Machines: Straight Or Angled?

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drom68

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Got a new shop being built and looking at how I am going to arrange the machinery. With limited space, our shops are never big enough, I am looking to place the machinery in key areas to maximize the space. I have seen in the past that aligning the machines at an angle to the walls "saves" space. Can't forget the space needed to place all the tooling and misc. items.

I plan on making a to-scale sketch of the shop floor and then using cut outs of the machinery to mock up the different possibilities.

Any suggestions or ideas on how you have your shop set up?
 
Regardless how you place them, I prefer to put lathes out away from walls with benches/ tool boxes against the walls. The same with mills. When you put a lathe against a wall, you have no way the get behind the lathe for maintenance or adjustments without pulling it out from the wall.
 
What Ken said, no machine that makes chips goes against the wall.

I was responsible for this once, about 25 years ago..... lathes en echelon, so that chips/coolant from one wouldn't shower the operator of the next. Bridgeports, ditto, but could be closer together that way. So the tables wouldn't hit each other.

I used AutoCad, had each machine drawn out, could move them around, turn, pivot, etc.
 
drom68 said:
Got a new shop being built and looking at how I am going to arrange the machinery. With limited space, our shops are never big enough, I am looking to place the machinery in key areas to maximize the space. I have seen in the past that aligning the machines at an angle to the walls "saves" space. Can't forget the space needed to place all the tooling and misc. items.

I plan on making a to-scale sketch of the shop floor and then using cut outs of the machinery to mock up the different possibilities.

Any suggestions or ideas on how you have your shop set up?
Click to expand...

I used your idea regarding the to scale floor plan drawing with movable machines. My shop area is about 11" by 23' with a 6" doorway in the middle of one wall so my machines are lined up against the walls. Two lathes end to end with somewhat limited access at the tailstock end but increased access at the headstock for belt and gear change and insertion of bar stock. My Tormach is on the opposite wall from the lathes with a tool cabinet between it and my mill/drill. A drill press occupies one end wall and an anvil and grinder on the other. A 30" sheet metal brake and rolling tool cabinet are in the center. I also have an 6' electronics work bench and an 8' work bench on the long walls.

A lot will depend on your particular layout. A squarish room may be more amenable to machines located in the central area. If room permits, allowing generous access to the back sides of machines is a good idea. Allow for accommodating your largest anticipated work pieces. Electrical and shop air availability are also a concern.

I expect that it will work itself out once you get your layout on paper.

Have fun!
 
T Bredehoft said:
What Ken said, no machine that makes chips goes against the wall. I was responsible for this once, about 25 years ago..... lathes en echelon, so that chips/coolant from one wouldn't shower the operator of the next. Bridgeports, ditto, but could be closer together that way. So the tables wouldn't hit each other.....
.
Click to expand...

I have a splash guard built on the back side of the lathe to keep the crud from landing on the floor and the wife getting steel splinters in her bare feet getting to the washer and dryer.

When dad built his shop back in 1980, he built "built in" work benches along two of the walls. The lathes and mills were put facing the work benches with about 30" to work in. It actually worked out nice! My lathe was pushed into a corner against a wall. I put up a piece of plastic on the wall to keep the sheet rock from getting dirty. Worked for about 10 years until a tear got into the plastic. It was down hill after that.
 
I have my lathe and mill set up in a 8x12 area. The lathe sits about a foot off of the back wall, and is pretty tight to the pallet rack frame. The drill press is just inside of the roll up door. I still have room to pull the gear cover off of the lathe for cleaning and greasing. My work bench is a drawer cabinet and is on wheels. The back of the mill clears the pallet rack by about a foot and the left hand wheel clears the wall by about 4 inches with the table to the extreme left. The storage on top was for the Honda 650s until this week, we sold both of them. The grinding area is to the right behind the mill, bench grinder and 12inch disk sander. There is 34 inches between the handles on the lathe and mill, plenty of room to work. Just about everything else in the shop is mobile, if it doesn't need to be bolted down, it's on wheels.

IMG_0264.jpg
 
My current shop is a bit smaller, 12 x 23 and barely fits what I have. Little room to walk around but it does work. I have the machinery both on echelon and straight.

The new shop is 24 x 36 and I will still use the old smaller shop for welding, grinding and storage and I have to install all the electrical so I need space for that as well. The electrical will go near the man door and garage door.

The new shop will house a 22 x 60 lathe, 11 x 56 lathe, two knee mills, gear shaper, B&S horizontal, Lagun Horizontal and tooling.

I have enough room, but I want to maximize the space. The smaller lathe will probably go against the wall, but the larger one I want away. The lagun mill will also be away from the wall, it is a fairly good sized machine.

Main concerns are being able to use the machines to their full capability.

Thanks for feedback.
 
I would suggest placing lathes in a way that bar stock can extend from the rear of spindle. Most bar stock is about 8 to 10 feet long. If you decide to make your lathe portable add out-riggers so it doesn't tip over on you.

Good luck
 
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