What's new
What's new

My new shed build (Australia)

mark123

Aluminum
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Location
Trundle,NSW,Australia
For some time I have wanted to start a thread about building my new workshop. I have documented some of it on an aussie metalworking forum (as some of the australian PM members will know) but now I want to put a shortened version here as a lead in to moving the machinery in. I have some interesting machines which I hope some of the members here will enjoy reading about.
As an introduction I am mostly a farmer and live in a pretty isolated area about 6 hours drive inland from Sydney. It is hot, dry and dusty here which can make for an uncomfortable working environment sometimes. I already have about 2000sft shed but my machinery collection has significantly out grown this. So I decided to add a seperate but connected 3000sft shed alongside to other sheds. I wanted to add a travelling gantry in the shed because I have some big machines and moving things around is getting harder as I get older. But this complicated things a lot. In the end I couldn't find anyone who wanted to help me build it so decided to design, fabricate and erect the shed myself. This has been a huge learning curve but has allowed me to keep the cost down and build it at my own pace. Because I where I live there are no restrictions to what I can build or how I build it.
So in 2016 I started collecting some second hand materials, working on the design and preparing the site. I already had the second hand crane so in some respects the shed was designed around that.
I will try to keep these posts shortish as I hate reading long posts myself and will include a few pictures as I go.
As I am starting in 2016 I have a lot to catchup on so the first posts will come fairly quick.


2016-02-02 14.56.02.jpg This a photo of the shed site being clearered

2016-01-01 17.50.04.jpg Some second steel for the posts

Thanks

Mark
 
So with a basic design in my head for a custom built 80ft x 40 ft shed I got started in 2016. Laid out the positions for all the post piers and the outline of the shed. The holes for the piers where about 3ft x 3ft x 3ft deep. Had someone come in and dig the holes as well as some drainage lines as well.

2016-02-03 17.52.21.jpg Packing down the ground after initial levelling

2016-02-04 15.14.06.jpg Settling up the hurdles for the eventual height of the cement floor and for the edge of the cement floor

2016-02-27 17.00.58.jpg

2016-02-27 17.01.20.jpg

2016-03-01 18.16.23.jpg All 12 pier holes where dug with an excavator

Thanks Mark
 
So 2016 turned out to be the wettest year in living memory. All the pier holes filled with water and most sides collapsed into the hole. In the end it didn't stop raining for 6 months so not much happened in this time. Put some inserts into the holes to try and stop them collapsing with some limited success. Eventually did stop raining and could start work on getting the piers ready for cementing

IMG_0410 (1).jpg

583.jpg

586.jpg
 
Looking forward to continued description of the shed build. Is there construction methods you're using to make your buildings more fire resistant?

L7
 
Unfortunately it was at this time my wife reminded me that I had promised to build her a garage before I built my shed. So 9 months off while that job was completed.

IMG_1129.jpg

IMG_1154 (1).jpg

IMG_1170 (1).jpg

IMG_1197.jpg

Anyway this was eventually finished and we could move on the more important stuff

Mark
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1190 (1).jpg
    IMG_1190 (1).jpg
    96.2 KB · Views: 202
So back to the workshop. Time start getting ready to cement the floor. Decided to cement it in 4 sections each about 20ft x 40ft. Three of the sections will be 6 inches thick with the main area containing the bigger machines (Big planer,Slideway grinder, Big jig borer etc) will be 8 inches thick will more reinforcing steel. First needed to put down a 6 inch layer of compacted road base followed by compacted blue metal levelled to the height required.

IMG_1180 (1).jpg

IMG_1181.jpg

IMG_1200 (1).jpg

IMG_1206.jpg

IMG_1208.jpg

More to follow

Mark
 
And then the fun of cementing started

IMG_1209 (1).jpg

IMG_1211 (1).jpg

Unfortunately during cementing this slab I caught my foot in the mesh and twisted my knee badly. Put up with it for a while but eventually had MRI and yep ruptured ACL. So enforced lay off while recovering from surgery but eventually felt good enough to get back into it. So it was just repeat the same process 3 more times.

IMG_1218.jpg

IMG_1222 (2).jpg


More photos to follow

Mark
 
IMG_1234.jpg

IMG_1235.jpg

IMG_1236 (1).jpg

IMG_1247.jpg

IMG_1254.jpg

So after many months of hard work the slab was finally done. It took about 130 tonnes of cement, 70 tonnes of road base and about 30 tonnes of blue metal dust to complete.

At this stage we are 2 years in with only the slab to show for all the work but I was excited as it was time to move to the steel work and I was looking forward to that. Mostly because it wasn't cement.

