Building a new workshop / lab

[Kibi]

I have been living in my current home for the last 12 or so years. Tucked away at the end of the garden was an abandoned shed. My landlord (Alex) who lives abroad had a great deal of his things stored inside. As we never had the keys for this shed, we never paid much attention to it.
Recently, Alex was in the country and dropped by to collect a couple of his things. Unfortunately, without our knowledge, the roof had gone in many years ago it would seem. About 10% of the roof remained intact and most of the contents has been ruined.
We reached an agreement where I could use the shed provided I made repairs to it and store whatever was still in good shape.
This suits me because my workspace has expanded over the years to the point where some extra space would be most welcome. It may seem crazy of me to invest my own money in someone else's property, but I will save money by not paying for off site storage anymore. My return on investment is about 8 months.

So, lets get set to work.

Quite a mess, it'll only get worse though. Alex put polythene on the roof perhaps in some sort of panic.



Inside is pretty bad and even with no roof, it stinks of rot.









Upon removing the contents I found one of the walls had split from top to bottom. I pretty much pulled the whole wall down and built it up again from the ground. I put steel reinforcing band between each course.









Now it's time to get a new roof on. The entire roof had to be removed as the joists, although in not too bad a shape, were under spec'd. The joists really need to be 50x100mm treated timbers with 600mm centres. I also went for 18mm ply, expensive, but necessary in my opinion.

The old timbers are removed and the floor cleared. I had some much appreciated help from my brother and my friend Chris.



Now we have to get rid of loads of plants that have grown through the roof over the years.







Finally, the timber delivery arrived at 3pm. I had to get the roof on the same day because rain was forecast for the Sunday.

Roof timbers going up fast.







Now the ply goes on top. As a side note, if you ever have a project that involved driving a lot of screws, do yourself a favour and get self drilling Torx head screws. They save a great deal of time. No cam-out at all. My local store stocks a wide variety of the Paslode ones. They are more expensive, but well worth it. A great deal cheaper then buying a Paslode nailer
Note that the correct tongue angle when performing this task is vital







Now the boards are screwed down, the surface needs to be swept and prepared for the one piece EPDM rubber roof.



The rubber is laid out and here I am applying the glue.





Just before dark, the roof is complete.



The next day I put up the roof trims and guttering.





So now, it's time to get the inside done.
I applied a liquid DPM (damp proof membrane) but I didn't get on with it much so I put polythene down on top of it. I then put stud work on the walls and floor to hold the insulation in place.



The insulation arrived on time. I went for high performance Celotex PIR insulation boards. 50mm for floor and walls and 75mm for the roof. This stuff is manufactured locally, some of the boards were produced just days before by the date code on them.



It's pretty easy to cut and install.



I used odd planks of wood from the ruined flat packed furniture to make the floor. I just trimmed the rotten ends off of the pine sheets to make a good solid floor.
The floor is mostly complete, just the odd shapes to be cut and screwed in place.



That's my progress so far. The next thing is to put a decent door up.

[nctnico]

Mmm, thats a whole lot of white folks in Zimbabwe 
I second the comment on the Torx screws. I switched to those as well and they work way waaay better than Pozidrive or Philips.

I'm missing the electricty in your 'lab to be'. Wouldn't it be easier to get the feeding cable in before adding the walls? And how about air conditioning?

[EEVblog]

That in the housing industry is called a "unique fixer-upper opportunity"!

12 years is a long time to be renting in the one place. What's the housing market like in Zimbabwe? can you get a foothold on your own place?

Dave

[SeanB]

Kibi may be a Whenwe, but he is an expat ( like most of the population) living in the UK. It does not get that cold in Zim that you need insulation, rather you would thatch a shed roof as insulation, and you would use natural round wood trunks as the framing. Or you use a lot more slope and a sheet metal roof because it rains a lot, heavy rain and a lot of it, then the dry season.

[nukie]

Torx screws are king, they don't slip like Philips! And the bit size is go nogo. Perfect match for powered tools.

tapatalk

[SeanB]

Kibi, that garden needs a serious workover. Brushcutters, pangas and a truck to take it all away. You can film an episode of The Jungle Book in there.........

[Kibi]

Oh yes, I am from Zimbabwe, but I have been living in England for the past 12 years or so.

Kibi, that garden needs a serious workover. Brushcutters, pangas and a truck to take it all away. You can film an episode of The Jungle Book in there.........

Ja, this is a problem. It's the reason that the power cable is not in yet. It's going to be a lot of hard work clearing all that away. The thing is, certain things must be done whilst it is still summer, other things can be done even if it's raining.

[baljemmett]

Ja, this is a problem. It's the reason that the power cable is not in yet. It's going to be a lot of hard work clearing all that away. The thing is, certain things must be done whilst it is still summer, other things can be done even if it's raining.

After twelve years I'd have thought you might have noticed that a British summer mainly consists of rain, too

[Kibi]

That in the housing industry is called a "unique fixer-upper opportunity"!

12 years is a long time to be renting in the one place. What's the housing market like in Zimbabwe? can you get a foothold on your own place?

