# The mill is finally in !!!



## blacksmithden (Oct 1, 2013)

Well, I've been waiting until the mill was in place before posting. This has been a tough summer getting everything set up in our double car garage. Since spring, in went: 

12x36 inch King Industrial (Chinese) lathe, complete with it's own little cubby hole under my garage shelves...the cubby hole wall storage unit I built for all of it's bits and pieces. It's off to the left in the first pic.

A 45000 BTU Sterling natural gas garage heater. 

An 8 ft x 38" welding bench with 1/4" plate metal top. 

A new insulated garage door and new door opener. 

Two, 8 foot double fluorescent commercial sign light fixtures (any surgeon would be proud to operate in there now !) 

A 230 volt, 60 amp pony panel, conduit, etc, with plenty of outlets for all the toys. 

I built 2 angle iron and expanded metal shelves 4 ft by 1 ft to put all my heavy stuff on. I put a piece of 4x8 3/4" plywood directly onto the wall, then lagged the shelves to it.

And now, FINALLY, a Craftex (Busy Bee) B048 vertical mill, with a tilting and swiveling head and most of the tooling I think I'll need for a while. Yes, the bank account is on life support !!!! LOL !!!! The Mrs asked me how much the mill cost tonight. I didn't answer her.  This is going to make winter a lot more tolerable around here. Being this far north (Edmonton Alberta), aside from work, I tend to be kind of house bound when it's blistering cold outside. -40C is bloody cold no matter how you dress !


Anyway, here's a few pics.















The mill making it's entrance. I decided, rather than Mickey Mouse around with 1200 lbs of iron, I'd call in a few favors. It's always nice to have friends with access to a picker crane with a 1500 lbs load capacity out to 22 ft.  We took it out of the truck with the crane...set it on a pallet jack (pump truck) and wheeled it in....then lifted it off that with an engine crane. It went very smooth actually.




The electrical going in.




The new door which makes all the difference in the world when it comes to keeping the heat in. I didn't think the 35 year old wooden one was going to cut it. 




The lathe with the 4 ft fluorescent light I put over it turned on. You can also see the wheels I put under it. There's 8, 880lb load capacity casters under there, and the frames are 5/8" plate. I did it so I could pull it out of it's spot if I needed to have a piece extended through and out the other end of the head stock. No problems with vibration that I've detected. Space is at a premium in here, so it was a necessary evil. The only thing Mrs Blacksmithden asks is that her mini-van still fits in for winter, which it does. 





Ok guys...that's about it in a nut shell.


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## Old Iron (Oct 1, 2013)

blacksmithden said:


> The Mrs asked me how much the mill cost tonight. I didn't answer her.  This is going to make winter a lot more tolerable around here.
> 
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Congrats on the mill, But when the Mrs fines out how  much it cost it may not be a lot more tolerable around there.:whiteflag:

Paul


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## johnnyc14 (Oct 1, 2013)

Great looking set up with the new mill, lathe and all the improvements you made to the garage. I just did just about the same thing with a used lathe and a new PM32 mill. Had to re-arrange the entire garage to make sure my wife can still park in there in winter, it would have been a deal-breaker if she had to park outside.





I'm in St. Albert, not far from you.

John


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## blacksmithden (Oct 1, 2013)

johnnyc14 said:


> Great looking set up with the new mill, lathe and all the improvements you made to the garage. I just did just about the same thing with a used lathe and a new PM32 mill. Had to re-arrange the entire garage to make sure my wife can still park in there in winter, it would have been a deal-breaker if she had to park outside.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That is one nice setup you have there. What size is the lathe ? Looks to be at least 40"...VERY nice. I see you put shelves between the pedestals. I never thought of doing that. Thanks for the idea !!! See...now that's what this section is all about. Getting ideas from what other guys have done so we can cram just a little bit more stuff in the same space !  I guess I'm off to Home Depot for another sheet of plywood tonight.

EDIT: Scratch the plywood idea...I forgot..I've still got a few pieces of expanded metal and angle iron in the garage that will make a perfect set of shelves for under there, and at least some of the chips will fall though to the floor. Cool !


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## DAN_IN_MN (Oct 1, 2013)

Nice set up!

Are you still seeing -40 these winters?  I remember as a kid in N MN (1971-1989) it got much colder than recent years.

When will the Mrs find out the price of the mill?  Did the mill come with a cot? :jester:


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## TomS (Oct 1, 2013)

Been to Edmonton in the winter many times so that new door and heater will come in handy.

BTW - nice shop!


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## blacksmithden (Oct 1, 2013)

DAN_IN_MN said:


> Nice set up!
> 
> Are you still seeing -40 these winters?  I remember as a kid in N MN (1971-1989) it got much colder than recent years.
> 
> When will the Mrs find out the price of the mill?  Did the mill come with a cot? :jester:



The last 2 winters have actually been pretty mild. It rarely got below -30 degrees C...not sure what that is on the F scale.

3 winters ago, one morning was the coldest I've ever seen it.....-46.1 deg C (probably right around -50 F) and it was -58 C with the wind chill. Yet, for some stupid reason, I still went to work. I'm a heavy equipment (99% outdoors) mechanic/millwright by the way. LOL.

As for the price of the mill...I got it for $4200 CDN, all taxes in. Delivery and setup didn't cost anything because I (we - friends) did it myself. As for the cot, no, it didn't come with one. The thing is, I knew I was buying it this fall.....is it any wonder why the heater went in first ? If she found out, I wasn't going to be sleeping out there in the cold !!!! BAHAHAHA !!!! Planning - it's everything.


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## chip_slinger (Oct 1, 2013)

Nice shop! Being in a heated space can make all the difference. And don't wait for it all to come together to post next time!


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