What's A_Pmech been up to this week?

A_Pmech · Mar 18, 2011

The week is almost though and it's been a BUSY one! It started last week when I tore down an old shed using the forklift. It actually worked really well.

That Friday I purchased and took delivery of a 48' intermodal container to use as a storage building:

Then, last Saturday I took delivery of a radial drill from another GJ member. You can read about that here.

Sunday afternoon Mjozefow came out to help load up the container and make room in the shop.

Mitch said it would be no problem at all to simply lift the container up and place it on blocks:

That's when I pointed out a little info painted on the container, such as the tare weight. :lol:

Since Mitch left on Tuesday I've been filling and organizing the container to move ALL the storage out of the shop. I've been tripping over airplane parts, car parts, stored materials, etc. for far too long. I'll update soon with more photos of the progress. :thumbup:

tonydanzah · Mar 18, 2011

if thats Mjozefow, who was that guy in his avatar standing by the vise?

rickairmedic · Mar 18, 2011

Oooooooooooooo you got a 48 footer . Mines only 28' but it still beats the heck out of the crappy tin sheds it is replacing

.

Rick

Torque1st · Mar 18, 2011

Lucky dog.

The police would be out in <15 minutes to haul me off for beatings if I tried to have a container delivered in suburbia.

dadsEH · Mar 18, 2011

yep... we had a bloke up the road that dropped about 5 containers on his vacant land a few years ago... along with a big earth moving digger...one by one they disappeared and
one day he got raided by the local constabulary....seems he buried the lot and had a nice cash crop growing underground with lights/articulated watering systems... he got sprung when the local electrical techs did some tests on his home built meter and excessive electrical useage.
he gets out in about 4 years...hehehe

tvfd911 · Mar 18, 2011

dadsEH said:
yep... we had a bloke up the road that dropped about 5 containers on his vacant land a few years ago... along with a big earth moving digger...one by one they disappeared and
one day he got raided by the local constabulary....seems he buried the lot and had a nice cash crop growing underground with lights/articulated watering systems... he got sprung when the local electrical techs did some tests on his home built meter and excessive electrical useage.
he gets out in about 4 years...hehehe

Impressive

A_Pmech · Mar 18, 2011

tonydanzah said:
if thats Mjozefow, who was that guy in his avatar standing by the vise?

Same guy.

Torque1st said:
The police would be out in <15 minutes to haul me off for beatings if I tried to have a container delivered in suburbia.

They tried to incorporate this county about 6 years ago. There was an old-fashioned pitchfork and torch rally at the courthouse. They got the message and decided to shelve the issue permanently.

Mines only 28' but it still beats the heck out of the crappy tin sheds it is replacing .

Aye, they replace crappy sheds rather handily.

dadsEH said:
seems he buried the lot and had a nice cash crop growing underground with lights/articulated watering systems

Now that's original!

:wtf:

SweetD · Mar 19, 2011

Envious of the room you have, and the talent. Can't wait to see your drill press rebuild unfold.

Dave

A_Pmech · Mar 20, 2011

A_Pmech said:
Mitch said it would be no problem at all to simply lift the container up and place it on blocks:

Actually, he did lift the container!

I couldn't get the forklift to the back of the container to lift it up, so we set up a fulcrum point at the center of the container. Then, we lifted up the door end of the box with the forklift until we could slide the fulcrum under. Then, after setting the box back down, Mitch lifted up on the closed end and was able to tip it doors down to insert concrete pads and blocks under the front end. Finally, we lifted up the doors end with the forklift again, removed the fulcrum and set it down on blocks at the middle and door end.

In total the container is supported in six places with about 40 square feet of footing area which results in a ground pressure of around 1,000 lbs per square foot. My propane tank footings have significantly higher ground pressure and have not sunk substantially. I expect frost heaving may be an issue, we'll see.

Here's a photo of the front of the box cantilevered off the fulcrum:

Last Wednesday I went out and bought a bunch of shelving for the container. This stuff is basically miniature pallet racking:

It wasn't cheap, but this is worth the extra cost:

When Mitch came down he brought a Craftsman workbench with him that he didn't have room for. He couldn't believe that I didn't have either one of the bench vises I bought from him mounted up. We didn't get around to mounting the small vise on the bench while he was here, but he demanded that I supply photographic proof:

I actually used the vise for the first time a few minutes later. It's nice to have a bench again. Thanks Mitch!

