Author Topic: Versatool Cabinets (Read 67880 times)

awemawson · « **Reply #25 on:** July 19, 2013, 01:00:17 PM »

I cheated and bought self adhesive stuff. I've used it before and it's ok if a bit thin. The good thing is as it is self adhesive it firmly glues round all the holes and doesn't pull away - as I cut them after it is stuck down.

awemawson · « **Reply #26 on:** July 26, 2013, 01:21:01 PM »

The time was right, so today I've re-assembled all the door furniture, sorted out the stripped threads on the drawer handles, bent up new locking bars to replace the missing ones on the smaller cabinet, cut new shelves and lined them with green baize, and sanded down the top wood 'bench' surfaces. The later I may replace - they are pretty tatty and I can't sand them any more as they are plywood, and I'll go through the top lamination. I had some left over ' 20mm shuttering plywood' that I used for the shelves as they are covered, but it's not a good enough top lamination to be an exposed surface.

All I need to do now is decide what holes are needed where to store all the tools for the Traub CNC Lathe I've been resurrecting.

Anyway have a few pictures:

awemawson · « **Reply #27 on:** July 28, 2013, 10:54:09 AM »

Started fitting out the shelves for tooling for the Traub CNC Lathe.

First - I used up two shelves for the static and powered tooling for the tool turret:

awemawson · « **Reply #28 on:** July 28, 2013, 10:55:51 AM »

Then I had to think how to store the collets. Two types, one type for the main spindle, and these for the opposing spindle:

awemawson · « **Reply #29 on:** July 28, 2013, 10:58:25 AM »

If I were to bore the shelves to fit, the set would not fit on one shelf without being too weak as the holes would be too close together. Not nice to just sit them there and clang together, so I hit on the idea of making a honeycomb of sleeves.

Gutter downpipe plastic tubing was just about the right size:

awemawson · « **Reply #30 on:** July 28, 2013, 10:59:36 AM »

I decided to glue the pipe sections using solvent weld glue, so best to put in one of the old shelves first as the glue is bound to drip everywhere:

Pete. · « **Reply #31 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:02:01 AM »

Those are awesome mawsome cabinets. I love the swing-out drawers. You lose less shelf space from the curved shelf than you would from having collets you can't reach at the back.

awemawson · « **Reply #32 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:02:37 AM »

To keep the pipe sections firmly together I used domestic clothes pegs - it'll be ok dear they won't get messed up

Yikes send for a Gypsy - I'm running out of clothes pegs!

awemawson · « **Reply #33 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:05:24 AM »

I ended up 'walking' the pegs across the honeycomb - fortunately the glue sets pretty quickly in the current hot weather.

I was fearful that the glue would soak into the baize of the old shelf and stick fast - luckily it didn't

awemawson · « **Reply #34 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:06:26 AM »

So back goes the new shelf complete with honeycomb and collets

awemawson · « **Reply #35 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:08:11 AM »

I'm tempted to do something similar with these 'J56' collets from the main spindle. They neatly sit inside a piece of 110mm drain pipe, so I feel another honeycomb coming on!

awemawson · « **Reply #36 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:14:37 AM »

Quote from: Pete. on July 28, 2013, 11:02:01 AM

Those are awesome mawsome cabinets. I love the swing-out drawers. You lose less shelf space from the curved shelf than you would from having collets you can't reach at the back.

Thanks for the kind words Pete. Yes I'm pretty pleased with the way they've turned out, and it means that the boxes of tools all over the floor have been tidied away at long last. The collets are very heavy, and the cabinet is a bit unstable with the 'honeycomb' shelf swung out, but it'll be ok when there is a bit of weight down below

vtsteam · « **Reply #37 on:** July 28, 2013, 01:27:36 PM »

That looks great, Andrew!

awemawson · « **Reply #38 on:** July 29, 2013, 06:45:29 AM »

Thanks Steve.

Well I bowed to the inevitable and made up another honeycomb for the bigger collets. This time made from 110mm soil pipe. I only had the brown underground variety - black above ground would have been better but not worth the £10 to buy a length.

krv3000 · « **Reply #39 on:** July 31, 2013, 06:38:46 AM »

hi a job well dun

micktoon · « **Reply #40 on:** August 14, 2014, 06:59:07 PM »

Hi Andrew , thanks for posting the link to these cabinets getting done, I do not know how my search did not find it

............I knew I had seen a post somewhere a while back.
Anyway , an excellent job you made of them and that idea about the collet holders might come in very handy indeed

Cheers Mick.

awemawson · « **Reply #41 on:** October 31, 2018, 08:05:29 AM »

Resurrecting an old thread here, but it's the best place to put the info !

The cabinets described above were refurbished to house the tooling for the Traub CNC lathe that I had, but when it was sold, stupidly I let the cabinets go with it. Now I'm at the stage with the Beaver TC-20 CNC lathe that I need somewhere for it's tooling so went looking for more.

