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New Workshop in San Antonio

I

idleup

Well Known Member
Just finished the new workshop after moving from California to the Promised Land... Now it is time to start working on the RV-7A again. If anyone in San Antonio has an RV-7 please let me know! I am right across the street from San Geronimo on Culebra about 5 miles outside 1604... Thanks.



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Looks like an award winner to me. Can you tell us some of the details about the very well equipped airhandling system? how bout dimensions? is there a garage door where you are taking pictures from?

Did you build it yourself?


just need to add, i think that is beautiful.
 
Speechless

May qualify for Rudi Greyling's Award :D Get some aluminum shavings and fiberglass dust over that shiny museum floor.
 
Holy cow that is quite a setup. My shop looks like the city dump compared to that (I thought it was ok before).

I'm a California transplant myself. Welcome to the club.
 
Welcome to San Antonio

idleup said:
Just finished the new workshop after moving from California to the Promised Land... Now it is time to start working on the RV-7A again. If anyone in San Antonio has an RV-7 please let me know! I am right across the street from San Geronimo on Culebra about 5 miles outside 1604... Thanks.
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Hi Matt,
Impressive workshop! I'm building a 7, but just wrapping up the empennage now. There are several flying RV's at San Geronimo. Also, EAA chapter 35 meets there and we'll have our next meeting the second saturday of February.
 
Danny7 said:
Looks like an award winner to me. Can you tell us some of the details about the very well equipped airhandling system? how bout dimensions? is there a garage door where you are taking pictures from?

Did you build it yourself?


just need to add, i think that is beautiful.
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The air handling system is a GrandAire AC/Heat Pump. The condensor is outside of course. The ducting was custom fabricated for the shop. I was going for an industrial look and wanted exposed ducting. I did not realize what a pain it was going to be to try and get the spiral ducting since it is in ever restaurant now days but after many calls I finally found a local sheet metal shop that would fabricate it for me if I did the AutoCAD for it. I also did not want to use straps so I fabricated single bar hangars for the ducting from tie rods and parts I found at Lowes and instead of screws I used pop rivets on all of it so the transitions between pieces would be smooth (see picture below). I know I was WAY anal but I wanted a certain "look" and my wife is an interior designer so everything must have form as well as function :) ... also the exposed conduit for the electrical on the ceiling and the flex tube to the lights was all part of trying to get that look as well, it would have been much easier to just run outlets inside the drywall.

Yes, I am taking the pictures from where the garage door is. What you do not see in the picture is that the first 8 feet of the ceiling above where I am taking the picture is enclosed with an attic for storing parts. After about 8' the vaulted part of the ceiling starts, I attached a picture where you can see the front part of the shop where the attic is better. The attic ladder is that white box between the light and where the compressor hose comes down.

As for me doing it myself, I did most of it myself. I contracted out the drywall.

Thanks for all the compliments, it was definitely a "labor of love" and it helped to get me over the trauma of my canopy flying off the truck and getting busted during transition (http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?p=398971#post398971) and the realization that I am going to have to redo the part of this project that I disliked and struggled with the most...

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Very,very..........

Nice. San Antonio is my home town, but have lived in Houston Area now for almost thirty-five years. Still visit Mom down there, she is in Universal City/Randolph. What part of town are you in? Might have to fly over someday and see this production facility.
 
Prove it

Okay guys, he's got this great shop, but we have no proof he built this plane:D With a shop like that, I submit that we vote him off the RV island until he shows us a photo of some sort of mess!! No work can possibly get done in a place like that!!!!

Great looking shop!!!! Keep us posted on the canopy rebuild.
 
Yah, i noticed your air hose had a little home up in that dropped ceiling, should of mentioned that i thought that was a cool little setup as well. :)
 
RV7Guy said:
Okay guys, he's got this great shop, but we have no proof he built this plane:D With a shop like that, I submit that we vote him off the RV island until he shows us a photo of some sort of mess!! No work can possibly get done in a place like that!!!!

Great looking shop!!!! Keep us posted on the canopy rebuild.
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Here is the proof I built the plane, it is a little out of date due to not updating it and then not working on the plane for almost two years while transitioning to Texas :( http://www.rv7a.com
 
And I'll bet...

...that his air drill doesn't spit any oil either.

Awesome shop! Congratulations on a job well executed!!
 
Workshop for Home and Garden magazine

THe shop looks like a photo from Architectual Digest or Home and Garden. I know the answer but does a perfectly neat workshop help in building an RV. Being the world's biggest slob, I can't clean when I can build. I was most enviously of the cabinets and little plastic containers for all the rivets and nuts. I spend endless hours looking for stuff.

I was never in the military and from my friends that were, they all seem to be neat types. Being in the service probably gives you disipline and organization.

I am going home to organized my shop. Funny where motivation comes from.

S S Anderson
RV 7A Flying
100 hours barrier passed this weekend.
 
