20 Foot Shipping Container Metal Shop

[samthedog]

Just gorgeous Paul.

I was wondering what your plan is to secure all your rolling gear (cabinets and machines) for transit.

"To be revealed at a later date" would be an acceptable answer. I can wait. I just don't want to miss it.

Keep up the great work.

No great mystery for how I'll secure the cabinets. I added 21mm waterproof ply to the floor specifically to add thickness so I have 40mm of wood to screw into the floor. I bought a bunch of recessed pan fittings like these:

http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Ratch...-Rings-D-Ring-Tie-downs/Pan-Fitting-5-000-Lbs

I will use the router and rout out recesses and the fittings will be glued in, then coach screwed into the floor. This will allow me to strap from the H beams in the top corners to the floor to hold the cabinets against the walls, and then from tie-down points that are in the bottom of the walls to the recessed pan fittings for my machines like the lathe and mill. The pan fittings don't have to hold a massive amount of weight as the container should never be flipped upside down, they just have to stop the equipment from tipping or sliding around under transit by truck, rail or ship.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

I didn't get a whole lot done in the last couple days. Yesterday was my wife's birthday so had dinner plans and today I fetched my mill cabinet and the finger brake. I did however get the cabinet insulated with sound deadening material, installed the hinges, latches and the handle:



I will finish installing the start and stop switches into the perspex tomorrow. I also installed a motion sensing light so if the power goes out, I can find the electrics and the door:



I had to spend some time cleaning the finger brake as it had a little light rust, but worst of all was that the person the seller bought it from used it to stub out cigarettes. I used some Jif on the cigarette burns and some fine emry paper and WD on the rust and it came up pretty good:



More to follow as I make more progress on the cabinet and moving in the machines.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

Yesterday was such good weather that I took advantage of my flex time and took the day off from work. I had moved the mill cabinet on tuesday night and didn't want to move it in until I could straighten it out and paint it. I had been moved with a forklift and was suffering from a "frown" in the metalwork.
The doors before:


The cabinet before:


The frown:


The finished product:




There was a lot of work in this cabinet. I had to;

1. Disassemble
2. Straighten out the panels- notch out where the metal was stretched and make bracing
   
3. Remove the contact cemented rubber on the top, then remove the rubber by scraping with thinners
4. Strip the paint from all the screws
5. Sand all the panels
6. Remove the rust and prime with zinc primer
7. Re-assemble

I still have to mount it on a base with wheels and move it into the workshop.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

Today has been a really busy day. I picked up the lathe, milling machine and bandsaw:



We managed to load everything without incident. My friend Bjørn brought a lifting frame and we used a chain hoist to lift the lathe onto a pallet:



On the way home we stopped to check the straps but it seemed like everything was holding. We passed a roadside burger joint where there were a bunch of motorcyclists. They stopped eating and pointed out the convoy of machines.



My landlord and a friend of his with a tractor helped me offload the machines. Bjørn stayed to lend a hand and his pallet jack was very convenient to have.





I have now put all the machines in the container but have quite a bit more to do to tidy up inside. I need to make some bench tops and some wooden tops for the cabinets so I can stack items on them. More pictures to follow of the inside as I get things in order.

Paul.

 

[bjornsh67]

Hi Paul,

Good to see all your machines placed safely into your container. I know you have been extremly buzy finnish this amazing project.

Your workshop container is awesome.

If project of the month has a workshop category, this is a great candidate.

Bjorn

 

[samthedog]

Hi Paul,

Good to see all your machines placed safely into your container. I know you have been extremly buzy finnish this amazing project.

Your workshop container is awesome.

If project of the month has a workshop category, this is a great candidate.

Bjorn

Thanks again for the help Bjørn. I couldn't have done it without your help today and I owe you big time! I will spend some time on tidying up the shop tomorrow and will snap some pictures.

Paul.

 

[brav65]

Excellent progress Paul! It is a beauty to behold. I can't even take a picture of my shop it is such a mess. I'm a single dad, so when I do make into the shop I don't always pick up,after myself.

 

[samthedog]

Excellent progress Paul! It is a beauty to behold. I can't even take a picture of my shop it is such a mess. I'm a single dad, so when I do make into the shop I don't always pick up,after myself.

The only reason I have this shop is because my wife understood how much having my own space and the ability to make things means to me. People keep asking me how I convinced my wife to go for this idea but the truth is it really was her idea for me to have a movable shop after we sold our house. She's been looking after the kids while I have literally spent every spare second getting the container up and running.

We'll see how long it stays clean for. I really have such a small space that any clutter quickly makes working in the container unmanagable. I still have some storage issues to resolve and will likely need to put some shelves in over the lathe and the mill to help reduce clutter on cupboards and cabinets.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

Here is an update...

I ended up making a few bench tops, drawer inserts, cut out some rubber matting and hung the first aid kit today to allow me to do a tidy of the shop. I could put a few things away however I still have some shelves to make, the crane to build and the platform out the front of the container to construct. I also need to level the container as it is a bit off and the drawers in some cabinets roll out when you open the doors making things inconvenient. Anyway here are some pictures:

A before picture:



... And a current state:

With the main entry open:



Both doors, which will lead out to the platform where the woodworking machines will be rolled out to in order to reduce dust and increase work space:



A look down the main machining wall:



A view from the back of the garage to the front:



The cabinet I had just painted, at home opposite the mill:



The bench top with the vice mounted:



So that's it so far. When the crane is finished I'll lift the lathe from the pallet and place it on the floor. I'll be making some rolling bases for the bandsaw and the woodworking combi machine. I will also be neatening up the wiring on the RPC this coming weekend. I have a lot of organizing to do now as many of the drwaers are empty and some are just filled with bits and pieces with no real order to them. More photos to follow as I make progress.

Paul.

 

[extropic]

I'm enjoying your thread immensely.

I'm going to be interested to see what your "platform" turns out to be. Primarily, do you intend to lower/raise it when opening/closing the door(s) (my preference) or will you build a stationary base platform and add something to bring the surface up to floor height after the doors are open, or move the whole thing? Moving bits around is probably cheaper but a PITA and besides, you have to store them when not in use. Non-trivial project, either way.