My Story

[FrankEV]

My Story

I have been unable to do any scroll work since early January 2023 as I found my shop was on the verge of collapse.  Well, there is more to the story, but to give you the whole picture, I need to start back at the beginning. 

The story is quite long so if you want you can stop reading now.  If you proceed, I hope you will enjoy ‘MY Story”.

A While back

Back in 2013, when I decided to downsize and move to Florida, I gave up a very large home on a very large piece of property and left behind a fully equipped 24’ x 32’ wood working shop. 

Downsizing meant obtaining a smaller home on a smaller piece of property.  The result wound up with us moving into a Duplex on a very small (40’ x 90’) piece of property. The duplex has no garage, just a carport, a rather small backyard and only a twelve feet wide side yard on one side only. 

Also, as part of the story and as my post tag line reads “I ride a Harley”, and at one point in 2019, I owned two brand new Harley Davidson motorcycles.  My carport can accommodate our two cars and one motorcycle but when I bought the second motorcycle,  protected parking became a problem. At that time I decided I needed a shed that could accommodate the bikes.  So, I did some research and decided to buy a Suncast 8’ x 13’ by 6’ tall wall Resin shed from Lowes.  To accommodate the shed, a lot of other things were needed. This included an old existing wood fence had to be relocated and replaced with a new vinyl fence, a concrete slab needed under the shad was placed, and about forty feet of a four feet wide concrete paver walkway was installed from my driveway through the fence gate to the front of the shed.

 

Here is a picture of the original shed and a picture with my bikes inside the shed.

 It was only a short time later that the smaller bike was sold, and, because of the inconvenience, the big bike was never put in the shed, and to this day, it lives under the carport.  Now the shed was sitting empty.

When I moved to Florida, I brought my more transportable tools with me and stored them in a rented storage unit.  Included in the inventory of shop tools was a Scroll Saw.

About that time, I was looking for a bird feeder for my backyard and though I could use the scroll saw to make a fancy one I had found a pattern for on-line.  I brought the Scroll Saw out of the storage unit and built the bird feeder and it felt good to make saw dust again. 

With some of my power tools available and the empty shed - putting 2 and 2 together - I got the idea to set up a small woodworking workshop in the empty shed.  I brought from the storage unit; a small workbench, a router table, a sanding station, a contractor table saw, and of course, the scroll saw.  Thus, the beginning of my scroll sawing endeavor’s. 

I have many handheld power tools that, one-by-one, have found their way into that little shop.  As more items found their way into the shop, I added some plywood to the interior wall surfaces and mounted shelving. And, of course, there are materials like; project wood panels, hardwood project lumber, and my framing lumber, most of which was stored on shelves or in racks hung from the roof framing.  Over time the scrap cut-off pile has become large…just can’t throw any away.  Additionally, I have:

·         Hand tools galore,

·         Many clamps of various types and sizes (You can never have too many clamps),

·         Finishing products in cans and spray cans include materials such as, stains, paints, polyurethanes, lacquers, solvents, etc.,

·         Hardware

Here is a picture of me in my original shop with my Porter Cable Scroll Saw and Contractor Table saw in view.  The picture only shows a fraction of tools and materials that have accumulated over the past few years.

 

Moving forward to a few weeks ago

At this point I think you can see where things were headed. 

Over time, the load hanging on the walls had become too much for the resin wall panels.  A few weeks ago in early January 2023, I noticed that the walls bowed out significantly and the four corners were split open.  Something needed to be done and done quickly to prevent a complete collapse.  So, I hurried to empty the shed, storing the major items in my box trailer, and all the small items in boxes all around my house. Yep, quite a mess.

I then considered replacing the shed with a wood frame shed from a shed builder, but the cost was outrageous, and they did not offer the exact size or configuration I needed.  A custom plan was even more expensive.  My only option was to build a replacement shed myself.

I studied the situation and decided that the roof and gable end walls of the existing shed are in good shape.  To save cost and time I decided I could temporarily support the existing roof with the gable ends attached, remove the resin walls, and then replace them with new wood framed walls.  This offered the opportunity to jack the roof up and replace the six feet high walls with seven feet high walls. This could be done with no increase in material costs.

As a CAD operator in my pre-retirement era, I was able to use a program called QCAD to layout all the framing very precisely so when the walls were erected, they would match the roof exactly. I did the framing on the ground, in my carport, using 2x3’s and sided the walls with ‘Hardie Fiber Cement T1-11’ siding.  I even framed my own set of double doors, and I was able to paint the walls on the ground with a good grade of exterior latex with custom tinted paint that matched the color of the resin gable end walls.  The construction of the walls started about January 19 and took about five days to complete.  Temporarily supporting and jacking the roof, removing the existing resin wall panels, and prepping the base to accept the new walls took a few more days. Everything was ready by Sunday January 29.

