Took the first step towards building my shop

[Frank S]

Fighting 25 to 35 MPH winds from about 7:30 this morning having to straighten the last 2 bar joists and hang them then finish welding the rest of the structure. Plus melting a circuit breaker in the process Don't know but figured it was going bad for a while and the 106° temperature this afternoon probably didn't help.
But maybe this week end the winds will die down some and I'll get the roof on

[metric_taper]

Plus melting a circuit breaker in the process Don't know but figured it was going bad for a while and the 106° temperature this afternoon probably didn't help.

Did the bus bars do a melt down that the breaker 'clips' into? I did a repair last year for a neighbor where a 25amp electric heat breaker did this. General Electric brand panel. I think it was some sort of plated spring brass on the breaker that probably was bent during original electrician install, sometime in the 60s. The basement was damp as well, so not the best of environments.

[Frank S]

Did the bus bars do a melt down that the breaker 'clips' into? I did a repair last year for a neighbor where a 25amp electric heat breaker did this. General Electric brand panel. I think it was some sort of plated spring brass on the breaker that probably was bent during original electrician install, sometime in the 60s. The basement was damp as well, so not the best of environments.

Na what happened is 3's and 5s' look alike when I had wired up a temporary 6ga cord for a welder the 30 amp looked like a 50 amp it had been working fine for quite some time but once it tripped the first time it tripped more and more frequently until I got tired of it pulled it off and looked real close so new breaker with a 5 not a 3 problem solved

[Frank S]

Well pretty much at the halfway point on the lean to roof now. Would have been finished by now if was using straight new metal. But my standing seem sheets have been used at least twice before and have been transported lots of the sheets have damaged edges which has to be hammered back in shape before the next sheet will interlock over it. plus I only have half enough full length sheets so am using half sheets every other space.
got nine sections on yesterday then ran low on screws and had a threat of weather so knocked off around 2:30 in the 106° heat to go after screws.
Got started this morning and by 2:00 again the thunder wind and lightening brought things a halt but now am right at halfway.

[Frank S]

Around 8:30 this morning we finished up on the roof now all I have to do is to close up the weather observatory ports

[Toolmaker51]

"weather observatory ports"? Anything like screen doors on submarines...

[Frank S]

"weather observatory ports"? Anything like screen doors on submarines...

Naa those only keep out the flyfish

[Frank S]

The past couple of days have been non starters so far as getting anything accomplished.
My friend from Ct. was planning on pulling out early on Monday morning so he and I spent much of Sunday removing a dew things from the container that he felt I should have like a 200 amp 24 circuit electrical panel a bench grinder an air tank, an old heavy wooden work table truck batteries for my Freightliner and forklift plus several other items then re packed the few of his house hold items which had to be removed in order to get out the things we wanted I insisted he lock it up. Then we inspected the Prevost RV for any maladies which may require attention prior of his trip home. I gave it a quick greasing of the zerks as the last time this had been done was when he was here previously. I swear someday I am going to install a 4 ft wide 60 ft long grease pit in my shop complete with alcoves containing shelving and drawers, cut into the walls of the thing just for instances like Sunday. We spent the rest of the day discussing the venture he and I are hoping to get kicked off soon. He pulled out around 3 Am on Monday Jane and I spent most of the morning doing what I hate more than anything else in the world, spending money in town restocking our monthly supplies, which meant the day turned out to be a wash out for working in on or around the shop and it already appears as though today will be a repeat of the past 2 days since I need to repair a flat on my tractor and do some much needed mowing of the fields

[Frank S]

Hard to believe nearly another month has passed by and it seems that nearly nothing has been done to the shop project.
Still thinking about a maintenance pit design. could really use one right about now with a low boy trailer in the shop that I am having to hunt down air leaks in the brake system. with a pit I could walk underneath and wave my ultrasonic leak detector over all of the lines valves and fittings and possibly locate the leaks in a short time but as it is crawling around laying flat on my back trying to reach areas nearly inaccessible is a pain not to mention the fact that there is no concrete floor by which a creeper could be utilized compounds an already bad situation. but be that as it may I have done a few things to the shop.
I've moved a lot of outside equipment and other stuff around and cleared an area that will eventually become a 2nd covered area between 2 dry van trailers which will eventually yield an additional 4000 sq feet but that is a ways down the road yet.
Getting started insulating the North wall and installing the sheet metal plus welding some structural members for the anti room which will become the rest room and the stairway leading up to the school bus body is slow going as instead of using up my current limited supply of C purlin I opted to utilize some to the 1000s of feet of 2" round purlin tubes I salvaged when I got the rest of the shop materials. I have been welding 2 tubes side by side to make a 2" by 4" weldment then tacking on short lengths of 2x2" angle iron pieces to contain the insulation it is a slow process as I have to straighten some of the tubes as I go along

the Anti room is not any less involved since I am again using up salvaged materials only this time it is 4x4" sq tubing for the frame work which will become the landing to enter the buss and the ceiling over the restroom

[Frank S]

Well I have the floor joists welded in place for the buss entryway landing will weld in some girts between them to support the eventual floor surface.
Now probably it may seem a bit extreme to use 4x4 sq tubing for the joists but that was the materials on hand.