Basement shop (garage later)

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I know this isn't my garage, but I thought I would start with my basement.. I'll get my garage posted once I get a mess from a pool pump replacement cleaned up..

Dennis

 

[Jim C.]

Hey Dennis, that's a really nice shop....basement or not.

Jim C.

 

[cleah]

Very fun looking shop, especially the mill.

 

[upndown]

Now that's a basement! Looks like a fun place to spend time. Reminds me of my Uncles shop next door growing up, Except he was a cabinet maker, so his was all woodworking machinery. Grew up in his basement.

 

[zkling]

WOW, if that is the basement, I really wonder what is in the garage?

Would be nice if the pics were a bit bigger, kinda hard to see your nice setup.

Great place, looks very clean, organized and full of very high quality stuff. Do I spy a small shaper?

 

[safetyman665]

Dennis, you are my hero . Awesome setup you have there!

 

[MSRTom]

Makes me wish I had a basement. That's a great looking workbench area. Keep up the good work!

 

[Ray Kelly]

Awesome place. Wish mine looked that good.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

WOW, if that is the basement, I really wonder what is in the garage?

Would be nice if the pics were a bit bigger, kinda hard to see your nice setup.

Great place, looks very clean, organized and full of very high quality stuff. Do I spy a small shaper?

Yes, its a South Bend Lathe 7" bench shaper, along with a 10K lathe, 4218 vertical mill, 14" floor standing drill press, and pedestal grinder. I grew up and learned to enjoy metal (and other hands on work) in South Bend.

I had a tough time posting pictures, I'll try to post larger ones this weekend.

Dennis

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Makes me wish I had a basement. That's a great looking workbench area. Keep up the good work!

Yeah, that work bench area is under the garage entrance / laundry room, and makes a nice place to work on bench style / focused projects.

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Very fun looking shop, especially the mill.

The vertical mill is fun to work on.. I need to reinstall the hydraulic spindle feed device, but need to pull the majority of the quill apart to do it (to replace the drive pawl that was smoked when I purchased the mill). I have a all the necessary tooling to do any sort of manual milling I will need including index heads, rotary tables, etc.

I like that model in particular because I was able to completely disassemble it using an engine hoist, hand truck most of it down the basement stairs (thru the kitchen!), including the main column casting that took 3 of us and an appliance hand truck to get it down there. My son and I reassembled in the basement using the engine hoist and were up to 4am doing it. He was 10 or so at the time.. We've had some good times in the basement (and the garage).

Dennis

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Thanks everyone for all the nice comments. Dennis

 

[dubber]

Looks exactly like my dad's (jack of all trades) set-up actually. He has a single garage under his place that opens up into his basement. The area directly accessed by the garage door has been converted into an area identical to yours. Great job!

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Looks exactly like my dad's (jack of all trades) set-up actually. He has a single garage under his place that opens up into his basement. The area directly accessed by the garage door has been converted into an area identical to yours. Great job!

Super cool!

 

[jeffmoss26]

Wow!! I sure wish my basement shop looked like that.

 

[John in OH]

Very nice! Basement shops are quite convenient .... especially in the winter!

 

[Kevin54]

Very nice!!!! But for us older guys, some of us need larger pics. And of course, more of them

 

[SiGmA_X]

Wow that looks like a great workshop!

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Yes, its a South Bend Lathe 7" bench shaper, along with a 10K lathe, 4218 vertical mill, 14" floor standing drill press, and pedestal grinder. I grew up and learned to enjoy metal (and other hands on work) in South Bend.

I had a tough time posting pictures, I'll try to post larger ones this weekend.

Dennis

Larger pictures.. Trying to keep them within Forum limits..

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Very nice!!!! But for us older guys, some of us need larger pics. And of course, more of them

More close ups of the SBL machines..

 

[granada don]

Hi Dennis

Very neat shop layout and are those speakers behind your mill?

What kind of stuff do you build?

Need to give you a ' Atta Boy ' on your mill table covers, as that was one of the first things I made for mine since I do 99% of my work in the mill vise they never come off

I put a maple 1 by 2 frame around 3 side's that sticks up I/4" to keep things from rolling off, and used 1/8" hard anodized alum sheet for the covers

Boy you have every little ' Nook & Cranny ' filled up with your tools etc, very tidy indeed

G Don




























b

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Thanks for the compliments G Don,

Thanks for the compliments G Don..

Yes, those are speakers.. I have a classic Fisher RS2010 from my college days to drive them. The top set are Electro Voice (before they moved out of Buchanan, MI) Interface Series B. The bottom set are EPI/Epicure 500. Plenty of sound for quite and loud moments..

I mostly tinker, but occasionally make car parts and / or teach my son to do the same. I love to make tools as well as recondition them. The mill table covers idea came to me from my high school machine trades teacher, Thomas Berry at South Bend John Adams HS. He had those on the Bridgeport and other machines to keep the incidental "student" damage down on the school equipment. Adding the edges is a great idea, my next "tinkering" project now on the drawing board!

