Lets See Your Shop!

[Cheeseking]

Shops? Plural? Pfft. You dog!

 

[toolroom]

Bill,
I absolutely like your lantern/heater holder. Mine is grey, but holds more weight like the 96' FLSTC.

 

[Bill Rosselot]

Bill,
I absolutely like your lantern/heater holder. Mine is grey, but holds more weight like the 96' FLSTC.

Yeah I took this pick during the move. I usually have my 05 FLH on it or most of the time it sets with someone else bike on it. One of the reasons for the move so I could get a bigger shop.

 

[Bill Rosselot]

Thanks guys but you know when you start with someone elses idea of a shop is tough. I think I've spent more time removing crap and junk so I could build benches and selves and other crap. Just got done with the damn roof repair. Now it is back to lights and shelves and benches. Got 1 lathe in and my mill in but not set in place yet or running. Work keeps getting in the way.

 

[Fortis64]

It's a mite crowded in my shop:

The venerable work bench, neat as usual:

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And, of course, the tool drawers:

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The old wood cutting band saw - my first power tool bought in 1969 with the proceeds from my first guitar sale:

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After 35 years it's still on its "temporary " stand. . .


Grizzly 6" belt/disc sander and the ever useful 1x42 sander:


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I bought the slow version (2500 sfpm) Grizzly 6x48 belt and disc sander combo. After having the machine for a couple of years I realized that I never used the disc, so in late May, 2006 I took that part off stuck on a v-belt pulley and added my 1x42 sander onto the right end of the base. The 1x42 sander is clearly the most used power tool in our guitar shop, and my home version has served me well for 30 years at least.

Moving the small sander freed up some bench space, and in the process, I actually cleaned my bench and slopped on a new coat of epoxy. I won't be getting used to this sight:

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By the next day, the bench was covered with crapola, as usual.


Big Grizzly drill press. Hefty and strong, it does a job:

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I finally jettisoned the Craftsman one with the wonky spindle in 2002. In the foreground is my most recent shop vac, and the first one I really use. It has a very quiet motor and 1-1/2" hose that's easy to handle. I've made an assortment of PVC "wands" which I find much more useful than the tools that come with these things.


1943 (part of the War Effort) Delta metal cutting band saw:

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I got this one in about 1975 by dumb luck in a want ad.


Rusnok:

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Until 2004, my only mill. It's a great small tool, made in Milwaukee. Not cheap, but cool and really handy for small jobs.


Qunicy in the corner:

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In retrospect, I'd have gotten a single stage unit, but this one puts out all I need for air sanders, so I have no real complaints.


Cheesy Sears grinder (the next tool on the "hit" list) and Baldor buffer:

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They're wired from overhead, and I just spin the cabinet around to use the buffer.


The big guy, Sharp 9x42 mill, digital variable speed, DRO, power drawbar, etc:

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It's great having a full size mill. And, with DRO, I've quit thinking about backlash in table screws.

The photo above was taken just after I got the mill in 2004, when the shop wasn't nearly as full as it is now. Here's how the mill looks in 2009:

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You can see that my rubber sheeting shields every sliding part from chips i t's held up by magnets, as are lots of things in my shop. I routinely get into milling stuff that leaves a big mess, such as wood, plastic and cast iron, and with the ways so completely covered I don't have to worry about clogging things up with abrasive swarf. Also visible is my plastic sheet curtain that hangs behind and to the left of the mill, allowing me to blow off chips with compressed air from the right side, where I'm typically standing. The chips hit the curtain and fall "neatly" to the floor."

That's my new swing arm lamp at the yellow arrow. It's bigger than it looks in this photo because it's moved far to the left. It mounts on the light bar, as does the rubber sheeting. The red arrow points to my cigarette paper substitute - .002" thick pieces of a phone book. The blue arrow indicates the Magic Arm, a camera accessory that has a quick-mount plate system. I made extra plates so I can have clamps, air blower, vacuum or other accessories mounted for easy positioning when I need them for milling operations.

And, the star of the show, Sharp 1118H high precision toolroom lathe:

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I have the lathe right up against the wall, which has some plastic sheeting stapled on, and tucked into the chip pan. That way, any chipsor small parts hit the wall and drop into the pan rather than falling into the abyss behind a heavy tool. Up to the left is a Kennedy box filled with gauges, indicators, mics, etc., below which are hanging the digital caliper and micrometer I use most often.

You can see the dirty sock cover on the collet closer. Most of my work is less than an inch in diameter, so collets get a good workout. I have an assortment of chucks as well, some of which are hanging on the wall behind the tailstock. Most of them are cut off in the photo, but you can see the wood handles of my "simple lathe spindle tools"along with swarf pickup tools and a couple of files - just some items that make life a bit easier. The yellow arrow points to the lathe file that sits in an oil bath - a Guy Lautard idea. At the back end of that same yellow arrow is a rack of common size drill bits for making quick holes.

