Classic & Vintage - Suggestions For Recovery? New Shop

Monday morning I slipped & fell in our backyard. It was a bad fall & I was fortunate to only break my arm, but the break is in the ball of the Ulna, near my shoulder joint, so can't be put in a cast & has to be immobilized until it heals. No surgery was necessary but I will have to live with pain for a while & do some PT to keep the joint free. They gave me some pain pills, they help, but don't give enough buzz to start a "ask the stoned cyclist" thread.

Work on our house is going along at a good pace but keeping the peace between my Russian siders & the sheetrock crew doesn't take much time and I can't spend all day on BF.

I think this will be a good time to design my new workshop. It's a daylight basement that is 16' X 42' with a workbench at each end. My table saw, band saw & wood working tools will be at one end with bike stuff & bike storage at the other. I haven't decided if I should wall off the two sections from each other, or what all I should have in the bike end.

Help me out, what would you include in a 16' X 21' bicycle work shop?

take another vicodin, call us in the morning.

I would wall them off. No point getting sawdust all over your bike shop.

What else should be included? Lots of lighting. And lots of storage for parts and frames.

If you do your own painting, a paint spray booth, and a heat curing booth.

Appropriate ventilation as needed. Heat for winter, AC or fans for summer. Maybe a rubber floor if you're going to stand for long hours.

Help me out, what would you include in a 16' X 21' bicycle work shop?

A locking door, a nice comfy chair and cable access (TV & INternet)

Sorry to hear about that injury, Don. That's no fun.

Planning your shop is fun, however! If it were me, I'd start thinking about two things: storage and tools (and the placement of both). Cruise around the Container Store website (http://www.containerstore.com/index.jhtml), and then maybe contemplate the kinds of tools you'd need for bike work that'll require bench space, e.g., a bench grinder, vise (two are ideal), etc. Then figure out the placement of all of that stuff.

Neal

Sorry to hear of your injury. You didn't mention any time off of work which means you must be retired. If so, then that removes the pressure of lost income. Get well quick. As for your work shop Blue Order had some good suggestions. I agree with the ventilation thoughts. Be sure to have provisions for humidity control. Two separate rooms sounds ideal. I wouldn't want sawdust all over my bikes/components. One item I would add is a small electrical panel in your workshop, dedicated to that area or extra circuits to accomodate future growth. Don't forget the fire extinguisher on the wall!

Rack storage for frames and wheels, unless you've other plans for them.
Hope your arm heals quickly, but at least there's a bit of time to refine your shop floorpan.

I'd just make sure you keep the work space a decent distance from the bike storage space. Right now in my apartment I'm nearly tripping over the bikes on my storage stand when trying to work on the bike on the work stand. But I'll admit my total space is a whole lot smaller than what you have to work with!

Thanks for the suggestions, esp the container store link. When we did the wiring, our electrician talked me into a sub panel in the basement for any future expansion.

I am probably going to separate the two work areas but would like to retain the option of using the full space for big projects. I already insulated this space & hoped there would be enough heat loss from my heating system boiler to keep things comfortable in the Winter. Since it is a basement & we don't get high humidity with our hot weather, it should stay cool in Summer time & AC isn't needed. I could add another heat zone with baseboard radiators, but I would lose the "unheated basement storage" designation and the County would raise my tax assessment accordingly.

Perhaps 3 areas.
A finish space to keep the sawdust away from drying paint, stain etc... A frame with a heavy plastic cover could work.

If I had my druthers, I would keep thing separate; a wood working area, a metal working area, a paint booth and a storage area. Storage and paint can be kept small, but you really don't want dust in those places. If you want to keep the large room option and if you have the cash, how about an accordion wall?

http://www.hufcor.com/pictures/56navaltraining.jpg

Sorry to hear about your fall, Don. Heal fast and listen to your doctors.

Might be wise to keep the bench grinder somewhat isolated from your main work area. Those babies can make quite a mess.

Sorry to hear about the fall. Godspeed on your recovery.

I would try to figure out a way to have a sliding /roll up barrier between bike and wood shops.

Don,
Sorry to hear that you are temporarily out of commision.... :(

Don't forget lots of girlie and hot rod posters, and look for things like the old Zippo lighter tins w/ pinup girls and bicycles


Oh, and I guess that a neat little wood case w/ many compartments for bike bits wouldn't hurt either :D