Dave

Living in the UK it's difficult to get on the ladder even with a good income and sensible savings.
The housing market in Zim is a bit different though. The last I heard was that the seller could keep the first US$50,000 of the sale and the reserve bank would "look after" the rest for you. This doesn't leave much incentive for people to sell their US$1M properties. Some of my relatives just managed to sell their property before the new law came into effect.

[T4P]

Ya sure ... where i live is much worse
Living in a house similar to mr jones's house will cost a few million.
AAND you are bounded to a 99 year lease, probably 30 years left if it went for 1M

[SeanB]

At least you have a lease and legal recourse. Zim is all political abuse and expropriation without compensation.

[Kibi]

I have made a little bit more progress.

I've got a much better door on now. It still needs to be insulated, but I'll do that once the latch and maglock are fitted.



I've also got the sub-floor complete and most of the plasterboards up. Oh yes, I also cursed each and every one of those Phillips head plasterboard screws, every single one cam'd out unless a metric kiloton of pressure was applied to the back of the driver. Rubbish screws, worst invention ever.
Please excuse the noise on the below picture, I quickly took these photos with a telephone.

[Psi]

How much room will you have left for your stuff once all the landlords gear is put back?
It seems quite small to start with.

[Monkeh]

Oh yes, I also cursed each and every one of those Phillips head plasterboard screws, every single one cam'd out unless a metric kiloton of pressure was applied to the back of the driver. Rubbish screws, worst invention ever.

Never had a problem. Get better bits?

[T4P]

Oh yes, I also cursed each and every one of those Phillips head plasterboard screws, every single one cam'd out unless a metric kiloton of pressure was applied to the back of the driver. Rubbish screws, worst invention ever.

Never had a problem. Get better bits?

Better screws! Of course you will find frequent stripping of screws if you use China's screws 
Screw them i'll say!

[SeanB]

Most of the old kit is still there, now forming the floor and roof. Remember 90% was tossed due to damage.

[Kibi]

How much room will you have left for your stuff once all the landlords gear is put back?
It seems quite small to start with.

It is reasonably big. Nothing is square there, so the small end is about 2.5m wide, the wide end is over 3m wide and it's 4.5m long.
I have re-thunk things and the landlords stuff can go safely elsewhere, so more space for me

Never had a problem. Get better bits?

I was using the bit with a depth stop for plasterboards, probably not the best quality. My regular Bosch bits may have been better. Never mind, not much more plaster boarding to do now.
I have been very spoiled by the torx screws though, such a pleasure to use.

I hope to get the power in this weekend and hopefully the singlemode fibre in next week. I'll have to see how things go.

[Monkeh]

Never had a problem. Get better bits?

I was using the bit with a depth stop for plasterboards, probably not the best quality. My regular Bosch bits may have been better. Never mind, not much more plaster boarding to do now.
I have been very spoiled by the torx screws though, such a pleasure to use.

Yeah, those cheap ones suck. Either a normal, good quality bit, or a proper screwgun. Torx screws are very nice, the only problem with them is the complete inability to drive them from an angle.

[george graves]

subscribed!

[G7PSK]

Get bits with a diamond coating they don't slip and last ten times as long, Most plasterers use them these days as do chippies, if you go to builders merchants you will find that the plain bits are sold in boxes of ten's and hundreds to tradesmen as they get thrown due to wear frequently, especially high wear rates on the bits with the modern hardened screws.   

[Kibi]

So, finally there is some power in. Not very much power because I still need to get the rest of the RCBO's.
I dug a trench for the power cable and put the earth rod down.

Here is the 1.2 metre earth rod smashed in and a 10mm cable attached.





Then, as SeanB suggested, the clamp is covered with grease, a finger from a rubber glove goes over that and then self amalgamating tape over the lot. This prevents corrosion.



Now, if there are any Health and Safety police about, please do take the day off. I am well aware that my board looks poorly installed, but is not complete by any stretch of the imagination. It is working for now, it is providing protection and has only got to run a lamp for the moment.
I plan to mount the Consumer Unit on a hinged board to that I can bring the cables in and out from behind it. This also makes it easier to perform modifications in the future.
All it has now are a 100A incomer and a 6A RCBO. The incomer is what was supplied with the Consumer Unit, the cable is protected appropriately at the head end.

[saturation]

When people talk about building their labs they usually look to put test gear on a bench, not starting with the housing for the lab, or even getting AC power lines from the company!  This thread is a first.  A large amount of work, and very good job.   At least you have an opportunity to design pretty much anything you'd like to make it most ergonomic.  Please keep posting photos, this is like watching "This Old House" for EE folks.

[Kibi]

I managed to recover sufficiently from my hangover today to put the worktops on.
The work cannot be completed today because my saw blade is dull.

[T4P]

Circular saw? or Jigsaw? I was looking to build a wooden bench too as an extension of my current bench

[robrenz]

Circular saw is laying on its side on the table. I assume that is the blade he is talking about.  Some of the particle board fillers of those table tops can be very abrasive, killing a non carbide blade very quickly.

[StubbornGreek]

I'm enjoying the 'from scratch' build, thanks for posting updates as often as you've been.

