It's been a while since I've been able to put out a video. And, I've been very reserved on the forum as well. This has all been due to some big changes happening in my personal life. One of those changes was moving to a new house which meant I would be starting over from scratch with where to plot out my range, store my rifles, film videos to share with all of you, and on and on. I'm sure you can imagine all the pieces that would have to be put in place.
So, I found a nice quiet place on almost 15 acres that needed some work. Heck, the whole place needed a good scrubbing and fresh coat of paint inside! The previous owner was a shooter and all of the neighbors exercise their firearms from time to time. So, shooting on the property isn't going to bother anyone!
I've got a very nice shooting range off my covered front porch that works well for 75 & 100 yards. That was handy since EBR was closing in fast and I didn't have the materials I needed to make the 1st place trophies. Not to mention, I had to disassemble my entire wood shop and move it all!
One of the things that attracted me to the new place was a 30x40 garage. I've had a big shop like that before and it's really nice to get back into one again! Ultimately, that's where I decided to build my filming studio. But, the wood shop would have to come first since I had to get moving on the EBR trophies. It was only about a month and a half prior that I got the medals!
It was HAAARD keeping the trophy project quiet! But, I really wanted it to be a surprise for the competitors. Having the medals allowed me to get started on the massive undertaking. But, first I needed a workbench.
Tested, and approved by "Frank"!
Once I had a place to work, I could get started with sorting through the materials, laying out the trophy blanks, and making a mess of the shop!
During all this work, I was still trying to clean up the new place, move in, move out of the old place, try to find time to practice for EBR, and still had to go to work!
I almost didn't finish on time. To give you an idea of just how close it came, this was me applying finish on Oct 2nd. Applying the medallions on Oct 6th. Fixing an oops on Oct 7th. And driving to AZ on Oct 8th! In fact, one trophy was actually finished in Arizona!
(Fast forward to after the event. That's a whole topic in itself!)
After returning home and things settling down from EBR, I was able to really begin to focus on getting prepared to finally make some videos again! I solidified my plan for the room and marked out some tentative locations. These pics were taken less than a month ago. Notice the insane electrical wiring mess in the first pic...
All those wires were necessary since I only had one wall outlet in the entire 30x40 shop. ONE!!! Since then, I've installed 12 new outlets around the shop, wired in a breaker panel, and re-wired things a few times over. Removed the metal siding to put up house wrap. Studded out walls, anchored them, and insulated. Added a ceiling. Hose wrapped the ceiling to reflect more light and then sheeted it with plywood. Cut a hole for the window and installed it. Found a boat load of 3/4" melamine and cut it to use for the walls... that was a jigsaw puzzle! Cleaned everything and finished just enough of the room to film a video, a few days ago, when I got the new Accu-Tac bipods in!
Out the window is my 2nd 0-100yd shooting range and the one I'll probably use the most. I've got a tentative 3rd range lined out that might be able to give me 200-250 yards. Unfortunately, it won't be a level shooting lane.
Frank's been a big help too!
There's still a lot of work to be done but, I have to go help someone move out of their house over the next week and a half. So, the finish work will have to wait. Lately, it seems like I've been going to work in order to catch up on some rest!
So, if you've been wondering what happened to me... there you have it!
Here's my first video in the new shop. I've got many videos planned out for the future. In the back ground of this one, you can see a new rifle sitting in a box. It got delivered the same day as the bipods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NULgzAcVb-c&t=17s
As always, Happy Shooting!
Tom
So, I found a nice quiet place on almost 15 acres that needed some work. Heck, the whole place needed a good scrubbing and fresh coat of paint inside! The previous owner was a shooter and all of the neighbors exercise their firearms from time to time. So, shooting on the property isn't going to bother anyone!
I've got a very nice shooting range off my covered front porch that works well for 75 & 100 yards. That was handy since EBR was closing in fast and I didn't have the materials I needed to make the 1st place trophies. Not to mention, I had to disassemble my entire wood shop and move it all!
One of the things that attracted me to the new place was a 30x40 garage. I've had a big shop like that before and it's really nice to get back into one again! Ultimately, that's where I decided to build my filming studio. But, the wood shop would have to come first since I had to get moving on the EBR trophies. It was only about a month and a half prior that I got the medals!
It was HAAARD keeping the trophy project quiet! But, I really wanted it to be a surprise for the competitors. Having the medals allowed me to get started on the massive undertaking. But, first I needed a workbench.
Tested, and approved by "Frank"!
Once I had a place to work, I could get started with sorting through the materials, laying out the trophy blanks, and making a mess of the shop!
During all this work, I was still trying to clean up the new place, move in, move out of the old place, try to find time to practice for EBR, and still had to go to work!
I almost didn't finish on time. To give you an idea of just how close it came, this was me applying finish on Oct 2nd. Applying the medallions on Oct 6th. Fixing an oops on Oct 7th. And driving to AZ on Oct 8th! In fact, one trophy was actually finished in Arizona!
(Fast forward to after the event. That's a whole topic in itself!)
After returning home and things settling down from EBR, I was able to really begin to focus on getting prepared to finally make some videos again! I solidified my plan for the room and marked out some tentative locations. These pics were taken less than a month ago. Notice the insane electrical wiring mess in the first pic...
All those wires were necessary since I only had one wall outlet in the entire 30x40 shop. ONE!!! Since then, I've installed 12 new outlets around the shop, wired in a breaker panel, and re-wired things a few times over. Removed the metal siding to put up house wrap. Studded out walls, anchored them, and insulated. Added a ceiling. Hose wrapped the ceiling to reflect more light and then sheeted it with plywood. Cut a hole for the window and installed it. Found a boat load of 3/4" melamine and cut it to use for the walls... that was a jigsaw puzzle! Cleaned everything and finished just enough of the room to film a video, a few days ago, when I got the new Accu-Tac bipods in!
Out the window is my 2nd 0-100yd shooting range and the one I'll probably use the most. I've got a tentative 3rd range lined out that might be able to give me 200-250 yards. Unfortunately, it won't be a level shooting lane.
Frank's been a big help too!
There's still a lot of work to be done but, I have to go help someone move out of their house over the next week and a half. So, the finish work will have to wait. Lately, it seems like I've been going to work in order to catch up on some rest!
So, if you've been wondering what happened to me... there you have it!
Here's my first video in the new shop. I've got many videos planned out for the future. In the back ground of this one, you can see a new rifle sitting in a box. It got delivered the same day as the bipods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NULgzAcVb-c&t=17s
As always, Happy Shooting!
Tom
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