Framing nearly done

James and I got down to work today, I picked up lumber last weekend, and today was the first day we had time to get to work.

First job of the day, install one of the most important tools in the shop. My 'Sharpening Station'

Next we framed up the front wall. I messed up on one board, installing it flat to the outside wall, oh well, it is just one minor goof. I can go back later when I am putting in the insulation and nail on a 2x2 to fit if I need it.

I started on what i thought was the harder wall to complete, but as it turned out I think that one went easier than the other end, where I had the 'luxury' of the loft floor to work from.

I'm still debating how I'm going to finish that gap in the middle of the front wall. I'm either going to frame in for a 2' square window, or I'm going with a clear polycarbonate product to maximize the light in the shop. I'm going to have to go price them both. If I had to choose right now, I'd opt for the polycarbonate, with panels on each end of the building. The loft floor has a gap on one side, which means If I were to use the polycarbonate on that one section of the wall, I would gain more natural light in the NW corner of the shop.

Here's the loft end of the building. See the bracing and the joist for the loft? that meant that each end of the building was entirely different. The joist was sistered onto the end truss, which meant I had to add some blocking to run a topsill of sorts above it.

James was a Huge help today, and I'm extremely happy that he helped out and proud of him. He basically did all of the cuts today, learning how to safely use the CMS for the first time. (he tells me he had used one in shop class, but I'd never seen him use one before, and he did an awesome job!)

He made the first official sawdust in the shop: