New Shop Help

[Mark Paavola]

Ralph, if you don't mind can you post what your electric rate is and what a ton of pellets cost? I am in the hvac field and I can run the numbers and give you a cost factor for heating. Isn't your electric rate fairly low? I am in CA. with PG&E with some fairly high rates and I use a H/P for my shop.

[Ralph Butts]

Hi Mark, we have two rates in my service area based upon the time of year. From April through September it is 8.515 cents per kWh. From October through March it is 8.852 cents per kWh. Pellets vary greatly but I can routinely find good quality pellets on average between $210-250 per ton.

[Derek Stockley]

Ralph with as much space as you have there, you might want to consider a small room dedicated to finishing with considerations for exhausting fumes and over-spray and closed off to keep out airborne dust.

[Ralph Butts]

Derek thank you for the suggestion. I intend to do just that. I originally thought of framing the loft area but I might have an issue getting large pieces up and down from the loft. I am thinking that it might be a better option to frame in beneath the loft area, excluding the plumbed area, this would net me a pretty good sized finishing area that I could exhaust outside through the siding.

[Ralph Butts]

It has been a lot longer to get to this point then I would have thought it would take me but some things are finally starting to come together. A few new tools (table saw, some green kook-aid, and a moulder), a pellet stove to ease the chill during winter. Still need to finish several more shop projects before turning my attention to creating a finishing room. a bit of a watershed moment for me that I wanted to share.

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[Jesse Busenitz]

looks good, except I'd probably put some walls around the toilet.... Just my .02 cents No really it looks great! As was said, make sure you put in enough outlets to be able to shift stuff around as needed.

[Ralph Butts]

that is definitely in the plans Jesse just at the bottom of the list right now. Fortunately I work and drink alone like Thorogood.

[george newbury]

Looks great.
One thing you might want to consider if you haven't already is to dedicate a "section" for pulling in a truck and with a 2 ton hoist overhead. Put equipment you need to keep there on rollers.

I've done that in my shop and the ability to just back my F350 in and unload, regardless of weather, is well worth it. Then I can roll equipment back when the truck leaves.

[Ralph Butts]

Thanks for the suggestion George. With the exception of my sliding table saw the remaining tools have some type of mobility modification or cart installed. I am in a part of th county that is wet about 8 month out of the year so your suggestion is a very practical one. We moved into our new home in the November in the rain and the 15' roll up doors on each end of the shop allowed us to back the moving vehicle right into the shop to unload the tools out of the weather. I have given thought to finding a jib or overhead hoist on CL but there are a lot of higher priority items on my to do list first. I was thinking of doing this primarily to handle sheet goods. The older I get the more I feel the result the day after I load and unload sheet goods into and from my vehicle.

[Bill McNiel]

Ralph,
First off, congratulations on the great space. Hobby Room? It's larger than the domiciles of 90% of the inhabitants of this planet.
Second, why do you want to wall mount the ClearVue? Not enough floor space? BTW-I kinda like Robert's proposal.
Third, make room for a dedicated finishing room, or does that function have a building of its own?
Fourth, I can't begin to imagine the cardio workout you will get going from machine to machine in that large area. That alone would just plain wear me out.
Finally, I AM REALLY JEALOUS!