Multi function shops

[middle.road]

Power Hacksaw — Keller model 3WA to be exact. My friends have shall we say “ refined “ senses of humour sometimes...

-f

Perfect. That was my first thought.
I want one of those styles someday.

 

[mickri]

Here is the layout of my garage/shop. It is 21' wide by 21'6" deep. Everything is on wheels except for the lathe, radial arm saw and the work bench against the wall. My 66 MG Midget takes up the open space in the front left side. Right now the Midget is on jack stands while I redo the front suspension. Otherwise it is also on its wheels so it can be moved around. Metal work is done up by the lathe and mill/drill while wood work is done by the radial arm saw or outside on the driveway. This seems to be enough separation to keep the saw dust out of the lathe. I do most of my welding outside as well.

 

[DavidR8]

Here is the layout of my garage/shop. It is 21' wide by 21'6" deep. Everything is on wheels except for the lathe, radial arm saw and the work bench against the wall. My 66 MG Midget takes up the open space in the front left side. Right now the Midget is on jack stands while I redo the front suspension. Otherwise it is also on its wheels so it can be moved around. Metal work is done up by the lathe and mill/drill while wood work is done by the radial arm saw or outside on the driveway. This seems to be enough separation to keep the saw dust out of the lathe. I do most of my welding outside as well.

View attachment 315085

That’s rather inspirational @francist and @mickri.
In moving my mill yesterday I discovered that if I eliminate one bench I will gain about 16 sq ft where I can put my saw. I need switch out the saw base for the one I built so that it’s more maneuverable.

My motorcycle takes the place of the car in your space @mickri so lots of the ideas are transferable. Thanks for sharing, it’s tremendously helpful.


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[Bi11Hudson]

Been wanting a BelSaw planer most of my life. Never had the space 'til the last 20 years or so. Finally found one used that I was willing to pay for. Problem is, I have a "stopgap" planer I found at Harbor Fright a few years back. Older model, all metal, a stable machine at a good price. But smaller than the BelSaw and no capability for milling special shapes. So, now I have two planers. ?What shop has two planers? Besides mine, of course. My problem is I seldom "retire" a machine and even more seldom sell it off. One doesn't sell tools, even when they are hungry. Standards, ya know?

There are exceptions, of course. A friend had given me a table saw, a "contractor" model. I did swap it off eventually for an older model Craftsman with a smaller blade. And a cast iron table. What I was after was using some older tooling that was too small for the newer 10 inch saws. Had to make a new shaft so it could fit the newer saw blades as well as existing tooling with 5/8 inch cutouts. But that was simple.

My shop is a small dwelling (3 room), with a wood frame. The machine tools are inside, moderately protected. As are Wife's woodworking equipment. The wood shop is mostly outside on a specially built back porch with open sides and a good roof. There is the problem of mild rusting, but at least they're out of the rain. Good wax keeps the rust to a minimum.

I want to fix a better shop, the deep south is not well known for basements. But my retirement is smaller than I anticipated, so things aren't moving along quite as fast as I'd hoped. Not being able to walk unassisted puts a big slowdown on every thing. No more construction~~~

.

 

[rwm]

Power Hacksaw — Keller model 3WA to be exact. My friends have shall we say “ refined “ senses of humour sometimes...

-f

Ha. I didn't see (or hear) that one coming!
Robert

 

[mickri]

The key to my garage/shop is that almost everything is on wheels. When not being used it is pushed back into its storage space. This keeps the main floor area open for current projects. The big 3'x6' work bench is an old wood desk. I put beefy wheels on it and raised it so that the top is at the same height as the table on the radial arm saw. Each drawer in the desk holds different stuff. If I need electrical stuff I go to that drawer. Same for plumbing or for files. And having a filing cabinet drawer is very handy. I keep all of the manuals for the different tools in that drawer.

Each machine sits on a 3 drawer rolling filing cabinet. The odds and ends for each machine are kept in the drawers. I picked up the 3 drawer filing cabinets at a county surplus auction. Cost was under $10 per cabinet. The wood desk was free to haul it away.

With small shops flexibility is the key.

 

[Tim9]

I went to a contractor portable table saw. It is an older Makita, and nice saw but no where near as nice as my cast iron table 40 y/o Craftsman 10” saw. Anyway the Craftsman is in storage and I bought a Ridgid folding table saw stand for the Makita. Now I can roll it in the corner when not in use. I surely didn’t want to spend 200.00 for a stand, but the Makita was still too bulky the way it was. Table saws take up space.

by the way Bi11 Hudson, I too am like you. I don’t think I’ve sold a single tool in my life. Always think, maybe I’ll need it one day.

 

[Janderso]

David, with a shop your size, I can relate.
When we bought this home my wife said, I could have the garage. That means no wood tools, no bikes, no cars, no suitcases. OK I have one shelving unit for domestic tranquility.
You will have to prioritize man.
My space is 20 X 20. I am very happy with the flow and storage. I have a lot of tooling and tools packed in this small space. It's a dream shop for me.
My plasma table has not been put together yet. It's a Certiflat 24 X 36, it will slide under my welding table in the center of the room when not in use. The 500 lb. capacity drawer slides are on the way.
The jet band saw is a vertical/horizontal so I'm pretty well set for a metal shop.
The only down fall is a place to angle grind. I try to direct the sparks into the garage door, I use a piece of thin sheet metal and lean it up against it when I grind.

 

[C-Bag]

by the way Bi11 Hudson, I too am like you. I don’t think I’ve sold a single tool in my life. Always think, maybe I’ll need it one day.

I've never sold any tools either. Given duplicates away when my dad gave me a better one, but never sold. I buy tools because I need them for a job I'm going to do. So unless it's something I plan to never do again why get rid of it? I think Mickri and I are in the same situation where few things are static and almost everything is on castors. It's the benefit of having smaller machines. We both went to finding 3 drawer small filing cabinets(two upper letter drawers, bottom file drawer) for little or nothing. I've got one under my Deckel clone and the other two are still on a cart waiting to be incorporated. I was thinking one for my mig/plasma cutter and one under my Atlas shaper. Those three drawers are so perfect for each machine. Like file drawer is perfect for my welding helmet and the letter drawers for consumables and welding tools. I do little wood but lots of other dust making like grinding, powdercoating etc so all my machines are covered so I don't have to worry. My SO loves seeing the stuff I make out in the shop and loves making custom "cozies" for all my machines. The last two were for the mill table and shaper and were made out of the old faded canvas couch covers that she decided to retire. She kept it just for covering the machines, bless her heart and all her vital organs

 

[DavidR8]

I've never sold any tools either. Given duplicates away when my dad gave me a better one, but never sold. I buy tools because I need them for a job I'm going to do. So unless it's something I plan to never do again why get rid of it? I think Mickri and I are in the same situation where few things are static and almost everything is on castors. It's the benefit of having smaller machines. We both went to finding 3 drawer small filing cabinets(two upper letter drawers, bottom file drawer) for little or nothing. I've got one under my Deckel clone and the other two are still on a cart waiting to be incorporated. I was thinking one for my mig/plasma cutter and one under my Atlas shaper. Those three drawers are so perfect for each machine. Like file drawer is perfect for my welding helmet and the letter drawers for consumables and welding tools. I do little wood but lots of other dust making like grinding, powdercoating etc so all my machines are covered so I don't have to worry. My SO loves seeing the stuff I make out in the shop and loves making custom "cozies" for all my machines. The last two were for the mill table and shaper and were made out of the old faded canvas couch covers that my she decided to retire. She kept it just for covering the machines, bless her heart and all her vital organs

I think we need to see pictures of your machine ‘cozies’!


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