sykerocker 

Yes, I very much would be. Thank you.

sykerocker 

Oh, I'm used to Skye. I've been going by my nickname for about three decades now, because my legal name, George Paczolt, is utterly unpronounceable to most people (plus you have a choice, the Americanized pronunciation or the original Slovak version). And, I swear, at least half the people who meet me transpose Syke to Skye.

sykerocker 

There's something to be said for being forced to stay at home and hide for the sake of one's health: It's a wonderful motivation to get lots of work done on the property.

Having finished the interior paneling last week, this week has been spent outfitting the shop. Yeah, there's been a bunch of trips to Harbor Freight, normally made within five minutes of opening so I'm in and out of there before the crowds start showing up. The work bench is built, both halves of the Blue Humongous Tool Box have been installed. and the tools I've purchased over the past four months are sorted and in. Now I start on listing the gaps, and figuring out purchasing. The new air compressor was installed Thursday, and the following two days were spent setting up the air distribution lines. No more air hoses snaking thru the garage to trip over, everything will be done with short distribution lines. The filing cabinet for under the workbench is 3/4ths painted, blue of course. As far as I can take it, the shop is being done in Park Tools Blue.

One more big purchase to go (probably tomorrow, I hate to slow down a motivated project): The bead blasting cabinet. Once that's in and operational, my next project will be do drag out the box of specialty tools I saved from the fire and start cleaning and refurbishing. (Unfortunately, it's red. I'm not in the mood to repaint.)

Set the temporary bike stand (Park PCS-9) in position and figured out that I can do general maintenance and most work short of stripping the frame completely with Maggie's car parked in the garage. She's very good about parking outside if I'm working, but I wanted to avoid that if possible.

With my scheduled re-enactment this coming weekend canceled, my planned 1 April date of being functional should not only be possible, but probably will include all the fire damaged tools cleaned up. I'm definitely in the mood to get back to work, starting with putting my three commuter bikes back on the road. Right now my daily rides are being split between my Ranger 3-speed which is a frame size smaller than I'm comfortable with, and my Raleigh Twenty. The latter is doing the job admirably, but I really prefer adult sized wheels.

sykerocker 

When I picked up the top of the tool box, there was one blasting cabinet on the showroom floor. Went back today, and it was sold. New shipment due in by Friday.

However, I did get the Raleigh Tourist back on the road (flat rear tire) today. And, like I planned, the setup gives me enough room to do regular maintenance work while the wife's car is parked in the garage.

sykerocker 

And, it is with great pleasure that I can report that the shop is completed!


Side wall facing the back yard


Looking from the garage door towards the back of the shop. The door is the secondary door facing the back yard. The main rear door is on the opposite wall facing this one.


Long view from the garage entrance.

Admittedly I've still got a ways to go. A lot of those shelves in the toolbox are currently empty, and it's probably going to take me the next year or so to pick up the major tools that I lost in the fire. But, for the moment I've got a full set of regular hand tools (sockets, drivers, wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, adjustable wrenches, etc.) to enable me to do all maintenance work on the current stable, and a lot of outside repair work. And a good start on the basic cycling hand tools thanks to the donations from group members.

First big job is that plastic bag on the workbench. That's all the freewheel removers, freehub tools, and bottom bracket/crankset tools I salvaged from the fire. They're a big reason why the media blasting cabinet is in there. I figure it'll take a few weeks to get all that stuff cleaned up and put back into shape. I'm definitely going to need a bench grinder to set up as a rotary wire brush, so I'm probably going to put a top on the red roller cart and turn it into a mobile stand for the minor stationary power tools.

Having a much more (grammar?) compact shop does give me the advantage that I can do general work without having to move the wife's car outside.


Wife's car parked, and not too close to the right side wall, either.

If I'm going to be building a bike from scratch, or tearing a bike down to the basic frame and rebuilding, she'll be parking outside; but it's nice to know I don't have to bother moving it if I just want to do some quick maintenance.

thumpism 

Call that finished? Only two bikes. Get that car out of there and get serious.

sykerocker 

Hell, right now I need to come up with a couple of spare sewups. Without them, half my collection is limited to display hanging.

And unfortunately, to gain more bikes, you usually have to be around people. It's going to take a while to get the shop running like the old days.

Those two are my daily commuters, which get 90% of my riding during the winter. There's something to be said about bicycles that can be comfortably ridden wearing whatever you've got on, rather than having to put on 'cycling clothes'.