Rocket Workshop/Wife's Storage

[Cory]

I wanted to start this thread to document the set up of my first personal rocket lair. I was bit by the HPR bug hard early last year after re-discovering rocketry in 2012, and built multiple LPR and MPR rockets on the kitchen table. The kitchen table was fine for wood glue and non-toxic work, but after finding out my wife and I were having our first baby due 11.2012, I knew my time of building in the house was limited. Luckily, I was given permission to utilize my employer's facilities after hours for the purposes of building HPR rockets and built both my L1 and L2 rockets there last year. I love using the facility because the building is filled with fume hoods and air quality controls, plus large industrial ovens made for heating/storing volatile compounds, and are great for curing Rocketpoxy; not to mention a 24/7 70F work environment with great lighting and bench space to spare. Constantly hauling equipment and parts coupled with access being limited to after 6pm M-Sat. (I work on Sundays) can be a real bummer. It was not hard to convince my wife we were in desperate need of storage space, and to rent would be silly. Finally, October 2013 I had a 12'x24' insulated metal workshop with a wood floor delivered. I have managed to get the building wired, AC/Heater installed, and the outside of the building surrounded by gravel to keep inside mess down (less mowing is another obvious bonus to gravel). I am currently in the process of finishing the floor, I primed it Tuesday only to realize the paint was not going to cover up the nail holes in the floor. Spent a few hours last night and was able to fill all the nail holes (MAJOR PITA).

Back of the workshop, the 200 AMP service box may be overkill! I'm thinking not to bad a job for my first ever solo AC wiring project :confused2:
Notice the utilization of storage space for the xmas tree to emphasize the buildings worth to the wife.


Storage side and entrance. My rocket retrieval expert Whitman supervising work.


The white primer is like a highlighter for nail holes.


Holes filled!

Hopefully I will be finished with the floor by Sunday night! Any suggestions for optimizing workbench(s) for the explicit purpose of HPR construction in the afforded ~12'x10' area would be much appreciated.

 

[AfterBurners]

Nice work ... very sweet set up

 

[dixontj93060]

Very nice!

In my workshop I opted for a Gorilla workbenches (6) and Gorilla shelves (4) as shown here and here, respectively. Others have purchased and have good things to say about a wood workbench at Harbor Freight, shown here.

 

[paul.nortness]

You're gonna store your wife there?

 

[Cory]

Very nice!

In my workshop I opted for a Gorilla workbenches (6) and Gorilla shelves (4) as shown here and here, respectively. Others have purchased and have good things to say about a wood workbench at Harbor Freight, shown here.

Thanks for the info, reasonable prices for the size and functionality.

You're gonna store your wife there?

:flyingpig: More like she plans to store me, my rockets, and her stuff there.

 

[cavecentral]

Looks pretty sweet. I have an external building, but I'm too cheap to keep it heated / air conditioned. Built two heavy 2x4 workbenches myself. The Gorilla benches do look pretty sweet. Got to love the shipping cost from Amazon.

 

[T-Rex]

Wait, you really think that you are going to get to use any of that space????? :rofl: I had that fantasy when I bought a house with a 3 car garage, too......

 

[Cory]

Looks pretty sweet. I have an external building, but I'm too cheap to keep it heated / air conditioned. Built two heavy 2x4 workbenches myself. The Gorilla benches do look pretty sweet. Got to love the shipping cost from Amazon.

I just turned the heater on this week, and I am unsure how warm I will be willing to keep it after the next electric bill :y: I am still debating on building my own vs. buying pre-fabricated.

Wait, you really think that you are going to get to use any of that space????? :rofl: I had that fantasy when I bought a house with a 3 car garage, too......

Maybe I'm just young and dumb!

 

[Cory]

I used the same putty knife to clean the holes I filled and missed, then used an electric leaf blower to clean up all the residue.





Got the second coat finished (95% in picture), and I think I achieved what I wanted with the wood filler. It is not perfect, but now appears as a basically uniform surface.




I am debating another quick run of wood filler with one more coat of primer, but will probably go ahead and start painting tomorrow considering I will be using textured paint.

 

[Cory]

Unlike the primer, the paint (Valspar Textured) calls for 24 hours between coats and 48 hours before normal use.
After finishing the first coat it is clear why it says to make the entire coat using strokes in the same direction, with subsequents coats to be put on at perpendicular angles to the previous coat.



This picture shows how important thickness is to the finish of textured paint. Not looking good at this point about 12 hours after applying the first coat.


On the second coat I methodically brushed the edges in a uniform direction.


I did the best I could to lay down a uniform second coat.



I finished the second coat Sunday, and moved everything back in last night. The second coat was better, helped by moving in some clutter, but is still not what I had hoped. I am relatively certain if I fall I am very likely to end up with new holes in my cloths and probably missing at least a little skin, as the floor is now akin to 80 grit sand paper. I set up my field tables as temporary work benches to try to get a feel for what will be the best size for the space, but I am still undecided on build vs. buy. More pictures, WITH rockets soon.