Shop Full Garage Tour!

[CWret]

Will the new mill stand incorporate a support for the table when it is parked on the far right?

 

[Matt-Aburg]

So far the stand has been great, it's rock solid and the storage is super handy and I like having the ledge all around to set tools down. Only downside maybe is that chips are hard to clean out from under the machine, but that might be true of any stand.

Does the stand make your lathe more rigid do to increased weight? I like it, except I would maybe add some risers to give more distance to cleanout. This might be on the list from my welder friend. I am considering to move my Craftex lathe into the new shed (in design stages yet).. I also like the idea of stacking over it. This is making me think of using more feet for the height (14 is max). My square was upped to 16 x 10..

 

[SomeGuy]

Will the new mill stand incorporate a support for the table when it is parked on the far right?

The lift console is in the way for that, but I've been using an under hoist stand there to keep it from hanging in the air. I did also add a couple through bolt holes with pre-welded nuts on both sides for attachments in the future (see pic).

Just finished tacking up the main structure.

 

[Tomc938]

China uses (metric) meters, which I roughly converted to: 3.28 feet =1 meter. My garage is about 7M by 7m (23 ft by 23 ft), there's another garage 12 ft by 20 ft that I use to install the machine tools, and there's some extra space that I can use to make shelves for materials, parts or whatever.

My site is about 70 square meters (800 square feet), which is probably a relatively large DIYER in China's DIY community, even a little extravagant. More than 98% of the DIYER's area is less than 10 square meters, or even slightly larger cities, very high housing prices have strangled the vast majority of mechanical enthusiasts.

My ideal studio size is 200 square meters (2200 square feet). Because my hobby is to create new products (inventions), or create some disruptive upgrades, or make some small improvements that are more beneficial.

The current space is not enough to support more mechanical equipment, nor to meet my machine tool requirements.

So if I lived in Canada, I would definitely choose a house with a large basement (of a certain height) and a larger garage.

I don't have much equipment right now because I don't have enough space to store it!

We're metric in Canada also. I think then US is the only country that still measures things based on the length of the king's foot. (although we are very familiar with feet)

I'm much more to the messy side. A small double garage is my domain. Had to clean up a lot when I got a car that I need to keep inside. I'm currently going thought the many boxes of stuff I have in storage. Too many hobbies, too much stuff.

My "machine shop" is about 6 ft by 12 feet (2m x 4m). Room for 10" x 18" lathe, RF 30, Taig lathe, and some metal casting stuff. As I clear out space, I hope to keep it clear. As things are now it helps to know which foot you need to lead of with to make it through the maze.

 

[DavidR8]

We're metric in Canada also. I think then US is the only country that still measures things based on the length of the king's foot. (although we are very familiar with feet)

I'm much more to the messy side. A small double garage is my domain. Had to clean up a lot when I got a car that I need to keep inside. I'm currently going thought the many boxes of stuff I have in storage. Too many hobbies, too much stuff.

My "machine shop" is about 6 ft by 12 feet (2m x 4m). Room for 10" x 18" lathe, RF 30, Taig lathe, and some metal casting stuff. As I clear out space, I hope to keep it clear. As things are now it helps to know which foot you need to lead of with to make it through the maze.

Hey Tom, I’d love to see some pics.
I’m also in a small double garage, 20x20. Considering downsizing my lathe and mill to bench top units to gain some square footage back.

 

[eotrfish]

We're metric in Canada also.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Holy crap, that's 100% accurate for me lol.

 

[PeterT]

I like your welding setup (I'm still a welder-less widow). Dumb questions:
- is the middle shelf on the cart for accessories or is it bunk beds for future second unit like MIG + TIG?
- the blue, I assume portable/knock down table, is that what you use for welding work? If so, its it self made or started out as something else? How thick is the top surface?

 

[SomeGuy]

Pretty well all together, just a bit more clean up then paint. It reuses the attachable casters from my lathe stand.

 

[SomeGuy]

Does the stand make your lathe more rigid do to increased weight? I like it, except I would maybe add some risers to give more distance to cleanout. This might be on the list from my welder friend. I am considering to move my Craftex lathe into the new shed (in design stages yet).. I also like the idea of stacking over it. This is making me think of using more feet for the height (14 is max). My square was upped to 16 x 10..

Not really much more rigid but the extra mass helps dampen vibration further. Stand with tool boxes in adds somewhere around 300-350lbs, it's mostly 2" x 0.125" steel tube and has a 1/4" plate top (that alone is basically 100lbs). Building up is definitely a good idea if you have the height, make use of that space and also if you design it right can give you tool access and place to mount lights or even a little hoist potentially.

View attachment 32481

It's missing one for distance, we measure how far away another town/city is in "hours".

I like your welding setup (I'm still a welder-less widow). Dumb questions:
- is the middle shelf on the cart for accessories or is it bunk beds for future second unit like MIG + TIG?
- the blue, I assume portable/knock down table, is that what you use for welding work? If so, its it self made or started out as something else? How thick is the top surface?

View attachment 32491

The welder is a Multimatic 215, so I have TIG and Stick along with MIG in that one unit (though no AC TIG). But you're right, I did design that shelf with the idea of having space for a second machine though (and two bottles on the back), my Miller will fit on it so I have a lot of flexibility in size of another machine. Most likely would be a plasma cutter but who knows. In the meantime it's being used to store my welding jacket and helmet. Tool box has extra wire, welpers, clamps, tips, gloves, accessories, etc.

