A Home DIY'ers Shop Tour

[inthesticks]

I uploaded a couple pics of my future foundry space earlier on my furnace thread so I figured I should complete the shop tour.
I'll start with the heated shops, first my novice little machine shop.A few years ago when the Canadian buck was worth $1.10 American, Princess Auto had a sale on imported mini lathes and mills I purchased 2 lathes and a mill for a little more than just the mini mill goes for now The radial drill I rebuilt from what was a scrap purchase and the mill/drill was cheap enough that the screw ups I make as I learn will not hurt as much. The 2nd last picture is my collection of Model Engineering volumes and magazines. On the shelf below is 200+ GB of books, plans and articles on disc. The last pic is an overview of my shops and property.

Cheers
CB
 

[inthesticks]

The next set of pictures are of my main shop area which is mainly woodworking equipment. The 3rd last picture is a great Canadian built General bandsaw, when I got it at auction it had a crap table extension welded on, the frame was out of alignment, a chunk was broken out of the table corner and it had 3 phase electrics. It all rebuilt nice and is running on single phase 1 1/2 HP, I may upgrade to 3 HP for resawing. Having trouble matching the paint, May have to go with John Deer green  The last 2 pictures are a smaller off to the side shop I use for rougher work, I set up my molding bench there for now and the room has an exhaust fan for light welding . These 2 shops still need paint and trim to finish up.

Cheers
CB

[inthesticks]

The last set of pictures are actually 3 different areas First the garage/workshop, took these pics. just after finishing the furnace so it's still a mess. Next is the firewood and material storage add-on and last is my outdoor equipment shed.
Hope you liked the walk through my shops.  My security system is a 10 gauge pump  Not really.

Cheers
CB

[John Rudd]

CB,
Very nice, some great kit you have there....but its all too clean.....

[SwarfnStuff]

Ah CB,
        Now I'm John Deer green envious. Both of the kit you have accumulated and the space in your various playpens.   
       Still, mustn't complain, I have my 2 X 2.5m garden shed at the back of my unit so I don't have to walk far to be unable to find what I just put down. Plus it stops me gathering too many bargains machinery wise. The other bonus is that it is only 700m odd to the supermarket, post office, coffee shops etc.   
   Thanks for your build log and shop tour. 
John B

[RobWilson]

Right that me off , not playing any more ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I am now off to work with shop envy  CB 


Rob

[inthesticks]

John Rudd- If I don't stay on top of it I can't fine anything 

John B- thanks for the support. There are a few small negatives living out here but for me they are far out weighed by the positives.

I may have the space Rob but my little imports can't hold a light to your high end rebuilds.

Cheers
CB

[Spurry]

Wonderful collection of bits and bobs you have there, and very very tidy. The location looks an ideal place to live. Do you ever have any problems with Planning issues, or do you just build what you want away from prying eyes?
Pete

[inthesticks]

Hi Spurry a couple of years ago I used a zip cut grinder to cut up a scrap 20" delta bandsaw for its parts and steel stock. I worked as late as 3:00 in the morning on it and never got a single complaint. Couldn't get away with that in an urban area. 

Cheers
CB

[shipto]

I am nearly always surprised by how tidy people keep their workshops mine is a complete mess and only getting worse  The biggest problem I have is lack of storage and so little time to create more.

[tom osselton]

Nice shops!  two little drill presses separated by a grinder practicing our Feng Shui are we?
How do you find the Princess Auto lathe I have been debating on getting one just for metric or a bigger lathe to do both when the garage mods are done. I have the same little 100 amp tig they work not bad.
I travel from the basement to the garage this year building a vacuformer for use at Protospace (a makerspace type place) but find the tools get draged around making it harder to find them but it shows me what I need more of.

[inthesticks]

Hi shipto believe me mine gets pretty messed up in the middle of a project I like to stay on top of cleanup and organization between projects or it gets to a point where I'm wasting time looking for stuff. As for storage, granted I have lots of space but as John B said it just means you collect more stuff. I find that for materials, salvage and rarely used stuff, bankers or other strong boxes work well under workbenches. You can fit a lot more in boxes than on shelves and if you label everything it makes it easier to find.

Hi Tom considering what I paid for my asian imports they will get me by my learning stages. If I had more machining experiance I would have spent my money on something of higher quality but it is what it is and for a little money I can gain some experiance. Hopefully I can fit out my South Bend by the time I am ready to move on.

On the subject of shop clean up here are some pics of my dust colletion system. I was to cheap to spend 500 bucks on a 2 HP collector so I put together a 1HP collector and boosted it with a 3/4HP portable blower to get the suction I needed for my extensive pipes and hose, cost 250 bucks I plugged them both into a remote starter so I could start them from anywhere in the 3 heated shops. enough suction to pick up anything except course or oiled metal which I avoid. As far as particulate matter goes cleanup is a breeze.Hoses will reach all parts of the 3 shops and all of the machines, the radial arm saw is hard piped.

Cheers
CB
 

[tom osselton]

We all start somewhere then look to upgrade when a good deal comes along it's a never ending process checking kijiji,  ebay, and the used tool stores! 

[inthesticks]

There are a few more pictures I should add here to finish this up.