FYI, as far as saw blades go, I've found that sometimes blades get gummed up with glue, resin, rosin, etc. and seem dull. You can usually save these by soaking them in Easy-Off (oven cleaner) for a few hours and finally scrubbing with a stiff brush - especially the carbide type (these are tough to kill).

[SeanB]

Well most of the boards Warren is using are actually damaged IKEA funiture, slice and dice to fit. Going to be hard on any blade other than a carbide tipped one. The blades are cheap though, the 115mm carbide tipped blades are around $15 retail here. What kills them are buried nails and screws.

[Monkeh]

Well most of the boards Warren is using are actually damaged IKEA funiture, slice and dice to fit. Going to be hard on any blade other than a carbide tipped one. The blades are cheap though, the 115mm carbide tipped blades are around $15 retail here. What kills them are buried nails and screws.

115mm? That's a toy. Nails and screws won't bother a proper blade, either.

[SeanB]

Plenty enough for most light wood and metal work. Portable and easy to carry up a ladder to trim the top of a wall or in a roof.

[Kibi]

This blade is a TCT one, but it has done a lot of work in it's lifetime. I've noticed its performance was not as good recently, but cutting the worktops proved that it is dead. I was left with a very untidy cut on the top (which was face down for cutting).
I have inspected the teeth with a loupe and they are horrid. Time for a new blade.

[Monkeh]

Plenty enough for most light wood and metal work. Portable and easy to carry up a ladder to trim the top of a wall or in a roof.

Perhaps. Sort of falls short when you've got 50mm block worktop to cut, though.

This blade is a TCT one, but it has done a lot of work in it's lifetime. I've noticed its performance was not as good recently, but cutting the worktops proved that it is dead. I was left with a very untidy cut on the top (which was face down for cutting).
I have inspected the teeth with a loupe and they are horrid. Time for a new blade.

If it's a decent blade you can get new teeth fitted for less than the cost of a new one.

However, if it's a cheapo blade, go buy a nice Dewalt one (there are better, but Dewalt are both easy to find and affordable).

[SeanB]

Drywall screws I buy are pretty hard, they chip carbide blades. I found an old buried nail in a board by the sound it made, and saw the tiny chip it left in the one blade tip.

[Kibi]

I managed to get hold of a Bosch blade for a fiver on ebay. 

[Monkeh]

Drywall screws I buy are pretty hard, they chip carbide blades. I found an old buried nail in a board by the sound it made, and saw the tiny chip it left in the one blade tip.

Your blades aren't up to scratch

I use a 40t Dewalt blade in my saw. 190mm. It will quite happily run through everything from a 3mm screw to a 10mm bolt so long as you're not throwing the saw through like a lunatic (not much point in a 40t blade if you push it through!).

[SeanB]

It came with the Skil saw. Lasted me 10 years, and still in use, so can't be all that bad. I do not do much work with it though, but it is used a lot more than the jigsaw.

[robrenz]

IMHO
No carbide circular saw blade designed for cutting wood is unaffected by cutting through soft steel or case hardened drywall screws. It may seem to do just fine but the actual sharpness of the cutting edge has taken a hit.  The cutting edge geometry and carbide type that is ideal for cutting wood cleanly, is at odds with the geometry and carbide type that would work well for cutting steel.  Even if the cutting edge geometry and carbide grade was optimized for cutting ferrous metals the surface speed of the cutting edge of a circular saw designed for wood is way too fast for optimum life in ferrous metals.

Edit:  Sorry for helping this thread get off Topic

[Monkeh]

IMHO
No carbide circular saw blade designed for cutting wood is unaffected by cutting through soft steel or case hardened drywall screws. It may seem to do just fine but the actual sharpness of the cutting edge has taken a hit.  The cutting edge geometry and carbide type that is ideal for cutting wood cleanly, is at odds with the geometry and carbide type that would work well for cutting steel.  Even if the cutting edge geometry and carbide grade was optimized for cutting ferrous metals the surface speed of the cutting edge of a circular saw designed for wood is way too fast for optimum life in ferrous metals.

Edit:  Sorry for helping this thread get off Topic

I suppose you have a point, but there are ranges of blades designed to take less damage from hitting metals. My primary blade is from such a range. If you go slowly the damage potential is reduced (so many people just ram their saws through things).

I suppose this is sort of off-topic, but the topic will rapidly return when there are MORE PICTURES!

[Kibi]

The lack of tools and materials at this particular stage of the actual project has prompted me to get on with a side project which is still kind of related and should sate the appetite of those hungry for pictures.
I need to get data down to the workshop. I have various subnets in the house which might be useful, so I am running a fibre link. I have gone for fibre because of it's immunity to noise from the mains cable which runs in parallel to it for quite some distance. Also, my current equipment supports mini-GBIC's.
The project right now is to get a new router going. My current router is absolutely fantastic. It's a Nokia IP330 gateway hacked to run pfSense (BSD based router application). It's been running for almost 5 years now and has never crashed, ever. Unfortunately, it's 450MHz AMD K6 cannot cope with the steadily increasing bandwidth. It can route traffic at about 35Mb/s, but the ISP is now supplying 100Mb/s downstream, so it has to be upgraded.
Here I am building another pfSense box on an old (2004) Dell PowerEdge 750 1U server with a 2.8GHz P4 CPU and an eye watering 1GB of memory, more than enough horsepower. Also the hardware in the Dell supports actual vLAN's. I am also configuring the switch with all the correct vLANs to pass down the fibre trunk link between the data cabinet in the house down to the workshop.

