Above 1200 Sq/FT Industrial Express Welding and Machine Shop

[cvairwerks]

Cool, Dr., The photo makes it look like it was plumbed in. Could see it crashing down while running...

I hang out on PM and read lots of stuff there and absorb it like a sponge. Lots of good people and generosity if one plays by the rules and asks questions with some intelligence.

Between Wheelie and Ox, they are a couple of the best guys. Just takes a bit to learn to speak "Ox".... John Oder is another. I've corresponded with John on a few things outside of PM and hope to get back down to Houston and visit with him in person one of these days. He lives about 25 miles across town from where I did.

 

[zmotorsports]

Shop is looking great. Thanks for the updated pics.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

I have... apparently been missing out on some good threads. Subbed.

 

[dr_clyde]

She's a runner!



As some of you might have seen in another thread, I recently acquired a new (old) saw for my shop.

We got after it pretty quick, it needed a few small details taken care of before we could put it to work.

We had a job that needed some 45° miters on some CRS bars. I probably could have done this in my cold saw, but it was right at the limit, I don't think I've ever attempted to miter 4" bar in that saw or not.

First order of business was to clean out the coolant system. It was full of nasty gross sludge and goo, and the pump was pretty sticky. We took it apart, cleaned it and replaced some hoses that were falling apart and leaky.

I also cleaned all the vise so it would be usable. It was pretty crusted up with old chips and coolant scum. I re-routed the coolant line so I could actually position the coolant where I want it, especially when the head is tilted.





This coolant pump is one of the most clever little mechanisms I've seen in a while. There is a housing with an oilite bushing that rides on the main drive shaft that has the bore off axis. This makes the connected output shaft wobble back and forth. When connected to this little plunger, it oscillates back and forth allowing it to pump coolant on one side while drawing in coolant on the other side, via check valves.



I'm a happy guy, I've wanted one of these saws for a long time. Seems like they don't pop up very often, and when they do they're either very expensive or broken/missing half the parts. I feel lucky to have found this one when I did.

Thanks for looking.

 

[racer-john]

Nice saw.
How does that vise work when cutting at 90*?

 

[dr_clyde]

Nice saw.
How does that vise work when cutting at 90*?

The vise is reversible. You can just flip it around.

 

[racer-john]

I was hoping it was that simple. Lol.

 

[matt_i]

That looks a lot easier to square back up after a miter cut than jacking around with the vise on a horizontal saw trying to get it back in a good state of squareness after changing it. Mitering with a horizontal is a task I do not look forward to because of that...

 

[EdGasket]

Wow awesome! Love the tall ceiling workshop. One day!

 

[TomcoPDR]

Amazing new shop

 

[dr_clyde]

Sometimes deals just fall into your lap.

A friend asked me yesterday if I was interested in a screw compressor. He said a buddy of his was downsizing his shop and didn't have 3 phase at his new location, so his air compressor was for sale. Lightly used, hour meter is a shade under 1900 hours, and it has the service records in the door.

I immediately said yes when he showed me a picture and said $500.

So now I have 3 compressors. Time to find a new home for one of my Quincy piston compressors.

Anyway, its an Atlas Copco 10hp screw, will do 36CFM at 129psi. And it will do so quietly.

It also has a built in refrigerated air dryer. Which is neat.



Gonna try to have it hooked up tomorrow.

 

[zmotorsports]

Holy ****!!! That's the deal of the century right there.

 

[Robert Haas]

yep, you ****

 

[86turbodsl]

$500? You STOLE that thing. Congrats!!!!

 

[lis2323]

What a score! Must be clean living. [emoji481]

 

[dr_clyde]

Got the compressor powered up this afternoon. Man, that thing is QUIET. It is fast too, fills the tank in no time.

I had to do some modifications to the staircase to cram it under there, hope to have that put back together tomorrow morning.

 

[zmotorsports]

Got the compressor powered up this afternoon. Man, that thing is QUIET. It is fast too, fills the tank in no time.

I had to do some modifications to the staircase to cram it under there, hope to have that put back together tomorrow morning.

That's awesome.

 

[tarmy]

Great shop build...tooling anyway...

Love that bandsaw...and a you **** on the compressor.

 

[Jdsmith]

That's a great deal on a screw compressor or dryer let alone both! Let us know when you get the HVL-H or 10EE and are ready to part with the SB heavy 10. I'm a few hours away in Ohio and may be interested.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[dr_clyde]

That's a great deal on a screw compressor or dryer let alone both! Let us know when you get the HVL-H or 10EE and are ready to part with the SB heavy 10. I'm a few hours away in Ohio and may be interested.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I'll keep it in mind, although you'll probably have to fight my old man for it!

