Weasel
Well Known Member
I have one of those tool boxes and love it. Only negative I can think of is when people ask where I got it they seem to put there nose in the air.
Van's Air Force
Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.
Ground Breaking, shop build starts
- Thread starter scard
- Start date
I have one of those tool boxes and love it. Only negative I can think of is when people ask where I got it they seem to put there nose in the air.
I have one of those tool boxes and love it. Only negative I can think of is when people ask where I got it they seem to put there nose in the air.
HA! Yeah, I had been doing a refresh on my chest research and just couldn't believe what I was seeing when comparing dollars and construction quality. Oh, the horror... "I had them custom made." Yeah, that is my story.
Hey, I was just poking you because of your earlier Harbor Freight comment, gotta shop for value.
Well, it is that time again. Monday morning. Time to recover from the weekend.
We're still busy on this full time project. Last weekend we did musical machinery. A big skid steer with a set of adjustable forks is a very powerful weapon.
We're about done with the vertical man lift and a neighbor is working on scratch building a new hangar door and wanted to use it. So it went up the street. It looks like when we decide to sell the lift, it may not be going very far. He just has to convince his wife that they "need" it long term.
Next up was to get the mill from the garage, through the mud, to the shop. Easy peasy. Joel (RV4 owner) is a master at the controls. He kept it at idle the whole time and was making 1/16" movements with the skid steer.
When he fully picked it up after we got it in the driveway, he did comment, "Ooh, that IS heavy." The skid steer didn't even flinch. And so, we started a nice slow walk out to the shop.
You can see that Joel was working "real hard" while the indians figured out the final placement.
This is where we set it down. Later, it took Tanya and I 2hrs to pivot it around into it's final location. Oh, and someone was asking how the floor is holding up to the little tractor and cars. Well, how about a skid steer on tracks! All totaled, I think that is about ten thousand pounds of equipment. The floor is doing fine thanks. I even tested it out the other day by bouncing a large argon bottle off of it from a few inches. That yielded just a little dent and some mean looks from Tanya.
Next up is the lathe. This was silly easy in comparison. It only weighs about half as much as the mill and is on temporary casters. The dirt out in front of the shop was very muddy but the tracks on the machine worked perfectly.
We're still busy on this full time project. Last weekend we did musical machinery. A big skid steer with a set of adjustable forks is a very powerful weapon.
We're about done with the vertical man lift and a neighbor is working on scratch building a new hangar door and wanted to use it. So it went up the street. It looks like when we decide to sell the lift, it may not be going very far
. He just has to convince his wife that they "need" it long term.
Next up was to get the mill from the garage, through the mud, to the shop. Easy peasy. Joel (RV4 owner) is a master at the controls. He kept it at idle the whole time and was making 1/16" movements with the skid steer.
When he fully picked it up after we got it in the driveway, he did comment, "Ooh, that IS heavy." The skid steer didn't even flinch. And so, we started a nice slow walk out to the shop.
You can see that Joel was working "real hard" while the indians figured out the final placement.
This is where we set it down. Later, it took Tanya and I 2hrs to pivot it around into it's final location. Oh, and someone was asking how the floor is holding up to the little tractor and cars. Well, how about a skid steer on tracks! All totaled, I think that is about ten thousand pounds of equipment. The floor is doing fine thanks. I even tested it out the other day by bouncing a large argon bottle off of it from a few inches. That yielded just a little dent and some mean looks from Tanya.
Next up is the lathe. This was silly easy in comparison. It only weighs about half as much as the mill and is on temporary casters. The dirt out in front of the shop was very muddy but the tracks on the machine worked perfectly.
Last edited:
The mill in it's final location.
This is how we move large machinery by hand. This and some lengths of water pipe.
Remember all that mud? This is one week later
. I put out some grass seed just before we had a week of light rain. Luck.
Fast forward to the next weekend. We picked up some pallet rack shelving. It is 42" wide, 8' long and 12' high. Crazy storage that will probably be mostly full when we're done unpacking.
Just a scatter shot of images in our current state. We are truly "setting up shop". Up until now, the space was a very effective echo chamber. It was so bad that it was difficult to have a conversation 10' apart. That changed this weekend. We hauled a few truckloads of stuff from the house and hangar. It was like Christmas in November unpacking tools that I haven't seen in over a year.
Last edited:
I finished the fixed work bench.
This time, I decided all of the "EAA" benches are going on retractable casters. I used to just drag them around the shop to where I wanted them, but that was sounding like a big pain in the new larger space. Ok, not the most elegant solution, but very quick and easy to execute.
I got the mill leveled. I still need to do the same for the lathe and get the mill head trammed. Tanya is in search of a refrigerator and we need to work on "water" when things dry out a little.
Very exciting!
Nah, I don't think I'll be doing a Lindy anytime soon. Some people would be amazed at the incremental effort required to go from "pretty darn good" to a real show winner. I have other things I want to do as opposed to counting the twists of safety wire or aligning the flats of bolt heads. I have my OSH award, I'm good with that.
