Looking for shop improvement ideas

[William Born]

My 30x40 foot Wood/Metal shop is organized in four rows of power tools, tables, work benches, and storage. The front wall contains some power tools and storage , while the back wall is mainly storage.

The left two rows a and font wall are wood shop and some storage. At present the second row back table is temporary(?) storage for a 40+ year collection o screws/ nuts, bolts and other hardware that was given to me by a good friend when he closed his wood shop. I will sort that all one these days (maybe!!) Everything on the second row is movable.

The two right side rows comprise the metal work shop, including a Bridgeport Mill, two large industrial Drill Presses, 6” metal lathe, and an industrial horizontal metal bandsaw. A number of computer racks store wood/metal hand tools, hardware, and other items The two small Plastic Injection machines (not hooked up), the 25 ton Hydraulic Press, and industrial machines belong to my machinist son. Most items in these rows are not movable. The shop’s back wall is also storage for small hand tools, electrical items, and anything not stored elsewhere.

To be continued

 

[William Born]

Wood/Metal Shop Continued

Almost everything in my shop is movable on ether four or two swiveling casters mounted on a platform for the $27.99 Rockler ‘Caster only for mobile base (see Movable Platform-1and Drill Cabinet-3) from the $79.9 Rockler ‘Power Tool Mobile Base Hardware’ (See Movable Platform-1) I bought about 20 years ago. I modified the Caster lift by replacing the two small rollers with larger ones to get a higher lift (See Movable Platform-2).
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Two reasons for the mobility: #1 - because I want a large middle area available when I need to work on a large item such a a queen-sized captains bed (made for my daughter) or a car trailer. #2 – I want to be able to move my Radial Arm Saw, Planers, Cutoff Saw, etc. in front of the shop’s garage door to blow sawdust/chips/ grinding dust outside (I live in the country). My Table Saw, Large Belt Sander, and Jointer can be hooked in to my large Dust Collector as needed.

All shop cabinets were built for utility NOT looks (ie. not fancy or furniture/cabinet grade - I re-purpose a lot of plywood and other items). All caster are swiveling. The drill press cabinet has 4 casters. The drill press has my usual type platform (See Drill Press-1/2/33and Movable Platform-3) with two back casters and a 1-1/2” thick front lip to match the Rockler lift mechanism (See Movable Platform-2 and Drill Cabinet-3)) . Two front rests are the same height as the casters and have rubber pads to prevent movement when not lifted (cut from rubber kid’s play squares). All tables have casters.

To be continued

 

[William Born]

Wood/Metal Continued

The Tablesaw/ Router Table combination (See Tablesaw1-3) has 4 casters and 4 toggles to lift the casters off the floor when it is not being moved (I can’t remember what they are called or where I bought them). The computer racks are all fitter with slide-out shelves and provide a lot of storage with a small foot print. Combining the Router Ta with the Tablesaw again saves floor space. The biggest problem is keeping clutter from the horizontal surface.

Turning Station

My Mini Lathe (See Turning Station-1 and 2) is actually located in my master bathroom, together with a small Sherline metal/wood lathe. Turning is a very relaxing hobby for me. Ease of access is the primary reason for that location - I don’t have to walk a 100+ feet to my sop building at night. Other reasons: - I do not have to heat the shop in Winter for a short work session; - I have the room , the master bath has a 10x14’ open area separated from the shower and toilet and there is a 6’ distance between the lathe and the sink; - no objections to overcome - I live alone after my wife died 15 tears ago. Two drawbacks: the tile floor (in case I drop a Chuck) and I may have to replace the medicine cabinet on the opposite wall in the event of a major catch. However, with my preference of small object spindle turning using a safety or spur drive center, I am hoping the latter may not occur.

The Turning s Sration-2 picture shows an idea I picked up from the Internet - a wood fence around the lathe catches most of the chips. In it is 9” high in front and 5-1/2” on the sides. The lathe is set back 8 inches from the front. The dust collector is a combination of a Rocker ‘Dust Right Lathe Dust Collection System’, a Ridgid ‘5HP Pro-Pack Vacuum’, and a ‘Thiem dust separator’. The intake hose can be disconnected from either the Rckler collector or the Thiem Dust Separator, so that I can attach an other hose to clean the lathe and floor areas. I also like wet sanding, it seems to do a better job than dry sanding and there is lot less, if any, dust (Sam Angelo and Mike Peace videos). Also, if you look closely at my Carbide tools on the left (Turning s Sration-2), you might notice that two of the the metal shafts are octagonal. This allows the tools to glide along the toolrest at a 45 degree angle, for a shearing cut rather than a scraping cut (similar to the Sorby Turnmaster, but without the large overhang).

