shop life - episode 2

My stake on the new location began in March.

For months Jason had been baiting me,

but things were too hectic to settle down.

A single slot inside was cleared out.

The larger corner section had been claimed the month before.

In exchange I wanted this spot!

This was like a Wild West land grab,

stake it,

claim it,

Clean it!

The kids really busted ass.

They've had a lot of experience moving chit around!

The task seemed daunting.

Fortunately it was mainly a lack of organization,

a relatively small amount of stuff,

strewn over a big area.

Uh yeah...

This is the guy that scooped the corner spot.

We'd show him who got the best deal!

In one day we had cleared a huge chunk.

At the time this was a big deal!

The following weekend we continued on.

And proceeded on to the next spot over.

The drawback was the dirt floor.

A fine silty dust that got everywhere.

The first remedy would be wood chips,

sourced from the local landfill.

Now the free mulch is crap.

Full of palm frond casings and junk.

The good stuff is ground up wood.

It must be a cash cow.

Separate free wood,

grind it to various particle sizes,

and sell it for $50 a bucketful.

Cha-ching!

The pricey chips are dyed red or brown.

We settled for the plain jane.

Again the kids kicked major ass.

We spread chips everywhere.

Super proud of their hard work.

Now projects could get resumed...

As summer moved along,

the wood chips moved as well,

mixing into the silty dirt.

Shoes and socks could not stay clean!

Pavers and bricks were transferred 

from our house to the shop.

Then in summer we got the motherlode.

Free rocks!

The kids again pulled through.

That was a blazing day!

We spread the rocks as far as possible,

redistributing the chips elsewhere.

Wow what a difference!

No more dirty shoes!

The drawback was dragging out the welder,

tough on the rocks.

For the summer it worked well enough...

TP

shop life - episode 3

Ok more reverse storytelling...

My original section was soon to be reorganized.

The outer wall of the shop was my clutter spot,

but there was opportunity for the greater good.

Which typically coincides with a giant brick score.

This time I brought in the shop help,

which I wrote about earlier...

http://perichbrothers.blogspot.com/2015/09/let-go-brickin.html?m=1

So now there's a giant pile of bricks...

And coupled with a huge pile of junk...

a good evening thrash was needed.

Maybe more than one evening....

The problem wasn't as much the amount,

just the organization.

Not all was mine,

and what was fit into the corner.

In a couple hours,

I had paved the way to shop freedom.

The problem was that first day,

had created an ongoing momentum.

Bricking isn't necessarily the fastest work,

especially on rock hard not-level dirt pack.

Thing is there was a plan,

and other happenings were going on

across the wall...

I couldn't find a before pic,

but imagine a cluttered up shop space.

Seriously cluttered.

We had chosen the 90 degree September heat,

to sweat out this big move.

The goal was to add a couple stall doors.

The shop was a choked up metal oven.

No air flow,

no ambient light.

No "I can't wait to get to the shop!" feeling.

The first cuts of the new openings were miraculous.

The building could finally breath.

We all could finally breath!

Now the rush to make doors.

Crude but strong scrap hinges were welded up.

And big door frames were welded together.

We decided on top hinges,

so the doors would make temporary awnings,

needed for the coming El Niño rains.

It took a good part of a day 

to move that electrical conduit,

which was the main power to the whole shop.

Lotsa fun there,

but now the doors were useable.

Soon after the canopies were rearranged.

So much better!

The wood door stands were borderline,

so I made crude wire pulleys,

creating a Rube Goldberg opening system,

using a handy boat trailer winch.

In the month since,

it's incredible how production has taken off.

Jason's got the left half of the shop,

which was previously uninhabitable.

At this point I had cleared out Mario's 33,

and still pittered on other projects.

At this point,

I didn't expect episode 4 to be so crazy...

TP

shop life - episode 4

Ok here's the whopper

I've been trying to write about.

We'll begin in the middle and go backwards!

I'll do the prequels to this point later,

there was a ton of work just to get here!

For the summer the shop was set up like this.

No feng shui.

It really limited the work output.

I had secured the two canopies,

but there were some layout changes.

Across the rocks would be my new pad.

As you'll see or have seen,

the shop space is like the Wild West.

Stake out the crappiest section,

claim it,

and clean it!

As usual I picked the section with the heaviest junk.

Half was worth scrap price, 

the other is questionable.

One evening Jason and I cleared the first rack.

Underneath that mountain of steel,

were a dozen + 50's rear ends.

Holey Chit.

I barely moved 3 that first day.

Ken came by and did a super move,

which cleared most of the weight.

This pic is the theme of the shop,

once a junkpile is cleared,

it turns into the spot to hang out!

Earlier that month,

the kids had helped clear out a wall section,

the perfect spot to stash these treasures...

One evening I went on a rampage,

and finished emptying the spot.

Amazing what a can of Arizona Peach tea could do.

This all took about two weeks,

usually after working on Mario's 33,

or Greg's roadster,

or...

At this point you'd figure it's a fine deal.

Heck no!

A monster stash of bricks was found on craigslist.

This was a pivotal moment...

I came second replying to the ad,

but the first caller backed out.

Lucky!

It took two loads to move this pile!

With the kids in school,

it was quite a workout.

These 1800+ bricks changed things up.

Next thing I knew,

Ken helped out and built a retaining wall,

allowing a flurry of brick laying.

Which created another problem,

the need for fill dirt.

The canopy was on top of a nice dip.

Every couple days,

dirt was dug up from other shop spots,

or Ken would bring alley dirt from his house.

Bucket by bucket...

Brick by brick.

This went on for about two weeks.

If Ken felt like bringing down dirt,

I'd jam on the brick laying.

When my dad's 53 rolled on the pad,

it seemed so close.

However underneath the car was the deepest valley.

A small truckload of dirt 

would only allow 3 or 4 double rows of bricks.

Finally the end creeped up,

and the bricks ran out...

Just enough to pave under the canopy.

I'll definitely be hunting for more!

What a relief to be barely finished.

There's still a ton of work that could be done,

but with a new space created,

I'll be ready for the rains.

Still on the hunt for more bricks!

TP