Boo-boo, in my workshop
My workshop used to be a chicken coop. When we moved here in 1985, it was full of trash, bits and pieces of wood scraps, cardboard (corrugated fiberboard) boxes, mouse droppings, bug carcasses and thousands of my arch-nemeses – yes, you’re right – spiders. (shiver-shiver)
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In ’92, I cleared it out, scrubbed it down with disinfectant from top to bottom, replaced window panes and built a set of steps to make entry easier. Ex-Beloved lay electric wiring underground from the barn to the chicken coop, then showed me how to wire the inside with outlets for power tools, bench lighting and such. He put in the circuit breaker box and connected the box to the underground cable, back to the barn’s power source. We hung more (energy efficient) lights than we needed to, I think, but the place lights up beautifully, makes working in there a real pleasure. I built a honey of a work bench (not all that clever, really), laid plywood sub-flooring and a scrap piece of vinyl, hung tool holders and shelves. My workshop was finished. We had put in about three weeks of part-time, evening and weekends, labor into the place, but it was beautiful, with a macho, carpenter-cabinetmaker-mechanic sort of beauty. No curtains or other usual female touches, as I had done for the house.
In ’92, I cleared it out, scrubbed it down with disinfectant from top to bottom, replaced window panes and built a set of steps to make entry easier. Ex-Beloved lay electric wiring underground from the barn to the chicken coop, then showed me how to wire the inside with outlets for power tools, bench lighting and such. He put in the circuit breaker box and connected the box to the underground cable, back to the barn’s power source. We hung more (energy efficient) lights than we needed to, I think, but the place lights up beautifully, makes working in there a real pleasure. I built a honey of a work bench (not all that clever, really), laid plywood sub-flooring and a scrap piece of vinyl, hung tool holders and shelves. My workshop was finished. We had put in about three weeks of part-time, evening and weekends, labor into the place, but it was beautiful, with a macho, carpenter-cabinetmaker-mechanic sort of beauty. No curtains or other usual female touches, as I had done for the house.
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The reason I tell you all the remodeling work we did is because when grandson (above) asked me to let him make a pinewood derby racer in my workshop, I agreed, adding that we’d need to straighten up the shop first. I assured him that wouldn’t take long.
The reason I tell you all the remodeling work we did is because when grandson (above) asked me to let him make a pinewood derby racer in my workshop, I agreed, adding that we’d need to straighten up the shop first. I assured him that wouldn’t take long.
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We went out to the workshop where we found that, except for the physical improvements Ex-Beloved and I had made in ’92, the workshop looked almost exactly like it did in ’85. Only now there were lights by which to see the spiders and their middens of bug scraps.
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What I thought might take us half an hour to complete turned into nearly three hours of hot, dusty, icky-spider-webby work. The boxes of tea pots (unsold stock from my defunct tea shop) and the wood scraps were relocated to the barn. D sorted the trash for recycling and moved it to the carport. I swept the floors and he swept down all the webs hanging from ceiling to floor in the corners. We tried not to kill any spiders, but…well, you know…accidents do happen.
What I thought might take us half an hour to complete turned into nearly three hours of hot, dusty, icky-spider-webby work. The boxes of tea pots (unsold stock from my defunct tea shop) and the wood scraps were relocated to the barn. D sorted the trash for recycling and moved it to the carport. I swept the floors and he swept down all the webs hanging from ceiling to floor in the corners. We tried not to kill any spiders, but…well, you know…accidents do happen.
...
We aren’t finished, but we’ve made a good dent in the clean-up to be done. Next, we clear up the work bench; then we make sure all my tools are in good working order. After that, we’ll spend some time on shop safety and Nanny’s Rules of Proper Shop Stewardship (which, it seems, Nanny needs to follow more closely herself) before I’ll allow him to start making his own mess.
We aren’t finished, but we’ve made a good dent in the clean-up to be done. Next, we clear up the work bench; then we make sure all my tools are in good working order. After that, we’ll spend some time on shop safety and Nanny’s Rules of Proper Shop Stewardship (which, it seems, Nanny needs to follow more closely herself) before I’ll allow him to start making his own mess.
(c) 2009 Martha McLemore
11 comments:
For me the basis of a successful workshop (which I lack here in Hereford) is a vice that doesn't move in the slightest: not a jot, not a tittle. Which means that the bench it is mounted on should be a veritable Rock of Ages. Ideally one should be able to sing in a moderate voice in the workshop without being overheard by the neighbours. All those lights! But since they are energy efficient I'll assume you're in no danger of having your brains boiled. I'm delighted to hear you stayed your hand on the matter of curtains. Did you go as far as taking a spray gun and using it with templates to indicate where all the tools go? I've always thought that was taking things too seriously.
Looking forward to a progress report on the Pinewood Derby contender and your advice on the crucial matter of providing frictionless bearings.
My workshop is roughly 10 feet square. My singing doesn't disturb the neighbors, but it does set the local dogs to barking.
The workbench I made is level and steady, but I don't have a regular vise. I do have a hobbiest-sized PanaVise which I clamp to a slab of pine. Has worked well for me on the projects I've needed it for so far, but it is hardly a good one.
My Dad used a piece of pegboard for many of his smaller hand tools and he outlined the profiles on the board. I don't do that...yet.
Pinewood Derby cars are a new subject to me, so I'm going to have to rely on Donovan for instructions on how to build it and resolve the issue of friction on the wheels. Mag-lev came to mind, or some variation on the theme, but the scale is all wrong.
I'll keep you posted.
:)
That reminds me, I need to tidy my studio!!
Good looking grandson there, nice that he's showing an interest in the workshop. Some of my late father's things, like his workbench and hand tools are in my husband's workshop.
First time by for a read and I'm intrigued by the phrase ex-beloved. Seems contrary. Guess I'll have to hang around for the back story.
That you have such a cool space and you were instrumental is constructing it, totally rocks! Yehaw Nana! Now let's see what he makes.
Nice that you are doing this--hope your workshop becomes a happy, social space. So often, they become a solitary refuge.
Thanks for the "mammatous" word for those clouds--I've always associated the look of such clouds with hail, but never had a word for them.
Marja-Leena:
He's a good kid. I hope we survive our time in the workshop.
I have one thing that was my father's: a miniature anvil he made of brass for his father, when Daddy was a teenager.
:)
WiaW:
'Ex-Beloved' is a contrary expression. My Divorce Care instructor uses it in reference to her ex-husband - she says it keeps her from speaking ill of him. It works.
Grandson's car design is very ambitious for a first project, so I'm hoping it goes well.
Thank you for coming by. I've enjoyed reading both your blogs and will visit again.
:)
Wow – that all makes a lot of sense for a good cause – next a posting ( Part 2- I presume) will be a picture of the finished product under your supervision? – A genuine pinewood derby racer !!
Best wishes
I've always had a place to work. Not always a workshop. In the years we were in apartment buildings, I'd have a table strewn with my stuff in a corner. I have workspace in the large garage here at Spadoville. My work bench is cluttered, (it's a flat space don'tcha know?), but organized in my eyes. I love standing next to the work bench or just being out in the garage, hanging out. I smoke the occasional cigar out there. The Grandkids point to the garage when they know I'll need a tool to help them with something like a slack bike chain or loose wagon wheel.
Some days are just garage/workshop days. I use the pegboard, (No outlines here either), but I do have tools hung neatly with the ones I use most often closer to my focal point.
You stimulate me with your post. I appreciate your view of things.
Peace.
My 'work bench' is the kitchen top and the cooker.
In the nice weather it is the garden.
And sometimes sat here in front of my PC.
There's nothing so fine as the smell of freshly cut wood in a nice workshop where creative people are enjoying themselves.
He is indeed a fine looking young man.
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