New Shop is Coming Together

[Jim Dodd]

Nifty helper !
40 years ago, I hung Sheet rock, 4 x 12s, and I borrowed a sheet rock lift. I swore I'd never do it again without one. I'll still stand by that ! Come to think about it ! That's the one and Only time I've hung sheet rock on a sealing ! Ha !

Again, good trick Doug !

Jim

 

[dougd]

I finally got the last panel on the ceiling in and insulated. A marked notice in temps in the shed when it was done. I paid for the work since the last ladder mishap. Cut the work day early due to the rib kicking me in the arse so I'll tackle the next thing tomorrow. Many more things to do but for now if there's a 30 degree difference between outside and in I'm pretty happy! Not as nice as Canotrouge's new abode but a definite upgrade from the old shed.

Short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCY7IIryL_g&feature=youtu.be

dougd

 

[Canotrouge]

dang mine is sitting at -25C this morning... Still no doors or windows... Go pickup the wood for the doors tomorrow. Will have to work in the living room since it will be too cold to work outside!!

 

[Alan Gage]

After a couple close calls I'm pretty leery about ladders. First ladder I bought I looked at the weight ratings and figured I could save some money by getting the middle grade one that was still well above my actual weight. After it twisted and bucked on me a couple times I gave it away and now buy the heaviest and most expensive ladders I can find.

Congratulations on getting the shop closed up. Will you spend Christmas celebrating or working on a canoe in the new shop? Or maybe those are the same thing.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Hey Doug, there is not much ladder work involved in boat repairs and outfitting.

Of course when you stuff that 18 foot Mystic in the shop you will have to crawl under it from side to side every time you want a beer. Might as well get two while you are over there.

 

[snubber]

By products of complete combustion when burning propane are water vapor and carbon dioxide. If there is insufficient oxygen carbon monoxide can be formed. Tightly sealed spaces should have plenty of outside air when using heaters that aren't vented. For safety I'd install a carbon monoxide detector as a reminder.

 

[Odyssey]

Your shop is looking good and toasty. Nice.
There are ways of installing ceiling panels solo, but my absolute favourite method is...the phone call for a second pair of hands. (And a panel lifter.)
Heal well and stay out of trouble till spring. I'm liking the updates.

 

[Guest]

Heaters, and doors, and ladders

Heat. Whatever the main source of heat I am a big fan of radiant oil heaters, and one of those would probably be enough to keep the shop comfortable in the winter, once the Mr. Monoxide propane heater was the shop warmed up.

I have had this radiant oil heater in the shop, mine badged as a DeLonghi but idential, and have used it for years. It is a durable beast, and throws out serious heat.

https://www.amazon.com/Tangkula-Ele...r=8-1-spons&keywords=radiant+oil+heater&psc=1

I actually have two radiant oil heaters. That DeLonghi beast in the main shop, currently turned off, one a crapty Walmart Lakewood badged version in the shop office, currently set at 600 watts, just to keep things warm while the office window is open for, um, fume reduction. The WallyWorld Lakewood is a POS, like most of their heating and cooling stuff. Never again.

The best part about those heaters is that, when you finish some epoxy, varnish or contact cement work last thing tackled in the evening you can turn them on low, positioned underneath a gunwales down canoe on sawhorses hull, and trap gobs of heat inside that overturned shell.

The shop space may end up near freezing in winter work, but the hull stays material set up warm for the cost of six hundred watt light bulbs. The last thing I do sequentially is the varnish, contact cement or epoxy work, and then it is time to walk away for the night. I love coming out the next morning to find things warm-ish, untacky dry and mostly cured.

Doors. Oh brutha, looking at the door gaps on that video, just wait until you get a well sealed and insulated shop door in place. I will open two of the shop windows, just an inch or two, to clear smoke or fumes. Even with no exhaust fan running when it is cold out the shop temp will drop quickly, and precipitously with that small space opened. Fark, close the windows and make more smoke.

Once that gappy door is replaced and insulated you should be toasty at will.

Ladders. Do not even get me started. I will say this.

I have three different step ladders in the shop, and two more in the shed. A two step, a three step and four step stored in the shop, a taller 6 step and 10 step in the shed. And some extension ladders.

My balance sucks, and always has. I will not work on a ladder where I do not have at least three points on contact. Which usually means a ladder taller than the actual step up elevation I need to reach for overhead work

Feet spread on a step and one hand on the top of a taller step ladder, 3 points of contact, but I probably need to let go that hand to grab a screw or nail.

Feet, legs and belly laid into a taller step ladder while I work with both hands, 5 points of contact. I am unbalanced and clumsy. Yes please, gimme that.

I wish I could say I will always think to use a tall step ladder. In practice I sometimes do not, and have regretted every time I have wobbled off, or missed that last dang step while rapidly descending, falling sideways, hands free in a one foot, one point of contact stance.

 

[Odyssey]

I quickly became comfortable with working at moderate heights when I was a young adult. Might have been the foolish immortality thing, or just practised coordination. Three storeys however was always my limit. Anything past the roof gable of a 2 story building and my inner voice would get shrill and shaky "Whoa! You don't have wings for a reason!!" Funny thing is, as the years have passed and I've grown older (and maybe smarter, or maybe just a little more careful) that height limit has shrunk. Now it's 2 storeys, tops. But that restriction is coming down all the time. I wonder if it's sensible self preservation or aging cowardice, I don't know. This past fall I worked on a 2 storey timber frame mega home, and I was way less than comfortable up there trying to work hands free on my favourite solid ladder. What the heck happened? I think that times change and so do I (we). Just like on portages that I used to skip over barely touching earth, now I concentrate on every step I take. Step ladders no more than 4' up I need to remember NOT to take for granted. A misstep even from 2' up can be a SOB visit to the ER. A few years ago I had my flight feathers trimmed on a job, so to speak. I was restorative painting an old church, and the caretaker helpfully lent me the church stepladder. Holey moley, what an experience that was. At first I thought it would be a treat doing ceiling work on steps 20+ feet up rather than a scaffold, but no it wasn't. Restoring a gilt ceiling medallion became a test of my ability not to wet myself and fall from shaking so hard.
All this is to say, bravo Doug. Do what you know you can do, and not what you feel you can't. This life we have the privilege of leading is not a test run for something better. Even if there's a heaven waiting for us all, I doubt there's ladder work waiting beyond St Peters gates. I sure hope not.

