Ian.B
Member
Great thread! Amazing machining and fabrication
Backyard Fab Shop Build in NE Ohio
- Thread starter Graham08
- Start date
This landed in my shop over the weekend:
It's a 10' x 14 gauge Chicago brake! This was the last large piece of equipment I had been keeping an eye out for, and I was able to get it home this weekend. While it's pretty ugly cosmetically, it appears to be in really solid mechanical shape. I've started the process of cleaning it up for paint and addressing a couple of minor issues.
Loading was a bit of a long process. The shop it was located in previously had a low ceiling and a rough floor, so getting it onto the trailer was a bit of a challenge using an engine hoist, a set of cheap machinery skates from Northern Tool, and a Coffing hoist, as well as various prybars and blocks of wood.
Here's the only photo I have of loading it, just after we backed the trailer under one end.
On the trailer, after a workout with the Coffing hoist to pull it into place:
And unloading at my shop, using the two post lift. The lift is just as useful for this sort of thing as it is for automotive service!
The plan is to clean as much of the existing paint off of it as possible, then do a general cleanup and repaint prior to putting it in its final position. I'm not generally a fan of repainting machines, but the paint on this one was bad enough that it's really necessary. I'll keep updating this thread as I make progress on it.
It's a 10' x 14 gauge Chicago brake! This was the last large piece of equipment I had been keeping an eye out for, and I was able to get it home this weekend. While it's pretty ugly cosmetically, it appears to be in really solid mechanical shape. I've started the process of cleaning it up for paint and addressing a couple of minor issues.
Loading was a bit of a long process. The shop it was located in previously had a low ceiling and a rough floor, so getting it onto the trailer was a bit of a challenge using an engine hoist, a set of cheap machinery skates from Northern Tool, and a Coffing hoist, as well as various prybars and blocks of wood.
Here's the only photo I have of loading it, just after we backed the trailer under one end.
On the trailer, after a workout with the Coffing hoist to pull it into place:
And unloading at my shop, using the two post lift. The lift is just as useful for this sort of thing as it is for automotive service!
The plan is to clean as much of the existing paint off of it as possible, then do a general cleanup and repaint prior to putting it in its final position. I'm not generally a fan of repainting machines, but the paint on this one was bad enough that it's really necessary. I'll keep updating this thread as I make progress on it.
Motown 454
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2008
- Messages
- 1,359
That's a Big Boy for sure! Still has plenty of life too.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
It just landed there huh?
Nice that you had room for it. Heavy duty for sure.
Mike.
Nice that you had room for it. Heavy duty for sure.
Mike.
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
Sure it did. After a bunch of careful work and a 75 mile drive.
My wife isn't so sure about the "had room" part. I'm still tweaking my layout to make work flow the way I want. For as much planning as I did before moving in, I couldn't really predict how things were going to work until I was actually moved in.
I borrowed a needle scaler and have made pretty quick progress on getting the three layers of paint off this thing so I can carefully repaint. I found a brass tag that shows it was owned by the Fruehauf Trailer Company at one time. It appears that the original color was orange...it will NOT be repainted that color. I'm thinking a nice hunter green color to match the original color of my finger brake. I wouldn't be surprised that I end up cleaning up the other brake and painting it also so they both match...
It just landed there huh?
Nice that you had room for it. Heavy duty for sure.
Mike.
Sure it did. After a bunch of careful work and a 75 mile drive.
My wife isn't so sure about the "had room" part. I'm still tweaking my layout to make work flow the way I want. For as much planning as I did before moving in, I couldn't really predict how things were going to work until I was actually moved in.
I borrowed a needle scaler and have made pretty quick progress on getting the three layers of paint off this thing so I can carefully repaint. I found a brass tag that shows it was owned by the Fruehauf Trailer Company at one time. It appears that the original color was orange...it will NOT be repainted that color. I'm thinking a nice hunter green color to match the original color of my finger brake. I wouldn't be surprised that I end up cleaning up the other brake and painting it also so they both match...
Hi - I love your thread!
A bit off topic, but do you have any more photos of the inside and outside of your trailer in the background of this shot?
A bit off topic, but do you have any more photos of the inside and outside of your trailer in the background of this shot?
tonkatoy611
Well-known member
Love the garage! Definitely something close to what I have in mind some day hopefully.
A few updates...
After I finished going over the "new" brake, including a paint job, I spent the rest of the winter and summer finishing my latest sprint car project. I also was forced to take a good portion of the spring "off" with a nasty herniated disc issue which limited progress on anything. Here's a picture of the sprint car after rolling it outside with the body completed for the first time:
Here I am at the track for the first test session:
Unfortunately we had a setback during this session that resulted in a bent car. I took a few weeks to collect my thoughts and do some shop related stuff that I had been putting off.
