower and the top of the assembly is about 1/4" apart and covered with flex hose for a good seal.


dust control stacked assembly small.jpg


Now that the collector is sucking through the bag/baffle instead of blowing through it, I need to keep the bag from imploding when the unit is turned on. I took an extra roll of plastic-coated mesh fencing cut it to size, put electrical tape over any sharp areas, and it now acts as a skeleton inside the bag. When the bag is full, take it outside, shimmy the cage out, tie up the bag, discard. Put the cage into the next bag and repeat.

dust control cage small.jpg

Tests were a success, so I'm ready to move on to ducting finally. Sometimes it's "measure twice, cut twice" I guess.

[Homer Faucett]

From one 30-something woodworker in a detached barn to another, great job! I am currently insulating the block walls in my barn. I totally understand and appreciate all the work that went into squaring up and structurally rehanging that barn. Kudos to you. Keep posting. I think we're living parallel lives, to some extent.

[Bob Vallaster]

Bob,
You are my nominee for the 2010 Sparkplug award.
The Before and After pics above prompted me to go back to your opening post and to take the side tour to your web page.
Looks like ten hard months of grunt work, but there's so much to admire in the finished product. Nice work.
And thanks for giving us the blow-by-blow account of the 'save.'

BobV

[Bob Riefer]

What a nice surprise to see this thread bumped with a couple of really nice and motivating comments. Truly, thank you, it does help the energy level to hear from you guys.

(btw, what's a spark plug award? is that a saying, or am I supposed to be nominating people too?)

---

Anyhow, I was going to wait until the blast gates and flex hose were connected, but that's going to be another couple weeks until my next paycheck, so I'll post now.

This weekend, I got my 4" PVC hooked up to each machine. I received most of the pipe for free from a friend, so it looks a little beat up, but it's been pressure washed and should work fine. Also, because of my shop's shape, rafter alignment, etc., there are some 90 degree bends being used. I know, not optimal, but at a certain point, you just need to say to yourself: "self... stop reading the overwhelming amounts of information out there, and just try it". So, once I get the gates in and can really test, we'll see if performance is satisfactory or not. Honestly, based on far worse solutions that I've witnessed working just fine, I have a feeling I'll be happy with my setup.

Side note: My 3M 7500 series respirator arrived before the weekend. So comfortable to wear, and boy was my nose happy about it. HIGHLY recommend.

Anyways, ducting.

First, I cut the hole to exhaust outside. Went without a hitch. I pitched it down just a bit.
DC setup exhaust outside.jpg

About a foot from the intake, the main branches below the counter top to feed the miter saw, table saw, and jointer. edit: I forgot to take a picture of the miter saw solution but I'll get one when I build the hood soon. Basically, I came up from underneath the counter immediately behind the saw. So, there's a 4" hole right where all the dust gets shot during a cut. Combined with a hood, and gravity, I hope to clean up that very messy area. More pics of that soon.
DC setup under counter branch small.jpg


And the other branch goes above the counter so it can go over to the other side of the room. Yeah, some 90's were used, it is what it is.
DC setup up and over small.jpg

[Bob Riefer]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

Under the counter, branches out to the table saw. I installed a ramp under the blade that will allow all the dust to fall right to the port that's in the bottom of the motor cover.

DC setup TS and jointer small.jpg

Then, we branch over to the jointer, which I enclosed with some scrap laying around. The left side of the enclosure is hinged in case I ever need to get in there to clean it out etc.
DC setup jointer small.jpg DC setup jointer enclosure small.jpg

Back on top, the upper branch travels in the joist space across the room. The drill press is right next to the drop you can see here. That same drop Y's through the wall to pickup the planer chute.

Note: I did leave a Y above the table saw and will test whether my DC can power a 2.5" hose AND the 4" under table pipe at the same time or not.
DC setup planer and dp connect small.jpg


The pipe across the room also serves the bandsaw in its new location. The assembly table used to butt against that wall, but is now next to the steps. This shortens the run to the bandsaw by about 10 feet. Similar to the table saw, I will test whether my DC can run a 4" pipe to the side of the bandsaw, AND a 2.5" hose at the blade.
DC setup new bandsaw location small.jpg


I had a misordered filter laying around. It's a really nice one, but shipping was too expensive to make it worth sending it back. So I rigged up a box fan filter. The box fan pulls very easily through the large pleats and really does help clear the haze out of the room. Clean air is pushed upwards through the joist space and back into the room.
DC setup air cleaner small.jpg


Well, it ain't pretty, but I think I'm heading in a direction. Hopefully the right direction, but we'll see once I can test with blast gates in about 2 weeks.

Thanks for reading, I love to hear from you guys.

[harry strasil]

In the FWIW Dept, My experience with setting up the movement of pet food thru a small plant via the use of air to push the product, short radius 90's are a NO/NO. Long Radius 90's and or 2 45's create less friction and increase flow. Most of the long radius 90's were fabricated with a square cross section and had replacable wear plates bolted to the back side of the main part of the elbow, but I don't see that as a need in your case with the limited amount of product or swarf that you will be creating.
Just my 3¢ worth.

[Bob Riefer]

Hey Harry,
Thanks for dropping in.

I write a lot, so you may have missed this comment that I had hidden in there:

Also, because of my shop's shape, rafter alignment, etc., there are some 90 degree bends being used. I know, not optimal, but at a certain point, you just need to say to yourself: "self... stop reading the overwhelming amounts of information out there, and just try it". So, once I get the gates in and can really test, we'll see if performance is satisfactory or not. Honestly, based on far worse solutions that I've witnessed working just fine, I have a feeling I'll be happy with my setup.

In other words... Yeah, I'm sure you're right about the 90's, others are right about 6" vs. 4" PVC, and a kazillion other things that can be done perfectly in building a shop... Then again, I've seen a lot worse working great (for example, I was in a guy's shop where he was running 40 feet of flex without issue), so we'll just have to see how it goes once the system is in use and make improvements as needed.

[harry strasil]

I am sorry I made it so you misunderstood, I should have said if you have problems with that many 90's, it easy to replace them with 2 45's with a short piece of tube between them if you have problems. I can't remember my plumbing references, but in plumbing as far as flow goes, a certain amount of short radius 90's in a line is considered a plug. FWIW