Post by whiteleather on Jun 16, 2014 9:15:34 GMT -5
So I had a sort of cobbed up reloading room. You know, the kind of thing you get when you build slowly and find castoff tables or home made bench material and that shelf too gross for use in the house. Kinda looks like this:
You are willing to put up with your filth because it is your filth, the window leaks, the door doesn't keep anything out, the lighting is meh, the power source is actually a series of cords from different rooms.
Then you have "the event". It might be a flood or wind tears the roof off or a fire. In my case it was a kerosene heater malfunction. I turned on the heater to warm the room up so I could work. Closed the door and went to the house for half an hour. Came out and could smell kerosene from 50 yards away. The wick had slipped and proceeded smolder and fill the room with soot for 30 minutes. I was freaking devastated. Nothing was damaged, but everything was ruined.
I aired it out, hid my guns so I didn't shoot myself, and went to sulk and have a beer. I decided to gut the room and start over. Piled everything in the main garage bays on makeshift tables. Tore out the storage. Tore out the bench. Took out the 7 different work spaces all of different heights. Got out the power washer (this is in December!) blasted floor ceiling and walls with a Dirtex solution. With no drain in the room it was a nightmare. The end result was this:
Decided to move a gas line that had always been in the way. Kept it in the room but ran most of it above the ceiling and put a nipple on it in case I want a small gas heater. Also moved a water line that would sweat in the summer and drip on me. I thought about a sink, but the room is just too small. The window never worked and was actually tilted by 30% or so due to building settling (built in 1870 as a tack room on the carriage barn) so it had to go. The door was an ancient slider with no insulation so that had to go too.
The cement floor was always cold in the winter, so the first step was to raise it 6" and insulate under it. Two friends came over and we knocked it out in a day. Keep in mind it is freaking cold and there is no where to work since the dismantled room is piled up all over the place. Those guys were very patient. I also insulated the ceiling and as much as I could around the window and door.
With the new floor in I could replace the window and the door and start considering a bench.
I made the window shorter than original so I could run the bench under it. I now had an uninterrupted bench top 10 x 12 in an L shape. 24" deep along the long leg, and 32" deep on the short leg. It is 2x6 decking topped with MDF with a hardwood nosing. Two coats of primer and three coats of enamel deck paint will keep the MDF safe. Note bench supports are all angled away from the front so I have free movement when working.
A local book store was selling off its rolling cabinets for $20 each. I bought 12 after deciding they would fit in the room perfectly. They have 360deg casters with grease fittings, double hinged doors, rubber bumpers and permanent shelves rated at 280lbs each. Here is one pic of a testfitting:
Next I added a dedicated service panel for the room. Each breaker controls two outlets. The overhead lights have their own breakers. No more blowing fuses when I try to run the vacuum and the radio at the same time. Yoga mats for bench top work and initial positioning of some presses:
With the floor painted (4 coats of enamel) I could move the other cabinets into the space. Even with hundreds of pounds of bullets and ammo in the carts they move easily for cleaning.
The room is still developing. Painted pegboard on one wall will help to organized things needed on a regular basis and brighten up dark spots. Corner shelving unit makes an otherwise inaccessible corner useful for radio, fan, etc. I need to mount rifle pegs to keep guns off the bench when not working on them, but at this point I say I am about 95% done. Still need to do some cosmetic work, and button up some holes.
With no place to clean guns or reload for the past 6 months it will be nice to get back to the range now that I have my room in working order.
You are willing to put up with your filth because it is your filth, the window leaks, the door doesn't keep anything out, the lighting is meh, the power source is actually a series of cords from different rooms.
Then you have "the event". It might be a flood or wind tears the roof off or a fire. In my case it was a kerosene heater malfunction. I turned on the heater to warm the room up so I could work. Closed the door and went to the house for half an hour. Came out and could smell kerosene from 50 yards away. The wick had slipped and proceeded smolder and fill the room with soot for 30 minutes. I was freaking devastated. Nothing was damaged, but everything was ruined.
I aired it out, hid my guns so I didn't shoot myself, and went to sulk and have a beer. I decided to gut the room and start over. Piled everything in the main garage bays on makeshift tables. Tore out the storage. Tore out the bench. Took out the 7 different work spaces all of different heights. Got out the power washer (this is in December!) blasted floor ceiling and walls with a Dirtex solution. With no drain in the room it was a nightmare. The end result was this:
Decided to move a gas line that had always been in the way. Kept it in the room but ran most of it above the ceiling and put a nipple on it in case I want a small gas heater. Also moved a water line that would sweat in the summer and drip on me. I thought about a sink, but the room is just too small. The window never worked and was actually tilted by 30% or so due to building settling (built in 1870 as a tack room on the carriage barn) so it had to go. The door was an ancient slider with no insulation so that had to go too.
The cement floor was always cold in the winter, so the first step was to raise it 6" and insulate under it. Two friends came over and we knocked it out in a day. Keep in mind it is freaking cold and there is no where to work since the dismantled room is piled up all over the place. Those guys were very patient. I also insulated the ceiling and as much as I could around the window and door.
With the new floor in I could replace the window and the door and start considering a bench.
I made the window shorter than original so I could run the bench under it. I now had an uninterrupted bench top 10 x 12 in an L shape. 24" deep along the long leg, and 32" deep on the short leg. It is 2x6 decking topped with MDF with a hardwood nosing. Two coats of primer and three coats of enamel deck paint will keep the MDF safe. Note bench supports are all angled away from the front so I have free movement when working.
A local book store was selling off its rolling cabinets for $20 each. I bought 12 after deciding they would fit in the room perfectly. They have 360deg casters with grease fittings, double hinged doors, rubber bumpers and permanent shelves rated at 280lbs each. Here is one pic of a testfitting:
Next I added a dedicated service panel for the room. Each breaker controls two outlets. The overhead lights have their own breakers. No more blowing fuses when I try to run the vacuum and the radio at the same time. Yoga mats for bench top work and initial positioning of some presses:
With the floor painted (4 coats of enamel) I could move the other cabinets into the space. Even with hundreds of pounds of bullets and ammo in the carts they move easily for cleaning.
The room is still developing. Painted pegboard on one wall will help to organized things needed on a regular basis and brighten up dark spots. Corner shelving unit makes an otherwise inaccessible corner useful for radio, fan, etc. I need to mount rifle pegs to keep guns off the bench when not working on them, but at this point I say I am about 95% done. Still need to do some cosmetic work, and button up some holes.
With no place to clean guns or reload for the past 6 months it will be nice to get back to the range now that I have my room in working order.