Today I began moving machines around to make more room:

I also removed the crappy coolant tray under the new / old radial drill and put the machine inside:

Tomorrow, I have a little more clean up work to do and then it's back to making hammers and tap charts. With about 3x more room to work in than before things should go a lot faster now that I won't be tripping over all kinds of stored stuff.

:thumbup:

banzaitoyota · Mar 20, 2011

I have 3 units of the same shelving (Lowes) works great...

Whats this about TAP CHARTS? (Paypal has cash in it burning a hole in my pocket

)

OccupantRJ · Mar 20, 2011

AP, I think we both have "haul home decrepit machinery disease", and I'm not looking for a cure.....

mjozefow · Mar 24, 2011

tonydanzah said:
if thats Mjozefow, who was that guy in his avatar standing by the vise?

aka why do I look so weird? I was straining to lift!

And it's not like John will actually pause for a picture!

This trip was payback for helping to move this mill and the shaper. Oh and a lathe too... :lol:

scott37300 · Mar 24, 2011

A_Pmech said:
Sunday afternoon Mjozefow came out to help load up the container and make room in the shop.

Between the two of you that is a lot of talent in one place!

z28snksknr · Mar 24, 2011

hey A Pmech, did you ever finish that hardwood floor from last summer?

A_Pmech · Mar 25, 2011

banzaitoyota said:
I have 3 units of the same shelving (Lowes) works great...

Whats this about TAP CHARTS? (Paypal has cash in it burning a hole in my pocket )

Have a look at this thread:

A New Kind of Drill and Tap Chart

Still taking orders, I'm going to make a batch here shortly to fulfill current orders and provide some stock.

:thumbup:

Scott37300 said:
Between the two of you that is a lot of talent in one place!

It's scary sometimes.

mjozefow · Mar 25, 2011

scott37300 said:
Between the two of you that is a lot of talent in one place!

Between the two of us we can F*** stuff up at 3x the normal rate! :lol_hitti

A_Pmech · Mar 25, 2011

I'm almost done with cleaning out the shop. After moving the machines to their final position I found the power cords were too short, as I expected. That means more 3-phase wiring!

Here's the pile of parts. The expensive stuff is in those little yellow boxes. Each plug is about $45 and the receptacles are almost $60 each.

To get power to the other side of the shop I bent up some conduit:

Then I mounted some boxes, pulled a bunch of wire, and wired up the receptacles. Here's the finished result:

Next on the list was finishing up the installation of the DoAll saw. I've had it on 4x4's since I it arrived here. When the machine is placed on 4x4's the frame warps enough to go out of true alignment. To solve this problem I went to the farm store and bought some leveling feet:

Then I removed the 4x4's from under the machine:

And adjusted the feet until the machine was level and in true alignment again.

The finished installation:

Using my junky farm store engine hoist I moved the shaper and table saw into their final positions.

Looking under the machines I noticed they have a weird bolting arrangement. The bolt hole for mounting the machine to the floor is actually about 4" off the floor. This made it necessary to use a plumb bob to locate the hole locations in the floor:

Then I drilled the anchor holes. The slab is about 8" thick 4,000 PSI mix poured stiff with 1/2" rebar on 12" centers. Between the two machines I only hit one piece of rebar. Lucky day!

Hoisting the shaper into position:

The final bolting arrangement for both machines is shown here. Basically, a 1/2x3 Red Head wedge anchor at each bolting location tightened with a 3/8" all-thread coupling nut. Then a 3/8" bolt screwed into the other end of the coupling nut. Much better than fishing around in the hole for those damnable lead split wedge anchors!

Both machines required a little bit of leveling, which I accomplished using sheet metal shims. Here's the finished installation with my shop-built outfeed table installed on the saw:

And the installed shaper:

z28snksknr said:
hey A Pmech, did you ever finish that hardwood floor from last summer?

Now that I have the room to work again and the machines are permanently set up I'll be able to get back to building the floor and a number of other projects. I have about two more days of work to make the floor field and another 3-4 days of work to make the border. Work on the floor ground to a halt last year when I ran out of room.

:beer:

A_Pmech · Mar 25, 2011

mjozefow said:
Between the two of us we can F*** stuff up at 3x the normal rate!

Bwaaaahahahahahha! :lol:

copterdoctor · Mar 25, 2011

Do I spy a buell??

