Author Topic: Small Shop  (Read 18741 times)

Offline sbwhart

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Small Shop
« on: December 21, 2008, 08:10:36 AM »
Hi  Chaps

Some of you guys across tha water seem intregued about small shop, well here a few shots of my small shop its 3M square thats 9 ft 9 in square in old money, the shots are taken from outside through the door.   :mmr:

The sign on the door was put on at the insistence of my wife, I don't know what she thinks I get up to in there,   :scratch: I asked her what women of daubtfull reputation do for a living, but she wouldn't answer.  :lol:





A little bit of clearance never got in the road
 :wave:

Location:- Crewe Cheshire

Offline dsquire

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2008, 10:22:06 AM »
sbwhart

If you run short of space for scratch pads you could probably use the ceiling. You might also be able to get an extra bit or two on some of the shelves. LOL :med:

It is surprising what you can get in a small space when that is all you have. You look like you have it well organized. Congratulations.

Best of the Season :beer:

Don
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Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2008, 10:47:43 AM »
One thing that I have noticed is that a persons organizational skills get better as the shops get smaller. OFC, my organizational skills stink, so my shop is always a mess!

Nice one you got going there.

Eric
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Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2008, 01:46:00 PM »
I was the one that is intrigued by your small shops and the quality work they turned out. :wave:

And as Eric said, your organizational skills are better. I waste a lot of time wandering around the large space only to find tooling I'd lost the previous week.  :bugeye:

Now I've also heard that your shops are a bit on the cold side in winter. You'd think that your body heat would have such a small shop warmed up in no time.  :lol:

But the best part of these shops is that you can be in your own little world for a few minutes or hours when you want to.  :med:

Bernd
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Offline sbwhart

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2008, 02:44:17 PM »
Hi Bernd

Your right about getting lost in your own little world  :borg:, that's the one thing that realy winds my long sufering wife up, when I'm in my shop and lose all track off time, and she's waiting for us to go off someware  :hammer:.

The best time though is Saturday afternoon with my Radio on listening to the football (the buitifull game):- or as you would call it soccer.

As for the cold been in my shop for a couple of hours this morning with the door open, outside temp 10 - 12 deg C (a heat wave) don't know what that is in F. :clap:

 :beer:

Have Fun

Stew
A little bit of clearance never got in the road
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Location:- Crewe Cheshire

bogstandard

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2008, 03:19:46 PM »
Hi Stew,

I remember it well from my visit a couple of weeks ago.

It was amazing how we both got in there, especially with someone my size.
But really it all boils down to getting the place just how you like it, everything to hand, and with a swivel chair you can almost reach all four walls.

My last shop was just like that, the spare box room upstairs. I carried my mill/drill up there in three seperate pieces, using a sling around the back of my neck, not enough room on the stairs for two people.

You will always find that the most perfect work comes out of these little shops. I think because they are so small you can only concentrate on one job at a time, rather than many projects scattered about the place.

It is nice to think about having a larger shop, but I am sure you will achieve a lot more just where you are.

John

Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2008, 09:06:56 PM »
Hard to believe a winter temp of 10 to 12 deg C (50 - 53 F) I would have the door open to if it were that warm.

We're going through the 3rd snow storm in about a week. Some places here have over 12" of snow. Temp right now at 8:30PM Eastern time is -11.6 C. I'm sitting here in my shop were it's 26.6 C typing this. I've got one of those little electric heaters with the oil in it and it keeps the room quite warm. The rest of the basement usally is around 12 to 18 C if I use the gas heater. If I use the radiant heating in the house the whole basement is at 21 C.

I'm going to have to take a few pics of the basement to show you guys how "stuff" multiplies exponentially as you bring it home. :scratch:

Here's what the basement looked like while I was building the house. The house is bascially a cross if you looked at it from above.

This section is just one of the arms of the cross section facing west. That is a soap stone stove I used to heat the house the first winter I was working on the house. This section now has my model railroad I started to build.


Here's a little over 2/3rds of the basement. It's completley filled up right now.


This is a pic of the radiant heating stapled to the bottom of the upper floor. It keeps the basement quite toasty if we don't use the stove to heat the up stairs.


This is the begining of what I like to call my model shop. It's kind of a room in the basement.


Here's a pic of the finished model room with some of my smaller machines. I wish it would still look as neat. :(


This is the postion I was when I took the previous picture. That's a computer table I built and in the chair is the shop mascot, Miss Boots. The shoot was taken from the door enterance.