I apologise that it's only loosely related to the overall project, but it's what I'm up to at the moment.

[SeanB]

Nice, my router will support every ADSL rate available in SA, and will still do so even if I drop the CPU clock down to 5MHz from the current 33MHz it has. Still spends around 99% of the time in an idle loop.

[T4P]

I just got my internet upgraded from a hybrid coaxial 16mbps to 100mbps fiber ... ( My ISP gave me a VoIP 'N' router made by Gigabyte which sadly sucks balls )
Looking around at the routers i had/used to use:

2nd : TP-Link TL-WR1043ND with a Atheros AR9132@400MHz    32MB Flash
1st 'N' router: Aztech HW-550-3G with a MIPS24KEc V4.12 384 MHz 32MB Flash

And my latest? But most stable. Horrible brand it might be but at least it a few times more stable than the speed demon at the top
Linksys E1500 with a Broadcom BCM5357B0@300MHz 32MB Flash

It feels like a massive downgrade but it's a helluva more stable

[Kibi]

Personally, I have never been able to get my head around those plastic routers. I understand the concept, ease of installation and friendly looking, but they have never been able to do it for me. The bandwidths available these days and the way people use the internet these days, they just can't cope. Their feature set is pretty limited too.

[T4P]

Personally, I have never been able to get my head around those plastic routers. I understand the concept, ease of installation and friendly looking, but they have never been able to do it for me. The bandwidths available these days and the way people use the internet these days, they just can't cope. Their feature set is pretty limited too.

I would take a Celeron/P4 1U Rack over these sad pieces of shit!

[IanB]

Personally, I have never been able to get my head around those plastic routers. I understand the concept, ease of installation and friendly looking, but they have never been able to do it for me. The bandwidths available these days and the way people use the internet these days, they just can't cope. Their feature set is pretty limited too.

I dunno, what are you running at home that requires all that network infrastructure described and pictured in your previous post? It seems tremendously geeky, but I can't get my head round what you need it for.

At home a have a computer (or two), an Internet connection, and I connect and I download stuff. I experience more bottlenecks upstream and on remote servers than I experience inside the walls of my house. I have no idea why I would need a big, noisy, power hungry box instead of a little Linksys router.

[Monkeh]

Personally, I have never been able to get my head around those plastic routers. I understand the concept, ease of installation and friendly looking, but they have never been able to do it for me. The bandwidths available these days and the way people use the internet these days, they just can't cope. Their feature set is pretty limited too.

I dunno, what are you running at home that requires all that network infrastructure described and pictured in your previous post? It seems tremendously geeky, but I can't get my head round what you need it for.

At home a have a computer (or two), an Internet connection, and I connect and I download stuff. I experience more bottlenecks upstream and on remote servers than I experience inside the walls of my house. I have no idea why I would need a big, noisy, power hungry box instead of a little Linksys router.

Your internet requirements are undemanding.

Personally, I require low latency, high throughput, the ability to handle many thousands of open connections at once, and the freedom to manipulate my traffic as I see fit, not as Linksys/D-Link/Netgear/next bunch of incompetents from Taiwan see fit.

Oh, and working IPv6 is a nice bonus they've yet to reliably wrap their collective heads around.

[Kibi]

As I explained, the high bandwidth needs a lot of CPU power to route correctly. The extra power can be used to implement certain useful tunnelling protocols. Plastic routers just don't have the silicon to route effectively at high bandwidths. Most plastic routers don't support more than one subnet either, e.g. I don't quite like the idea of my wireless network being on the same subnet as my normal home computers or servers.. Even good WiFi encryption can be hacked from the street in quick time. The IP telephony works better on it's own subnet too.
I found the Dell in a bin, it works and is perfectly suited to the role.

[IanB]

...my normal home computers or servers...

But see, there is nothing "normal" about your requirements or situation. You are way out there in edge case land 

[gxti]

I found the Dell in a bin, it works and is perfectly suited to the role.

How much power does it draw at idle?  I bet a little Atom-based board would pay for itself in short order compared to that rust bucket, and still wouldn't flinch at saturating a 100mbit connection. I'm totally jealous of the fiber, though.

[Monkeh]

I found the Dell in a bin, it works and is perfectly suited to the role.

How much power does it draw at idle?  I bet a little Atom-based board would pay for itself in short order compared to that rust bucket, and still wouldn't flinch at saturating a 100mbit connection. I'm totally jealous of the fiber, though.

Something like that? At a guess, 80-90W. Mine will be similar, with about eight times the processing power (it's a Core 2). It's not running pfSense, though, and does rather more than routing.