No need to be jealous of the machine. It is just a big heavy piece of metal, and not all that expensive depending on the part of the country you're in. Mine is particularly ugly and worn. Machine reconditioning is a whole other exciting world. I can't wait to perfect hand scraping machine ways (going to take another lifetime). There are a ton of them out there by you. The expensive part can be the tooling. Ebay is my friend, but I probably have four times the cost of the machine wrapped up in tooling. I learned the art from a master from about age 7-14yrs old, much of which I forgot and am still re-learning.
Hmm, I wonder where my mill vice is. Oh, yeah, it is still behind a pile of shoes in Tanya's closet. It requires a hand truck and an engine hoist to move solo. I think I'll wait for help...
ShortSnorter
Well Known Member
Thanks for the affirmation! One could get a complex seeing some the shops that could double as an operating room!
I completely agree and am working on it as fast as I can. That is exactly how the last shop was. I went around with a floor scraper to knock off some of the larger blobs when we sold it.
We have long agreed that we're going to use it and not be a slave to the "newness". Kinda' like the airplane. It is supposed to be a working machine / shop, that will get dents dings, ugly spots, and worn out in places. But hopefully producing magic along the journey.
When I started drilling the 5/8 anchor holes in the floor the other day for the pallet rack, I saw Tanya start to cringe. "No, we must rejoice, for we agreed that we aren't going to be afraid to use the pretty..." (hammer drill ON)
We're still at it. For the past couple of weeks we've been working on "water". I built a dry well... That is about all I'll say about that, other than I'm so tired of digging holes. I always seem to be digging a trench or hole for something.
So, we setup to install some rain water collection tanks. I leveled things out with the tractor and we placed a yard of decomposed granite. Tanya got this idea to roll it with an argon bottle from the shop. "Hey, go for it."
So, let me tell you one of the drawbacks to building an airplane. Now, Tanya is sure that we can do ANYTHING. "Tanya, are you sure we can't just have the tanks delivered?" "Heck no, we've got this. Get in the truck!" So off we went to get the first of two 2500 gallon tanks. Geez that thing is big. I got nominated to back it down the winding driveway, around the trees, around the power pole, around the shed and behind the shop. Let's see, how do you eat an elephant? Just like building an airplane.
Carefully and one step at a time. Ta Da! Yes my back hurt. I don't think we have too many more years in us to do silly stuff like this.
She went and got the second tank while I worked on other stuff. All of the dirt is where I scraped up the vegetable garden for a reset.
And then there were two!
Remember how I said I was tired of digging. "Suck it up buttercup. We need a trench." We started plumbing the water and conduit for float switches.
So, we setup to install some rain water collection tanks. I leveled things out with the tractor and we placed a yard of decomposed granite. Tanya got this idea to roll it with an argon bottle from the shop. "Hey, go for it."
So, let me tell you one of the drawbacks to building an airplane. Now, Tanya is sure that we can do ANYTHING. "Tanya, are you sure we can't just have the tanks delivered?" "Heck no, we've got this. Get in the truck!" So off we went to get the first of two 2500 gallon tanks. Geez that thing is big. I got nominated to back it down the winding driveway, around the trees, around the power pole, around the shed and behind the shop. Let's see, how do you eat an elephant? Just like building an airplane.
Carefully and one step at a time. Ta Da! Yes my back hurt. I don't think we have too many more years in us to do silly stuff like this.
She went and got the second tank while I worked on other stuff. All of the dirt is where I scraped up the vegetable garden for a reset.
And then there were two!
Remember how I said I was tired of digging. "Suck it up buttercup. We need a trench." We started plumbing the water and conduit for float switches.
I'm feeling too lazy to build a pump house right now, so I opted for easy. Instant pump house. We got all of the rain collection system built and it is raining as I type this. Fill 'er up! We're waiting on pump equipment that should be here next week.
The sink is fully installed except for a faucet. We also got a beer fridge this week!
I don't have any pictures, but Dan would be happy with what a mess the shop is right now. It has been overcome with muddy boots, saw dust, PVC trimmings, globs of PVC cement and primer... This weekend, while the rain fills up the water tanks, the plan is to finish up some pump equipment details. I'm also going to build a materials cart. This time I'm going to try to actually have a place to put all that stuff that stacks up in the corners.
The sink is fully installed except for a faucet. We also got a beer fridge this week!
I don't have any pictures, but Dan would be happy with what a mess the shop is right now. It has been overcome with muddy boots, saw dust, PVC trimmings, globs of PVC cement and primer... This weekend, while the rain fills up the water tanks, the plan is to finish up some pump equipment details. I'm also going to build a materials cart. This time I'm going to try to actually have a place to put all that stuff that stacks up in the corners
.
Done!
Well, it had to happen eventually. This build is Done!
