What's new
What's new

Downsizing...and for 5 good reasons

IAMATT

Stainless
Joined
Aug 3, 2009
Location
LAS VEGAS, NV
Downsizing the shop and getting out of the local industrial park. Me and my wife have decided we want more children. We have one 17 month old daughter and we want 4 more (5 good reasons). This means I have to be flexible with my work schedule and also means I need to be close to home. So here we are..lol. Building specs are as follows

Construction is pole shed style
Material from Menards (with their best steel)
White on white building
Spray foam insulation 3" on sides, 2 on the ceiling with 12" blown fiberglass
7" thick 4500psi concrete with 4lbs of structural fiberglass per yard
In floor heat with 5/8" pex and 120,000BTU 3 phase electric boiler
1 14x14 door
1 12x12 door
3 man door
Tons of windows
Working 1/2 bath with extra sink outside bathroom
 
Building is 50x100 and the side will add 3000 more square feet early next spring. The floor base is a hybrid of 40psi foam and 25 psi foam. The 40 psi foam will be located near the doors and extend into the main traffic zone and under some of our bigger machines. While this has NEVER been a dream of mine I look forward to a smaller operation and much more time with my little family.

building.jpg
 
Speaking from personal experience, Moving the shop back to the home might not be the best for your family situation. As appealing as it may sound at first, it puts stress on the family dynamic. When the shop is at home, it's tough to not work all the time and its really hard to keep work and family life separate. Soon the kids will be old enough to know where daddy is and they will become a distraction to getting work done. I know that sounds harsh but its the truth. I use to have a home shop and moved it in town. My productivity is at least 50% better now. Productivy =profit!!
Your results may vary.
 
Yes thought of that as well. If work gets in the way I will close the shop up and be done with it but thats a different story. Hey did you find a chip conveyer? I think I have one for you what is the max width you can go?
 
5/8 pex sucks to find fittings for. Special order online-and you never know when they will be out. I would design the system to use 3/4" or 1/2"-any emergency repairs/mods are easy. 5/8 pex is going the way of the dodo.
Joe
 
Hmm I didnt have any issues finding fittings for it. 5/8 ID fittings are everywhere and are available in brass, stainless, steel and cast.
 
Yes thought of that as well. If work gets in the way I will close the shop up and be done with it but thats a different story. Hey did you find a chip conveyer? I think I have one for you what is the max width you can go?

The machine will not be here until next Friday 11-30-2012. I have no idea what I'll need until then. Thanks for the offer, how wide-long is your conveyor? Good luck with everything, I hope it works out.
 
Congrats on the family(in the making eh) and moving the shop closer to home. Probably gonna pay for itself just from the savings of being out of the park.
 
The machine will not be here until next Friday 11-30-2012. I have no idea what I'll need until then. Thanks for the offer, how wide-long is your conveyor? Good luck with everything, I hope it works out.

Thanks, I will have to measure it the conveyer is from a Mori horizontal but would fit out little qt15's if the opening was 2"s wider.
 
Congrats on the family(in the making eh) and moving the shop closer to home. Probably gonna pay for itself just from the savings of being out of the park.

Thanks,Yes cheaper to heat and pay for plus we get brand new white walls.
 
"Hmm I didnt have any issues finding fittings for it. 5/8 ID fittings are everywhere and are available in brass, stainless, steel and cast. "

That is interesting. Menards, Fleet Farm, and Ferguson are large stores in my area, and Ferguson is a pipe fitting warehouse, and they said they might be able to get them. Are you refering to 3/4" od, 5/8" ID Pex pex? I believe that it is measured on the od like tubing, but I could be wrong.
H036350 - Rifeng H036350 - 5/8" PEX x 1/2" NPT Brass Male Adapter
This is the webpage (or ebay sometimes) that I have to buy from as I have not located a local source.
Joe
 
The picture they have is wrong. Pex is measured in the industry by ID and a 5/8 pex has a 3/4 OD. So for a fitting from anywhere you would get a 5/8" tube fitting.
 
I werk all the time, so that is why I wanted my shop at home. I may be in the shop, but I am HERE in the shop.


So ... I don't git it....

Yes thought of that as well. If work gets in the way I will close the shop up and be done with it but thats a different story.