Garage Envy

I'd have to hock the flat panel to buy some avionics. Never mind the rest of the garage. With the garage being 20 ft wide you might be hurting if you pre fit the wings. Man some people just have it all. Nice
 
anything better out there?

maybe we should start a new post for the best work area. this one may be hard to beat. by the way, i dont have a workshop , i bought my rv. maybe i should clean up my hanger!!!!!!!:) ill bet he is a clean freak. lets see his living room.
 
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I'll be arriving tomorrow ...

I'm going to have Partain move my RV-12 project to your workshop in TX. Looks like there is plenty of room for both our projects. Hope you don't mind, when I spray paint it gets over everything and the tank sealant I get on the walls, tools and floor isn't so bad. :D
 
Cabinets

Very, very nice. Some hilarious responses to this post - nice work guys! I'm finishing out my garage shortly with a mind toward building an RV in the not-so-distant future. What kind of cabinets are those? Can you recommend a source for them? How about the small parts drawers?

Thanks,
 
Clean shops do make building better IMHO :D...I thought my RV-10 build in my very neat and clean garage then hangar was anal...I wonder...Could it be a minature workshop photographed to "LOOK" like a real shop?? Hey those power tools..i.e. the table saw look like they have never been used :p...What gives huh? The table saw was the first tool I used on my build!! That floor is not gonna work, you need pads neatly placed for your feet around all the work areas. And I'm sorry for your canopy getting trashed in the move but you deserved it for posting pictures of the workshop...I had a woman drag her husband down to my garage during my build to show him "HOW" a garage should look..Imagine what she would have done to him If she saw this setup;)

Nice Job!!
 
grifmara said:
Very, very nice. Some hilarious responses to this post - nice work guys! I'm finishing out my garage shortly with a mind toward building an RV in the not-so-distant future. What kind of cabinets are those? Can you recommend a source for them? How about the small parts drawers?

Thanks,
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They are the "Coleman" branded cabinets from Lowes. Periodically they have a very good sale on them. I welded parts racks for the insides of a few of them to make use of the cheap parts bins you can get at Harbor Freight since I did not need all the vertical space those cabinets provided. Much of what I did in the shop was done inexpensively, it is not all "custom" or anything. For example the work benches in the back of the shop the standard laminate counter tops from Lowes as well. I just welded a frame for them where the cabinets could slide under them. They came out very clean and solid and I did it for less than what it would have cost to build those benches with built in doors and drawers.

I will make sure post more pictures once I start to get metal shavings all over and make a mess so I don't continue to get branded as having an operating room for a shop, I swear it will be a functional, working space :)
 
Missed it

Gorgeous.......

Everyone knows you made it so nice that when the bride gets made at you for building, you have a place to sleep........
 
Better Homes and Garden called.....

Matt:

Can I say.....That is the most incredible, fabulous, super-clean work-shop I have ever seen...Now, if only my shop had... Bose surround sound speakers, large refridgerator (Beer) , microwave oven, coffee maker, Soap Dispenser and Kitchen sink???? BATHROOM....:eek:

You are to be commended for your inspirational man-cave...What did you name it?
 
Shopping for / Moving to that house...

I can evision the whole RV builder real-estate process at work with us all. When he was shopping for the house it was probably like this...

"Yeah, ok, ok, nice bathrooms, but let's go see the GARAGE.." :D

While I'm attempting to get my garage ready with the Griots epoxy floor and nice cabinets, I'll never get close to that. You win :)!
 
PropellerHead said:
I can evision the whole RV builder real-estate process at work with us all. When he was shopping for the house it was probably like this...

"Yeah, ok, ok, nice bathrooms, but let's go see the GARAGE.." :D

While I'm attempting to get my garage ready with the Griots epoxy floor and nice cabinets, I'll never get close to that. You win :)!
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Of course. When we bought our new house, the instructions to the Realtor were "the smallest house with the biggest garage." And that is exactly what we got.
 
Fastback8 said:
Matt:

Can I say.....That is the most incredible, fabulous, super-clean work-shop I have ever seen...Now, if only my shop had... Bose surround sound speakers, large refridgerator (Beer) , microwave oven, coffee maker, Soap Dispenser and Kitchen sink???? BATHROOM....:eek:

You are to be commended for your inspirational man-cave...What did you name it?
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No name. Just my wanna-be hangar.

The process started out us looking for an Airpark home so I could really have a hangar, but we were not able to find one we liked. This house was a series of compromises due to not having a full hangar space to work with (as most of us are in that situation). I mainly just wanted enough land on the lot to build this workshop. It is actually a detached structure off a common driveway to the house garage, the house garage is a two car garage that is for my wife to park her car and off limits to me... Is there anything specific that you guys want want know about it? I have been asked to write an article about it and want to make sure I address anything people may be wondering about...
 
Operating theatre

do you do heart transplants there as well? Some of the operating theatres around the world shouldtake note! Good one mate
 
Nice looking shop.

I showed it to my wife and she said, "If you build one like that make sure there is living quarters in it. Because I'll make certain that's all you get in the divorce.":eek:
 
Idle...what did you use on the floor? I am filing a permit application this week for my 20X36.

Mine will aspire to look like yours.
 
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