The Nook & Cranny comment.. Absolutely. The peg board is old Osco Drug Store stock. When CVS brought Osco, I was able to obtain a great deal of it at a very reasonable rate hence the walls being covered in it. The tools are a collection of 35+ years of investment, auctions, projects, being in the right place at the right time, inheritance, etc.; necessitating the "everything has a place, and everything in its place" approach..

Dennis

 

[Guster]

Very nice layout! Looks cosy in the pics till you put it in perspective with the high ceilings and open floorspace and realise how much room you have to work on full scale projects.

I respect how much thought and effort goes into something like that having a similar setup in a smaller layout. Bought another mill hence going through a big re-organisation to get it all to fit. Biggest change was getting rid of one workbench that wasn’t used for much other than clutter. Using dead space like you have done – ie. you can fit a lot behind a milling machine where the turret overhangs the back – without interfering with its functionality as long as it does not catch and collect swarf. Putting everything on mobile bases where possible so it is easy to clean and the base adds storage for tooling. Even my file cabinets have been put on castors so they can squeeze into spaces not normally used unless you need the clearance around a machine for something to work on. I also had a propensity for building stands and carts larger than what they ultimately had to be. Some are in the process of being rebuilt to purely suit their purpose. All starting to fall in place again. Seeing a workshop like this gives me a sense of heading in the right direction.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Thanks for the compliments Guster.

I have my main work benck (the black topped former science room table) on casters, that when moved along with the other items on the "east" end of my shop, I can really open up that space to work on just about about anything I want. Of course, I must be mindful of how much work it takes to get it upstairs (again thru the kitchen) or out of the larger basement egress window. The west end of the shop where all the metal working equipment is, is fairly well "stay put" .. I've moved it around a lot over the years, but so far this design works out well for me.

Of course, the larger projects including welding and such happen in the garage..more access and maybe some pictures this weekend.

Cheers..
Dennis

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I finally got around to straightening up the garage and taking pictures..

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

This post is to add more basement upgrades. Includes repurpose of grandfather's bookcases (rebuild and make location and weight appropriate modifications), as well as a picture of the sump pump enclosure I built to cover the sump pit and the battery backup system.

 

[coma13]

Can you tell me where that blacksmithing illustration on the wall in the second photo is from? It's very cool.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Can you tell me where that blacksmithing illustration on the wall in the second photo is from? It's very cool.

Coma13,

Sorry I missed this question..

Its a poster about the South Shore Line (Chicago, South Shore, & South Bend), now part of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, and service to Gary, IN. I'm fairly certain its a reproduction and is still available.

I found this amongst my Uncle Pat's estate, and knew at an instant where I was going to use it..

Dennis

 

[coma13]

Very cool! Thank you. I found a print.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Very cool! Thank you. I found a print.

Yeah.. its a really cool piece of art..

Glad you found one.

Cheers..

 

[torqueman2002]

Hi Dennis, I'm throwing in my compliments on your basement and garage shops.


Very well organized and stocked with good vintage machines.

Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Zeke]

Dennis, your pics become art. Art is many times not real but fantasy.

To the viewer.

 

[bluebolt]

Real nice! I wish my shop was that organized!

 

[tedsters]

I know this isn't my garage, but I thought I would start with my basement.. I'll get my garage posted once I get a mess from a pool pump replacement cleaned up..

Dennis

you have got a nice set up there, i would be embarassed to show a pic of my building at the moment mine is a cluttered mess

 

[TimTaylor75]

One question - How did you get all of that heavy equipment into a basement?!

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

One question - How did you get all of that heavy equipment into a basement?!

Somehow I missed updating this thread. Went back today to let everyone know I put an album together with updates in it..

To answer your question.. everything went down the basement stairs. Disassembled the lathe, mill, etc. into manageable pieces (moveable with an appliance cart), and down it went.

Please check out my album..and the updates..

 

[1/2 Cup]

You have one awesome setup, I could feel right at home there.

Regards

 

[zkling]

What's the story behind the pic of the hydro? Old project?

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Zkling, I presume you mean the picture of Miss Madison hydroplane..? When I started at Cummins (1991), Holset / Cummins Turbocharger Technologies had a large manufacturing presence in Madison, IN on the Ohio River; turbochargers, vibration dampers, spun steel and machined pulleys. At that time they sponsored the Miss Madison..and consequently had a large presence at hydroplane events. My family would attend the Madison Regatta that was held over the 4th of July week and enjoy the races on the Ohio River. http://madisonregatta.com/

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[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I integrated a work bench I was given by my step mother that was my fathers..He received it from his brother, my Uncle Pat for Xmas many moons ago and now its mine.. Took quite a bit to remove the heavy door workbench my father built for me and switch it out for this one.. Very happy with the result. Now to move the old work bench / door into the garage... The laminate one is a bit shorter than the one it replaced.. but solid and now I can put in holes for my bench dogs....

..

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