[Kibi]

I'd like to measure the power consumption with one of those plug thingies. pfSense now includes a beta of Asterisk. Asterisk is what I use for the home PBX system. If I can get Asterisk to work on the router box, then I can shut my Asterisk box down thus saving more power overall.

[StubbornGreek]

Nice setup, Kibi. I am a HUGE pfSense advocate. I've tried a ton of router os', UTM's, you name it and I enjoy pfSense the most. The amount of features and power it offers is, lol I'm starting to sound like a commercial; you obviously know what I mean.

I did get hooked playing with Astaro for a while but the 10 user (device? don't remember) limit for the non-commercial version was a killing blow to its potential. Untangle has become the Ubuntu of router os' but the really cool features are paid for...I'm ranting again.

If you must (or your needs don't demand a better box) use a Linksys, Netgear, etc, consider dd-wrt as an alternative to the stock firmware - it gives your gear a nice little breath of life.

[Monkeh]

If you must (or your needs don't demand a better box) use a Linksys, Netgear, etc, consider dd-wrt as an alternative to the stock firmware - it gives your gear a nice little breath of life.

Only briefly. DD falls over pretty quick, it's pretty ancient code.

[StubbornGreek]

If you must (or your needs don't demand a better box) use a Linksys, Netgear, etc, consider dd-wrt as an alternative to the stock firmware - it gives your gear a nice little breath of life.

Only briefly. DD falls over pretty quick, it's pretty ancient code.

Still leaps better than what's installed at the factory.

Again, if you need better, then pfSense... 

[Monkeh]

If you must (or your needs don't demand a better box) use a Linksys, Netgear, etc, consider dd-wrt as an alternative to the stock firmware - it gives your gear a nice little breath of life.

Only briefly. DD falls over pretty quick, it's pretty ancient code.

Still leaps better than what's installed at the factory.

Never seen the factory code overflow the NVRAM.

[StubbornGreek]

If you must (or your needs don't demand a better box) use a Linksys, Netgear, etc, consider dd-wrt as an alternative to the stock firmware - it gives your gear a nice little breath of life.

Only briefly. DD falls over pretty quick, it's pretty ancient code.

Still leaps better than what's installed at the factory.

Never seen the factory code overflow the NVRAM.

Interesting, has this been a problem for you? I've never run across it.

[Monkeh]

Interesting, has this been a problem for you? I've never run across it.

Not since I stopped using it!

[Kibi]

Right, tea break is over, time to get back to work.

So, today I used this:-



To make this:-



Which is needed to accommodate this:-



The above is a Vent-Axia heat recovery ventilator. With no windows and the door likely to be shut tight throughout the winter months, ventilation is required. Vent-Axia claim an efficiency of 87% heat recovery on this unit. This is a 24V model with two speeds. High speed kicks in when the built-in humidity sensor detects an excess of 60% humidity. De-humidification is a by-product of it's heat recovery process.

Here I am in the process of wiring up the electrical outlets. There are 11 double outlets around the perimeter of the workshop. You can never have too many outlets and I have never quite figured out the point of single outlets. They are all wired back to the board in a ring main configuration via a 16A, 30mA RCBO. Plenty of power.



The board is looking a lot better now. I have a light switch on the right and on the left is the SMPS for the ventilator.



The worktops are now even more of a mess, but this because I have had to sweep and clean the floor in preparation for the next stage.



Some of you may notice that the ventilator is mounted at a bit of an angle, this is to allow the condensate to run outside of the building for obvious reasons.
I shall return with progress of the next stage sooner rather than later. We have been taking advantage of the good weather lately and have lit multiple fires on which to cook meat

[Monkeh]

Core drills are always fun.

Until you hit a wall tie.

[Kibi]

Oh, this one was fun alright.
I couldn't use it in the SDS because it's minimum RPM is too high, so I used it in my 24V Bosch. It ate the battery quick and then the charger refused to charge until an hour later when the battery had cooled down. Then, naturally, it was another 10 second blat on the drill and I was through.
It is rather a large core drill though.

[Monkeh]

Oh, this one was fun alright.
I couldn't use it in the SDS because it's minimum RPM is too high, so I used it in my 24V Bosch. It ate the battery quick and then the charger refused to charge until an hour later when the battery had cooled down. Then, naturally, it was another 10 second blat on the drill and I was through.
It is rather a large core drill though.

Yeah, I did a 162.

Hired the drill to go with it, they're worth it.

[IanB]

With a hole that big, why wouldn't you just mark a circle on the wall and use a keyhole saw?

[Monkeh]

With a hole that big, why wouldn't you just mark a circle on the wall and use a keyhole saw?

.. Dude, that's concrete block.

[Monkeh]

They are all wired back to the board in a ring main configuration via a 16A, 30mA RCBO. Plenty of power.

What's the point of a 16A ring? And it's a ring final, a ring main is a very different thing.

[SeanB]

Because the wall is not US cardboard and plasterboard, but concrete blocks. You need the diamond bits to go through, though I do not have that size, just a more brutal thick wall core bit collection, 35 and 65mm, which are used with the SDS drill a lot to go through brick dry. Those thin wall diamond cores are great though, if rather pricey. I normally call Churchills in to do those big holes, they can destroy their bits instead, but the core bits have no problem cutting through rebar, only thing that tore it to shreds was a loose stone half way through the floor that caught the bit. 600mm was too deep for any of the bits I have, and renting a drill was the same cost as hiring a hole.

