And we're off! After finally buying a bunch of tools as specified by vans, I took a little time to think about my build space. First, I live in Oklahoma, and it gets rather hot and humid in the summer. I am about to embark on a mission to build a $170K airplane. I realized that if I was sweating like hell, I wouldn't want to go out and work. I also would not be doing my best work, while sweating to death, or freezing in the winter.
I found this unit called a Mr. Cool DIY mini-split heat pump. For less than $1800, I was able to have my garage space air conditioned in the summer, and heated in the winter. The unit is whisper quiet, and I can control it with an app on my phone. I fly for a living, and the jet has internet, so I usually turn it on while I'm enroute headed home. By the time I arrive, my garage is the same temp as my house. I bought the 36K BTU unit, and it will run me out of a three car garage. My garage is insulated, and I have an insulated door, so that might make a difference.
Literally, all I had to do was run the wiring, and cut the holes. The lines are "pre-charged", so all you have to do is hook them up, open a few valves, and BAM! It's done. No need to call a tech out to your house. After a few months using this unit, I can tell you that $1800.00 is the best money I ever spent. I ordered a "hide-a-line" kit from amazon. I also ordered a kit to mount the outside unit to my wall. (money well spent) If you go this route, just make sure you order the LARGE diameter, not the small. The Mr. cool comes with 25 feet of lines, so the extra, I just coiled up behind the unit. Its fully insulated and ready to go.
I think the toughest part of the install was getting through the brick work. I was going to use a coring bit, but decided to just use a air chisel to carefully break the hole with a spade bit. It worked like a charm. Once I got the hole big enough, I filled the remaining areas with "caulk mortar" and it looks beautiful.
CLICK HERE FOR THE MR. COOL WEBSITE
The air handler...
The outside unit...
Next, I knew I needed a good work station. I went a little overboard, but this is what I ended up with. I did a decent amount of woodworking. I know that if you want a straight and true project, you have to start with a FLAT and TRUE surface. When working with wood, about the flattest surface you will come across is a solid core door. I found some new solid core doors at a clearance shop for $25 each... So, I stacked two solid core doors together, and started building this work station. I added the casters (with brakes) and some electrical outlets on each side. The top is two layers of .75" plywood, that was glued together. I thought I would add the Kreg track system to clamp stuff down, but changed my mind.
It turns out, that most of the time when working with sheet metal, half the battle is just protecting what you are working on. So, I found some old carpet (scraps we took out of the hawker I fly...) and that's what I laid on top to protect my work. It works AWESOME.
You can see all the blue bins. They were old units we had when we had our business. They were bought from Uline, but available all over. They have proven to be VERY handy for storing everything from clamps to Cleco's.
Next thing I needed was a large space to work on larger sub assemblies. Off to facebook marketplace we go! I found both of these tables for $150.00. They were bought from Uline, and they are as handy as a pocket on a shirt. I actually built a stand for the DRDT-2 (CLICK HERE FOR LINK) that sits in between the two tables.
On a side note, the DRDT-2 should be considered a required tool by Van's. Its absolutely incredible, and I cannot stress this enough--BUY THE DRDT-2 if you are thinking about building.
The tables...
A shot of how I set the DRDT-2 up.
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