Zrexxer · Mar 25, 2011

I'm sure you had a reason for doing it the way you did, but I'd have probably taken a different approach with the shaper. Rather than plumbing down from the hole above the plinth base, I'd probably have just marked four holes in the corners, and cut some 1/4" x 2" flat to go in each corner, then bolt down through that, effectively clamping the base to the floor.

e-tek · Mar 25, 2011

Did you make the motorbike out of wood??

srmofo · Mar 25, 2011

Well Im sure Im not the only one. but I can say without a doubt, I am truly jealous of all your toys and space.

The place looks awesome

A_Pmech · Mar 25, 2011

copterdoctor said:
Do I spy a buell??

Just the headlights and fly screen.

Zrexxer said:
Rather than plumbing down from the hole above the plinth base, I'd probably have just marked four holes in the corners, and cut some 1/4" x 2" flat to go in each corner, then bolt down through that, effectively clamping the base to the floor.

Good idea Zrexxer, hadn't thought of approaching it from that way!

Etek said:
Did you make the motorbike out of wood??

No, it's about 90% aluminum.

The next one might be plastic though.

srmofo said:
The place looks awesome

Tks! Almost done! Then it's back to work on Monday. I'm behind, as usual!

A_Pmech · Mar 26, 2011

Some "almost finished" photos. I have a few things to finish up, such as installing the laundry sink shown in a couple photos. You can almost see the wall mount I'm building for it between the radial drill and the Bridgeport:

Now I have room for a few more machines.

STClurker · Mar 26, 2011

I think you should consider changing your name to OCGJ (Old Car Guy Jr) LOL. it looks like you could give him a run for his money machine wise

mjozefow · Mar 26, 2011

Your mill and saw are crooked. :lol:

Amitygravel · Mar 26, 2011

John.

Very impressive ! I would just about kill to be able to work in a shop like that , let alone be the owner of it !
How in the world do you find the time , energy and motivation to get it done ?
Is this shop your means of income , or just personal projects kind of thing ?
Again , impressive and thanks for taking the time to show us.

Craig

A_Pmech · Mar 26, 2011

STClurker said:
I think you should consider changing your name to OCGJ (Old Car Guy Jr) LOL. it looks like you could give him a run for his money machine wise

I'm catching up! :lol:

mjozefow said:
Your mill and saw are crooked.

By design!

Amitygravel said:
Very impressive ! I would just about kill to be able to work in a shop like that , let alone be the owner of it !
How in the world do you find the time , energy and motivation to get it done ?
Is this shop your means of income , or just personal projects kind of thing ?
Again , impressive and thanks for taking the time to show us.

My garage shop is my business, which is a roundabout way of saying it is my life. I spend most of each and every day in there. It's both a dream and part of a bigger plan which is starting to come together. With a decent sized lathe, mill, saw, and drills I have the core group of manual machines. To this core group I'll be adding a number of other machines as they come available. Mainly grinding machinery, EDM, fabricating machinery and TIG capability, along with ancillary capability and eventually CNC chipmaking machinery.

I run a business out of the shop, but it's also where I play. Mostly at building motorcycles, something I haven't had a lot of time to explore lately.

If things work out, it is my intention to build world-class machine tools and metrology equipment when I have all the necessary capabilities in place and the market is ready for it. I'm in the design stages of my first instrument now.

By converting to a service economy, this country has almost completely lost the ability and skills necessary to manufacture machine tools, which has put it at a strategic disadvantage with manufacturing economies like China and Japan. We are currently incapable of supporting a full-scale conventional war with an equivalent power as we do not have the manufacturing capability required.

Ref: "Army Aviation Needs Him Now - Where's Billy Mitchell?" by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Grigsby, United States Army

Machine tools of the highest accuracy are still fitted by hand, not assembled on assembly lines. I have made it a mission of mine to study the "old ways" and by doing so I have a solid foundation on which to build. Maybe, if this country sees the error of it's ways and decides to pursue a course of in-sourcing and manufacturing expansion, I can use my skills to help re-establish it as the dominant force in manufacturing.

:beer:

NUTTSGT · Mar 26, 2011

metrology, I had to google that word. It's very understandable why you have the equipment that you do. Now it looks like you need more room.