 

[Mihun09]

Only have one ladder and it isn't big enough for most things, so I improvise where necessary. Like when putting in a new window this past Summer. I tend to annoy the safety people at work when I show them things like this, ha ha.

 

[dougd]

With all the bitterly cold wind and cold we've had I haven't done much in the new Canoe Shed. The new heater works excellent heating the shop up quickly from ie: 5 degrees to 45 degrees in about 20 minutes. Within an hour even in these temps it's around 60 which is very nice! But, there's always a But the floor is still cold. The culprit I found is a seam I had to put in due to ME measuring wrong on the original floor build which is letting a lot of cold air in with the wind. The quick solution until I finish the floor was to put a layer of left over luan strips down to keep the breeze out. Since I was moaning about that to a friend he came up with a heat helper. Monday he showed up with the materials to make it.

He had a fan from a woodstove that he mounted into a standard size woodstove pipe. At the bottom is vent piece, guessing 3" x 8" or so. When leaned up against the wall, for now, and plugged in the fan sucks the hot air from the ceiling and forces it down the pipe to the vent down at floor level. In our experiment it worked quite well. OK, it was about 3 degrees out and we didn't stay long as the day was almost over but it did make a difference. I'm thinking if I am working for a few hours in the shed I will notice a marked difference in the heat level down lower. Also, this weekend the walls are going to start going up which will also help quite a bit I am hoping.

It ain't pretty but then again who cares as long as it works. A few pictures.

 

[dougd]

Well, no pictures but finally after 5 months got the walls finished. Pretty it is not, not like some of the others building right being built now but functional. Sucks that money is my mistress but having heat helps a lot. By the end of the weekend I'll have the floor done, an extra layer of 5/8" plywood with interlocking foam on top of that. With that done I can start working on the rebuild of the Bell Mystic that has a bad history from day one of purchase, I feel real bad for this hull but that will come in a write up later. Feels good to get this PITA part of the shed done, a carpenter I am not.

dougd

 

[Odyssey]

Good news Doug, thanks for the update! Pretty cool having your own shop!

 

[Canotrouge]

Good for you mate. I'm plugging along on the inside finishing of mine(F@#* I'm slow).... I also have heat and that is wonderful!!

 

[Guest]

By the end of the weekend I'll have the floor done, an extra layer of 5/8" plywood with interlocking foam on top of that. With that done I can start working on the rebuild of the Bell Mystic that has a bad history from day one of purchase, I feel real bad for this hull but that will come in a write up later. Feels good to get this PITA part of the shed done, a carpenter I am not.

Doug, given the choice between months of rough carpentry and weeks of dinking around with a canoe rebuild you know which I would choose.

I know some of the peculiar cursed history of the Mystic, including the unfortunate canoe trailer trip where it folded in half, and, after those repairs, the Ninja Shuriken throwing star puncture wounds from windstorm flying Plexiglas.

That canoe was born with bad juju, and I would conduct an exorcism before bringing it into the shop. I can mail you a canoe exorcism kit, complete with instructions, incantations and festive headdress. I will want video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSxuXQCEC7M

 

[dougd]

The Mystic has been living in the new shed for a while now hung from the ceiling. after I got that done. I got about 1/2 the floor covered in the interlocking exercise mat. Tried to upload pictures from my phone but it didn't work, stupid phone! This batch is from the old shed and has a lot of "character" to it, lots of paint and resin stains as well as a few burns here and there. The next half will be brand new, been in storage for years now. Hope the critters didn't make a home in that box! I may be nuts but I noticed a marked change in the heat savings with just half the floor covered. Had to actually turn the heater off for a while. I will be glad to have this done so I can work on boats again! Of course this means I have to move all my crap from one shed to the new shed and find new homes for it all.

dougd

 

[dougd]

Although the toughest work is yet to come, deciding where to put stuff, today was banner day. A day that makes the shed a real Canoe Shed! I got most of one cabinent built but more and most importantly the shop fridge in. Cans of Liquid Courage will soon fill it for upcoming projects on several different hulls. Heat in the shed and coldness for my cans, who could ask for anything more?
I'm feeling peaceful tonight!

dougd

 

[sweeper]

When theTunes and the Fridge are in the rest is more enjoyable.

 

[Canotrouge]

Although the toughest work is yet to come, deciding where to put stuff, today was banner day. A day that makes the shed a real Canoe Shed! I got most of one cabinent built but more and most importantly the shop fridge in. Cans of Liquid Courage will soon fill it for upcoming projects on several different hulls. Heat in the shed and coldness for my cans, who could ask for anything more?
I'm feeling peaceful tonight!

dougd

I'm with you on the "where to put stuff" dilemma, I'm getting close to have to start on thinking of how am I gonna a fit my stuff in!!

 

[sweeper]

Ya but that's the fun part. After you get everything in and a place for everything, for then on it's all work.

I've spent almost half my winter tweaking the shop so that it's more production friendly and not just a place where the tools hang out and some work gets done.