More Workshop

Why no updates?  Because I'm still wrestling with getting my workshop ready.  Last weekend my wife and I spent the entire weekend insulating the shop (she's a trooper!).  R-19 fiberglass in the ceiling and R-13 in the walls.  We covered it all up with DuPont Tyvek, a heavy paper-like polyethylene wrap that acts as a vapor barrier and keeps the fiberglass in the walls and out of my lungs.  Here's what things are looking like now:

I like that the Tyvek is white, it increases light in the shop and makes it seem bigger.  However, it is kind of paper-like (though very durable), so it remains to be seen if it will hold up to me moving around.  If it starts getting ripped or punctured a lot, I'll probably bite the bullet and put up some gypsum wallboard, since it's only about $7 a 4x8 sheet at Home Depot.

The insulation made a noticeable difference inside the shed, but it's not enough in the Georgia heat.  Temps in the worst part of a hot day are down from about 110 degrees inside to about 92 degrees.  I think the remaining problem is one of a lack of air conditioning output.  My 10,000BTU portable is not up to the task, so I'm going to get a 25,000+ BTU window unit.  That should be able to power through all this heat and make things comfortable.  I think I'm also going to put a tarp cover over the roof to keep the sun from beating directly on the metal.  That's a minor measure, we'll see if it does anything.

What's next?  Well, to get the larger AC unit installed, I will need 240V power.  That means an electrician, and luckily one lives across the street.  He's going to take a look, and we're going to take the opportunity to replace our ancient fusebox in the house with a modern breaker box, and do some other minor electrical work we've been putting off.

Hopefully the saga of getting a good workspace to build in is ending soon, and I'll be able to start posting about the actual Sonex build process soon.  Those boxes of tail parts are screaming at me to get moving!