Author Topic: Working on a new tiny shop (Read 93858 times)

backofanenvelope · « **Reply #100 on:** December 23, 2014, 04:38:13 PM »

and I'm looking forward to some Gingery use

DavidA · « **Reply #101 on:** December 24, 2014, 01:38:07 PM »

VT,

Plug in that lathe and you will never get the other bench done. Resist!

I spent some time in my small warm workshop last night . Need to get the red lathe properly bolted down and a more appropriate drive system sorted out. It was nice not to have to put on an extra layer of clothing.

Dave.

vtsteam · « **Reply #102 on:** December 24, 2014, 02:34:08 PM »

I actually used the tiny shop today David. My wife dropped her digital cooking thermometer into a bucket of water and said it stopped working. With the prospect of Christmas eve dinner either over or under done I sprang into action!

Moved my pencil soldering station into the shop, donned magnifying glasses, and surveyed the wreckage. Battery had leaked and there was some rust and corrosion. Two wires to the sensor were corroded loose from the PC board. Pretty clear the trouble started well before the bucket incident today.

I brushed the corrosion out with a small paintbrush, found the two lands where the wires must have come, and soldered them back in place. I got rid of the leaked battery, an AG13, and found a replacement alkaline button in my junk box (wrong type, but this was an emergency!) and shoved it into the holder. It worked!

The tiny shop was warm -- a small electric oil-filled radiator heats it nicely -- well lit, and plenty of bench space. Very nice.

vtsteam · « **Reply #103 on:** December 27, 2014, 12:40:25 AM »

Oh man I came close to giving in to temptation today to find a power cord for the lathe motor and fire it up, but changed my mind (thanks to the steadying influence here on MM) to do the right thing -- and work on the right hand bench.

So I scooched that one away from the wall, cut out a backing sheet of plywood, screwed that in place. Made 3 divider panels (only half height, this time, since I want space under to slide in plastic bins of greensand for casting).

I attached those panels, but didn't add 3/4" square drawer slides like I did last time, since they will carry shelves rather than drawers, and I wasn't sure how deep I wanted them yet. But with back panel and dividers in place, I could move the bench back to the wall permanently, and finish the top.

This bench is lower and will be wider than the left side bench. The shed door is offset, so a wider bench is possible. I added a 2x8" to the 2x4"s on the top to widen it further. This had to be cut back, in way of the chimney. I did that, and fastened it down, and called it quits for the day.

Like the other bench, this one will be covered with 1/4" hardboard, screwed down, so it can be replaced if it gets too beat up and ratty, some day. One sheet will more than cover both benches.

I'm getting close to being able to fasten down the lathe on the bench, and move the motor to narrow the footprint. And after that, metal work again!

backofanenvelope · « **Reply #104 on:** December 27, 2014, 03:56:48 AM »

Glad to hear you saved the Christmas Dinner! Looking forward to seeing some pics of the Lathe being put to good use and I like the fact you have made so much space in no space. Having recently been introduced to the tiny house and small scale living ideas I think that future plans for my own space could have a compact workshop.

Thanks
TomC

vtsteam · « **Reply #105 on:** December 27, 2014, 05:15:05 PM »

Tom, thanks!

I did work on the lathe a little today, to make it narrower. The motor is mounted in back of the bracket as shown. And that extends the width of the lathe, and requires a really wide bench top.

This bracket has an over-center lock. By pulling the handle forward, the lathe change belt is disengaged from the spindle. The motor is on the bracket to maintain tension with the jackshaft, no matter what position. My earlier thought was to move the motor higher on the mounting bracket and nearer to the handle, to get it away from the back of the handle.

Here you can see it against the back wall on the right hand bench.

vtsteam · « **Reply #106 on:** December 27, 2014, 05:26:23 PM »

But today I realized that because of the motion of the bracket, it also moves the jackshaft closer to the base when you release the lathe spindle. And when you tighten the belt again, it moves the jackshaft away from the base.

So if I mounted the motor on the base, it could tighten its own belt on the jackshaft pulley at the same time the lathe spindle pulley tightened.

In other words it would be a double clutch action instead of a single, and the jackshaft would stop when the handle was pulled forward along with the lathe pulley.

And I also thought that if I raised the bracket up, I might be able to find a position where I could re-use both belts. Here I was testing the height with some scrap blocks and the motor position needed to get both belts to work with this idea.

vtsteam · « **Reply #107 on:** December 27, 2014, 05:34:27 PM »

There was a position where it all worked, and I bolted and glued the spacer blocks down to the base, and bolted the motor down. This should also stiffen the area between the bracket and the lathe headstock. It has made about a 5 " difference in the width of the footprint. In fact I could probably reduce it another 2" by trimming the back edge of the mounting board, since the blocks are that far inboard, and the motor is, also. The lathe now fits well on the bench top.

vtsteam · « **Reply #108 on:** December 27, 2014, 05:38:42 PM »

And finally for today, here's a shot of the handle being moved part of the way forward. Both the lathe and the jackshaft disconnect from the motor this way.