Yes, the blue stand is a Miller Arcstation 30FX for welding. It's frickin' awesome, 3/16" plate top, super sturdy, but folds up to only a few inches thick so I can store it against the wall. I also have their matching X-Clamps that slide in the slots on the table top for clamping stuff to the table. It's not a 1" thick fab table, but will keep things lined up. The only downside is they aren't cheap, back when I got it (as a gift, thanks wifey), I think they were under $500. Now they're pushing $800+ up here.

Welding cart was my first main welding project, just 1" square tube, some small angle iron and some sheet metal. Same idea as with the lathe stand to use a small intermediate chest for storage (this was the first one I did like this). Overall it's a decent setup given my space constraints.

I notice you place mats over your hoist. I'm presuming its to keep crud from getting in there. Probably a pain to clean out.

Yup, keeps the melting snow out of them and everything else...does a pretty darn good job at it. Otherwise, shop vac and compressed air will clean them out decently, and I keep the undersides of the lifts absolutely soaked in fluid film to keep rust at bay.

 

[Susquatch]

Holy crap, that's 100% accurate for me lol.

Mostly accurate for me too.

It needs a farming branch.

Area is in acres, quarters, sections.

Spraying is a mixture of litres, us gallons, acres, miles per hour, and litres per minute.

Speed is mostly mph unless you are on the road.

Farming is a fiasco.

 

[Matt-Aburg]

Not really much more rigid but the extra mass helps dampen vibration further. Stand with tool boxes in adds somewhere around 300-350lbs, it's mostly 2" x 0.125" steel tube and has a 1/4" plate top (that alone is basically 100lbs). Building up is definitely a good idea if you have the height, make use of that space and also if you design it right can give you tool access and place to mount lights or even a little hoist potentially.

I am still pretty far away on this project. We need to dig starting in about a week, gravel, settle, tamper. concrete, build, wire, drywall, tape sand and paint... then move in ... I am thinking a rolling stand like yours, but add ballast, like either tool storage, or just dead weight to lower center of gravity. Since it rolls out and locks, I will be able to pull it out form wall to service. Added flat top and weight with good clearance below to clear junk out.

How much space is above the headstock? I will consider a shelf 2 - 3 feet above, anchored well to the studs and with supports to floor, full 16 feet length along back of room, and room for second shelf above. I should be able to put light under the first shelf above the lathe. and have a total of 3 openings between the four supports.(for the shelfs).

 

[SomeGuy]

I am still pretty far away on this project. We need to dig starting in about a week, gravel, settle, tamper. concrete, build, wire, drywall, tape sand and paint... then move in ... I am thinking a rolling stand like yours, but add ballast, like either tool storage, or just dead weight to lower center of gravity. Since it rolls out and locks, I will be able to pull it out form wall to service. Added flat top and weight with good clearance below to clear junk out.

How much space is above the headstock? I will consider a shelf 2 - 3 feet above, anchored well to the studs and with supports to floor, full 16 feet length along back of room, and room for second shelf above. I should be able to put light under the first shelf above the lathe. and have a total of 3 openings between the four supports.(for the shelfs).

2 feet from spindle centerline to bottom of first shelf, about 19 inches from top of headstock. The first shelf is around 10 inches shallower than the other two above it, this helps make it feel more open above the lathe.

Also, that plywood box underneath of the lathe rolls out, has tons of storage inside it (has mostly my corded tools and nailers), and serves as a bench (it's plenty sturdy to sit/stand on, the casters are good for 125lbs each and there are 6 of them lol). I can roll this out of the way so I can stand close to the lathe and easily clean out underneath it too, along with it being clear where I attach the wheels to roll it out (it's usually sitting on leveling feet only). I suppose I could have put more down below it as part of the stand, but this works well for me. I don't find it top heavy at all, it's so ridiculously stable I'm fairly sure I couldn't knock it over if I tried.

 

[CWret]

Really like @eotrfish's Canadian measuring chart + @Susquatch's farming ideocracy additions.
- Metalworking: The same day that I learned how to correctly tram my vise within 1/1000's of an inch I also drove home from the Metal Supermarket and kept my speed close enough to the 60 km/hr limit so that I didn't have to talk to the officer I'd noticed earlier. Yes, we Canadians certainly mix things up - eh!
- This conversation reminds me of Air Canada's July 23, 1983 Gimli Glider. Many of us will recall that Flight 143 ran out of fuel due to a metric/imperial conversion mistake combined with an instrument malfunction. You’d think we would have learned to be more consistent by now.

 

[CWret]

I noticed that on your mill stand the (top & bottom) middle braces are – well, not in the middle. That seems odd, but I expect that due to your attention to detail, there is a reason. So??

 

[SomeGuy]

I noticed that on your mill stand the (top & bottom) middle braces are – well, not in the middle. That seems odd, but I expect that due to your attention to detail, there is a reason. So??

Top one is in the middle, bottom isn't...bottom is off because of the way the old mill stand is built, it's indented at the front where the door is, so I centered that support on where the center of the storage space inside the stand is rather than overall center.

You can see it in this picture:

 

[SomeGuy]

Paint day...self etching primer then tremclad flat black like usual.

 

[CWret]

Do the casters do double duty for the lathe and mill?

 

[SomeGuy]

Do the casters do double duty for the lathe and mill?

They sure do designed them both to use the same ones, saves me buying a second set, storing a second set, and building a second set! Also, got my engine hoist to the garage...took it apart and brought it up through the house piece by piece lol wasn't too bad actually, half dozen bolts and the cordless impact wrench made short work of it.

Also moved the air lines for the lift console around the corner so when the mill is pushed back they won't be tucked between the mill and the lift console lol it's nice to have all the tools to do gas pipe, including a manual threader...don't use it often, but it's sure convenient

 

[CWret]

Looking good
Finish line in sight.

(You just need rough terrain wheels for the lift)