It all began here. This is an over veiw from the garage enterance into the basement. what your looking at here is were the Bridgeport went into the basement. The wall have steel forums set up ready for a poured basement.


Here you are looking toward the garage and basement enterance on the left. This picture gives an idea of the cross layout of the house, all 2300sq ft. (You'll have to figure square meter)


Yes it maybe large but it was filled up just as fast as a small place. Now I'll have to take some pics and show how things got messy and unorganized. Stay tuned as I load new batteries in the camera and take some pics to post next time.

Bernd
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Offline Rog02

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2008, 01:08:12 AM »
Bernd:

I have to agree with you on the temperatures.  The high here today was 10 degrees F (-12 C) with wind chills around -15 F (-26 C).  10-12 degrees C is shirt sleeve weather. 

Bump and Thump decided to catch up on their office work while it was so cold.  Thump (the tiny little gray one being crowded by her fat ass brother) usually keeps my office chair warm when I am not using it.


Bump in his usual co-pilot position.  Talk about putting 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound box! He starting snoozing in my in-box when he was a kitten and still thinks he fits.  I did buy him a bigger box, but he refused to use it.  I got the old one back out and he stuffed himself in.
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Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2008, 11:15:39 AM »
Ok, I didn't need new batteries in the camera. I took some more pics of my shop area. I promise after this I won't post any more pics of my huge space.  :lol:  :scratch:

The first pic here is about the same area were I took the first pic with the stove in it. I wondered why I couldn't get the same composure as I did in the first pic. Then I realized I used a 35mm camera with a wide angle lens and scanned the photos. This time I was using digital. It's been 10 years since that first photo was taken. Now you can see how to fill up a space.


This view is a bit more to the left of the second view were the ladder is the only way to get to the first floor. The only things that haven't moved is the band saw, the post and the table saw.


With this view I've swung the camera to the right. That corner cabinet on the floor is for the kitchen. I did that 2 years ago. I haven't gotten to hanging it up in the kitchen yet. The wifes comment on that  :wack:  :hammer:  :whip: 'nuff said.


And back to were the stove used to be. You can barely see the bench work of my model railroad behind all the shelfing I got free.


A pic towards the outside entry and the model shop to the right.


Inside the shop. Compare this pic with the one were I was just setting up the machines.


The left wall.


This last pic is what the area looks like now. Compare that with the last pic where the shop mascot is in.



So haveing a large space does have it's disadvantages. The more space you have the more treasures that follow you home. Add to the the good intentions you have of making things nice and neat and this is what you end up with. A total disaster. After a while it's not fun anymore working on a project because you can't find half the tools that are scattered all over the place. In part that's one of my faults. I don't put things back in their proper place because I never had one to begin with. Talk about frustration.

Well anyway. No more talk about my large space for a shop. :wack: I guess it's time to get things in order so I can find them. I'll have to think about that for a while. :med: Ya like that's going to happen.  :lol:

Regards,
Bernd
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Offline Darren

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2008, 01:48:32 PM »
I thought you said it was full Bernd?

That's positively empty by British standards, you can get loads more in there yet  :lol:



I take it you get frequent power cuts round your way?

Darren
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bogstandard

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2008, 01:51:29 PM »
Bernd,

You are a truly downright rotten person, showing off with all that space. :hammer: ::)

But I can see your problem straight away, and I think most people with small shops can as well.

You are only using surfaces that are parallel to the floor. You need to think right angles as well, the walls can be the most important areas for storage, if used in the correct way.

I did a bit about wall mounting on MEMS, and it is really the best way to go. Not all shelves, but racks as well.

Make it vertical and easily accessible.

I took these piccies only a short while ago, so you have to excuse the condition of the lathe, it is half way thru a production job. I have only just started to mount the tooling for the lathe, and as you can see, because they are in such easy accessible places, one bit off, put away, new bit on. You will also notice, bits for the headstock are stored at the headstock end, the same for the tailstock. You will notice the area between the collet racks and the wall, that will have the QCTP holders mounted there. There will also be another small shelf, the same size and located above the one at the tailstock end, for more tailstock related bits.

The mill area is nearly finished, when I finally get a set of metric and imp R8 collets, they too will be mounted in this area.

If you don't go to these extraordinary lengths, it is very easy to have bits and pieces everywhere. I will admit, that my hand tools end up everywhere, purely because they haven't found a real place to live yet, just a box under a bench, but when eventually they do, everything will be put away when it is finished with.

Bogs


Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #11 on: December 22, 2008, 02:43:46 PM »
I thought you said it was full Bernd?

