my "shop"

[willy3486]

I thought some of you would like to see my "repair shop". A little background on it. When I was a teen I would go to repair shops and see the old repair guys. I always wanted to get training, work in a shop then either buy or start my own shop. By the time I got out of tech college in the mid 80s TV shops were on their way out. So I never was able to have one of my own. I did buy and collect a lot of repair info, signs and such. I always planned to have a workshop to fix stuff and have it to look like a repair shop. One of the fellows who had a shop had used a old small store building that had closed.

So like a lot of folks I got married we raised our daughter then we spent about 20 years doing for our parents,my parents and the inlaws. My mom was the last one to pass a few years ago. So after I got done with the estate I had a little inheritance. I talked about it to my wife and we decided to get a dedicated workshop for both of us to use in retirement, we planned to split it and each have half. We went to look at portable buildings and when we saw this one it was perfect. We each have a area 12x14 and a 6 foot hall between the two. So we bought it. We wired,insulated and fixed it up. So we decided to set it up like a old country store.




We set it up as best we could to look like a old store. On the front I made a screen door like the old stores had. I also put up a coke push bar, coke push and pull signs on the door and I also made a door pull out of stainless rod and painted the back plate blue like I remember them. I got in touch with someone connected to a coke collection who found new reproductions of original stuff. We also have a coke thermostat on the outside.

As you come into my area on the wall you will see a old sylvania poster for a tube. This is a original poster.




As you get into my area I have a late 50s Zenith I hope to restore in the next year or so. I also have a old TV light on top. My wife restored the lamps shade as it was rotted. Her side she does sewing. You also see a few Zenith ads that are original . I lucked up about 3 years ago and bought out a few loads of old advertising from a former furniture store. They wanted it gone and the price was right.

Here is another look in that area. You can see some radios I restored, old tv shop calendars and other advertising. The on air came from a radio station in Kentucky.



Going down that side you see more radios and other pieces I collected. I have quite a few signs. I also have a old store tube tester in the corner.



Looking above that corner you see this



Next on the back wall you will see my workbench. I always liked the look of the Alemite benches used in old auto repair places. I knew I could never be able to find one I could buy so I made one similar to work with electronics. I have some of my test boxes there so I will probably change some stuff around at some point. The radio on the bench is the chassis for the Zenith piano radio I have.



The next picture was about a month or so ago. It was before I have all the stuff on the wall. But it will give you a idea of that area.



The next photo is of the wall at the end of my side to the middle. I have a RCA cabinet here. I have a second one in the house. You can also see the "youngs merchantile" sign I made. I bought the reproduction coke buttons and made a wooden frame in the middle. I then covered it in some leftover aluminum siding roll I had. I bent the aluminum over the wooden sides. I then projected the name onto it and traced it. My wife painted it.




One of my favorite autographs is this one. Its from Carol Kaye, she is a living legend to me. If you are not familiar with her look her up.



The next picture I have a record of Dottie West. I looked for one of her records for a while. The reason is Dottie was my second cousin. Although I met a lot of her siblings I never got to meet her. The autograph to the right is of the girls next door. They had a hit in the 80s called slow boat to China. I met them before they ever recorded a song.



The next photo is down the side of my wifes shop area. She wanted ot display some radios so there is some at the top. She took over one to play.


Above
A better shot of her side there.




Above one of the shelves on her side.



I hope you like the shop. Mainly its a place I can go to,work on stuff and leave it as it is and not have to move it until I get back to it. After I retire in a few years I may fix stuff for the public but thats a long way off. I thought I would post it if anyone would be interested. If you have questions let me know. If people are interested I plan on posting a video online of a walk through, I will post the link if there is interest.