Big Barn’s Retirement Farm Shop

[Big Barn]

My “shop” consists of three adjoining buildings so I am fortunate to have lots of wall space.

Here’s a shot of the back room of my shop.

 

[TMGT]

Mine is just one big room, except where I'm putting the mezzanine and will probably enclose part of it to separate the machine shop area. Here's a pic from while I was working on the mezzanine, i still haven't moved into the shop yet so it's not organized at all. The plasma table is going to live under the right side of the mezz but it'll stick out a couple feet.

 

[Big Barn]

That’s awesome TMGT. What is the square footage? Ceiling height?

 

[TMGT]

Thanks, it's been an long time coming so pretty excited to get moved in.
Its 2000sqft (40x50) with another 400sqft (10x40) storage on the mezzanine, 16.5ft ceiling height with, mezzanine area is 8.5ft under and 7ft on top. 1 garage door 18 x 14

Best part is the 400A 3phase

 

[Big Barn]

Thanks, it's been an long time coming so pretty excited to get moved in.
Its 2000sqft (40x50) with another 400sqft (10x40) storage on the mezzanine, 16.5ft ceiling height with, mezzanine area is 8.5ft under and 7ft on top. 1 garage door 18 x 14

Best part is the 400A 3phase

Ha ha. Well done!

 

[TMGT]

I wanted to go bigger but county wouldn't let me make it bigger then the footprint of my house without a agricultural exemption and that would have taken a couple years to get. Oh well. Dont think the budget would have allowed much bigger anyways, looking back I think I could have gotten away with 56ft on the depth.

 

[Rustyiron]

Re: Big Barn痴 Retirement Farm Shop

For those building new shops, you should consider infloor anchor points before you do your pour. They will come in handy for attaching come alongs and winches for numerous tasks.

I have them inside and outside of my original shop. I used square receiver tube to make it handy for mounting benders, grinders, vises, benches or temporary platforms as well.

:thumbsup: I cast a few items into my shop slab over the years. One shop I had a 4' pc. of RR track, up side down. only used it a few times over about 15 years but it was there. I also put several 2" sq. tube "receivers" in both shops.

I found 6 of these in a 30 yd. dumpster at a steel place where they let me "dive". They have 6 lug's welded to the back. That place was a gold mine for a small home shop, in fact my 4' x 10' x 5/8 welding table came from them.

There was a good orderly scrap yard I used to visit when I was in the area for metal and who knows what else I'd find, where a guy was coming in to get weighed, I spotted a bunch of interesting "stuff" in his truck and we made a deal before he got weighed. Among his stuff were 6 or 8 of these "chain pots" that were for body & frame shops. They are self contained and just get cast into the slab. I have 6 of these in my floor around what would be the footprint of a p/u truck.

Then I have a few pairs of the 2" sq "receivers" in an open area where I use them for several uses, one is 2 legged steel "sawhorse" and as a anti twisting device to keep my Hossfeld bender in place.
Great thread Terry!

 

[TMGT]

I wanted to put in some anchor points in the floor but since I wasn't 100% on the equipment layout I ended up not doing it. Kinda glad I did leave them out as the lift ended up being moved to a different spot.

Luckily my Hossfeld has hyd. so I should be able to leave it on wheels most of the time

 

[Rustyiron]

My “shop” consists of three adjoining buildings so I am fortunate to have lots of wall space.

This point is VERY important and hard learned. Looking back I almost wish I had a "core" workspace (one generous "bay") for general mechanical work & maintenance, then built rooms or additional spaces off of that core (welding, storage, large tools, etc) but it is so much easier and cheaper when building new to just go big. Terry you have a really nice set up and an outstanding collection of tools.:thumbsup:

 

[Rustyiron]

I wanted to put in some anchor points in the floor but since I wasn't 100% on the equipment layout I ended up not doing it. Kinda glad I did leave them out as the lift ended up being moved to a different spot.

Luckily my Hossfeld has hyd. so I should be able to leave it on wheels most of the time

TMGT I'll be looking for up dates from you on your progression. :thumbsup: I think I may be "speaking" for others as well.