# Franko's Whatever Works



## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

Last September I began the project of converting the carport shed on the side of my detached garage. The construction was complete by the middle of December. I made insulated walls and a place for a window AC. It has a small space heater that keeps it as toasty as I want. I insulated the open rafters with blocks of Styrofoam. The roof is just corrugated steel. I plan to remake it this spring and add decking.

The garage has never housed a car. Presently it is a wood shop.

Here is an overview shot from the front door.


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

Here is the view from the back of the shop.


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## oldboy1950 (Mar 5, 2015)

nice tidy shop you got there Franco.
i am also setting up a machine shop space  and am restoring an atlas mill and repairing a grizzly milling machine with a fried board.
Dan


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## FOMOGO (Mar 5, 2015)

Nice use of space, looks like you have everything right where you need it. MIke


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

Thanks, Oldboy and Fomogo. I picked up those tool cases a few years ago when they were on sale. It is nice to have uncrowded tool drawers.

My drawers are not as neat as Fomogo's but I've never settled into having all my tools. They keep accumulating.

This is my Grizzly 9x19 G-4000 lathe on a tool chest base. All my lathe tools and most of the mill tools are in this case.


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

My mills, a Grizzly G0619 and a Harbor Freight mini mill.


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## pineyfolks (Mar 5, 2015)

Nice space and well tooled. Looks like a great get away spot.


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

Parts storage is important when you have a lot of them. I picked up these old computer card file cabinets from a used office supply about 20 years ago for a song (about $20 each). They are incredibly strong and heavy duty storage drawers. I removed all the card holders and used plywood to close the bottoms. I made the top bins after I finished the new shop for holding material so I can see what I have. Shelf brackets on the garage wall hold long stock.


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

pineyfolks said:


> Nice space and well tooled. Looks like a great get away spot.



It is where I'm happiest, Pineyfolks. I had an extra high back leather rocking desk chair so I put it in there. I have a sore back, so I need to sit down every 30 minutes or so to rest it. It is also a great place to listen to music and smoke my evening cigar in the winter. I put in a seriously good stereo system. It is a Kenwood car radio driving two M-Audio bi-amped studio monitors and a sub-woofer. It is a good radio, plays CDs and has has a USB input for iPhone or memory sticks and an aux input for the tv sound.


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

This is my 2x48 belt grinder. It's made by Trick Tools to mount on a bench grinder but the belt was horizontal on the grinder and it was way too aggressive for my needs. I made a new stand so I could run it more vertically and with a stepped pulley to slow it way down.

The motor is mounted on a bar with bearing slides for easy belt changing and automatic tension by the weight of the motor.The linked belt makes it run smoother.

I shortened the platen so I would have more unsupported belt. I can hold parts over the unsupported belt and with a gloved finger push the belt into the piece for very controlled de-scratching and smoothing.

I've since added a work lamp that plugs into the empty socket.


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## Franko (Mar 5, 2015)

This is the sort of thing I build for money. My client is a scientific skin product testing firm. This rig is to photograph latex castings of blemishes. The rig is a modified copy stand and uses a microscope stage to position the special holder for the latex castings. Fiber optic lights project raking light to accentuate skin texture. The box is to block extraneous light.


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## catskinner (Mar 6, 2015)

Nice set up, I hope to get mine reorganized in the next few weeks so I will have a place to set up my lathe.


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## Franko (Mar 6, 2015)

Hang in there Catskinner. You'll get 'er done.


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## Dave Smith (Mar 6, 2015)

Franko--very nice shop and tools--wish mine was that organized--I too have my favorite old country & western music playing in my shops most of the time to relax me--I sure like to listen to my favorite old singers---your project item that you build for money looks very impressive----your temp outside is probably a lot higher than the 15 below zero here--it only got up to zero by noon---I like your belt sander-they are so handy and I also have used my hands on the backside of the belt to form to a shape--my belts are 6" wide and about 5' between the pulleys----I use the old crepe soles off old shoes for pressing on the backside so I don't heat my fingers up--I also use them to clean the front of the belt------thanks for showing your nice shop-------Dave


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## Franko (Mar 6, 2015)

Thanks for the nice comments, Dave. We don't get to -15º but it does get hot as hell in the summer in Dallas. That was my main motivation for making the machine shop, as my garage is impossible to insulate and cool. We've had some pretty cold days and my insulation is apparently efficient. It also deadens sound well so I don't bother my neighbor's baby during its naps.

In the summer, machining was difficult because I drip salty rust drips on my tools. Also, when the shop was unheated, warm fronts after cold spells would make all the cast iron sweat and rust.

I listen mostly to our Public Radio music station. My taste leans toward the eclectic. I loves me some Pink Floyd, too.

