# My 10x10



## Thad Swarfburn III (Oct 26, 2009)

Great to see other people's shops - and shared interests.

Here's my Emco Compact 8 on its bench.







And an image gallery of my shop and stuff I've done in it:

http://enginemusic.jalbum.net/workshop/

My shop is set up in the 10x10 foot space at the end of the steel garage we built two years ago. I would have made the garage a bit longer but the council approval process is much different for buildings with walls of longer than 9 metres (28 feet) - the fees go up quite steeply. I've insulated and drywalled the walls and put styrofoam (polystyrene) insulation on the ceiling. This makes a huge difference in the summer - there is a large temperature differential between the shop and the rest of the garage. No opening windows yet - just the single panes of glass pop-riveted to the siding. They build these things to a price, for sure. 

Two benches are at standing height and one is at sitting height. Each bench is lit by a pair of 55w fluoros, though I'll need some task lighting as well. I ran network cabling to the shop as well for future net access and streaming of music from home server or the 'net. (I hate commercial radio with a passion!)

Equipment is pretty limited so far - the Emco, a small Taiwanese drill press, and bench grinder. Not in the shop is the Emco-star, a multi-purpose woodworking tool that I don't have running yet. Future plans include more small tools and hopefully a small mill-drill.

In addition to machining, I'm also into slot cars, guitar tinkering, bicycles, and the occasional plastic model, so the shop has some sacrifices to accommodate this!

Matt


----------



## tel (Oct 26, 2009)

Nice Matt, I've always rather fancied one of those Compact 8's. Can you put another little shed behind your workshop, with a covered pop hole between the 2? That should foil the bureaucrats.


----------



## PhillyVa (Oct 26, 2009)

Ohhh good one tel....*I like your style*. :big: Matt don't forget if you do that be on great terms with your neibours.

Philly


----------



## Tin Falcon (Oct 26, 2009)

here in the states a shed of 8 x 12 is pretty common. Anything under 100 sq ft is non regulated and not taxed. Standard building sheets are 4ft x 8ft.
Nice emco you have there.
Tin


----------



## Thad Swarfburn III (Oct 27, 2009)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> Nice emco you have there.



Well, it was at one time! Somebody's beat it like a rented mule. There is nothing on it that hasn't suffered in some way. When I get down about all the things wrong with it, I lie to myself that I'm doing a public service by "rescuing" this lathe, like it was a pound puppy.

I had thought about trying to do another shed next to this, but two things conspire against me:
1: The local council is more clever than that, and more importantly
2: The existing shed is full of more projects than I'll ever get around to.

Rudy Kouhoupt, among many others, made some incredible engines on a three inch Perris that lived in his closet. Surely I can get by with what I've got.

Matt


----------



## Tin Falcon (Oct 27, 2009)

Rudy was one who had a 98 square foot workshop in his yard (just under the 100 line) 
He was a great guy wish I had spent more time with him. I only probably talked to him a few hours over several shows. but he treated me like a friend. he is missed. 
Tin


----------



## black85vette (Oct 27, 2009)

Nice shop space and some fine work on the tools! Enjoyed the tour of the shop by photo. Thm:


----------



## Dave Sohlstrom (Oct 27, 2009)

Hi all

My shop started out as a 7'X18' trailer. Added 12'X12' to back of that, year later added another 12'X12' to the end of that. Next year adding 24'X10' on the side of the 12X24. That will be the end of it cause the wife is getting upset that the shop is getting bigger than the 8'X26' trailer we live in.

Dave


----------



## Thad Swarfburn III (Oct 27, 2009)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> Rudy was one who had a 98 square foot workshop in his yard ...



I based my comment on what he wrote in his first "Shop Wisdom" book (early 80's); by the second it's apparent he was lucky enough to expand his shop to include (at least) a Compact one, a Sherline mill, power hacksaw and a neat little shaper. Not many closets can hold that!

You're fortunate to have met him - the two books I have of his are great. He had a magical ability to machine without making swarf - at least I never saw any in the pictures he took!  

Matt


----------



## Tin Falcon (Oct 29, 2009)

Rudy also had a south bend 9" that he jacked up the head stock tail stock and tool post to get a bigger swing. I need to start collecting the Rudy books. I have several sets of plans from him IIRC I about a set and bartered for the rest. 
He was a great guy At one time I has access to a large format scanner and printer and made some working copies of his plans. I also kept the digital copies that were generated. The next time I saw him I asked him if he had ever considered digitizing his plans. He pondered for a moment and answered no. I then handed him a disk with digital copies of what I had. He reponded with a big grin then told me to pick out another set of plans. 
He was very much a christian gentleman. He was not a church goer but he walked the walk and was never preachy to folks.
Tin


----------