Like, adding some shelving:
And a French cleat setup for hanging hoses and cords:
I turned some scrap aluminum into a prybar rack:
And a file rack:
My shop is ever-evolving. I've changed the equipment layout a couple times, and I think I've hit on something I like. On the agenda for future upgrades is to connect the running water and possibly add a sink/counter. I want to get a tire rack added to one wall to free up some floor space, and plumb some air lines. I plan to continue updating this thread as I go...
After I finished going over the "new" brake, including a paint job, I spent the rest of the winter and summer finishing my latest sprint car project. I also was forced to take a good portion of the spring "off" with a nasty herniated disc issue which limited progress on anything. Here's a picture of the sprint car after rolling it outside with the body completed for the first time:
Here I am at the track for the first test session:
Unfortunately we had a setback during this session that resulted in a bent car. I took a few weeks to collect my thoughts and do some shop related stuff that I had been putting off.
Like, adding some shelving:
And a French cleat setup for hanging hoses and cords:
I turned some scrap aluminum into a prybar rack:
And a file rack:
My shop is ever-evolving. I've changed the equipment layout a couple times, and I think I've hit on something I like. On the agenda for future upgrades is to connect the running water and possibly add a sink/counter. I want to get a tire rack added to one wall to free up some floor space, and plumb some air lines. I plan to continue updating this thread as I go...
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Great update. I have seen you haven't updated in a while and wondered where you had been off to, now I know.
Hope your back is feeling better.
I love seeing your fabrication work and especially love seeing your shop and equipment. Please keep posting.
Mike.
Hope your back is feeling better.
I love seeing your fabrication work and especially love seeing your shop and equipment. Please keep posting.
Mike.
Thanks, Mike! Mostly been really busy. I have kept my thread about the car updated on OFN, but aside from that I haven't been posting much anywhere.
My back is better. I have no idea what set it off the second time, but it was worse than the first. You know it's bad when they give you Percocet and nothing happens! I went to a different PT this time, and he was much more switched on with back issues. Big difference!
I will keep posting. I have a couple shop equipment related projects in mind that will fit right in on this site.
My back is better. I have no idea what set it off the second time, but it was worse than the first. You know it's bad when they give you Percocet and nothing happens! I went to a different PT this time, and he was much more switched on with back issues. Big difference!
I will keep posting. I have a couple shop equipment related projects in mind that will fit right in on this site.
Here is my most recent tool/shop related project: a small press brake to use with an old HF 20 ton press. I have increasingly had a need to bend material thicker than the 14 gauge my brakes are rated for. A couple years ago, I found a pair of press brake dies on Craigslist and grabbed them because I knew I wanted to build something like this, and I finally made the time to do so.
This is designed around standard American style press brake tooling, which fits in a 1/2" wide by 5/8" deep slot on the machine. I'm using the max distance I can fit between the uprights, which results in a 16" max bend width.
The first piece I made was the lower beam, which was machined out of a piece of 1-1/4" x 2" A36 HR steel. I don't really like working with hot rolled material, but it has less internal stress than cold rolled, meaning it was less likely to take off after machining a slot the length of a piece.
Here it is with a 16" segment of lower vee in place:
The large holes in the ends are for the guide pins, which I made out of 3/4" turned, ground, and polished 4140. I pressed them into the lower beam:
The upper beam was also machined out of 1-1/4" x 2" HR, but standing on edge for better rigidity. Here it is mocked up with the upper and lower dies in place. The springs came from McMaster-Carr, they're actually die springs.
Finished product in my press:
I added 1" spacers under the upper beam to get a little more space between the dies with it open, to help with pulling bent parts out. The base plate is 5/8" x 8", which would take over double the tonnage of my press to bend.
And a test bend in 12 gauge cold rolled:
I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for some wider lower vee's to be able to bend 3/16" and 1/4" material, plus I have some ideas for custom tooling to bend large radii and some other things.
This is designed around standard American style press brake tooling, which fits in a 1/2" wide by 5/8" deep slot on the machine. I'm using the max distance I can fit between the uprights, which results in a 16" max bend width.
The first piece I made was the lower beam, which was machined out of a piece of 1-1/4" x 2" A36 HR steel. I don't really like working with hot rolled material, but it has less internal stress than cold rolled, meaning it was less likely to take off after machining a slot the length of a piece.
