Week 23: The building is complete!

Although the work continues apace on the inside, we are so excited to see that the outside of the building is finished! Here are some views of how it looked on a recent bright winter morning.

Week 22: Freshening up

While we continue to focus most of our energy on the set-up of the workshop, we also started the face-lift of the office, including some nice bright paint there and in the foyer to help keep us awake on dark winter days.

We also took delivery of our new front door, and the exterior light fixtures were put into position. Looking good!

Week 21: Some notes about our machinery

Ever since the tornado happened, Thomas has been working night and day to make sure that the workshop will be back up and running as soon as possible, and most importantly that our machinery will be repaired or replaced in time to coincide with the completion of the building. I have to say that he has done an amazing job so far!

We were very lucky in the grand scheme of things, as although there were a few sad casualties that needed replacing, much of our machinery was salvageable. Here are some specific before and after photos to give you a peek at what has been happening on the machinery side of the recovery operation.

Our table saw received a lot of damage, as it was situated close to the overhead door and when the tornado struck, the force of the wind sent the sliding table to its furthest position and then some, almost ripping it clean off the body of the machine. Needless to say, this was one of the machines that needed replacing.

In searching for a replacement, Thomas finally settled on a Format4 tablesaw from Austrian machinery manufacturer, Felder. With over 50 years of manufacturing experience, their machines are known for precision performance.

The other major casualty of the tornado was our wide-belt sander. We are very fortunate to be able to replace it with a larger, more complex machine, by Butfering. This German-built machine weighs 7 tonnes (!) and was a beast to get into position, but we are excited by the opportunities it will provide us in terms of functionality and finish quality.

And here are some other before and after shots of our ripsaw, moulder and planer.

Week 20: Installing the dust collection ducting and air lines

Thomas has been kept very busy this week installing the duct work for our dust collection system and the air lines (in blue) for our machinery and tooling. Here are some images of the new network of piping.

The large wide pipe is the main line that feeds directly to the dust collector, and the narrower pipes branch off to each individual machine. You will notice our new sander (more on this next week) in the bottom image  with its very elaborate pipe system coming out from the top of the machine.

Week 19: Our NEW dust collector

Although our old, faithful dust collector survived the tornado relatively unscathed, we have decided to invest in a new dust collection system in order to accommodate the larger scale machinery that will be installed in the new workshop.

Here is the sequence of everything coming in on the flat bed truck, and all the parts being hoisted into the air and placed in position by the crane on the new concrete pad on the west side of the building.