Advice on a hypothetical space saving idea

[Ultradog MN]

In the ever ongoing challenge of making more room in my garage/shop I came up with an idea today that I was hoping to get some advice/insight on.

I currently have a little Atlas horizontal mill that doesn't see a ton of use, but is handy and I just cant bring myself to sell. I also have a south bend lathe (model 117-E 16x8) that has an 8 foot long bed, the last ~2 feet of which also doesn't see much use. My thought this morning was, what if I mounted the atlas mill onto the end of the lathe bed, just over the tailstock side leg? I guess my hypothetical concern being if it created some odd imbalance over time, or twist? Although if the lathe is mounted level I cant see why that would happen? Really, I cant see why it would be an issue, but....

Again, Im just in the hypothetical stage here and was looking to get some advice from people much more experienced than me. Thanks in advance.

I think it's a clever idea.
Choices often boil down to picking the lesser of two evils. In this case the lesser evil is the loss of some of your C to C length.
In my world, with a 14.5x30 lathe, I couldn't afford to lose any bed length. But if I had a 16x96 I easily could.
A little Atlas weighs what, 250 lbs?
That heavy old SB could wear it like it was a dainty ornament.

 

[C-Bag]

Being single the shop is slowly migrating into the rest of the house. The metrology has found its way into the kitchen. The granite plate was just perfect for candy to cool on. The drafting table and such is in the upstairs office. The grinders ,sanders ,and sharpeners found a home in a large enclosed entryway that wasn’t being used. Have been looking at the upstairs extra room for the electronics. Good thing there isn’t a basement.

I would love to have a room strictly for metrology. I would think drafting and metrology would be a good common room use. Even if I’m not actively grinding or anything else the amount of stuff in the air is annoying out in my shop. If I close all the doors it helps. A basement would be a possibility but just not feasible in most of the valley as far as I know even with the falling water table.

 

[mmcmdl]

Being single the shop is slowly migrating into the rest of the house. The metrology has found its way into the kitchen. The granite plate was just perfect for candy to cool on. The drafting table and such is in the upstairs office. The grinders ,sanders ,and sharpeners found a home in a large enclosed entryway that wasn’t being used. Have been looking at the upstairs extra room for the electronics. Good thing there isn’t a basement.

This sounds familiar !

 

[antalog]

Thanks for all the advice and reassurance everyone! I enjoying hearing what people have in their shops and how they manage it.

This length lathe wasn't my first choice, but the price was too good to ignore and I do get impatient. My initial plan was to build a mobile rack type setup that would live over the last 2ish feet of the lathe, that could easily be rolled away if I needed the whole length. But ultimately that wasn't the best route. Im thinking this mill-lathe nesting idea should work for the time being! But I still need to workout how I can take it off easily. I appreciate all the advice!

Similar to what you guys are talking about, the biggest thing Im trying to work out right now is compartmentalizing different "areas" of the shop, for cleanliness and safety reason. Keeping sparks out of the wood area, sawdust out the machining area, etc. In fact Ill share a pic, since I dont have much posting history.



It currently sits at roughly:
Machining area - 11:00-2 o'clock (theres a wells index mill hiding back there at 12)
Temp material storage / fabrication equipment- 2-3 o'clock
Wood area - 3-5 o'clock
Grinders, buffers, tool chests, clamp rack - 6 o'clock
Sheet metal 10ish-11 o'clock

Basically everything in there needs work of some kind or another, and theres been a lot of shuffling lately so most things don't feel fully "established" yet.

 

[jwmay]

I’m lost. Perhaps it’s me, but I don’t see a lathe with an 8 foot bed. I do see some Atlas belt covers. What a nicely laid out garage of stuff. Seems like you can use most of what you have as it stands. I don’t see room for another big lathe. That blue one sure looks nice though.

 

[antalog]

Thanks, the photo perspective is a bit deceiving, its a very wide angle and Im taking it from my landing. The blue lathe (which is currently being maintenanced, hence no lead screw, gearbox and apron) is the 8 foot bed, it just keeps going If you see those 4 quill handles sticking up, thats a turret attachment propped up on its side, sitting on the end of the bed where the mill would go.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Thanks, the photo perspective is a bit deceiving, its a very wide angle and Im taking it from my landing. The blue lathe (which is currently being maintenanced, hence no lead screw, gearbox and apron) is the 8 foot bed, it just keeps going If you see those 4 quill handles sticking up, thats a turret attachment propped up on its side, sitting on the end of the bed where the mill would go.

Now I see the lathe or the tailstock anyway.. I don't see the turret tho.
Is that a chuck and face plate and are they on the end of the ways?

 

[antalog]

They are almost at the end, but not quite. Theres the tailstock, then a space, then the steady rest, a chuck and faceplate, then a space, then the turret attachment sitting handles up because they stick pretty far out normally. And then actually a bit of a space after that too. Theres a lot of extra bed on this thing.



Again, I feel like I should say, everything is being shuffled and repaired simultaneously so take these photos with a grain of salt.

 

[woodchucker]

that's quite a nice shop and collection of tools..

 

[Ultradog MN]

They are almost at the end, but not quite. Theres the tailstock, then a space, then the steady rest, a chuck and faceplate, then a space, then the turret attachment sitting handles up because they stick pretty far out normally. And then actually a bit of a space after that too. Theres a lot of extra bed on this thing.

View attachment 458678

Again, I feel like I should say, everything is being shuffled and repaired simultaneously so take these photos with a grain of salt.

I see the handles now.
Agree with Woodchucker - nice shop and collection of man stuff.