And now, 4 months after it started, I’m going to claim victory over my latest ‘Shop Remodel’
And to commemorate this august occasion I’m inviting you all on a virtual tour of my newly remodeled shop!
Welcome!
So that no one gets lost in my vast, expansive empire, I’ll provide you with a map. It’s ‘mostly’ right, but don’t get hung up on too many of the little details
As you step past the furnace (on your right) you are now entering my shop zone.
Looking straight ahead and to the right, you can see a craftsman bench drill press (this was my grandfather’s drill press). And beyond that, against the far wall on the bench, is the Taig mill (VERY hard to pick out against the peg board with all the tools, but it really is there!). Don’t look too closely at the bench top. I haven’t cleaned those off yet.
Between the mill and the bench on the far wall, is my assembly desk area. This is where I sit and navel gaze when I’m trying to figure stuff out, or where lots of small parts get lost as I try and assemble things.
If you shift your gaze to the left, you’ll see the new mill sitting proudly in it’s new home. Directly behind it is the 4”x7” Harbor Freight horizontal band saw. People speak poorly of this little saw, but for under $200, it has done an excellent for the last 6 years that I’ve had it. continuing left, you’ll see the shop crane, the California Air Compressor, and Craftsman 12” band saw (also from my grandfather). Beyond the band saw are the bikes, covered by a large floor mat that the dog has recently vomited on, so it got set out in my shop to ‘air out’ and dry off. Isn’t that the way it goes with shops?
Stepping further in, and looking behind us, gives a good view of the mill bay on the left. The area on the other side of that post is the lathe bay. From here, you also get a pretty good view of the new metal rack, and a corner of the welding/soldering station on the far right.
Moving in a bit farther, now you can see into the lathe bay. You also get a better look at the desk/assembly area. For the sharp eyed among you, you might see a little casting sitting on the desk. This is a little casting that Dave Otto recently gave me. I’m working on a plan to make this into a water pump so that I can hydro-test the boiler for my steam tractor. But that’s going to be covered in other posts in the future.
Now we’ve moved down along the benches and are standing right in front of the outside door, looking back toward the lathe bay. (You can see this door in the first picture of the shop). Again, the metal rack and the welding/soldering station are on the right. On the left is a 1 ton HF arbor press, a marginal sheet metal sheer (also HF) and a some deburring wheels. This whole table is on castors and can roll around as needed.
Moving on around the perimeter of the shop, standing in front of the welding/soldering station and looking back toward the center of the shop. This gives you a better view of the rolling table (it’s quite sturdy) with the deburring wheels. On the lower level of that table you can see a bunch of Rubber Maid type containers (they are actually Sterelite). Soon, these will be sitting on some short shelves along there and will contain my short pieces of metal stock. The Ridgid compressor will move to an undisclosed location. On the left there, you can see just the corner of the fence for a Jet Table saw. And above that, on the corner of the bench is a Ryobi Disk/Belt sander, that has seen heavy use for many years.
Moving around and standing in front of the lathe bay, you can clearly see that I’m not really moved in to the new shop arrangement. I’ve got lots of stuff piled on top of the table saw (left) and the bench along the far wall. Again, on the white toped rolling table is my mini HF Break Press. And just behind that, but before you get to the assembly desk is the scroll saw.
And that’s about it for the tour. Hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did, and would be happy to have you all over again sometime soon!
Next time, stay for a coke and some cookies!
Thanks,
Kim