That's positively empty by British standards, you can get loads more in there yet  :lol:



I take it you get frequent power cuts round your way?

Darren

It is full by my standards. You should have seen it when we painted the floor. It looked like a bowling alley. I figured I never would fill that all up.

I can understand your "empty by British standards" from the pic Bogs posted in one of the threads. You are packed in like sardines in a tin.

No, we rarley get power outages. The stove costs less to operate in dollars but not time. If I was to run the gas boiler to heat the house I'd probanly be paying around $350 to $400 a month.

Bernd
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Offline Darren

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #12 on: December 22, 2008, 02:45:58 PM »
Then why have you got so many Tilley lamps?

I mean, junk them out the door and you could get a whole new machine in there !!  :lol:
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Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #13 on: December 22, 2008, 03:01:09 PM »
Bernd,

You are a truly downright rotten person, showing off with all that space. :hammer: ::)

Aw Bogs I'm truly hurt by that coment.  :(  ( :) )

Quote
You are only using surfaces that are parallel to the floor. You need to think right angles as well, the walls can be the most important areas for storage, if used in the correct way.

Yes, I know that. But let me explain why there have been no shelfs put up yet. On the one wall, where the model railroad is being built, you will notice that I have started to add insulation. Over here code dictates that the basement wall be insulated 3 feet below the frost line. So I need to do that all the way around the basement and add, what we call dry wall, to the walls before I can add any kind of shelfing. I'm in a catch 22 here. Plus I have all that free shelfing that needs to get used also. I picked that up this past spring.

Quote
I took these piccies only a short while ago, so you have to excuse the condition of the lathe, it is half way thru a production job. I have only just started to mount the tooling for the lathe, and as you can see, because they are in such easy accessible places, one bit off, put away, new bit on. You will also notice, bits for the headstock are stored at the headstock end, the same for the tailstock. You will notice the area between the collet racks and the wall, that will have the QCTP holders mounted there. There will also be another small shelf, the same size and located above the one at the tailstock end, for more tailstock related bits.

Believe me John I'd trade your shop for my space any time. Hopefully once i get a bit more of the walls done I can do what you have done in your shop.

That's what I envy about your shop is how well you orginized it. The pictures are proof of this.

Quote
If you don't go to these extraordinary lengths, it is very easy to have bits and pieces everywhere.

A very wise statement there John. My problem is going to those extraordinary lengths. Call it lazyness and a desire to see the finished product. Bad habit I need to break myself of. My model shop needs to get straightened out first with some more work benches and cabinets. I need to find that round-tuit that was sent to me.  :)

Bernd
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Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #14 on: December 22, 2008, 03:06:19 PM »
Then why have you got so many Tilley lamps?

I mean, junk them out the door and you could get a whole new machine in there !!  :lol:

I guess I don't understand the British term of Tilley lamps. We call them railroad lanterns. Collectors over here pay big bucks for these things. That collection would probably buy me another Bridgeport and a whole bit of tooling. They are more collectors items than lamps for power outages, but we have used them when the power has gone off. They give off quite a bit of heat to.

Bernd
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bogstandard

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #15 on: December 22, 2008, 04:29:27 PM »
Bernd,

When working with a small shop, we work in inches not feet.

I haven't told anyone on the web about this, but if you remember, I had a bit of trouble with the lathe being not up to scratch. The suppliers offered an upgrade to a much better specced machine, but I couldn't take them up on their offer, because it was about 3 inches too long for the space I had allocated for the lathe, so I had one of the original ones modified to my specs and fitted that. This shop was designed around the largest machines and bits I could fit in there, with no compromises on anything. Hence I have to use ALL available space. I even had to measure whether I could get my shoulders and head between the lathe and the end wall, just so that I could do belt and gear changes, and let me tell you, it is a tight squeeze, but it can be done.

BTW, you should see the state of the floor in my shop, I can manage at just below waist height and above, but the lower parts have to be done by my better half when she is available. Upset her, and I am soon up to my a**e in crap and swarf. I will post up some more shots when it is all finished.

I know it is only joking about me and your space, I envy what you have, and praise you for being able to put it to full use, but really, we should all just accept what we have, and make it the best place to work as we can. There are ways and means to achieve what we do, and we almost always succeed in the end, no matter how much or little we have. It is the doing that is the main thing, and having friends that can handle the little (or big) bits we can't, makes it much easier. I can manage 3ft long on my machine, but have a mate who can machine me something 3ft 1inch long, it is those people who go the extra inch that makes life worthwhile and enjoyable.


