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My Workshop
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My small-hobbies workshop.
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2004-06 to 2006-02:
When I first set out to build my own airplane, my workshop space was rather
limited. I had one 10' x 17' room with two workbenches in it: a 9' x 2' bench
in an alcove for my electronic
projects, and a 2-1/2' x 6-1/2' walk-around bench for my
model airplanes. Not wanting to delay my
Volksplane project to build a better workshop, I decided that this would do for
a while. There would be plenty of space to build the
rudder and stabilator
before having to expand.
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Our basement mudroom was pressed into service as a building area.
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The one problem with this space was that there was no room to put the various
power tools I was to acquire. Although I had my drill press and scroll saw in
that workshop, there was no way to fit in the router table, bandsaw, benchtop
sander, and grinder that I felt I needed. Fortunately, there was another 10' x
14' room in the basement that was being used only as a mudroom when heading to
or from the barn.
I built some benches around the perimeter of this room and mounted the tools to
these. This gave me plenty of space to use the tools as well as giving me a
place to do work that required open floor
space. Of course, this room was still being used as a mudroom, so it had to
be kept reasonably clear.
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The new space is about 27' by 13'.
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2006-03 to 2006-07:
After I completed the rudder and stabilator and began working on the
fuselage bulkheads, I decided I was going to need
more space to assemble the fuselage and later the wings. At that point my wife
graciously offered me the use of about two-thirds of the rest of the basement.
So, we moved some walls around, giving me a combined workshop area of about 600
square feet.
We painted the floor and put white painted panels on the wall. With the three
windows, it's bright enough to leave the lights off on a sunny day.
I took advantage of a soffit enclosing some ductwork to build a plywood storage
area (left side of photo above), a rack for the long pieces of aircraft spruce
that I'd be using (top left corner of photo), and a wall-mounted bench on which
to install my drill press and work on smaller components.
The next order of business was to construct some work benches for the new
space. I knew I'd be needing a 2' x 16' bench on which to build the fuselage.
The Volksplane plans show a temporary fuselage construction table made of two
2' x 8' plywood pieces, four 9' 2x4s, and a pair of sawhorses.
However, I wanted benches that could be used for other purposes too, so I set
out to design something more versatile and permanent. The solution I settled on
was based on the 5' x 2'
EAA Chapter 1000 Standardized Work Table.
Instead of building three of these 5' tables (which would only give me 15'),
I decided to build one 4' table, one 6' table, and a 6' bridge. In addition
to giving me two different sized workbenches for later use, this choice of
sizes also let me cut all the tabletops from a single 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4"
G1S plywood.
Because of the longer span of the 6' table and bridge, I chose to use 2x6
lumber instead of 2x4 for the tabletop perimeter framing. I also made the
tables 2" lower than shown on the plans. I won't go into all the details of
assembling the tables, since it's very well described in the Chapter 1000
plans. Here are some photos taken during construction:
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First the frame is assembled on the floor.
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Next the top is screwed to the frame.
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The legs are added next, then the lower shelf framing.
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Two tables with lower shelf installed, and the bridge.
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The bridge is built in exactly the same way as the two table tops. There
just aren't any legs.
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Workbench sections joined by 3/8" bolts.
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To install the bridge, I lined up the two tables and screwed some support
blocks to the legs. My wife and I then lowered the bridge into place. I used
various scraps to shim up the bridge so that the surfaces lined up and
temporarily clamped the bridge to the tables. I drilled a pair of 3/8" holes
through the bridge and table ends, and used 4" x 3/8" carriage bolts, washers,
and nuts to hold things together semi-permanently.
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The completed 16' by 2' workbench.
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Here's a view of the completed bench and a good portion of the entire shop.
After the bench was assembled, it took me quite a while to make it flat and
level. Although I made all the legs exactly the same length, the floor is
warped because of a drain in one corner. Levelling the benches required
progressively thicker shims as I approached the corner. In the end though, the
top ended up absolutely flat.
Also visible in this picture are various benchtop power tools. Most of these
(except the drill press and bandsaw) have been mounted on movable carts with
built-in storage. The carts have double-locking swivel casters so they can
easily be moved about if needed but will stay in place when being used. Most
of the carts were made from discarded furniture (night tables, a dresser, and
wooden filing cabinets). The non-movable bandsaw bench is an old desk.
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Completed workshop, looking south.
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Here's another view, showing the wall-mounted bench and peg board. The rack for
long pieces of aircraft lumber is also clearly visible. Lighting is provided by
a collection of left-over fixtures each holding multiple 23W compact
fluorescent lightbulbs (100W incandescent equivalent). The french doors lead
into the finished part of the basement, letting it benefit from the natural
light in the workshop.
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The finished parts will fit through the door at the north end.
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The basement has a door to an outside stairway which will make it easy to get
completed parts (specifically the fuselage and wings) outside after assembly.
Racks on the wall at the left side of the photo hold the completed stabilator
and rudder, and nearly completed fuselage bulkheads. You can see from the
jackets hanging on the wall by the door that this room is still being used as a
mudroom too.
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To the right of the cables on the ceiling used to be the mudroom.
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This photo is interesting because it was taken from almost the same spot and
at the same angle as the second photo on this
page. The wires running along the ceiling show where the wall used to be,
making it clear how much of an improvement this renovation has been. To the
left of the bandsaw is a cart that I constructed to hold off-cuts. The top part
holds longer pieces, and the bottom (not visible) has a bin to hold smaller
pieces. The racks for completed parts (and wing struts at the top left) are
also clearly visible here.
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View from the finished part of the basement.
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Finally, here's a view from the finished part of the basement into the
workshop. This room has become home to a Yamaha Electone organ I've had since I
was twelve. I intend to start playing it again someday but I'm not very
musically talented and currently have no time to practice (building a plane has
that effect). We had a builder put up the walls and hang the doors, but I did
the floor and trim work myself.
Now, back to work on the plane!
2011-10-21 Update:
Since the photo at the left was taken, we did a renovation upstairs (in 2007),
which removed the window behind me. I purchased a
1962 Hammond tube-and-tonewheel organ which
is now in our library, and the Yamaha has been dismantled and used for parts
(you can't even give these transistor organs away these days). This
basement room has been repurposed as a home gym.
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Disclaimer:
Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and
reliability, the information on this web page is presented without
warranty of any kind, and Stefan Vorkoetter assumes no liability for direct or
consequential damages caused by its use.
I am not a flight instructor, aircraft designer, or aircraft mechanic,
nor any other professional in this field. I am merely using this site
as a medium for sharing my experiences and the things I've learned.
It is up to you, the reader, to determine the suitability of, and
assume responsibility for, the use of this information.
Copyright:
All materials on this web site, including the text, images, and HTML
mark-up, are Copyright © 2011 by Stefan Vorkoetter unless
otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication
prohibited. You may link to this site or pages within it, but
you may not link directly to images on this site, and you may
not copy any material from this site to another web site or
other publication without express written permission. You may make
copies for your own personal use.
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