I’ve just ran two trailer loads of junk out of a 3x3 metre shed to the dump (i dont know how that junk all fit in there), i’m left with a completely bare shed besides a power point and a roof light…
I’m going to use this shed to shape and glass etc etc etc, its a one stop board making shed…
What i’m wanting to know from everyone is what sort of things do you have in your shape/glass rooms? Tables? Chairs? Shelving? Bins? Fire extinguisher? Porno?
The shed has power and ill put more lights in…
I want to find the shaping room specialties you guys have… im after the “i’ve been in the business for 50 years, and i really like having a … because it really helps me…” type stuff you guys have in there? Not really talking about the tools , but any handy tools would be nice too…
I’ve just ran two trailer loads of junk out of a 3x3 metre shed to the dump (i dont know how that junk all fit in there), i’m left with a completely bare shed besides a power point and a roof light…
Tables and chairs, I use the to have a break and drink beer and sometime some a bit of working out or paper work.
A large bin, where I deposit my empty beer tins among other things.
Movable shaping stands cemented in to buckets, a sheet or ply reinforced in the middle some times sits on top to become a workbench and a work mate is stowed away under this along side a compressor.
Metal shelves for tools, though some are up on the wall. And large padded shelve supports for storing boards and blanks.
There is also a clock with temp/humidity gauge on.
A sack of padding and packing material.
Many, many spiders, I have given up sucking them up the vac, and hope that they will eat all the other bugs, but I may need to get a bug zapper.
A heater would be a good idea too and a shop vac as I’ve been using the house vac, All in all nothing special, used to be an old summer house, so is quite large, to sliding doors open right up to get plenty of air in and clear plastic roof, which are also the reasons that there is no porno in the shed.
Hey! Where did that great Swaylocks logo come from? It looks great. I could see that on a T-shirt. Better get it copyrighted, then make some t-shirts. I’ll buy one!
Regarding your shop. Seems good on the width, but a little short for shaping longboards. If the door is in the middle, you could always open it to work.
Shelves above your shaping lights are very useful. And at least one small cabinet with a bank of drawers for misc. tools. I prefer a stool over a chair, so I can look at my work while I sit.
If you are going to glass in the same room, you’ll need overhead lights, but not directly overhead: on the wall at about 2 meters height, both sides.
Ventilation is a must. Have fun. I’ll be waiting to hear about the T-shirts. Doug
Hey, haven’t been in the buisness 50 years, more like about 5 boards but i have a similar set up one room shed, what i find really helpful is hanging some tarps to sort of make a room within a room when i am shaping or especially sanding after glassing to keep dust from covering everyting in every hard to clean corner. and the chair idea is key.
Before you put anything back in, insulate the walls & ceiling!
Nothing worse than resin panic because its too hot or too cold in your shop. Fiberglass insulation batting is super cheap, and cover it with drywall, masonite, plywood…anything. Regulating the shop atmosphere is absolute step #1.
While you’re at it, string wires & boxes for more plugs & lights. The more places you can plug in - even the ceiling - the less tripping over cords you’ll do.
Cheers for the replies everyone, i really appreciate them.
Woody: The clock with the humidity and temp is a good idea… i know this is newbie but is there a special type of vacuum when they call it a “shop vac”?
Doug: I made that swaylocks logo… just a quicky 5 min job i put on the wozzie movie site (hicksy glassing a board movies, theres a thread somewhere), it ended up that i like it so i kept it… maybe i’ll tinker with some better ones… got 3 and a half months of summer holidays now!
Yeah there is a door in the middle, so i can maybe hang a bit of the board out that… but i kinda figured you get squeeze a 10ft (about) in the diagonal in the shed… but it leaves little room to walk around etc… but we’ll see… i will be making some longboards but mainly shorter boards.
So far there is one over head light, about 2 metres long… do you think i should move it to one side? the only difficult is that its at the roofs apex, whats the benefit of having it not directly over head? And yer thats true, i’ve seen the shelves over the side shaping lights, great point.
Shoelesspat: Yeah i thought about it… but then it really makes two super small rooms… i dunno maybe i could sort some tarp action out…
Benny1: Yeah you make a good point, the roof already has some sort of foam about 1 inch thick on it… so thats ok, and ill sort out some insulant for the walls… your right, running the cables underneath that insulant hides everything up to… and the overhead power cables is sweet idea.