[Kibi]

I had thought about drilling a circle of smaller holes and then knock the waste out, but I then thought no, not this time.  A perfectly round, accurately sized hole will ensure a good seal for the unit. Even though it's a large hole, there really isn't much margin for error on this one.

[Kibi]

What's the point of a 16A ring? And it's a ring final, a ring main is a very different thing.

Sure, it's not necessary to wire a ring on a 16A circuit with 2.5mm conductors, but the first and final outlets are so close to the board, why not.
Also, if I decide to, I can split the ring into two radials, adding another breaker to the board and removing a link in the ring.

[Monkeh]

What's the point of a 16A ring? And it's a ring final, a ring main is a very different thing.

Sure, it's not necessary to wire a ring on a 16A circuit with 2.5mm conductors, but the first and final outlets are so close to the board, why not.

Well, for starters it contravenes BS7671.

[Kibi]

Well, for starters it contravenes BS7671.

Mmm, I can run two radials from the one 16A breaker though. That's easy to modify.

Now on to todays work. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked because I was instructed to install a curtain rail and some blinds. 

I've put down 6mm sheets of XPS insulation.



Then the underfloor heating mat has been rolled out on top. There is 5 metres of mat with an output of 700W.



That's all for today, hopefully I'll get the flooring down tomorrow.

[Monkeh]

Well, for starters it contravenes BS7671.

Mmm, I can run two radials from the one 16A breaker though. That's easy to modify.

I'd just run two circuits. Alternate the sockets with them and mark them. One for nice, clean, stable, reliable stuff (PC, scopes, proper bench PSUs, etc), another for the messy, annoying crap (stuff you're working on, repairing, fans, additional lights, etc). Saves a bit of noise, stops things you're using turning off when something buggered trips the RCBO.

Now on to todays work. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked because I was instructed to install a curtain rail and some blinds. 

Ahh, SWMBO..

[Kibi]

Over the last couple of days I have managed to complete the flooring. That was a bit of a nuisance because I finished all the packs of flooring and needed one more board to complete the job.  Luckily my local Wickes had a smashed up pack in stock for £3.
I have then knocked together some shelving from yet more ruined furniture boards. It was lucky that my Bosch blade finally arrived - ebay  . I bought a cheap blade in the meantime which managed to do one cut and then on the second cut sparks started flying off of it!!! That blade is now resting nicely in the bin. The Bosch blade made a nice job of the worktops which have also been completed.
Lastly, I have moved my little machines in and bolted them down. They are only babies, nothing like Robrenz' machines, but they get stuff done well enough for me.



I now have to get on with getting the data cabling run down.

[DavidDLC]

Over the last couple of days I have managed to complete the flooring. That was a bit of a nuisance because I finished all the packs of flooring and needed one more board to complete the job.  Luckily my local Wickes had a smashed up pack in stock for £3.
I have then knocked together some shelving from yet more ruined furniture boards. It was lucky that my Bosch blade finally arrived - ebay  . I bought a cheap blade in the meantime which managed to do one cut and then on the second cut sparks started flying off of it!!! That blade is now resting nicely in the bin. The Bosch blade made a nice job of the worktops which have also been completed.
Lastly, I have moved my little machines in and bolted them down. They are only babies, nothing like Robrenz' machines, but they get stuff done well enough for me.



I now have to get on with getting the data cabling run down.

What is the brand and model of your mini milling machine ? I got the exact same, but Harbor Freight brand but they discontinued it, I'm interested in case I need parts.

[M. András]

nicely done labspace btw cute little lathe i want one too +mill

[Kibi]

What is the brand and model of your mini milling machine ? I got the exact same, but Harbor Freight brand but they discontinued it, I'm interested in case I need parts.

Mine is a Clarke CMD10 which is distributed my Machine Mart here in the UK. It's based on the Sieg X1 milling machine which is, as you say, discontinued. It's been superseded by the X1L which has a tilting head and longer table. Apart from that, most of the parts look the same.. There are so many Sieg clones around these days, you shouldn't have a problem finding parts on ebay for instance.

[nctnico]

Regarding flooring. I've found very neat stuff: PVC laminate. You just stick it on the floor and the rugged stuff has a 0.5mm clear PU layer on top which is very resillient. I dropped molten solder on it and it doesn't leave any marks. Most shops try to charge you an arm and a leg because it is really good. It looks and feels like real wood and it is more durable than vinyl and wooden flooring. OTOH it is very cheap to manufacture so it can be found for a low price if you shop around a bit.

[Kibi]

Regarding flooring. I've found very neat stuff: PVC laminate. You just stick it on the floor and the rugged stuff has a 0.5mm clear PU layer on top which is very resillient. I dropped molten solder on it and it doesn't leave any marks. Most shops try to charge you an arm and a leg because it is really good. It looks and feels like real wood and it is more durable than vinyl and wooden flooring. OTOH it is very cheap to manufacture so it can be found for a low price if you shop around a bit.