The 4” barrier around the ‘Sorby Proedge Sharpening System’ catches most of the metal dust that does not drop in to the hole below the sanding belt (the support stand has a metal lining). I am still trying to design a better collection system for that. One idea is to limit the support for the Sorby to its metal base plate, while placing the the barrier further away. To vacuum the hot metal dust is not an option unless I am able design a method to cool the dust and an effective Magnetic or Electrostatic filter. I have thought about a removable three-sided dust cover for my shop’s bench grinder, but that it is not practical for the Sorby. Other plans include maybe a HEPA filtering system and an outside exhaust fan.

A time-saving idea that also saves storage space is the way I make fixtures for spindle turning. I use a threaded steel Morse Tape Arbor (such as a Bottle Stopper arbor with a 3/8-16 thread or aMT2 Arbor with a 1/2-20 thread) to mount them, rather than a 1-8 threaded spindle fixture. The fixture with an epoxied appropriate nut s is a lot smaller than a spindle mounted fixture It is also harder and time consuming putting a 1-8 thread in wood or cheaper than buying a 1-8 nut. I use a ¼-20 drawbar with them. Other advantages are: more space for tturning at the spindle area and they can be used in the Tailstock and other lathes (such as my Sherline) with an appropriate Morse Taper Arbor.

In addition to Wood Turning, my other interests/hobbies include Wood/Metal/Plastic , working and machining, Closeup/Macro photography, model making (including Architectural models), electronics, and building my Geodesic Dome retirement home in 2002 (See Home 2002).

Obviously the proverb “My Maturity is measured by the amount of things I can leave alone” is wasted on me.

 

[Mike Johnson]

William,

You definitely know how to keep busy, nice to have mobile equipment in a shop.
Impressive shop and home!

 

[Charlie Knighton]

I see .... I see .....a bigger lathe in your future......then u can make table tops on all ur stuff.....tks for sharing....impressive....square gets old

 

[Raif Harik]

I'm pretty much a noob, and y'all already have thought of everything under the sun. But I do have one system I can share. As it'll probably be the only one I ever have that may be new I took lots of pictures to feel good about myself. The pics explain pretty well.

 

[odie]

@William Born.......Love those hanging electrical outlets. I've done the same in my shop. Hate having no outlet when and where you need them.....and nothing worse than extension cords on the floor!

Making things convenient and fast to access is, and has been a main priority for many years.....and these days, that philosophy is paying back major dividends in my shop. BUT......my shop is ALWAYS a work in progress. NOTHING is forever, and every improvement is subject to "evaluate and revise". Sometimes, improvements need to be re-done over and over again, until I get it right. At times, this leads to short-lived momentary frustrations.....but when it's done, and it works.......the satisfaction and springboard to improved performance, is an exhilaration that is hard to describe. In conjunction with that, is the "do it now" thing. When you get a good idea, stop what you're doing and do it now. If you don't, those good ideas never seem to get done!!!!! (I know a few of you can relate to that.....those "round tuits" mount up and get dusty after awhile!)

Many of you seem to be "Jack-of-all-trades".......and, there's nothing wrong with that......however, it's been my belief that it would be better for my own personal satisfaction in life to "do one thing, and do it well". I've stuck with that philosophy for the better part of the past 38 years, and I'm now benefiting from it......well, IMHO, anyway!.....I do embellishment free bowls, and only embellishment free bowls.....pure turning skills, without the frills! The more I do only bowls, the better I get at doing bowls......getting faster at it, too! The better I get at doing what I do, the more satisfaction in life I get! It's a simple life's philosophy, but it's worked well for me!

Keep on keepin on fellow turners!
odie, the eccentric old guy

 

[Chris Edwards]

Bought 3 sets of storage bins, with different size bins.

One arrived yesterday, so always looking for dead, usable, space, I made this with a pair of 28" full extension drawer slides.

 

[Bernie Hrytzak]

Bought 3 sets of storage bins, with different size bins.

One arrived yesterday, so always looking for dead, usable, space, I made this with a pair of 28" full extension drawer slides.

Excellent idea! Will have to tuck mine in the same way.

 

[Mike Peace]

I just released a YouTube video on woodturning tool storage

View: https://youtu.be/Ka_9CpCYAZ8

 

[Chris Edwards]

Completed a little project today. Decided I was running out of drawer and organization space, so I bought 3 of these from Amazon.