I have been a lurker for a while. I thought I would finally post. I got my start in taking old ,dead TVs apart as a kid. I got to where I I got a few going. I would love to have one of the old metal chassis type Zeniths I got going back then.

Anyway I continued, got my education in electronics then went into computers. Now I am getting to enjoy life some after many years of being so busy. So I decided to redo my workshop and turn it into a working museum if you will. I wanted to set it up to look like something from the 50s or 60s. I have a bunch of old magazines, NRI manuals, Photofacts flyers,etc. that I got ideas for my workbench and shop. It's sort of like paying homage to to all the TV guys back when I was a kid who helped me back then.I added a few things like a digital meter,some newer tools and computer to help me even though they weren't in shops then.

I wasn't sure if I could post a link to another site but I have a garage site my shop is at during the redo of it. If your interested let me know and I can send it to you. If it is ok to post the link and you want to see it let me know and I can post it. The main thing I need to do to my shop is to rebuild a few items like a 40s O scope and I also want to find a TV shop sign that was outside the store. I have been looking somewhat but no luck as of yet. Well that is a little about me.

Nice t'have ya ! Welcome ! Where in Tennessee ?

I am in the Smithville'McMinnville area. Its almost in the center of the state. I am about an hour from Nashville, about 2 1/2 hours from Knoxville and about 2 hours from Chattanooga.

I am in the Smithville'McMinnville area. Its almost in the center of the state. I am about an hour from Nashville, about 2 1/2 hours from Knoxville and about 2 hours from Chattanooga.

my grandpa grandma and great grandma (87)
they live closest to gladeville tennessee its a nice little town, but thats just the closest town. they live in the middle of nowhere! :D welcome to vk!

I'm about an hour-hour & 20 minutes NE of Knoxville, up close to the Tri-Cities...

Gladeville is about an hour from me. That is just off the 840 road. It now loops around Nashville to bypass the I40 traffic. As far as Tri Cities I am not sure if I have ever been there. I think Knoxville is the closest I have been there. Thanks for the welcome folks.

Gladeville is about an hour from me. That is just off the 840 road. It now loops around Nashville to bypass the I40 traffic. As far as Tri Cities I am not sure if I have ever been there. I think Knoxville is the closest I have been there. Thanks for the welcome folks.

yep its right next to mt. juliet we take interstate 24 from indiana to around nasville, then we take i think 40 it only takes about 4 hours every july, and mabe this thanksgiving!

NE Tennessee is a different world than Nashville & points west...We're Hillbillys, & they're more Flatlanders & Delta people...Ain't nothin' WRONG w/that, we're just a bit different....I've got more in common w/folks from Roanoke, Va, & London/Corbin, Ky than w/people from Nashville & beyond..

NE Tennessee is a different world than Nashville & points west...We're Hillbillys, & they're more Flatlanders & Delta people...Ain't nothin' WRONG w/that, we're just a bit different....I've got more in common w/folks from Roanoke, Va, & London/Corbin, Ky than w/people from Nashville & beyond..
Here where I live we are in the middle. So I guess we should come up with something different. I quess you could call us country folk. My parents did move to Memphis before I was born but we moved to AZ when I was about 5. We moved back to the area I live at when I was about 7. Both of my parents were country folk so to speak. My mom was raised close to what is Fall Creek Falls SP if you know where that is. And my dad was a cousin to Dottie West. I guess Dottie was country as well.

Memphis has a few weeks of "Cold", a few more of "Nice", but most of the year, it's HOT....

Willy, we'd love to see pix of your shop. Post away!

Willy, we'd love to see pix of your shop. Post away!

Ok, Keep in mind I do tubes as a hobby and work on computers for a living. So with that in mind I do have newer stuff. Keep in mind I modeled it after shops I remember and pictures I have of older shops. So it may not look like a shop you remember I have other tools in the other part of my shop that is in another section. I have been trying to find items like advertising from shops. I found a really nice original sign if I can buy it. I think it is higher than it should be but if I can sale a older goodyear sign I have from the 30s to finance it I will.