So - this is a hobby? You're independently wealthy or what? :confused:



-------------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
"The picture they have is wrong. Pex is measured in the industry by ID and a 5/8 pex has a 3/4 OD. So for a fitting from anywhere you would get a 5/8" tube fitting. "
Ok, yup. I have had no luck getting them locally-but that webpage was the only reliable source I have had. I did in-floor heat with it for my whole house, works well. I found that hooking up the whole unrolled roll of pex to a boiler and then making your bends while working hot made life a lot easier. Let it cool in position, and then un-hook it all.
Joe
 
I werk all the time, so that is why I wanted my shop at home. I may be in the shop, but I am HERE in the shop.


So ... I don't git it....




So - this is a hobby? You're independently wealthy or what? :confused:



-------------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Deal is I have come to the point in my life that I believe anything you own is temporary and anything you think you do is just a habit or a hobby and if the goverment wants it they will take it all away. It doesnt matter who you are or what you do we are all lucky to have our health even if it hurts. We can if we are also wise..have the ability to evolve a little. Like calling yourself a machinist. It works in the morning but at the end of the day your calling yourself tired and crabby. This is just a shop with a bunch of CNCs. Means something to some people and squat to others. I am out to have some fun and if I cant do it in an industrial park then I will do it at home. If I cant do it at home...well I hear Mars has some free land coming up. :cheers:

Elon Musk Wants to Put Man on Mars in 'Roughly 12 to 15 Years' - ABC News
 
Be carefull what you wish for. My wife and I wanted 2 kids, a boy and a girl. The first was a boy closely followed by another boy. We decided to try one more time for a girl and got twin boys. Now the house is full and there is no such thing as peace and quiet any where near our house. A pair of 3 year olds, a 6 and a 7 year old can run you ragged with school, sports, boy scouts and fishing. Now I think of work as resting up for home.
Regards
 
Spending time with kids...sounds like a vacation. Dealing with work, kids and wife sounds like overtime but its life these days. Just looking to stay healthy and positive.
 
My commute is 10 seconds from the shop. It used to be much longer. I wouldn't have it any other way. MY daughter is free to visit in the shop anytime. She knows to put on safety glasses and hearing protection if needed. She even helps run some projects (not bad for a 6 year old). My wife is almost always around and she's a HUGE help. We tag teamed home schooling of our daughter last year, and this year she's in an alternative school program with a mix of home school and public school. The public side gets to try to mold her mind, we get to set her straight, and expand on the concepts she learns.

It's easy to work all the time, but the flip side is if it's a sunny day, and the machines are in cycle I can go outside and play with my daughter. Teach her to skip, fish in the pond, ride the zipeline, climb the climbing wall, go rappelling, cruise our adventure course, pretty soon we'll go plinking. She came out just before bedtime and wanted to play 21 for toothpicks. My wife no longer complains, since it's a great way to learn to count qucikly.

I wouldn't change a thing.... well, perhaps I'll get more machines with chip conveyers. My manual chip cleaner doesn't mind aluminum, but she complains on steel hog outs.

Stay home with the kids, they grow up way to fast. I think years ago kids were far smarter, mostly because they hung out closer to home, and the concept of no child left behind didn't exist. Your most important job is raising upstanding children.
 
Last edited:
Speaking from personal experience, Moving the shop back to the home might not be the best for your family situation. As appealing as it may sound at first, it puts stress on the family dynamic. When the shop is at home, it's tough to not work all the time and its really hard to keep work and family life separate. Soon the kids will be old enough to know where daddy is and they will become a distraction to getting work done. I know that sounds harsh but its the truth. I use to have a home shop and moved it in town. My productivity is at least 50% better now. Productivy =profit!!
Your results may vary.

When my shop wasn't in the back yard, I was NEVER home. The work had to get done. So with 4 kids(10 months to 7 yrs) and a stay at home wife, I'll take the shop in the back yard with tons of work any day of the week. I get up and have coffee and breakfast with the fam. I have lunch with the fam. Afternoon coffee with the fam. Supper with the fam. If I work late, I can still kiss the kids good night. If the wife needs me, I'm right there. Sure shop productivity may suffer, but family life is ALWAYS in full production. The Lord 1st. Family 2nd. All else is just trivial.
 








 
Back
Top