That's good to know, I'll have to keep that in mind for other projects in the future. I was a bit limited to what flooring was compatible with the heating on this project.

[T4P]

I've seen odd milling machines even ones that can transform 
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=en&tl=zh-CN&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdetail.tmall.com%2Fitem.htm%3Fspm%3Da230r.1.10.12.753a65%26id%3D15049475393%26ad_id%3D%26am_id%3D%26cm_id%3D%26pm_id%3D&act=url

[Kibi]

I have got the cabling in today. I have the internet in the workshop!! In fact, I am making this post from the workshop over my new singlemode fibre link

Anyway, enough of that. I used 50 continuous metres of 25mm crush resistant flexible copex. Now because it is one continuous length it posed a challenge to get the cables down it. One would use a cobra, but I didn't have access to one, so I came up with a plan.
Very specialist tools are involved here.

You need one of these:


One of these:


and errr... one of these these:


Yes, that is a tampon which I have modified with a bit of tape to maintain it's structural integrity. The tampon will be the mouse. You tie the tampon string to the ball of string. Then you connect the other end of the copex to the vacuum cleaner and switch it on.


The vacuum cleaner end was in my workshop and the open end was lying on my driveway. The copex make a loud screeching sound probably caused by the air rushing past the ridges in it. When I got to my driveway the postman was standing there with a very concerned look on his face
I offered the tampon up to the open end of the copex and wham, it shot up the tube faster than Usain Bolt. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, when you buy a ball of string, it is not necessarily one complete length. As the string shot down the copex the loose end went hurtling down too with much string remaining on the ball.
No big deal, the tampon and string were waiting for me at the other end and I just tied the loose ends together and it went well on the second attempt.


I pulled one CAT5e cable down first and then with that pulled 1x Singlemode fibre cable, 1x alarm cable and 2x CAT5e cables as spares for whatever happens in the future. I had room for another two CAT5e's, but I only had two boxes of cable on me.


So, there you have it, all up and running.


There are still lots of odd jobs to do before I am completely finished. Once I have improved the security on the workshop, I'll move all my electronics stuff in.
I'll keep this thread updated as and when any major improvements take place.

[SeanB]

Well, had a nice supper tonight. Batch 2 of 3 on the coals, and very tasty it was too.

Sosaties are pork, and the darker ones are the Impala foreleg from the freezer, chopped into cubes and mixed with lamb cubes, marinaded with a nice sauce. Also did nice pork bangers, mutton wors and a nice tasty ostrich boerewors, along with steaks. The foil was a little of leftover Impala that I wrapped in bacon and filled with garlic cloves, all buttoned up in the foil to cook slowly. A bit tough as expected, but very tasty, the dogs were sitting close so they could get a snack before it hit the floor, but they only got at the table and in their bowls afterwards. Had a nice cheesy garlic bread as well, with a nice mushroom sauce and some stuffed mushrooms I made up as well.

[Kibi]

That is awesome, sounds delicious. We have braai'd every day for the last eight days. There is no point in cooking on a stove when you can cook outside. You don't have any chicken, after all, you must have some vegetables.
The closest we get to game is venison, very nice though. Over the past week, aside from the usual steak and wors, we've done salmon lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice, wrapped in foil. Big ass mushrooms stuffed with garlic butter and feta cheese. These are then wrapped in foil and left on the edges of the braai for ages, spinning a quarter turn every now and then.
Today was a bit more lame, just burgers and chicken.

On topic though, I have been doing the odd jobs here and there. I have fitted a 12V supply to run the lock and connected the lock up to one channel of a remote control thingy. The second channel operates my outside light which has now also been installed.
I have also wired up the heating to it's controller. The door still needs to be insulated.
I think I cam move my electronics bench in soon.

[SeanB]

The mini chicken was there, but the whole thing was so small we were looking at the parrot as a bigger meal. Have some nice Kudu biltong, from my neighbour who shot the 48" bull on his farm in Botswana, very tasty it is too.

Have you thought of installing a solar panel on to the roof to power the lock and provide light's off power to get in by remote if the mains is off, and have an emergency LED light to see the door in the dark?

Looked at the OHL TopSola one I have in my room today, wondering why the charge light was not on, then realised the controller was doing charge control as the battery was full. It actually is charging to full capacity with a single 30W panel in the inside of the window, lit by full sun only for around 5 hours in the afternoon at best. 36AH battery is heavy, and the charge controller is a real OHL special literally glued on top of the battery with no info about it easily found, would love to find out what the 4 dip switches do, though I have figured out the connections ( and fixed the wiring to actually make it charge as opposed to Mr Lee just stick wire in so it not go bang, even though he did strip one terminal and soldered the wires instead) and reduced the static power use by adding a switch to only power the led voltmeter when needed. Wonder where I will be able to get 5mm phono plugs though to add extra power outlets, the panel is quite thick steel ( real 1.6mm sheet and no space for most sockets anyhow) and has 20 odd now self drilling screws holding it together instead of the 20 blind rivets it came with. Added a 7905 ( first 5V regulator I found in the box of odds) and a USB female lead to use it to charge phones in an emergency.

