Mike R shows his shop

[Mike R]

As I sit in limbo waiting for parts for projects to show up I took a little time to tidy the shop (just a bit) and took some pictures to prove it!

So here they are:

As you enter the shop there is a small drill press looking for a place to sit

then there is the bandsaw on the left and the mandatory vise and workbench

Another shot of the bench with the shelf above holding various books, magazines and projects (LMS Duchess in 3 1/2" scale is the biggest item up there)

Here is the shaper - I don't use it much but it was donated to me so I keep it....

This is my biggest accomplishment to date - cnc conversion of my mill.  Got to say that it sure makes doing many things easier.

2nd workbench with mini-lathe and my newly sorted drills waiting for a new home on the wall(probably beside the shaper).  The mini-lathe was a bit of an impulse purchase while I was waiting for my big lathe to show up.  I still think I'll keep it and do a cnc conversion for fun.  It might be perfect for turning out dozens of small valves and valve guides, etc for my radial engine build.

And here is the new to me lathe - A Standard Modern 13-34.  Its about to get a DRO fitted (missed the FedEx delivery today - hence the shop clean up!)
I already have changed it over to VFD and 220V 3 phase 1.5hp motor.  What a difference over my previous 3-in-1 lathe / mill / drill.

Next is the tool chests - they need a good going through to reorganize and get rid of useless stuff.  Also shown is my grinder - I need to move it further from the lathe...

And last is my material storage cabinets.  Someone was tossing these out one garbage day so I grabbed them.  Perfect for stashing my raw materials in.  One is for metals and plastics and the other holds my scrounged stuff I use in various projects like transformers, gears, steppers, pulleys, shafts, bearings etc,  It too needs a good clean up.


Hopefully in the next couple of months I'll be making progress on engines and not making tools or fixing them! 

Hope you enjoyed my little tour.

Mike R

[Bogstandard]

Mike,

You look to be having the same problems as myself, too much stuff for too small a space.

But I think that when you have got yourself completely organised, your shop will feel like when you put on an old pair of slippers, comfortable to work in.

Beautiful small shaper there, I wish I had a bit of space so that I could get one in, a very handy piece of kit to have around.

John

[Arbalest]

Nice shop Mike, I really like that little shaper!

[steamer]

Nice shop Mike!    Love Standard and Moderns!   great lathes!

Dave

[Pete49]

Good use of available space and love the shaper. Is it a shop made or bought shaper?
Pete

[ironman123]

I see you have the same Delta 3 wheel Bandsaw I have.  Had mine for ages, replaced rubber belts once.  Good saw.

I like your shop.  Lots more room than I have.

Ray

[Mike R]

Pete,  The shaper is a "Delta Milwaukee" with a 2nd nameplate that says made by Rockwell?  Seems to me its has a bit of a confused identity but I do know its the same or very similar to the small 6" Atlas shapers.  I'll take a pic of the nameplate and post them up sometime...

Ray - yes the bandsaw has been good to me.  It does jam up and the motor spins without moving the blade but thats just me forcing the cut too much mostly.  Once I invested in good blades (welded up Starrett variable pitch) it cut much better too. Its amazing what a good blade/cutter will do for a machine or hand tool.  I'm a believer now after our shop foreman at my work gave me a couple of Starrett hacksaw blades to try - what a difference over the made in India/China blades I was using (same tooth counts - big difference in cutting!)

Mike

[Don1966]

Mike I have a Delta 14" vertical Band Saw and a 93 1/2" blade. The problem I have is finding good metal cutting blades. I added a VFD to it for cutting steel, but like I said can't find good blades. Where is a good source for quality blades? I am really thinking of making some from blades I have for my 4x6" horizontal bandsaw.
I believe the reason I can not find good blades is because it was built for wood cutting and sheet metal cutting.
Any advice would be welcomed.

Don

[Mike R]

Don,

I don't really have a "source" for you for the blades as I ended up with a bunch of blades through an accidental mixup at work.  The shop foreman there who was telling me about the better blades requested a quote for me for 2 blades.  I got the quote back in a day or too and thanked him, then sat on it for a while cause it seemed like a fair chunk of change to me (seems to me it was ~ $50 for 2 blades!). 
Well a couple of months pass and the next thing I know the shop foreman is handing me 4 bandsaw blades and telling me not to tell anyone he screwed up.  He just opened up the quote, assumed it was for the machine at work and ordered 4.  Being custom made they were not returnable....

But the idea here is any local machine shop supplier should be able to make up a blade to your size (or order it).   In my case the type of blade I got was this (as printed on the blade

Starrett Intense PRO-DIE 1/2" (13mm) x .035" (0.90mm) x 10-14/P

The only part of that that I think I need to clarify is its a variable tooth pitch (10 to14 TPI) which really helps reduce resonance in thin cuts.  Too bad he didn't screw up and get some of the coarser pitch blades too - they would help when cutting big chunks of aluminum.

Mike

[Don1966]

Mike thanks for the reply. I did look at Enco and they handle Starett blades. To cut aluminum use a wood cutting blade with large teeth. The one I have cuts brass and aluminum like butter. It is steel I have problem with. Starett has some tough blades but with a cost. I will order me some thanks.

Don