Took the first step towards building my shop

[Toolmaker51]

Great idea.
Wish locale of mine had less pirates. Vinyl would not deter them. Need to get a few hundred feet of fence stretched around it first.

[Frank S]

Great idea.
Wish locale of mine had less pirates. Vinyl would not deter them. Need to get a few hundred feet of fence stretched around it first.

Yep if my shop was located about anywhere else I wouldn't be able to get away with doors that can be cut with a box knife. "Well I could", at least after the first attempt of unauthorized entry.
I used to have a shop located right in the middle of a gang controlled neighborhood of Ft. Worth a lot of businesses had layer upon layer of various security systems to protect their establishments. the only thing I used for security was a gate at the entrance with a chain looped over it to keep the wind from blowing it open and the FEAR of FRANK. Shortly after opening my fab and machine shop there my shop dog was poisoned I found out who had done it and openly very publicly subjugated him to every thing I had learned many years before in Military psyops training plus a few things I had picked up on my own. It wasn't very long before we could drive off leave the gate and all of the doors wide open, if anything if we hadn't returned by late afternoon he would come over check to make sure no one un authorized to be on the property was present then lock up the building and call me to let me know what he had done.

[Crusty]

My shooting range had a sign that stated "Anyone found here at night will be found here in the morning". I never heard of any problems there.

[jdurand]

I don't remember which battle it was, some long ago battle in a tropical area, but a survivor told my wife about it when she was a kid.

He was in a tent near enemy territory at night and heard a rip sound. A copper knife was jammed in the chicken wire he had lined the walls of the tent with.

He being old gave the knife to my wife, we still have it.

So, having a surprise second line of defense can save your life.

[Frank S]

When forced to own, work at, or run a business where the conditions are less than friendly or downright hostile in nature, it is by far better to establish a rumored reputation of being someone who should be feared far more than the police. Developing frenemies doesn't hurt either

[jdurand]

there's a lot to be said for appearing as a crazy old man

[Frank S]

there's a lot to be said for appearing as a crazy old man

Its always worked for me even before I was an old man. When people absolutely believe that you are completely bats**t crazy without any remorse for your actions then by nature they are going to be very cautious around you. Of course most cops I have known were more than willing to help fuel that assumption when they would tell someone about me. Free coffee and doughnuts in my break room for any officer who happened to pop in helped

[Crusty]

I don't remember which battle it was, some long ago battle in a tropical area, but a survivor told my wife about it when she was a kid.

He was in a tent near enemy territory at night and heard a rip sound. A copper knife was jammed in the chicken wire he had lined the walls of the tent with.

He being old gave the knife to my wife, we still have it.

So, having a surprise second line of defense can save your life.

Before my dad went to WWII, he was given an old Colt 45 revolver by an old man in the community, and it had two notches carved into the grip when he got it. My dad carried it through the Central Pacific and it came back with six notches.

Having a surprise in these sorts of situations is always a good thing.

[Frank S]

Let there be lights
In the main part of the shop there are now 14 of them

lately I have been adding more fill to the South side of the shop to bring the elevation up to near floor level in doing so I found the perfect way to dispose of a lot of old truck tires that had accumulated over the years in the form of a retaining wall

I decided that since i was going to raise the elevation behind the shop it would be a real good time to run the electric line to my well under ground before i built up the area too much. So I excavated a 12" wide trench the 250feet from the machine shop van to the well then buried a 1/1/4" orange drop line tubing to run the cable in
the tubing was donated by the fiber optic contractor who gave me the steel hose reels

[Crusty]

I've been wonderin' if you were still alive, in this pandemic you never know who's gonna be gone next. Looks like you've been doin' some big stuff and that can eat up all of a fella's time too.

That shop is comin' along and already looks like a pretty good place to work and it's still gettin' better, so I bet you're already glad that you decided to take on this project Gettin' rid of overhead lines sure opens an area up if you're moving big stuff around, and I prefer to bury lines too though I seldom have the funds for conduit so I usually use direct burial cable.