A few weeks ago, Tanya proclaimed "I just want this thing to be done! How will we ever know when it is finally finished?" Hmm, I can fix that. Here is a picture of her Christmas gift that she got Christmas morning.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished building out the rainwater collection pump house equipment. I did most of the work comfortably up on a work bench then just moved full assemblies out.
We spent another full weekend moving, unpacking and organizing tools, airplane parts and all things shop from the house and the hangar. It is really great not to have tools in boxes piled up in closets in the house. All of the RV8 build parts have been moved back from the hangar and are all accessible. With all the reclaimed space in the house, we were even able to unpack more house stuff. We've been in this state of limbo for a little over a year since we moved here.
Tanya took a big pile of hardware store (non-flight) hardware and collapsed it into nice little bins. I don't have the patience for that kind of tedium but she does.
And then the big event. The day after Christmas, it was time to go get the -8 fuselage from the hangar (just a couple thousand feet from the shop)!
Three minutes later. Hip-hip-hurray! It is real now. Hey, check out that beautiful green rye grass that surrounds the shop. All of our friends said the obvious, "Ok, now get to work."
A few glamour shots. This was the end goal all along. Gee, I should have built it just a little bigger... I call this mood lighting. Only half of the lights on.
The airframe was covered in a nice layer of hangar dust which Tanya quickly dispatched with a damp rag while I marveled at the current state of affairs over a beer. Notice that she has a jacket on. I had the A/C cranking out 69 degrees. Yeah, we had a little Christmas heat wave.
I think that is the end of this little story. Let a new chapter begin. Standing over the -8 fuselage in the shop last night, "Let's see, where was I..."
Well, it had to happen eventually. This build is Done!
A few weeks ago, Tanya proclaimed "I just want this thing to be done! How will we ever know when it is finally finished?" Hmm, I can fix that. Here is a picture of her Christmas gift that she got Christmas morning.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished building out the rainwater collection pump house equipment. I did most of the work comfortably up on a work bench then just moved full assemblies out.
We spent another full weekend moving, unpacking and organizing tools, airplane parts and all things shop from the house and the hangar. It is really great not to have tools in boxes piled up in closets in the house. All of the RV8 build parts have been moved back from the hangar and are all accessible. With all the reclaimed space in the house, we were even able to unpack more house stuff. We've been in this state of limbo for a little over a year since we moved here.
Tanya took a big pile of hardware store (non-flight) hardware and collapsed it into nice little bins. I don't have the patience for that kind of tedium but she does.
And then the big event. The day after Christmas, it was time to go get the -8 fuselage from the hangar (just a couple thousand feet from the shop)!
Three minutes later. Hip-hip-hurray! It is real now. Hey, check out that beautiful green rye grass that surrounds the shop. All of our friends said the obvious, "Ok, now get to work."
A few glamour shots. This was the end goal all along. Gee, I should have built it just a little bigger... I call this mood lighting. Only half of the lights on.
The airframe was covered in a nice layer of hangar dust which Tanya quickly dispatched with a damp rag while I marveled at the current state of affairs over a beer. Notice that she has a jacket on. I had the A/C cranking out 69 degrees. Yeah, we had a little Christmas heat wave.
I think that is the end of this little story. Let a new chapter begin. Standing over the -8 fuselage in the shop last night, "Let's see, where was I..."
David Paule
Well Known Member
Congratulations!
And what a great Christmas present.
Dave
And what a great Christmas present.
Dave
ppilotmike
Well Known Member
Nicely Done!
..now get to work on that 8!
..now get to work on that 8!
E. D. Eliot
Well Known Member
Congratulations
Way to go - you stuck to your guns and did a quality job. You will always be proud of quality design and construction. You and Tanya 'done good kids'.
Way to go - you stuck to your guns and did a quality job. You will always be proud of quality design and construction. You and Tanya 'done good kids'.
Bob Martin
Well Known Member
Wow
Nicely Done.
Building Airplanes should be easy after what you both have accomplished!
Wonderful and well built building and finishes.
What do they say? only a NICKEL more to go First Class??
You surely did a First Class Job.
Congrats.
Nicely Done.
Building Airplanes should be easy after what you both have accomplished!
Wonderful and well built building and finishes.
What do they say? only a NICKEL more to go First Class??
You surely did a First Class Job.
Congrats.
HA! If you look carefully at some of the pictures, I think you'll spy a whole corner dedicated to such things vegetable
. I have a dozen lettuce plants growing in there already. We'll have salads for the whole neighborhood in 30 days. "Really officer, it is just lettuce. Can I make you a salad?"The key component was getting the rainwater collection setup. That stuff is like distilled love when you test it.
With all the lights on, if you stick your arm out, you can see a faint shadow on the floor. For me, that equals not enough light. I think this is mostly due to the 12' ceiling. I am going to add more light fixtures when I get around to it. I'll probably add 40-50% more.