[Kibi]

I have been pottering about in the workshop getting a few things done. My desk is in, which is nice. I just have to get things organised and in place.

Now, the insulation is performing very well indeed.
The nights have got a bit chillier these days. One night it was 12ºC outside. The temperature inside was 19ºC, great. However, I was inside for about an hour doing a few odds and ends and the temperature rose to 20.7ºC. The heating was switched off, just my body heat was enough to raise the room temperature. I left the light on and went to have my tea. After an hour I returned and the temperature had dropped to 20.1ºC. After that, I was inside for another hour and the temperature went up to 21.4ºC. Bear in mind also that the door has not yet been insulated, so I'll expect even better results when that has been done.
I am impressed with that insulation. It will work well in the winter time.

I will post more photo's when I have got a bit of order inside.

[Kibi]

OK, it's been a while since my last update. I've had to get on with other stuff before it gets too cold, like clearing all the rubbish from the project and performing a major service on the car amongst other things.
Things have been happening and the inside of the workshop is now pretty much complete. I have put up more shelves (no such thing as too many shelves), cobbled together a computer and done some general sorting. I found a faulty (bad caps) 24" monitor on ebay for £20. I have repaired it and I'm happy with it. I just need some decent speakers, those crappy ones are driving me mad. Mmmm, I detect a new project coming over the horizon.
I have insulated the door now, so the heating only needs to be switched on for 20 minutes to get up to 20ºC and then the heat output from the computer (80-100W) will keep it up. In fact it will increase. I'm very pleased with the insulation.

So, I thought I'd upload a little 360º photo gallery.

[Kibi]

I have finally built some more seated desk space and made the layout more efficient.
I used 18mm ply for the worktop, it's tough enough for the job. I have put the monitor on an arm that will swing around to be close to the main workbench if required.

[notsob]

Sweet, now enjoy your efforts and if I lived nearby, your mill and lathe would have a new friend

[IanB]

I can't quite remember if this workshop is in the UK or or in Zim or somewhere overseas? I guess in the UK the weather is a bit cold right now, so the insulation must be good for that.

Do you have extra electrical sockets behind your electronics bench to plug in all the things?

[SeanB]

He is an expat Zimbabwean ( are there any that are not) living in the UK.

[Kibi]

I can't quite remember if this workshop is in the UK or or in Zim or somewhere overseas? I guess in the UK the weather is a bit cold right now, so the insulation must be good for that.

Do you have extra electrical sockets behind your electronics bench to plug in all the things?

Yes, I am a Zimbabwean, but I live in England. The insulation is doing very well. I just need to switch the heating on initially to get the heat up to a nice cosy 16 degrees, then body heat and equipment heat takes it up from there.
My old PC used to kick out 100W of heat, the new one is only about 20W, so it's a bit slower these days.

I have a 9 way socket strip under the desk to plug everything in nicely. There are still three spares. Then a six way to the right of the soldering desk.
There is also a six way under the computer desk and another six way above the desk. There is no such thing as too many sockets.

[nardev]

pretty, i just wish i have more room for my staff

[IanJ]

Hi all,

As an update I made a wee video tour of my electronics workshop.

Ian.

[ScienceProg]

Impressive work. It takes time and resources, but once its finished - you get your own space. Most hobbyists like me have smaller version of labs at home...

[Kibi]

Nice job Ian.
I cannot rate that insulation highly enough. Celotex worked out cheaper for me as it's made in England. IIRC Kingspan is made in Scotland, but it's the same stuff really. It is expensive but worth every penny in my opinion. Now that  the temperatures barely go above zero, the performance is really noticeable.
What do you do about frost protection? Do you somehow keep the temperature in your shed high enough at all times? You don't want condensation forming in your expensive equipment. My workshop thermometer is set to not allow sub 10ºC temperatures.

[IanJ]

Nice job Ian.
I cannot rate that insulation highly enough. Celotex worked out cheaper for me as it's made in England. IIRC Kingspan is made in Scotland, but it's the same stuff really. It is expensive but worth every penny in my opinion. Now that  the temperatures barely go above zero, the performance is really noticeable.
What do you do about frost protection? Do you somehow keep the temperature in your shed high enough at all times? You don't want condensation forming in your expensive equipment. My workshop thermometer is set to not allow sub 10ºC temperatures.

I don't heat my shed at all if I'm not in it.....which does mean it goes below zero on occasion. However, I heat it very slowly, usually taking an hour before I can go out to it. Since I started using the calor gas heater instead of electric I have noticed a very small condensation problem down in the corners behind the storage drawers. A dehumidifier, having a couple of high vents and allowing air to circulate really helps though.
I'd love to stick to electric heating but the cost to do so would be horrendous.......but maybe the 10ºC thing is an idea I will look at.

Ian.

[SeanB]

Do what Warren did and install a bathroom extractor with inlet vent and heat exchanger. That way you can vent the room when you are in it, and run the vent for an hour afterwards via a timer to keep it dry. Possibly have a time switch to power it for 15 minutes a day at night so it always will get dry air in it.