It seems that since then they have become 'trendy' with the yuppies that want bits of old iron in their kitchens - yes they are being used as kitch kitchen cabinets would you believe

So the price has gone through the roof, but I did manage to get a matching pair from opposite ends of the country. These ones are rather nice in that as well as the swinging shelves and a pair of drawers, there are also some handy 'normal' shelves.

I'm not sure if these will be blasted and re-sprayed as they are not in as bad condition as the others, and anyway the weather is not suitable probably until the spring. But I do want to make them movable. Previous ones sat on a frame with castors but I want to build the castors directly in. Problem is that the base is flanged, with a 25mm recess.

awemawson · « **Reply #42 on:** October 31, 2018, 08:15:02 AM »

Now the cabinets are stout affairs with thick metal to the sides and base. I decided to make raising blocks to sit the castors on, with the weight being taken by bolts into the frame, and also by the blocks being in contact with the base.

A bit of suitable 50 mm x 25 mm bar in EN3a was ordered up, and being now to hand I cut 8 off 50 x 50 x 25 chunks and programmed the Beaver Partsmaster to spot drill, drill, and tap the 6 x 8 = 48 M6 holes to take the castors and fix the blocks to the cabinets. All went to plan, finishing yesterday evening.

This morning I made up a little drilling jig to align the mounting holes and set too on the first cabinet. The jig needed a chunk grinding off to clear the doors in use, but it all went pretty well. Heavy old lumps - I'm waiting for a friend to arrive shortly to help me turn the second one over - but one is done.

awemawson · « **Reply #43 on:** October 31, 2018, 03:05:53 PM »

Derek came and helped invert the second cabinet at lunch time, and as I got a bit of time before supper I managed to 'casterate' it.

Just need to decide how to get them back on their feet and into the workshop.

russ57 · « **Reply #44 on:** October 31, 2018, 04:23:41 PM »

I see a forklift nearby...

Russ

awemawson · « **Reply #45 on:** October 31, 2018, 06:14:53 PM »

It'll certainly help, but actually rotating it isn't quite as straightforwards as you might think - nowt to hold on to. I do have some powerful lifting magnets that might help tilting it but although it's thick I'm not sure that that panelling has enough meat for all the magnetic flux to be useful.

seadog · « **Reply #46 on:** October 31, 2018, 06:23:26 PM »

You could put a piece of thick plate on the inside.

nrml · « **Reply #47 on:** November 01, 2018, 01:49:51 AM »

Putting vintage steel cabinets on wheels is just going to increase its yuppie appeal. Better hide them deep in your workshop, well away from prying eyes.

awemawson · « **Reply #48 on:** April 14, 2019, 08:58:46 AM »

At long last I have got round to sorting out the second Versatool cabinet for the Beaver TC20 CNC Lathe tooling and documentation.

Of the pair that I bought, one was in fair condition just needing a bit of cleaning up, but the second one had been painted blue over it's original silver hammer finish, and was rather tatty and scratched.

Firstly I gave it a really good clean up with 'Mr Muscle' to get rid of the oil and examine the over paint. I decided that if it was given a very good rubbing down with 'wet and dry' paper and soapy water it could stand another coat of silver hammer finish without the complete grit blasting that I had initially planned for it. This was slightly influenced by the fact that the weather still isn't good enough for outdoor grit blasting.

Saturday morning was very cold, but bright and sunny with no rain forecast, so the cabinet was wheeled out side, given a wipe down with a rag soaked in Industrial Thinners, and a coat of hammer finish paint applied. Note that this is NOT 'Hammerite', which since they changed the formulation I don't find any use at all. It is an industrial Xylene containing tough rough equivalent of the original Hammerite formulation.

I'd just about finished when the heavens opened

Not rain but heavy hail

Nothing for it but to leave it to it's fate. Needless to say there was rather more hammer effect than intended, and the doors were a real mess as they were the last bit I'd sprayed before the hail.

Fortunately this is very fast drying paint, and yesterday afternoon I was able to give it another vigorous rubbing down with wet and dry and get back to an acceptable finish for another coat of paint.

16:30 and the sun was shinning brightly, so out it came for another coat. Doors done first this time - I'd just finished then decided to blow over it's top - it didn't need painting as it is over lain by a 12 mm plywood insert, but I did ! Silly boy - just finished and, you guessed it, rain - only light this time but still rain. I gingerly wheeled it back into the workshop to dry off, and apart from a few blemishes to the top surface, and a very little bit to the door tops where they got a bit of over spray, I'm passing it out as acceptable.

awemawson · « **Reply #49 on:** April 14, 2019, 09:02:53 AM »

So this morning (Sunday) I was down at the local B&Q collecting a suitable bit of 12 mm plywood. Literally half the weight of the original and the grain running the wrong way, but it's all that there was.

It's been cut to size and had it's first coat of yacht varnish - it will certainly get one more coat and likely a third over the next few days - in contrast the original looks extremely tatty !

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Author Topic: Versatool Cabinets (Read 67880 times)