1. This Delta 12 X 40 was a rebuild I did 5 or 6 years ago. Got it at auction for 1/10th the retail. rusty, damaged variable speed mechanism and 3 phase electrics. Repaired and cleaned up nice, now runs 1 HP single phase.
2. Two of the box full of accessories I got with the lathe, new set of Marples chisels and copy attachment.
3. Buried in the dust is 8" Delta jointer, got it half rebuilt 3 years ago and got pulled away, need to get back to it soon. I have a 6" import so have not had a need to rush it.
4. My South Bend still waiting.
5. And this is a much older General bandsaw, pretty rough but all the parts are there. Hope to revive it as a metal cutting bandsaw.
    I also have all the parts for a Delta 20" bandsaw which I plan to use in a small band saw mill build down the road.

And lastly followers of my threads may have noticed I like 3 legged pipe stands. I have them on 2 of my vices, my sheet metal former and the latest, my welding fixture. I find they are very stable, will take a lot of abuse as my vices can attest to and they are portable so you can move them to where you need them.

I think this is really done now. 

Cheers
CB

[inthesticks]

  Ok I lied I'm not done. The couple of pictures of my garage/workshop didn't do it any justice in the condition that it was in. Got it all cleaned up and reorganized the other day. Figured these pics, would be a better representation, ya I know to clean    Ready for the next project, unfortunately " winters coming".

Cheers CB

[tom osselton]

Winter is definitely coming ya better get a heater in there!

[inthesticks]

Time for a serious eye exam Tom there's a wood stove behind the red mechanics crawler and 17 feet of baseboard to the right of the 8' doors. No intention to install them till it is insulated and no intention to do that for another year or two, I've got 800 sq. ft. of heated shop space, whats the rush, or was that you just being jealous . The plan is to keep everything above 40*F with the baseboards and use the wood stove when higher temps are necessary for comfortably working. The patio will become a roofed over breezeway so there will be no need to park in the garage/workshop any more. You didn't notice the ammunition boxes either that's the other half of my security system.That will keep those snow walkers away.

Cheers CB

[tom osselton]

It's hard to see the heater under that sack of seeds!  I have a gas furnace in mine that will be turned on once it gets insulated, right now I'm installing a video security system to compliment the alarm for when the great unwashed come calling. Jealous? Never I have enough tools and machinery to do anything I choose, so now I'm just taking care of loose ends like putting in a hood for casting aluminum inside the vent is already in.

[Will_D]

This is hardly a MadModer's Man Cave!

Its FAR too tidy

Forget about 2-dimensional sheds - I'm starting to step over stuff/store stuff in the 3rd dimension

Will

[inthesticks]

Thats better a post like that I can understand.Your a good guesser or your eyesight is getting better, even I can't read the label on that bag of grass seed. I've yet to see your furnace. Did you do a thread on it? My security comments are tongue in cheek, I am not concerned that much out here, though I understand Calgary is getting pretty wild that way. "jealous" might have been the wrong choice of words maybe condescending would be closer. Make sure you power that vent CO is a killer.

Cheers CB

[inthesticks]

Hey Will the term "man cave" is getting a little dated I think.
FAR to tidy? Look back about 12 pictures, its ok in the middle of a project but would drive me round the bend on a regular basis.You guys playing with 3D can handle 3 dimensional workshops, 2 dimensions looks like as much as I can manage.

Cheers CB

[tom osselton]

Here is my furnace build nothing fancy just a beer keg. I did have the base for a steam cleaner I wanted to make into a tipping / dipping furnace but my son dragged it into the alley and it was nicked by the scrap guy that cruises the alleys.
http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,8920.msg97430.html#msg97430

I have a dust extractor I could use or a fume extractor for a 5 bay shop I picked up with motor for $50.00 that could be geared down my garage is only 24' x 28' so it wouldn't take to long to expell the air before drawing in the -20 c.
Id like to have a overhead heater instead of the floor type and possibly one of these Buddy wants $400.00 each but would make tempering easier.

Break and enter are on the rise in some areas and you can see more vehicles with a busted out window, a buddy I know had his broken out for a cigarette on the console! We will see what happens when their unemployment insurance runs out!

[inthesticks]

Good build Tom, checked out a few guess I didn't go back far enough. For running furnace indoors positive venting is a must but you don't need to turn the whole shop into the outdoors, a negative press. damper placed near by with a snug sliding door to seal it of when not in use works great and will save you some energy.
Did you get the engine done?

My neighbor down the road takes care of security for me, he likes to sit in his rocking chair on his porch with a 12 gauge across his lap till the wee hours of the morning.Not really thats actually me. Not really 

Cheers CB

[RobWilson]

Hi CB

Cracking workshop  , very well equipped  .   Whats the "C" frame machine in the Grass seed photo ? 



Cheers Rob

[inthesticks]

Hey Rob, that is a pneumatic C frame punch press. It will do sheet metal punching and light stamping. I got it badly rusted and seized up. Rebuilt it last winter, top guide/pressure plate badly worn and most of the seals shot. Reground press. plate and added a shim on the back side to make up the difference, replaced all the seals and a good cleaning. Now runs great but I have yet to make tooling for it. This is one exception I have allowed E-Bay lately but even there I have not found tooling for this unit.

Cheers CB