Souly: Why waste good space in my shed, isn’t the woman of the house is supposed to bring me periodic alcoholic refreshments ?
Lavz, The main reason for having some lighting that’s not directly overhead is: When the lights are a bit to the side, you get some shadows on your work and it’s easier to see irregularities like bumps, bubbles, and scratches.
According to a post a while ago from Austin, he experimented with several different lighting combinations and found that the best for glassing is about 6ft. high and to the side. That’s where I got the idea, and I set up my shaping/glassing room that way. I still think you should have one light directly overhead, but also on the sides, and make it so you can switch them on and off individually. That has helped me alot, especially in shaping. Doug
A friend and I just did the same thing in his garage. Its a really old building with no insulation, but it works great. We put some masonite around the edges to cover up the framing, and painted it blue. Then we built mounts for floresent lighting at just above the shaping stands. As you probably read in another reply the lighting, while shaping a board lighting can be very effective from the sides. Sometimes I will work with only one of the lights on because it creats a really dramatic shadow on the foam where mistakes are present. I will go back and forth between the two lights until there are no more mistakes.
Its really funny because when our shaping bay was first completed, I posted almost the exact same question as yours on the surfermag design forum. I asked about pornos and beers and I got no feedback.
It seems like every shaping room should have something unique on display. So far my shaping buddy and I have an old framed pic of Skip Frye, a radio/CD player, a tv/vcr, a tiki that I carved from driftwood, and a broken longboard hanging from the ceiling. I’m determind to get some old budwiser posters from the 80’s with big haired blond’s in bikinis, and maybe some girls in g-strings.
I’m another one who uses tarps hanging from the ceiling as a glassing bay (except I don’t use glass). . . we just furl them when we don’t need them. . . I should insulate though as I am, right now, running 2000w of electric heating to keep the temperature up and humidity down (ouch)
Anyway my discovery a couple of days ago was a refrigerator (no, not for beer) after 14 years without a refrigerator the recent ‘score’ of a new/old refrigerator has found it’s way into the workshop as useless goods, but now I have found a use for it. . . . freezing my epoxy brushes ! By freezing my (disposable) epoxy brushes they can be re used indefinitely instead of using 20 or so a week I use only 1 or 2. . . it’s weird because when they come out of the freezer they are of course rock solid (oh no they have gone off, not) but within a couple of minutes they are perfect again.
possibly everyone always does this but it is new to me anyway
Woody: The clock with the humidity and temp is a good idea… i know this is newbie but is there a special type of vacuum when they call it a “shop vac”?
A Shop Vac is basically its just a more industrial vacum designed for garages and small workshops, and can be hooked up to the ports on power tools. nowhere near as affective as a proper extraction system, but a lot cheaper. The one I have my eye on is about £50. from ToolMart. I'm guessing if you were to hook it up to a planner it would need to be emptied 2 or 3 times to do a whole blank.
Yer cheers for that… I saw some ‘shop vacs’ at Bunnings (equivalent of toolmart, home depot i guess in australia)… there were some pretty intense “i’ll suck your whole board in” ones or just smallish $80 buck ones seem like they’d do the job…
I’ve managed to scrape some pictures of what the shed was like before it got renovated… I’ll have some before and afters to post…50 thousand spiders and bugs later the shed is completey bare… once all the clutter was removed it does look a lot bigger…
Tomorow im installing the insulation and wiring …i figure overhead power, with overhead switches to turn each of the lights off individually…
Cheers for your help guys and thanks once again for the tips.
Alright! Got the shed in gear and pumped out a board in the week before christmas for a mate to give to his girlfriend for chrissy … nice way to break in the shed… here are some pics:
The shed buzzing at 2am at night…
Setting the fins :
Rocker profile:
Deck with flowers (yes, yes i know but its for a GIRL remember…) ;):
The final gloss coat for the deck (yes it is dry… im super stoked)
Board specs are 8’2’’ x 23’ x 3’ , 6oz glass, 1 bottom 2 top, epoxy, 12’ fin box
Enjoyed it thoroughly, was a bit rushed though…
Hope everyone had a great chrissy and is going to have a better new years!!
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