I haven't really put a priority on chasing down a smaller lathe. If I happen to find one for the right price, I'll get it, but I'm not in dire need such that I will pay the market price for one right now.

 

[dr_clyde]

New Machine Day!

My landlord came into my office yesterday asking if I wanted a surface grinder. Apparently one of his customers recently upgraded their grinder and just wanted to get rid of the old one. They offered it to him for $200. He offered it to me, as he didn't need another grinder.

Of course, I accepted.

I had been looking on and off for a surface grinder for years now. I could use one occasionally, but not everyday so I was waiting for the right deal. So when this one was offered to me, I couldn't refuse.

It is a 1997 model Kent KGS-63ahd. It has a 12" x 24" chuck, full hydraulic feeds, coolant, and it is apparently in good working order, just dirty and in dire need of a cleaning and coolant change.



The coolant system has a nifty swarf removal system. The coolant first drains into a weir that allows gravity to settle out quite a lot of the grit, then it cascades past a rotating magnetic drum that pulls out almost all of the rest of the metal grit, then it finally goes back into the sump to be recirculated. So, it isn't perfect, but it catches a LOT of crud.





I need to get the power circuit run to it and get it all hooked back up, then take a couple days and give it good cleaning. Coolant desperately needs changing, it is FOUL right now. But hey, for $200 I am happy to put in some elbow grease.

Thanks for looking.

 

[txvwnut]

Even if you didn’t want or need one you just can’t pass that up for two hundred.

 

[Steve from Socal]

Man you ****!!!!

First that compressor now the surf grinder, you must be the luckiest dog in Tulip town

I use Hocut 795 in my grinder it has good tank life and grinds nicely.

 

[lis2323]

ANOTHER good score[emoji481]

 

[zmotorsports]

Very, very nice.

A surface grinder is an item on my want list but nothing of that size. I would like to have a little 6x18 for my home shop.

 

[dr_clyde]

I'm really excited to get this grinder up and running. I have a few projects that I have been putting off because I need a grinder to make them the way I really want.

Plus, new equipment that adds to shop capacity is always fun.

 

[4 FN 27]

Nice piece Dr!!!

I had one lined up to go into my Shop. We took it out of service after buying a Tool Grinder specifically purposed for sharpening Turret Tooling.

One of my fine gentlemen here decided to move it out of the way with the Forklift...and tipped it over. I was able to save the Magnetic Vice...

 

[LucienShao]

You also have good pals.

 

[dr_clyde]

Seems like lately my updates have been pretty sporadic. We have been absolutely buried at my shop, and unfortunately I can't show you guys a lot of what we've been building due to a lot of the stuff being inside folks personal houses (hand railings, staircases, and stuff like that).

I do have a couple updates that I can share however.

Not really my shop's typical work, but a while back, my mom expressed interest in having a large-ish landscape boulder at her house. Turns out, big rocks are hard to find for a reasonable price and even harder to handle unless you have some heavy equipment. I called a few local gravel pits and no one local had one or was willing to deal with delivery and placing it. Local nurseries and landscaping guys couldn't handle rocks the size she wanted.

Fortunately, a good friend of mine found one in the woods behind his house, but it took some interesting 4 wheeling to get to it and get it out.

We took the Bobcat, Pettibone and chainsaw into the woods and blazed a trail to the rock.







The bobcat wasn't having it. Too heavy.



Not an issue for the Pettibone though.





I swear I don't know how some people live without forklifts.



Fortunately my mom only lives a few miles away from my buddy's property, so we put the rock on the trailer, and drove the Pettibone right over to her house.

She's very happy.



I can now add boulder procurement and placement to my resume.

 

[dr_clyde]

One of our good customers has some property on Lake Michigan. They had some issues with the rapidly changing water levels wreaking havok on the shoreline. To solve this, they had a local company drive a couple of very nice seawalls in front of the property. They needed us to fabricate handrailings for the staircase down to the water.

We didn't grab many pictures, as this was a LONG day, but we fabricated the handrails in the shop and site welded the brackets on the structural steel staircase and platform. It's only a few brackets, but GETTING to them was a challenge.

Hard to get a good photo, but this is from the deck above the upper seawall. There is another level lower that connects to the platform. The gap in the railing is for a folding swim ladder yet to be designed and fabricated. We're building that too, need to get drawings done and approved still.