Anyway just ask question if you have them. Keep in mind that not only do I tinker with TVs I also work on tube radios,jukeboxes,computers,printers and anything electrical. Instead of reposting all the pictures and seven pages of info here is a link to it. If people like it enough and want it here I might repost it here as it fits in better here.
Here is the link.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97315

Ok, Keep in mind I do tubes as a hobby and work on computers for a living. So with that in mind I do have newer stuff. Keep in mind I modeled it after shops I remember and pictures I have of older shops. So it may not look like a shop you remember I have other tools in the other part of my shop that is in another section. I have been trying to find items like advertising from shops. I found a really nice original sign if I can buy it. I think it is higher than it should be but if I can sale a older goodyear sign I have from the 30s to finance it I will.

Anyway just ask question if you have them. Keep in mind that not only do I tinker with TVs I also work on tube radios,jukeboxes,computers,printers and anything electrical. Instead of reposting all the pictures and seven pages of info here is a link to it. If people like it enough and want it here I might repost it here as it fits in better here.
Here is the link.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97315

thats a nice shop you got some good radios there the best radio ive ever had was a 1937 zenith robot dial, ( seriously i owned it 30 seconds untill i sold it)!

thats a nice shop you got some good radios there the best radio ive ever had was a 1937 zenith robot dial, ( seriously i owned it 30 seconds untill i sold it)!

Thanks for the complement. I joined that other site for the tool info there and I saw a 1930s shop redone. It is really nice and I thought I could do the same but make it like the old TV shops I hung out in. I hope to find a TV shop sign but no luck yet. Hopefully when it turns to cold to be outside for me, usually in Dec to first of March I can spend a lot of time in there finishing the sorting of my stuff. I have thousands of new tubes to sort. I made boxes to put them in. I also need to scrap a bunch of stuff. I hope to show people who may have never been in a TV shop how they were. Now on the quest for a TV sign.

Greetings from the flat end of the state. I am in Jackson, between Memphis and Nashville. I grew up in Memphis then moved to Jackson with my job at the time. I am into color tv from the early 60's. Once you get outside Memphis or Nashville there is very little difference in Tennessee country folks. Welcome to VK.

Greetings from the flat end of the state. I am in Jackson, between Memphis and Nashville. I grew up in Memphis then moved to Jackson with my job at the time. I am into color tv from the early 60's. Once you get outside Memphis or Nashville there is very little difference in Tennessee country folks. Welcome to VK.

I am familiar with Jackson. I was born in a little place called Sommerville down your way. Then as a kid we went to Tuscon AZ around 69 and then back to middle TN around 71. As far as Jackson goes is that where the Casey Jones Museum is? If so there was a great place to eat there in the 80s. A buddy of mine was from there and needed his car tags updated. We drove down there and he took me to this place off the square. It was a pool hall and bar I think I was under 21 but they mainly served lunch them. He said they had the best burgers in the world . I got one and it was one of the best ones I ever had.

Yeah, you have a shop To DIE For, as the kids would say...I'd LOVE to build me a building, say 50 X 100, w/the downstairs a garage/shop for my Lincolns, & a place to work on them, & the upstairs would be my Mancave, full of my Boatanchors, TVs, guns, & other chit, w/an apartment...

Yeah, you have a shop To DIE For, as the kids would say...I'd LOVE to build me a building, say 50 X 100, w/the downstairs a garage/shop for my Lincolns, & a place to work on them, & the upstairs would be my Mancave, full of my Boatanchors, TVs, guns, & other chit, w/an apartment...

I tore down about 5 buildings to get enough lumber to build it. To pay for the stuff I had to buy I got some junk computers from a buddy who gave them to me, I then bought monitors from him for 50, bought parts to fix them up then sold them for 150 for a 50 dollar profit. I wound up with about 2200 bucks in it with a building 30x52. I could probably fill one twice the size in six months. I wanted a shop so bad that I did it, all for cash too.

I live 50 miles from Chattanooga in Athens. Knoxville is 50 miles the other direction northward. Welcome to VK, you are among friends. Zenith spoken here.

Thanks Kent. I was in Athens a few years ago. I had a old Scotty camper given to me if I would pick it up. Seems like there is a gas station I stopped at there. I picked it up in Etowah. I really had a good time. I was in a 98 sunfire pulling a small 13 ft camping trailer that looked like it was going to fall apart. Nice area. I would like to make my way over there again. I want to find a TV shop sign so maybe I can look over there.