Workshop Comfort

I’ve always had a little shop in the house. It’s the spot where I can repair whatever needs repairing. My shop, more formally my workshop, has always been within reaching distance of the oil burner. That means that there is a little extra warmth in the winter. It also means that it is often difficult to hear a radio when the burner fires up.

The workshop at our first home had a door, storage racks, an oil tank, a window, and two walls that I covered with 1 x 3 furring. After finishing the walls I put in electric outlets and an overhead light. I even built a set of bookcases and of course my workbench. I made that from a set of plans circulated by Stanley Bostitch. That basement workshop was also my ham radio shack. The basement is a great place for a short ground wire.

We have been at our new home for six years. About the only thing that I brought from my old shop was the workbench. The ham radio station is on the second floor now. It is not very good for a short ground wire but great for quiet operating. My new shop is of course in the basement, once again a short distance from the oil burner. It has about twice as much room as my last shop but the only window is one of those little deals that sit in a semicircular well next to the foundation. I am completely underground now!

I promptly erected storage shelves and they covered up the window. It wasn’t of much value anyways. Only a skinny 10-year old could crawl through it. Little or no light entered that way either since it opens up underneath the outside deck.

The new shop had no electricity. I had to run a long extension from the adjacent ‘finished’ portion of the basement to get the power I needed. That is not a very tidy situation. Things had to change.

I finally got around to making the changes this spring. I now have a workplace that makes me feel comfortable and at home. I’m not sure if I will have any greater luck at fixing old radios but at least I will have plenty of power and light. There are still a few things to do. I need to hang a couple of cabinets and some decorative stuff. I also have to make room for the bookcase I moved out during the construction. All should be shipshape just in time for winter. For now I intend to spend the summer outside with the lawn, the old Buick, and maybe that cranky old tractor.

(Note: Clicking on any image will display the large version)

: This is the back of the new side or partition wall. I put only one outlet here. I will decide how to finish it later.

: The panels are all 1×8 shiplap boards. They go together nicely and there was very little waste. The wall is just under 8 feet long.

: The back wall is against the foundation. It also surrounds the heating ducts at the top.

: This is the finished side of the side wall. My goal was to create more vertical shelf space and to give my shop a sense of place.

: The wiring has begun. There are 6 outlets on this wall alone. I don’t want to use extension cords anymore. Previously all electricity to the shop came from one extension.

: The back wall studs are about 4″ from the foundation wall. I had to do this because the foundation is sloped at the bottom.

: Firestop, including insulation at the top is installed. This is not necessary but I had the materials, so why not? Notice the clutter of tools on the bench.

: I used ledger board for the back wall. It is rather rough but costs half as much as the shiplap.

: The back wall was slightly over 8 feet long so I had to put one vertical board at the end. It abuts the storage racks.

: The wall is complete and ready to be put to use.

: I made some shelf brackets and shelves from the same ledger board that the back wall is made of. The new fluorescent light does a nice job of illuminating the workbench.

: Some of these items are functional and others just collectible stuff that I think is neat. I hope that the new shop will encourage me to put more of an effort into fixing up old radios.