The handrails were pretty straightforward and nothing special, just bent stainless steel tubing . The pain in the *** on this job was welding on the brackets.

I was wearing neoprene waders, which helped, but I was basically in the water for a lot of this job. I did some on a ladder, and some up on the slippery as hell boulders.

You can see I'm wet up to almost my armpits, as depending on where I was working, the waves would crash up my back. My little Miller Maxstar running off a Honda generator was a champ. Never missed a beat.



We got it done and the customer is happy, although I don't particularly like welding in the waves.

 

[dr_clyde]

One last update for the night, I now have a thoroughbred in the stable.

It's a 2002 Mazak Quick Turn Nexus 350 CNC lathe.

I don't have the coolant sump or chip conveyor installed here, they needed a good cleaning so they're getting that first.

It's a pretty decent sized machine, can clear swing around 26" in diameter and turn 16" diameter under the turret. It can put a shaft 48" between centers, and has a 4" bore through the spindle so it can bar pull some pretty decent sized material. 30HP on the spindle, 12 position turret with a 12" Kitagawa hydraulic chuck.

I've been looking for a CNC lathe for a long time now, and this deal happened and it was too good to ignore. A friend was upgrading, and he offered this lathe to me for a very good deal.

I have a couple customers who I want to pick up their turning work, and another customer who is looking for a local shop to manufacture their product line, which is mostly turned parts. Hopefully I can get the spindle turning within a week or two.

Once I get it all cleaned up and fully installed, I will take some updated pics of the new shop layout, as I had to do some advanced shop Tetris to fit this thing. Thanks for looking.

 

[lis2323]

I can now add boulder procurement placement to my resume.

Ahh. At last. [emoji1]

While I am not even in the same universe as you for fabrication skills I feel I am at least close to being equal as far as rocks go.







Rock and “ROW”






And my personal fave....the World’s first disposable submarine. Designed for one time use. [emoji41]




Lots of spare time here on the farm...[emoji57]


Rock on, Doc!

 

[dr_clyde]

How did you cut the "tub" in the rock? Looks neat.

 

[lis2323]

The rock is being stored in my maintenance yard by “Design /Build tenants who work on multimillion dollar homes.

I have no idea how it was “carved”out

When I started in the turf business 30 years ago, some local “high end” homes had landscape budgets approaching $100,000.00 and I was in awe. LOL

Today we have residential landscape budgets (including hardscape) exceeding a million dollars and taking several years to complete.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dr_clyde]

The rock is being stored in my maintenance yard by “Design /Build tenants who are work on multimillion dollar homes.

I have no idea how it was “carved”out

When I started in the turf business 30 years ago, some local “high end” homes had landscape budgets approaching $100,000.00 and I was in awe. LOL

Today we have residential landscape budgets (including hardscape) exceeding a million dollars and taking several years to complete.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's a whole 'nother world when you get to that level of wealth. I have a few customers who are that wealthy, and they are simultaneously my best customers and biggest headaches.

 

[lis2323]

It's a whole 'nother world when you get to that level of wealth. I have a few customers who are that wealthy, and they are simultaneously my best customers and biggest headaches.

Being the lowly farmer I rarely have direct dealings with any of them.

Having said that, I am very grateful for the appreciative customer base I have enjoyed. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[dr_clyde]

Hey Guys,

Its been a minute. Work has been absolutley nuts and I haven't had any time to keep up on my shop thread.

We've filled up the current digs, probably time to start looking at taking over more space in the building or seeking a new shop space again.

Anyway, here is our mess. Trying to find time to organize some of this, it takes over if you let it.

Looking down from above the office. Mostly this area is for material handing and running the Hurco VMC. Also our messy break table.



Main material storage and saw area.

Looking out over the rest of the shop.


Some shots of the main work and welding area.




The "sheet metal" area. The Pexto shear, Barth brake and the Marvel saw are over here, among other tools that don't fit anywhere else, like the arbor press and the Beverly shear.

 

[dr_clyde]

The machine shop is essentially unchanged, other than the clutter. The Mazak is in the center of the area, making parts all day on that thing lately.



The manual machine tools are all around the perimeter where they were.

 

[dr_clyde]

Hopefully I can get off my *** and clean this place up. Hoping to have another open house/BBQ in the next few months.

 

[cvairwerks]

Love the Greenerd #4 coat rack... It's good for the shop to be busy. I know some of the guys over on PM are starting to slow some.