I have a little 4x24 belt sander that I want to convert similarly as yours. I just wear a cotton knit glove when I press the back of my belts.

I'd like to come up with some sort of pad to put over the platten. As it is, it is useless. I have the best belts money can buy, but they still have a bump at the taped seam. I was thinking of a 2-ply pad. Felt under a thin sheet of steel to soften the the bumps but maintain squareness. If I can get that figured out, I have plans to put a rest on the 2x48 grinder.

I have several types of belt grinders. One is a 1x48 that I've stepped down the speed. The belt I use on it is completely worn out, but it does a perfect job of deburring and lightly chamfering  small aluminum parts, and polishing rough ground radius.

For rough shaping, I use a 10" disk sander. It has a good flat plate guide so I can grind square edged curves with it, but the cut is course and requires smoothing. I also modified flap wheels to use on my bench grinder.

The finer slow belts do a great job of polishing the grind marks out. Sometimes it is easier than chucking a part on a rotary table on my mill which makes nice round-overs and radius's but still have to be de-burred and set-up time is a bit tedious.

I have a good horizontal band saw that cuts very square, but i also have a non-ferrous fine toothed carbide blade I use in my table saw with a very accurate slider to cut small parts perfectly smooth and square. The runout on my Powermatic 2000 is about 2-3 thousands at the teeth of a 10" blade, so cuts are very smooth with almost no teeth marks.


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## Kwikfab (May 22, 2015)

who needs a house 
my workshop is nowhere near that organised, but I still love being there. (I have a similar radio setup as well, never seen anyone else do it)
looking at your pics I can tell I joined the right forum 
people must think we are nuts


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## Franko (May 22, 2015)

Thanks, Kwikfab. Using a car radio in the shop makes a lot of sense. It is very compact, versatile and relatively inexpensive. There are no home components I know of that will play the variety of media. None of the bookshelf or boombox types had pre-amp outputs so I could drive the powered studio monitors and sub.

The big chair gets in the way sometimes, but it is good to have it so I can rest my back without having to go inside.


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## Kwikfab (Jun 8, 2015)

I am using LED light strips now as supplimentary lighting, they run off the same supply as the car stereo , good when you just have to pop in quickly to grab something (better than turning on 8 fluro lights


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## Franko (Jun 8, 2015)

I put a couple incandescent ceiling fixtures on a separate switch for just that reason.


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## extropic (Jun 8, 2015)

I just bumped into this thread. Kudos to Franko on putting together a well thought out and organized work space. I especially like the custom built organizer on top of the two file cabinets. Having a well organized assortment of raw stock on hand is a pleasure.


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## Franko (Jun 8, 2015)

Thanks extropic.
Having my stock so I can see what I have helps me not buy stock I already have, which was happening a lot.


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## bpratl (Jun 9, 2015)

Franko, I just took a tour of your shop, I'm very impressed. You did a great job on the layout by utilizing every square inch of available space. The new lathe will be very happy in it's new environment. I love your 2x48 belt sander. Bob


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## Franko (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks for looking, Bob. The shop is, like all shops, still a work in progress. Thus, the wheels.


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## Franko (Jun 16, 2015)

bpratl said:


> Franko, I just took a tour of your shop, I'm very impressed. You did a great job on the layout by utilizing every square inch of available space. The new lathe will be very happy in it's new environment. I love your 2x48 belt sander. Bob



I spent months arranging tools on a floorplan on my computer. The space seemed big on the plans and even after I finished it out. But, once I started putting in the tool boxes and machinery, it got cozy quickly. The floor plans I devised on the computer seemed just right, but once it was all in there, I did two major change-ups.

I thought all the machines would be against the outside wall, but once it was all in there I wished I'd strung wire on the other side. The machines really need to be in front of the rack on the garage wall. I also didn't have the big horizontal band saw and shop press when I was doing the planning.


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## Chip Hacket (Jul 18, 2015)

Franko said:


> It is where I'm happiest, Pineyfolks. I had an extra high back leather rocking desk chair so I put it in there. I have a sore back, so I need to sit down every 30 minutes or so to rest it. It is also a great place to listen to music and smoke my evening cigar in the winter. I put in a seriously good stereo system. It is a Kenwood car radio driving two M-Audio bi-amped studio monitors and a sub-woofer. It is a good radio, plays CDs and has has a USB input for iPhone or memory sticks and an aux input for the tv sound.
> 
> View attachment 97030


Franko you have a great looking shop that feels like home.  I second the comment about having found the right forum.  I think a mans shop is his refuge.

--Chip


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## Franko (Jul 18, 2015)

Thanks, Chip. That's nice for your say.


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