SweetD · Mar 26, 2011

A_Pmech said:
My garage shop is my business, which is a roundabout way of saying it is my life. I spend most of each and every day in there. It's both a dream and part of a bigger plan which is starting to come together. With a decent sized lathe, mill, saw, and drills I have the core group of manual machines. To this core group I'll be adding a number of other machines as they come available. Mainly grinding machinery, EDM, fabricating machinery and TIG capability, along with ancillary capability and eventually CNC chipmaking machinery.

I run a business out of the shop, but it's also where I play. Mostly at building motorcycles, something I haven't had a lot of time to explore lately.

If things work out, it is my intention to build world-class machine tools and metrology equipment when I have all the necessary capabilities in place and the market is ready for it. I'm in the design stages of my first instrument now.

By converting to a service economy, this country has almost completely lost the ability and skills necessary to manufacture machine tools, which has put it at a strategic disadvantage with manufacturing economies like China and Japan. We are currently incapable of supporting a full-scale conventional war with an equivalent power as we do not have the manufacturing capability required.

Ref: "Army Aviation Needs Him Now - Where's Billy Mitchell?" by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Grigsby, United States Army

Machine tools of the highest accuracy are still fitted by hand, not assembled on assembly lines. I have made it a mission of mine to study the "old ways" and by doing so I have a solid foundation on which to build. Maybe, if this country sees the error of it's ways and decides to pursue a course of in-sourcing and manufacturing expansion, I can use my skills to help re-establish it as the dominant force in manufacturing.

Awesome. Good for you. We need many, many more people with this understanding and attitude in our country. I hope to God that it's not too late...

mjozefow · Mar 28, 2011

SweetD said:
Awesome. Good for you. We need many, many more people with this understanding and attitude in our country. I hope to God that it's not too late...

I'm with you here. We need more people MAKING things in this country.

A_Pmech · Mar 30, 2011

When it rains it pours?

I was working on hammers when a friend of the family dropped by. He said he has some stuff for me, but I had to come get it right away because he was tearing the building down. Uhoh! I went over to his place and he led me into the electrical shack he was about to tear down. Inside was enough switchgear to operate a small grain elevator. "What do you want?"

"All of it!"

"Have fun."

Back home I picked up a hacksaw, socket set, prybars, my biggest channelocks and a few other essentials and went to work. After a number of hours wrestling with 500mcm copper and all the electrical junk in the building, I got this out:

A 25/100HP phase converter.

Don't blow these fuses, they're over $100 a piece:

Just got finished putting the haul in the cargo container.

:beer:

In the not too distant future I'm going to have to build an electrical building of my own.

mjozefow · Mar 30, 2011

A_Pmech said:
A 25/100HP phase converter.

Don't blow these fuses, they're over $100 a piece:

That thing is rusty...surely you don;t want it. I know a guy in Lafayette who will take it off your hands.

jessemac · Mar 30, 2011

NUTTSGT said:
metrology, I had to google that word. It's very understandable why you have the equipment that you do. Now it looks like you need more room.

ha me too i figured you were just making kick *** wind mills.

Elroy · Mar 30, 2011

A_Pmech said:
I purchased and took delivery of a 48' intermodal container to use as a storage building:

Why does it say "rent-me"

Torque1st · Mar 30, 2011

Jeez, that lathe looks bigger than mine. I need to get mine running but I have to build a 15HP phase converter just to get it running.

NICE shop!!!!

mjozefow · Mar 31, 2011

Elroy said:
Why does it say "rent-me"

It is a former rental.

A_Pmech · Apr 1, 2011

SweetD said:
I hope to God that it's not too late...

So do I...

mjozefow said:
That thing is rusty...surely you don;t want it. I know a guy in Lafayette who will take it off your hands.

Your neighbors would not appreciate you dimming their lights!

:lol:

Torque1st said:
Jeez, that lathe looks bigger than mine. I need to get mine running but I have to build a 15HP phase converter just to get it running.

NICE shop!!!!

It's a nice machine.

Thanks!

NUTTSGT said:
metrology, I had to google that word. It's very understandable why you have the equipment that you do. Now it looks like you need more room.

It's a start! Now I can begin accumulating some of the fun stuff.

More room is already on the drawing board, but that's a ways down the road.

lametec · Apr 1, 2011

What's with all the switches and/or lights on the lathe?

mjozefow · Apr 3, 2011

lametec said:
What's with all the switches and/or lights on the lathe?

Launch control... :rocker:

What's A_Pmech been up to this week?

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