[surrealism]

I just bought a new house, and about to buy a new Taig mill. I would really like to get my garage going as my little prototype shop, but I am in Michigan (Detroit) and it gets a bit humid and hot in the summer, and can get really cold in the winter.

I wouldn't mind running gas out to the garage at some point, but I have spent more money in the last month than I have spent my entire life.... (gas heating is going to have to wait a year)

And what about summer heat and humidity? I am thinking a dehumidifier will be necessary to keep my machine and measuring equipment from rusting.

Rust never sleeps, so what do you guys do?

[Jeff-Birt]

I have a small shop and get by with two electric (oil filled) space heaters. Being in Missouri we also suffer from high humidity; a dehumidifier would be a big help and I find that keeping things cleaned, lubricated and covered when not in use helps as well.

[awetmore]

My house doesn't have a garage. I have my shop setup in the basement. Getting machinery into the basement is more of a hassle (the Taig is easy because it is light), but once there I find the basement to be a more comfortable location to work in than a garage. My basement isn't heated, but the temperature stays pretty uniform year round since the whole house is sitting on top of it and buffering it from the sun.

In comparison a close friend has a shop in his garage and it is freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer. He just moved to a new house with a basement shop and I expect that he'll be a lot happier.

I've done a lot of work in my basement to make the shop space more useful. My workshop is now an 18' x 27' room with about 13' of workbench room, a knee mill, lathe, and the Taig. In comparison 3 years ago my workshop had a 3' workbench and was kind of in a 10x10' area of hallway.

alex