The new framed walls were too heavy to lift but I was fortunate to be able to hire two strong young men that would help me, along with my neighbor, Monday evening January 30, to move the wall on dollies and set them in place.  This was completed in a matter of about one hour.   The following day I was able to use some rachet straps to square everything up, make up all permanent wall-to-wall connections, and lower the roof assemble into place…a perfect fit. 

Moving forward to the past few days,

Over the past few days, I have:

·         Used metal angle and straps to tie the roof assembly to the walls,

·         Filled all gaps and cracks between wood walls and the roof/gable end walls with “Great-Stuff” expanding foam,

·         Hung the doors and installed a locking latch set,

·         Touched up exterior paint,

·         Installed new electrical outlets and a switch to reconnect the lighting that remained with the roof,

·         Insulated all walls with R-13 fiberglass batts,

·         Lined the interior wall with 3/8” thick plywood,

·         Painted the interior,

·         Reinstalled all the dust removal ductwork,

·         Installed new interior shelving,

Now I can stop calling it a shed and call it a shop again. 

All major tools are moved back in and the hand tools, clamps, etc. are rehung on the walls.  The shelves have been restocked with my handheld power tools, finishing products, project wood and all the small items too numerous to list but that are used every day.  Putting everything back somewhat like it was in the original shop, was time consuming and harder than expected.  However, the best part is the added wall height allowed me to install some extra shelving and I was able to get all my project wood up off the floor and onto shelves.      

Wrapped it up today!

Here is a picture of the finished rebuilt shed with the seven-foot high walls and a picture of me, today, Monday February 6, in my shop with my Pegas Scroll Saw and Dewalt Contractor Table saw in view.  Still a very small shop but it is no longer on the verge of collapse!

Completing this project in a matter of about three weeks was quite an undertaking at my age – soon to be 81.  And, yes, my body is tired and sore, but I really feel accomplished. 

I do need some rest and have some clean up tasks to do around the house before I can sit down and get back to making Scroll Saw Art once again.  It is unfortunate that things happened so quickly and I did not think of documenting the progress of the project with pictures.

If you have read all the way through to this ending, I hope you enjoyed ‘My Story’.  I would very much like to hear any comments you may have. 

PS: You know, looking at the pic of the shed I think I need to paint the doors a contrasting grey like the original shed was!

 

[Dak0ta52]

You did an excellent job, Frank. I've thought about either building or buying a smaller shed that I could climate control and set up my scroll saw there along with some basic tools. I could go to my big shop to cut blanks or do major work and take the work back to the shed for the scrolling. As far as painting contrast gray, rather than paint the entire door, maybe just the "X" braces and outer wood trim. Regardless, it looks great and I'm sure you'll enjoy it for a long time in the future.

[OCtoolguy]

I'm very sorry Frank but without the pics, well, it never happened. Lol. Thanks for a great story. I envy you your added space.

[DRugerH]

Very enjoyable story, and the new shop looks great! 

Back when I lived in a mobile home, many years ago, I was tempted to do this with my 8'X10' shed and run a Shopsmith, but I never did it. 

Thanks for sharing,
Dan

[bobscroll]

Hi Frank, I enjoyed reading your post! You did a bloody good job! You should be proud of yourself! Thank you for posting, Bob  

 

 

 

[Rolf]

Great story! An amazing accomplishment in such a short time! So the Harley is still under the carport?

 

[TAIrving]

Thanks for sharing your story Frank.  Funny how that happens.  My workshop started out as a storage shed for lawn equipment.  

[FrankEV]

2 hours ago, Rolf said:

...So the Harley is still under the carport?

 

Yes it is.  I use a large cover over it if we get some strong storms where the wind blows the rain in.  Otherwise, just maintain it, keep it clean and use some anti-rust productys on exposed/uncoated steel.  I use a ceramic coating on the  paint work that keeps it gleaming with just the occasional wipe down with a detailer liquid.

[Scrappile]

Great shop and, glad to have you back.  

[rjweb]

Enjoyed reading your story, glad things are going forward, RJ 

[meflick]

First, I’m glad to read your story. More importantly, I’m glad the shed did not collapse on you and you caught it in time. Looks like you have a new workshop to create in. Look forward to seeing your new projects. You have every reason to feel proud of all you accomplished in very little time I’m sure most anyone would be a little sore from all that time and effort.

[Bill WIlson]

Quite a story!  It's amazing what you can do when the need arises.

Well done!  Enjoy the new shop.

[Freddie]

Looks good!  You did a good job and should be proud of your new shop. Looks like you added an air conditioner as well above the door for the Florida heat. Thanks for sharing