John


Offline John Stevenson

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #16 on: December 22, 2008, 04:36:01 PM »
Bogs,
Why the two DRO on the lathe or is it a reflection. ?

John_S
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Offline Darren

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #17 on: December 22, 2008, 05:13:48 PM »
I see Bernd,

Tilley is a trade name here in the UK,

Your reply made me look them up, I never thought they'd be worth something as they were made in their millions here.

How wrong can you be?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tilley-Short-Table-Lamp-Model-TL13_W0QQitemZ170287694171QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM?hash=item170287694171&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3|65%3A3|39%3A1|240%3A1318

I guess most things are collectible these days....best not take my advice then Bernd.... :(
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Offline Darren

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #18 on: December 22, 2008, 05:18:18 PM »
BTW, we are only jealous.... :(

Seems every time I see an American garage or workshop you can get at least four cars in it, if not six.....

We have garages attached to our houses here in the UK, sometimes you may even be able to shut the door after putting the car in, that's if you can open the door to get out of the car to start with...!!

I kid you not, hardly funny really, but I'll put this chappie in anyways to show spirit  :lol:
« Last Edit: December 22, 2008, 07:40:59 PM by Darren »
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bogstandard

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #19 on: December 22, 2008, 07:07:01 PM »
John,

No not a reflection, just a bit of updating of the machine. Over the top maybe, but I can get real accurate results over and over again.

The left hand display is showing metric to three decimal points. The right hand display is still in mill mode and has not yet been set to only four decimal point readout for the imperial readout.

The display head was left over when I updated the mill from 2 to 3 axis readout, and was in my original plans for the lathe before it was even delivered. A couple of read heads, a bit of thinking and this is the result.




A bit of a tight squeeze, but I managed to get one onto the topslide




The tailstock one was a real pain to work out, but I did it by making a slip joint and a bearing supported carriage.





Now with a backstop in the chuck, I can drill multiple parts to thou accuracy with no trouble.

One of the main reasons for doing this are that the dials on the handles are grossly innacurate when using over fairly large ranges, and it was easier to do this than remake accurate handle dials. I don't even look at the handle dials now.

John

Offline John Stevenson

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #20 on: December 22, 2008, 07:47:00 PM »
Bogs,
Thanks for the explanation.
I think I'll stick with my trusty 6" rule, after all it's took me 52 years to be able to read this.
John Stevenson

Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #21 on: December 22, 2008, 08:09:58 PM »
John,

As they say the grass is always greener on the other side until we get there.

Yes I may have a lot of space to work in but at times it can be a pain to keep tidy as you have seen from the pics. I just need a bit of organization in my life that's all. I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree. My dad is the same. He also has a work shop. You could fit 3 VW Bettles in it and still have room to work on the 4th.

Can't wait to see more pics of your workshop. It's always interesting to see. :thumbup:

Bernd

P.S. studied your pics you posted. That lathe is starting look like it's loaded for bear. (loaded for bear = has everything one would want to get the job done)
« Last Edit: December 22, 2008, 08:29:53 PM by Bernd »
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Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #22 on: December 22, 2008, 08:22:31 PM »
I see Bernd,

Tilley is a trade name here in the UK,


Ah I see. Just like Adalake and Dietz lamp companies. They made the railroad lanterns and depending what RR logo was stamped on the metal, etched on the gobe or had rasied letters on the globe and what color the globe is what makes them worth money. But like anything else that gets collected, it depends on how bad the buyer wants the item you have.

Quote
Your reply made me look them up, I never thought they'd be worth something as they were made in their millions here.

Same here. Many were made, but like anything else only a few servive. I've seen what are called "presentation lanterns" go over $1500 to $3000. These are for the more serious collector. Also remember they don't make them any more.


Quote
I guess most things are collectible these days....best not take my advice then Bernd.... :(

They will be sold one of these days. I probably won't be around to see it though.

Bernd
Route of the Black Diamonds

Offline Bernd

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2008, 08:26:28 PM »
BTW, we are only jealous.... :(

Seems every time I see an American garage or workshop you can get at least four cars in it, if not six.....


Apperantley you must have been to the wrong neighborhood. I've seen garages like that with the cars parked outside because of all the junk in the garage. I kid you not about that.

Usally people who keep their cars in the garage don't have any sort of hobby or collect treasures.  :D

Bernd
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Offline John Stevenson

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Re: Small Shop
« Reply #24 on: December 22, 2008, 09:04:52 PM »
Now for a laugh,
here's part of my shop  ::)







John_S
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