My Small Shop

One time of the month when " May the force be with you " is a bad thing. :cower:
 
Tom, please don't read anything into my comment about your tooling ;) It's mostly just envy talking ;)

(not ashamed to admit to tool-envy, LOL)
 
Tom, please don't read anything into my comment about your tooling ;) It's mostly just envy talking ;)

No offence taken, I can understand why someone would question the need for multiples of machines. I'm lazy. The 'drill jig' for the part I mentioned, is 3/4 square, 1 1/4 long half hard 4140, a tiny little thing by comparison with some jigs/fixtures I made in real life.

For what it's worth, last year a metal source I use, had in their "Fire Sale" some flame cut scraps of 4140 hot rolled steel, just over 3/4 square and 18 inches long. Cost (if I remember correctly) about $1.50 ea. I ordered two. When I got them they were hard. I built a charcoal fire in the broiler, stuck them in the coals and let it burn itself out. They are somewhat annealed, HSS will cut them, but they;ll never wear out. They are great for small pieces of tooling, like the above drill jig.
 
Here's my shop in two panoramas. It's about 14' x 10'.

workshop-pano-1.jpg Left-to-right: sink & cleaning, lumber storage, band-saw, belt-sander, Sherline lathe, Sherline mill, plastics area, paint/spray exhaust area

workshop-pano-2.jpg
Left-to-right: drafting/design, tools/storage, sanding, grinder

Everything is either attached to the walls, or on wheels, to maximize floor space. I can tuck the central bench under the side benches if I need the central space.

Edit: Updated the panoramic photos so they're easier to see

workshop-pano-1.jpg

workshop-pano-2.jpg

workshop-pano-1.jpg

workshop-pano-2.jpg
 
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Great idea, putting the central table under a side bench. I'd fill the under-bench with something then not be able to move the central table in.
 
Thanks! Of course, in reality, since the central table always seems to be piled high with half-finished projects, rolling it under the side-benches is more aspirational than realistic.
 

Jeeze, Louise! What a setup. You have no -stuff- (like the rest of us), but you have machines out the kazoo. MIG, TIG, Plasma, bandsaw, lathe, mill, tools, etc.

And it's all so organized, how the h*ll do you find anything?

Well done, Ken.

P.S: I painted my floor with white floor paint and it brightened up the shop a ton (before I moved the 45 tons of stuff back in.) It's also easier to find dropped hardware on a white floor. 14 years later, it's time to repaint it, but lordy, do I have too much stuff in there...
 
Thank you Larry. The shop gets pretty piled up sometimes but, with the small space I have no choice but to keep it clean. I detailed in a previous post why I use my shop as my hidey hole.

I really like the light colored floor idea....that would brighten the joint up nicely but, my more fiery processes would take care of that in short order.

PS: You have 45 tons of stuff....I would be happy to take some of it off your hands. Just to help you get some space back, of course. Ummm, yeah.....to help you out.
 
SMALL????? My shop is so small that when two men enter....one comes out with a pocketbook!

Love your shop....Beautiful!
 
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