Another possible advantage of the new setup is that the motor and jackshaft could also now have a couple of different size pulleys, for another speed range, since the belt now slacks to allow changing the motor belt position.

ps. I will be making a housing for the motor.

tom osselton · « **Reply #109 on:** December 27, 2014, 08:44:10 PM »

Looking good! I was just wondering if you could switch the pulleys around so the motor is behind the chuck and not in the swarf zone.

vtsteam · « **Reply #110 on:** December 27, 2014, 08:58:16 PM »

You could, Tom, but then the footprint would be longer. I'll be making a motor enclosure for this particular configuration.

SwarfnStuff · « **Reply #111 on:** December 28, 2014, 12:09:36 AM »

Yep, A motor enclosure is an extremely good next move. Too many sparks otherwise - at least till things blew up.

Does the motor have a cooling fan someplace? I can't tell from the Pictures. You could fit one on the shaft by the looks even with a second pulley I think.
Good job moving the motor and finding just the right spot for belt loosening, etc.
John B

vtsteam · « **Reply #112 on:** December 28, 2014, 12:16:20 AM »

Yup, John, the motor does have a fan. I've got the sheet metal for the enclosure all ready. Might do that tomorrow if I have time -- we're supposed to visit friends in the morning.

vtsteam · « **Reply #113 on:** December 28, 2014, 09:18:57 PM »

From a former piece of ductwork:

vtsteam · « **Reply #114 on:** December 28, 2014, 09:21:16 PM »

I laid out the shape for one of the housing pieces and notched it:

vtsteam · « **Reply #115 on:** December 28, 2014, 09:23:17 PM »

I don't have a bending brake, so I used two pieces of angle iron clamped in the new bench's vise:

vtsteam · « **Reply #116 on:** December 28, 2014, 09:56:06 PM »

Some gentle tapping with a soft hammer while applying pressure by hand folds it flat:

vtsteam · « **Reply #117 on:** December 28, 2014, 09:57:48 PM »

Edges done, now folding the bottom flange:

vtsteam · « **Reply #118 on:** December 28, 2014, 10:01:54 PM »

Bottom flanges done, now folding the corners. I used a piece of pine offcut from the drawer slides. Hardwood would have been preferable as a permanent addition to a new "bending tool" collection, but the pine served....

vtsteam · « **Reply #119 on:** December 28, 2014, 10:04:03 PM »

Trying the cover piece in position:

vtsteam · « **Reply #120 on:** December 28, 2014, 10:07:37 PM »

Tomorrow I will bend up the inside baffles for the ends.

SwarfnStuff · « **Reply #121 on:** December 29, 2014, 12:30:30 AM »

Great bending job, Now if I can just drag your, "Bending Brake" method and parts out of me dandruff sometime in the future - when I need to do something similar. All will be well. Trouble with getting old is not that we get forgetful but it's just that we have so much information stored in the old grey matter the retrieval system takes time to search the records. (At least that's my excuse.)

CrazyModder · « **Reply #122 on:** December 29, 2014, 10:58:30 AM »

Very nice job, indeed.

Incidently, I made a similar bending project a few days ago. I spent maybe 1.5 days planning, sourcing and building a bender first (the DIY type where you bolt down some heavy duty L profiles to the bench).

Long story short - it worked, kind of, but in the end it was just too much of a hassle and not flexible enough (no pun intended). In my desperation, I ended up doing it just like you, in a vice. That way, the whole bending was done with in about 30 minutes and turned out very fine. Wish I had seen your photos before wasting those 1.5 days.

vtsteam · « **Reply #123 on:** December 29, 2014, 11:05:14 AM »

Crazy, I was just thinking about inlaying a section of angle iron in the bench edge with tapped holes to accept a second piece for bending sheet metal

-- is that what you had tried?

BTW the angle iron in the vise wasn't ideal -- mainly because angle iron has an inside corner fillet, so it makes aligning the work and two irons difficult. You have to align things above the jaws, not resting on them. Takes 3 hands!

I think I might attach a padding strip of steel to the inside face of the angle iron to pad it out past the radius. Then the iron can rest on the jaws and align automatically. Or you could mill out the radius. But shifting things around for a minute or so worked okay for this job, lacking better facilities.

Swarf, I definitely know what you mean!

awemawson · « **Reply #124 on:** December 29, 2014, 11:35:53 AM »

Before I got a folder I just used a pair of angle irons, with a series of holes in them as alternative places to bolt them together for varying sheet lengths. Technique was to pinch the sheet between them then hold the assembly in the vice and perform the bend by hand / softwood block like Steve did. In fact I think that those angle irons are still laying about in my stock area come to think about it!

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Author Topic: Working on a new tiny shop (Read 93858 times)