New Homestead Wines...construction of the winery :D

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I am with you here, too. Here is something I am trying to watch out for. My dad always did all his work himself; however, as he got older, he slowly became unable to do them. However, he told himself he would get around to it "some other time." Basically, he was not accustomed to hiring anyone, so he never did! The house was starting to accumulate a large backlog of maintenance items. Whenever I would go, I would spend all of my time fixing things (gladly and willingly), but I just wasn't able to get there enough to stay on top of everything. Now for myself, I am trying to learn to hire someone when needed, if only to "prepare myself" for when I will have to do so.[/QUOTE]

I'm 62 and not quite there yet but I understand where you are coming from. Fortunatley I have 3 sons who unfortunately (for them) were raised the same as I was. My youngest is by far the best craftsmsan. If I need help with something he's always there. My wife and I do pay him if he's in need or we would have paid someone anyway. Does that count as hiring someone? LOL
 
So here is the video I did of the production of the trim..and yes... if this were a business OSHA would shut me down in a heartbeat for all the 'safety violations' ... :ft lol
 
For me, another factor is that I derive some enjoyment out of figuring out how to do some complicated thing as a one-man show.

I am the same.

But (yes, there is a "but"), once I noodle out the idea conceptually, then prove the idea is correct by starting the project alone, it is nice to get some help to finish it simply so the task is done faster so I can move on to the next conceptual project. That is, I like the mental gymnastics of using my brain on the puzzle more than the actual gymnastics of using my back on the problem. :)
 
Lovely door. But an old world craftsman would have used a "step joint".

Well...to be fair...
#1 I'm not an old world craftsman, just a handy guy who works with all sorts of media from wood to steel and everything in between...
#2 Drawing on my engineering experience of 20+ years...the frame around the outside of my door serves the same function as the step joint ...
:D
 
#2 Drawing on my engineering experience of 20+ years...the frame around the outside of my door serves the same function as the step joint ...
:D

True. True.

But:

1) A frame uses more wood. Thus more expensive. And takes more time to build. Minimizing time and cost is industrial engineering.
2) I am just being a PITA. :) And will stop now. ;)

P.S. I do actually, really and honestly think it is a lovely door.
 
Last edited:
Sooooo..... I had been scouring Craigslist and FB swap and shop sites for the last year looking for some used kitchen cabinets for the kitchen part of the wine room. I only needed 6' of cabinets but found NOTHING, or if I did they were gone within hours of being posted, so I planned on taking a break from working on the house once the tasting room was done. Made the mistake of perusing CL one more time (old habits die hard..) lo and behold I found some...long story short, they were in good shape, and there were a LOT more than what the guy posted on the ad. $300 and two days of work, cabinets installed! :D Had an old section of counter top laying around that I was going to use.....but it's warped so bad it's not usable. For now it will suffice for a temporary working surface. Got tons of storage space now :D

 
Definitely on the downhill side of this project. Got the new counter top installed, now just waiting on the faucet and mounting clips for the sink to get that installed. Will get the ledge board and plywood shelf mounted today then some trim to make it look complete. Turns out I have enough flooring to do the entire backsplash area .....not sure how that would look, and at some point I need to say enough is enough...lol


 
...and DUN! Took 4 trips to the home improvement store to get all the correct plumbing supplies (which is down from my average of 5-6 trips..lol) Finally got the sink in and all plumbed. Ready to start planning my first New Homestead wine :D
 
Very, very nice! Are you a professional carpenter?
Nope.. by trade I used to work in tool and die as an injection mold designer, now I'm a Physical Therapist Assistant. Other than that just a handyman who likes working with my hands and bringing the vision in my head into reality :D ( but I consider the question high praise, Thank you !)

If you don't mind me asking, what type of finish is that? Looks great!
The stain is a custom blend of 4 stains I had here then just 3 coats of Minwax gloss polyurethane. Thin coat, 6hr dry, sand w/180-220, second thin coat, let dry 24hrs, sand again and seal with the third and final coat.


Should probably add that it took about 45min of sanding with a belt sander and 40grit, then 80 grit. Then orbital sander with 180grit to get the wood halfway flat and ready for stain :D
 
Last edited:
Well, I finally have the winery all done and have the first wine from New Homestead Wines in the carboy. Sure it's a kit wine but I needed something easy to get back in the saddle...In fact that may just be the name of the wine... "Back In the Saddle" Shiraz :D




 

Latest posts

Back
Top