Mounted on the wall and at the point of the red arrow is another Magic Arm - the one I use mostly for holding a camera when photographing lathe operations



Jammed in the corner against the big door is my 1976 Rockwell/Delta Unisaw:

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Mostly, it's a Uni-utility-table, but it still gets some exercise out on the driveway were I can take advantage of "nature's dust collector."


I'd never want to be without a Versa Vise:

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Positively the most handy and useful light duty workholding de-vise. Here's more about this tool, should you care.


A couple of years ago I made up a pair of these light standards for doing photography of my work and Joy's pottery:

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It has six of those twisty 26-watt fluorescent bulbs that are supposed to replace 100 watt incandescents, and gives a strong even light. I recently discovered that this portable light makes a great worklight for sensitive jobs. I can just walk it over to the mill or lathe and get the equivalent of 600 watts of firepower to light up the area.


It doesn't get really cold around here, but we do have our nights down to about 30 degrees Fahrenheit, so I've struggled with heat in this old garage, and finally came up with a great solution to the problem. I got a pair of these 3000 watt quartz radiant heaters from MSC, and stuck them up near the 9-foot ceiling:

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Not wanting to spend a lot of $$ on heat, I figured I'd have them on only when I was actually in the shop, so I switched them individually and wired them through a spring wound heavy duty timer:

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Now, I can walk into the cold shop, twist the timer for an hour or so, and the heaters warm me directly without having to cook the entire contents of the building. If I forget to turn them off, the timer takes care of that for me. Really, there's no point in having a thermostat.

Recently I decided that it would be interesting to get a sense of exactly how much time I spend in my home shop, so I installed this hour meter on the light circuit:

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I hope this resolves any question about my tenuous hold on sanity. . .


Here's a great old 8" diameter certified pressure gauge I found at a garage sale:

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I have it mounted near the ceiling so I can see my air line status at a glance. Another "just for fun" item, of course.


And, to keep sane, I have my tunes:

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Stuck on top of an old stereo amp and set on random play, I have my music whenever NPR isn't what I want to listen to.

I wouldn't dare install a hour meter

 

[Fortis64]

My little two car garage is a serious mess, but I am going to post up pics of my machines anyway. This is my stuff.

MY LITTLE HORIZONTAL/VERTICLE ATLAS MILLING MACHINE
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TWO OF MY THREE METAL SHAPERS, THE GREY IS AN ATLAS 7B, THE BLACK ONE IS AN 8"SHAPE RITE
BOTH SHAPERS ARE TOTALLY COMPLETE WITH ALL GUARDS AND FACTORY VISES.
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MY CRAFTSMAN/ATLAS 12" SWING METAL LATHE. I HAVE MOST EVERYTHING BUT A TAPER ATTACHMENT FOR THIS MACHINE.
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1957 VARIABLE SPEED DRILL PRESS AND 14" BAND SAW, ALSO CIRCA 1957
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I might just as well face it, I don't need this old Atlas drill press, and I believe the old Craftsman to be a far better machine, but I just cannot bring myself to part with it so it sets in the corner waiting for it's restoration.
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I love this ol 7" Craftsman grinder
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Old Craftsman power hacksaw, it works great.
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Craftsman horizontal bandsaw
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Old Western Auto bench drill press. Actually not half bad, in fact, a lot better than it looks!
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Dake arbor press.
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My air compressor
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My old Gerstner top and Kennedy roller.
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I don't know why, but some of them failed to show. Oh well......

Did you make the vertical head for your atlas mill . I'm in the middle of making a vertical head for my Centec 2 mill at the moment .

 

[Uncle Buck]

No I did not make my vert head. I took a local evening machine shop class at the local vo-tech some years ago about the time I got the mill. I approached the instructor with my plans for making a vert head as a shop project. Well, the next night I came back to class the instructor had drawn up a plan for the head you see and told me he wanted to have his advanced students make the head on a Mazak they had in the shop. At first I will admit that while I said nothing I was not so keen on having my project turned over to the advanced students. After all, it was my project right. Fortunately I said nothing and agreed to let the advanced students make my vertical head.

After my initial resentment at the instructors idea I considered the issue and decided that I would come out far better off than if I had been the guy making the vert head. For me this was a hobby evening class so I was not allowed on the Mazak, nor did I know anything about it anyway! LOL So I picked another project and the advanced students made the vertical head. It worked out to my benefit. I ended up with a much better vert head than I would ever have made. Plus, now years removed from the class I have a great asset to my little machine that I will always enjoy.

 

[core-oil]

But think of how miserable cleaning out the swarf from the back seat would be.

But if you were young, The girlfriend would clean out the swarf from the back seat Guess the downside would be taking your lathe & shaper along on your date, for the married guys, No problem the wife's would just moan anyway!

 

[zmotorsports]

I've been absent for a while but I finally got my shop and yard completed and I'm all moved in so thought I would post up some final shots of the new shop.

Here is our 50x60x16 shop/RV garage.






Inside looking towards the workbenches.




Looking at the machining area of the shop.




Mike

 

[Uncle Buck]

WOW, beautiful and impressive! Makes my place look like a mud hut! LOL