Here it is with a 16" segment of lower vee in place:
The large holes in the ends are for the guide pins, which I made out of 3/4" turned, ground, and polished 4140. I pressed them into the lower beam:
The upper beam was also machined out of 1-1/4" x 2" HR, but standing on edge for better rigidity. Here it is mocked up with the upper and lower dies in place. The springs came from McMaster-Carr, they're actually die springs.
Finished product in my press:
I added 1" spacers under the upper beam to get a little more space between the dies with it open, to help with pulling bent parts out. The base plate is 5/8" x 8", which would take over double the tonnage of my press to bend.
And a test bend in 12 gauge cold rolled:
I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for some wider lower vee's to be able to bend 3/16" and 1/4" material, plus I have some ideas for custom tooling to bend large radii and some other things.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice job Graham, but I don't know if that lower plate is going to be heavy duty enough.
Mike.
Mike.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
You said it my friend, you said it.
My son and I say in our shop, "overkill is under-rated".
Mike.
I finally got around to starting a project that's been waiting a long time: building a tank for my parts washer. My dad rescued an old Zep parts washer from the dumpster at his work for me. It was really nasty when he brought it home...he works in a truck shop, so it was pretty full of black sludge. I've washed it twice and it's still pretty nasty. But, it is mostly all here and the price was right, so I'm getting it cleaned up and ready to use as I get the race car put together for the upcoming season.
The biggest thing that it was missing was the tank to hold the solvent. I know most people use a drum for this, but they have a tendency to rot out over time because they're pretty thin and sit directly on the floor. We built a square tank for his parts washer a few years ago, and I'm doing the same for mine with a few improvements. The biggest improvement is I'm putting the tank on a short stand to get it off the floor and be able to move it with my pallet jack. I'm also adding a drain to the bottom to assist with changing the solvent out when it gets dirty.
The first step was to shear blanks for the sides from a sheet of 18 gauge cold rolled that I've had hanging around for over a year. I cut a small slit in the top so I could form a flange and a return to strengthen the top and give the washer something to sit on. This was all done on my large brake:
There are two of these pieces that make up the tank. Next step was to tack them together:
I'll make some filler pieces for the corners of the top flange later.
Last piece of the main tank was the bottom. I put cross brakes in it to stiffen it up a bit and make sure stuff wouldn't pool in the bottom when draining. Then I added a 1" flange all around with my box and pan brake. I'll eventually weld the flange all the way around, but I first want to get the pipe bung that I'll use for the drain so I can punch the hole before welding the bottom in.
The tank capacity will be just about 35 gallons. It's 18" square by 25" tall. I'll probably wind up using 25 or 30 gallons of solvent in it.
More coming soon...
The biggest thing that it was missing was the tank to hold the solvent. I know most people use a drum for this, but they have a tendency to rot out over time because they're pretty thin and sit directly on the floor. We built a square tank for his parts washer a few years ago, and I'm doing the same for mine with a few improvements. The biggest improvement is I'm putting the tank on a short stand to get it off the floor and be able to move it with my pallet jack. I'm also adding a drain to the bottom to assist with changing the solvent out when it gets dirty.
The first step was to shear blanks for the sides from a sheet of 18 gauge cold rolled that I've had hanging around for over a year. I cut a small slit in the top so I could form a flange and a return to strengthen the top and give the washer something to sit on. This was all done on my large brake:
There are two of these pieces that make up the tank. Next step was to tack them together:
I'll make some filler pieces for the corners of the top flange later.
Last piece of the main tank was the bottom. I put cross brakes in it to stiffen it up a bit and make sure stuff wouldn't pool in the bottom when draining. Then I added a 1" flange all around with my box and pan brake. I'll eventually weld the flange all the way around, but I first want to get the pipe bung that I'll use for the drain so I can punch the hole before welding the bottom in.
The tank capacity will be just about 35 gallons. It's 18" square by 25" tall. I'll probably wind up using 25 or 30 gallons of solvent in it.
More coming soon...
fatkidracer
Well-known member
the fit and finish you did on this building is amazing! you also seem to have mad machining and fabrication skills. cheers 
!!
could we get an overall shot from the front looking in at the current setup.
!!could we get an overall shot from the front looking in at the current setup.
slodat
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Whatcha been up to in the shop?
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Steven, I think Graham sold this place and moved to another state and is currently building a barndominium style shop/home.
I have drooled over this workshop with the tools and equipment so I am looking forward to seeing how he sets up the new place.
Yep...Mike is correct. We sold in 2017 to move to North Carolina so I could take a position with a top NASCAR team. I'm in the process of building a barndominium...I did start a thread on it, but it's tough to find enough time to actually work on it, let alone keep a build thread updated.