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Saturday, September 6, 2014

A New Shop on the Horizon


It’s been four and a half months since we left beautiful Colorado for sunny Florida.  Another great opportunity was afforded me with my company and so we’ve relocated for the third time in just the last five years.  Life is certainly full of adventures…be sure you’re taking them! 

While settling into my new role we’ve been researching schools and house hunting for a place to settle the wandering Harbins.  We’ve finally landed on a home in the school district we were targeting…a townhouse in Jupiter, FL.  Aside from a short stint in an apartment when we were first married, we’ve always owned a single family home.
 
But you want to hear about this new shop!  Lots of new changes in that arena as well.  The shop in Colorado was my first foray into woodworking in the basement.  I have to say that I really enjoyed that shop.  It was a walk-out basement, so it was very accessible, and the ease of temperature control was really nice for year-round woodworking.   Now I will find myself back in the garage, as I was in New Mexico and Minnesota. 

The biggest change, and challenge, I foresee will be in dealing with climate control.  While Minnesota could see higher humidity levels at certain times of the year, it’s not even close to what I’ve already felt here during the Florida summer.  The new shop will exist in a detached two car garage.  It does have its own small electrical panel, so while I won’t be able to link off the home’s AC I should be able to install a small, stand-alone system to control both temperature and humidity.

We should close on the house in late October, so my tools will just have to wait in their moving pod for just a bit longer.  To any fellow Floridian woodworkers out there…I sure would appreciate any tips you have on wood movement and tool protection that you’ve picked up along your own journey.

It’s been too long and I can’t wait to get back at it!  And I’m sure you can’t wait to see another series of blog entries of me setting up a shop again.  This is starting to become my “thing!”

Pete
 

5 comments:

Dyami Plotke said...

Pete,
Good luck with the new shop. If you have any questions about setup or insulation, let me know. Tom Iovino should be able to help you out with wood movement and machine setup.

Pete said...

Thanks Dyami! You guys are aces!

Erwin/Edith said...

I'm in in Jacksonville, I have a 20'x 24' building in the backyard. I installed an window air conditioner with a heat strip for the colder winter we have up here and both work as expected but I have to keep a sharp eye on the filter and clean often! Maybe you wont need the heat strip option where you are. I do not really see a huge movement in my woods but it may be that I'm doing different things than you are?

By the way, Welcome to Florida!
Erwin, AKA Bearpie

Pete said...

Thanks Erwin! I do have a window in the garage. Do you find you have to keep it running all the time to control humidity? Any rust issues on your tools?

We're enjoying Florida so far. Big change from the drier western climates we're used to but sitting on the beach seems to make things a little easier! :)

Erwin/Edith said...

No I don't leave the AC on constantly, just when I'm in the shop. My shop is fully insulated so that helps. I was gone on vacation for 4 months earlier this year and didn't see any rust developing on my tools or equipment. We went to the beach often when we first moved to Fl but less now after being here for 10 years. Not a novelty anymore but we still go every now and then.
Erwin