Trying to organise a garage workshop...

I've been playing around a bit with this today and the electric fan is actually surprisingly efficient.
Without the extra fan, the heatsinks on the compressor go way above 110c and keep rising.
With the fan, the temps never go above 60c and quickly go down below 50 once you turn the compressor turns off.
IMG_1400.jpeg

I started filling in this section and think I'm pretty satisfied with the setup now.
All my bigger woodworking machines now fit on the old shelf board which has wheels underneath.
Makes it real easy to get them out and also hide them away.
IMG_1403.jpeg

The fan shroud needs a tiny bit more work as it's touching the compressor at two points where it shouldn't, and making one hell of a racket when stuff starts vibrating.
Once that's fixed I'll slap on some paint and call it done.
 
As another mini-project in making things more mobile, to make it easier to keep organized.
My drillpress has been pushed up against the wall for quite a while and I often find that I'd want it out in the room when I'm working on large or weirdly shaped things.
In general it'd just be much nicer if it wasn't so extremely difficult to move, it weighs in at around 400kg/900lbs so it's not so fun trying to slide it around on the floor.
20200701_093547968_iOS.jpg

So in comes my idea of putting it on wheels.
I don't want it taller than it already is so the wheels will be mounted quite high.
Started out making a kind of subframe for the front, 10mm flatbar bent to shape with oxytorch and then a 5mm flatbar welded in on the top to resist bending.
IMG_1478.jpg

Then started making another part of the subframe around the back.
I want to have a wider stance than the foot, to make it even more stable than before, hence why I'm extending it backwards.
From what I've managed to "feel" when moving it around, the center of gravity seems to be just infront of the column so a "deeper" stance should help.
Temporary M10 bolts are holding this in place for now, I didn't have the M12 hardware I needed.
B0029E39-12CE-4029-80A3-58B66C16DA44.JPG

Next I was sorting through my scrap pile to see what could use to attach the wheels to.
Found these weird looking T-bars, I believe they've been used for some kind of rail/gantry system before.
Cut some pieces of it but didn't want it all square so played around with my mill for a while.
I often think of the saying "With a hammer in hand, everything looks like a nail", this is really true for owning a mill. :grin:
I used Fusion 360 to make a program, it mills the piece down to correct height, mills the steps and then smooths it all over by going up and down the steps, pretty fun but slow process!
Right picture shows before/after, I did touch it up a bit with a flapdisc after the mill smoothed out the steps.
The holes are threaded so I can attach the casters/wheels underneath later.
The back has been chamfered down so I can get plenty of weld in there later.
IMG_1841.JPGIMG_1848.JPG
 
Well it's been 2 weeks of all work and no fun but I'm finally back at it.
I attached all the casters and used a spacer on the floor to get them all on the correct height then tacked them in place.
The wheels sit far up enough that even if something were to fail, the drill press is only going to fall a centimeter or so.
IMG_1954.JPG

Took everything off and fully welded it, so much fun playing with the MIG welder again after having to use stick for a while.
Hopefully the mere weight of the drill press doesn't cause the structure to sag and scrape against the floor. :grin:
If that's the case, the fix will be quite easy but no point in fixing what's not a problem.
IMG_1956.JPG
 
First time I've seen this thread - great theme. I like the storage solutions and the universal mounting plate for the workbench.
 
A great way to make a few hours disappear, do all your work in the wrong order. :grin:
I was supposed to grind the welds down, countersink the mounting holes on the underside and then paint it.
What I instead did was grind the welds down and start painting it and only after everything was real sticky, realize I hadn't countersunk the holes.:tranquility:
Had to let everything dry for two hours then try to countersink everything without messing up the paint too bad since it needs to harden for 24h to really set.
IMG_1959.JPGIMG_1960.JPG

I also didn't hacve countersunk screws of this size and the minimum amount I can find is 50 pieces which is ridiclous for my needs.
Ended up doing some custom bolts, just a simple chamfer and slotting, should give me enough torque.
The screws don't really do much work in tension, the majority of the load will be shear.
Might need to lengthen the treads a tiny bit judging by eye, will wait with testfitting until the paint is proper hard.
Leftmost screws is what I started with.
IMG_1961.JPG
 
Last edited:
Sometimes it's a bit of a curse insisting on using scraps... But rather waste my hours than waste money I don't have. :grin:
Anyhow I can't reach some of the nuts when mounting it all together so I made these 4 pieces, acting both as spacers/washers and making sure the nut sits in place when tightening the screws.
IMG_1964.JPGIMG_1981.JPG

After that it was pretty straight forward mounting it back together and the drill press can go back into it's corner of shame. :grin:
I should really get back to working on the workbench now...
IMG_1985.JPGIMG_1986.JPG
 
Back
Top