# My "shop" for the last 5 years



## mattthemuppet2 (Jun 17, 2014)

hey all, figured I'd take a few pictures for sentimentality sake. This lot has taken me quite a few years to accumulate, with most of the "big" stuff coming in the last couple of years. Mostly been used to make more tooling, but I'm getting to the point where I can actually start making things. The first big project(s) will be new bike lights for mountainbiking, once I get it all moved and set up again in WA.







one day I hope to get a proper mill, even if only a benchtop, and a bigger lathe, but that won't be until I get a permanent job and buy a house, perhaps in a year or two's time.


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## RandyM (Jun 17, 2014)

Yup, definetely paradise to me. Very nice.


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## starion007 (Jun 17, 2014)

Thats a great shop, your space! you cant beat that. One thing about this stuff, it can grow with your needs.

Mark


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## mattthemuppet2 (Jun 18, 2014)

thanks guys, it's been a fun place to work and learn over the last few years, although it gets bitterly cold in winter and steaming hot in summer. I just have to adjust the amount of clothes I wear or don't wear 

hopefully it'll grow in its future home after I've finished this 1 year contract, I just have to make sure we're going to stay in the same place for a fair few years before buying heavy equipment. Paying by the pound to ship stuff gets expensive!


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## Gary Ayres (Sep 26, 2014)

Agreed - shipping costs are usually the worst bit.

Nice shop that you are leaving behind - augurs well for an even better one next.

Good Luck!


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## mattthemuppet2 (Sep 27, 2014)

thanks Gary! I should take a picture of my new "shop", it's worked out even better and I have gobs of room. Lathe, grinder and DP are in the main garage, band saw and press are in an internal room and the anodising gear is in a 2nd unused garage! I could get a  20x60 lathe and still have plenty of space, which would be useful as I'd probably be sleeping with it 

It'll be interesting to see where we end up next - Seattle/Tacoma area is top of the list although the wife isn't keen on the weather. Ideally somewhere awesome to live, not too expensive, right next to the mountains and awash with cheap used machinery


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## Andre (Sep 27, 2014)

Nice shop, can you post some more detail on that little lathe? I love small instrument lathes.


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## JimDawson (Sep 27, 2014)

If you love heavy traffic, rain, and high cost of living, you will love the Seattle/Tacoma area.  Not that the Portland is much better.  There is a reason that I live in a rural area, but only about 23 miles from downtown Portland.  If you can find a place a bit east of Seattle, or east or west of Olympia and don't have to commute too far, then you will be in pretty good shape.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Sep 28, 2014)

Andre said:


> Nice shop, can you post some more detail on that little lathe? I love small instrument lathes.



thanks Andre! Actually, um, I can't give you any details about the lathe as I have none. it's a complete mystery. All I know was that it was once traded in for a tattoo to a tattoo artist, who used it to wind the armatures/ coils on his tattoo guns, who then traded it to a chopper builder for some work on his Harley, who then gave it to a good friend of mine who gave it to me before he drove out West to Portland  I'm guessing it was an early 20thC kit lathe that you put together yourself with your own motor, but that's as far as I've gotten.



JimDawson said:


> If you love heavy traffic, rain, and high cost of living, you will love the Seattle/Tacoma area. Not that the Portland is much better. There is a reason that I live in a rural area, but only about 23 miles from downtown Portland. If you can find a place a bit east of Seattle, or east or west of Olympia and don't have to commute too far, then you will be in pretty good shape.



yay, thanks Jim, haven't even applied for the job yet  At the end of the day, I'll be pretty thankful if we get to choose where we live and however crappy SeaTac might be, it sure beats somewhere in the middle of the Dakotas or Kansas! If that sounds screwy, read this


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## JimDawson (Sep 28, 2014)

mattthemuppet said:


> yay, thanks Jim, haven't even applied for the job yet  At the end of the day, I'll be pretty thankful if we get to choose where we live and however crappy SeaTac might be, it sure beats somewhere in the middle of the Dakotas or Kansas! If that sounds screwy, read this



I read it, I feel for you.  I had no idea.  I'm glad I'm self employed.


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## Analias (Sep 28, 2014)

mattthemuppet said:


> yay, thanks Jim, haven't even applied for the job yet  At the end of the day, I'll be pretty thankful if we get to choose where we live and however crappy SeaTac might be, it sure beats somewhere in the middle of the Dakotas or Kansas! If that sounds screwy, read this



Hey hey what's wrong with the Dakotas?   I was born and raised there, North Dakota that is. I should also mention North Dakota is enjoying one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at the moment. You just need to learn to bundle up in the winter and enjoy mosquitoes and horse flies in the summer. :-D 


Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk


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## mattthemuppet2 (Sep 28, 2014)

JimDawson said:


> I read it, I feel for you.  I had no idea.  I'm glad I'm self employed.



no worries, I chose this career with my eyes open and I love what I do, I just want to get over this PITA process and settle down somewhere.



Analias said:


> Hey hey what's wrong with the Dakotas?  I was born and raised there, North Dakota that is. I should also mention North Dakota is enjoying one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at the moment. You just need to learn to bundle up in the winter and enjoy mosquitoes and horse flies in the summer. :-D



I actually thought SD was beautiful in its own way when we drove through it. It's just that I grew up somewhere even flatter than the Dakotas (the Fens in the UK) and I've been a keen mountainbiker for my whole adult life, so I've no particular desire to live somewhere flat and surrounded by nothing much. Not to say other people don't like it, my folks absolutely love the open skies of the Fens, just not my cup of tea.

Anyway, snuck out to the garage(s) today and took a few pictures. Whoever made this garage arrangement must have been deranged as it's a 3 car space with room for one car! Thankfully we only have one car and lots of tools, so it works out perfectly for me.





the workshop room that takes up 2/3 of the 2nd bay



the press does get used, although it's main role is something heavy to lock my mtb to 

2nd garage - haven't yet set up the anodising rig (got distracted fixing a bunch of problems with my commuter bike instead) so it's spread all over the place. Tarps were for covering pears, which have been my main bane for the last few weeks!



it's a pretty darn neat space, that's for sure and it's really handy both having frequently used tools together and rarely used ones tucked away in another room. There's even another garage and shed at the end of the garden, but they've fallen into disrepair. Crazy place.


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## GA Gyro (Sep 28, 2014)

JimDawson said:


> I read it, I feel for you.  I had no idea.  I'm glad I'm self employed.



I read it also.  WOW... did not realize it was that difficult.

I agree with Jim... running your own show is the place to be.  It has its own set of issues... however at least one has some control over their life and destiny.

OTOH... If one actually got tenured at a BIG school... the bennies might be better than self empolyeds.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Sep 29, 2014)

Well it is kind of like running you're own show, just within a large frame work. Sort of like a collective I guess - no one is telling you what to do, but you still have a set of responsibilities that you have to meet.

Benefits are okay, health is passable and retirement is decent, then tuition for the kids is a huge plus. Pay is manageable as a single earner with wife and kids, but doesn't leave much after the usual bulls and kid stuff. The big change with tenure is not stressing about tenure. If anything the work load actually increases  I do it because I love teaching and seeing students have those same "aha" moments that I did.


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