Mark
 
So now it was time to collect my breath and consider how to design and fabricate a shed that would have a 5 tonne travelling gantry crane in the roof. Being a farmer I'm a bit of a jack of all trades and I have built sheds before but nothing with a crane in it. I did consider getting a structural engineer involved but that was going to be very costly and they didn't want to work with second hand steel. Not mention a second hand crane that was cut up for transport and needed to be welded back together. Not to mention that I would be doing the welding and I wasn't a çertified' welder. Anyway I decided to do it myself. Now I do have some useful friends. My machining mentor was a great resource and I had an engineering friend look at my plans (although he is a robotics engineer). Eventually we were all happy with wants I proposed.

IMG_1253.jpg This is the book I used to help with the design and calculations for beams etc

IMG_1249.jpg Some early drawings of the plans

IMG_1252.jpg

Mark
 
On top of the design I also needed to consider the material and the equipment needed to fabricate the shed.
The crane I had brought some years previously. It was 60 ft long and very heavy construction. When I picked it up I had to cut it up to make it fit on the semi-trailer. I always knew I would need to reconstruct it to fit the shed. Here are some photos of picking it up.

104.jpg Getting ready for the road trip. The crane was more or less free but it was 600 miles away.

105.jpg At this stage I'm thinking we might have bitten off more than we could chew

107.jpg But cut the wheel section off so it wouldn't be too wide on the truck

108.jpg Needed to cut the main beam so it wasn't too long

IMG_0318.jpg Loading up


More to come

Mark
 
I had been collecting material for the shed for a couple of years. Material for the posts was sourced from a scrap dealer. They were left over from a high rise parking station build. The posts are 310UC158 (roughly 12 inches square, universal column, 107lbs per foot). Unfortunately I only had enough for 7 full posts. Three other posts would need to be welded from 2 or 3 pieces. Not ideal.
The crane rails are 24 inch I beam with 12 inch parallel flange channel welded on top. Also found 200 ft of railway line drilled to take the U bolts that hold the railway line to the crane beam.
They were the main structural elements. All the remaining steel would be brought new.

Before I started I needed to consider what equipment was needed to complete the steel work. I already had a front end loader, 4tonne forklift, various trestles and the usual tools but I needed to upgrade a few things.
First was to look at a new welder. I had a few welders but nothing up to welding structural steel of this size. Decided on Lincoln 3 phase 500Amp mig using dual shielded flux cored wire with Argon/CO2 gas. This is an awesome welder and this wire really makes the job easy.
Next was to consider how to cut the steel. Oxy acetylene was possible but never gives the required finish for a good job. Eventually found a big power hacksaw capable of cutting 18 inches. Required some fixing up and new blades but was a great machine.
Also brought a mag drill and portable bevelling machine as well

IMG_1393.jpg Power hacksaw

Mark
 
So now it is time to get the build started. First job is to make the base plates for the posts. These were cut out of 25mm plate and were 670mm square with 4 x 40mm holes in them. There are 4 x 36mm threaded reo rods protruded from the cement for each base plate. A 10mm thick by 30mm round piece was welded to the bottom of each plate. This allowed some adjustment when screwing the nuts down for the posts. The posts will be grouted underneath the base plates when the shed is completed.

IMG_0932 (1).jpg

IMG_1312.jpg

IMG_1313.jpg

IMG_1377.jpg Once all the base plates were made we strung some piano wire tightly along the line of the inside of the posts so we had a reference of where to weld the posts to the plates

Mark
 
Now it is time to get serious and start working he posts. These posts are heavy!! They will be 6m or 20ft long and weigh more than a tonne each. So moving them is difficult and has to be done carefully. You cannot move them by hand.
First job is to make the 3 posts that need to be joined. So the 2 ends need to be prepared for welding then they needed to be lined up and welded straight. The flanges on these H beams are 30mm thick so need double bevels to allow for full penetration welding.

IMG_1401.jpg

IMG_1410.jpg

IMG_1408.jpg

Mark
 
Once the 3 posts had been welded together it was time to cut a 15 degree angle on the top of the posts. The roof would have a 15 degree angle and the roof beams would be bolted directly onto a plate welded to the top of the post.

IMG_1426.jpg It took about 30 minutes for each cut

IMG_1431.jpg All ten posts with the tops cut at a 15 degree angle


Mark
 
Then all the posts were cut to the required length. I tried to do this as accurately as possible so when the time came to bolt it all together it would fit without problems.
Next was to cut and drill the steel for the knees that the crane beams would bolt onto, the various stiffening plates, the plates for the top of the post etc
It all took a long time and I definitely measured twice and cut once. Drilling all the holes in the knees for the crane beams had to be very accurate as there was minimal room for error.

IMG_1465.jpg

IMG_1470.jpg

IMG_1473.jpg

IMG_1474.jpg

More to come

Mark
 








 
Back
Top