Above 1200 Sq/FT Eastern Washington Workshop

[slodat]

Tom- car is a ‘54 Chevy leadsled. Back burner for now..

I made one last revision to the caliper drawer tray. It needed a finger cutout.



This type of thing is really satisfying. I smile every time I use it. I added a second galvo fiber laser for the engraving on my products. Low investment to double the throughput.



This is turning out really nice. The bench computer is now for the guys, and my stuff is in my office. I had some large medium voltage switchgear in the shop since January last year. I finally got the client to let me ship it to them.



Five pallets of stuff left all told. It really opened up that end of the main bay of the shop.



I really like open flex space. We use it in all sorts of ways throughout the day and week.

The powder application booth exhaust blower has a VFD that needs mounted and setup. I bought an off the shelf enclosure for it. They make a mounting cup for its removable control panel. I really wanted it to look OEM. We ground the bottom of the peened hinge pins off, and drove out the pins to free up the enclosure door. Sandblasted off the powder coat, drew things up in Fusion, and set the door up on the plasma table.



The cutout worked out well.


Next up was the stud welder for that OEM style mounting.


Using CAD for layout makes things (look) easy



Panel was cleaned up, and in the oven to make sure it was dry. Then, a fresh coat of ANSI 61 gray powder.





Easily one of the most satisfying projects I’ve worked on lately. So much fun and the end result is exactly what I had in mind. It’s almost like I’m learning how to do this stuff!

 

[Finallygotit]

The workmanship is top notch! So satisfying to read this thread.

 

[slodat]

The workmanship is top notch! So satisfying to read this thread.

Thank you, Dan! I appreciate the encouragement!

 

[slodat]

The additional fiber laser need fume extraction. I have long had an idea for a mini hood that I'd like to make. I got the first draft designed last night and printed this morning.





While I'm mostly happy with it, I wanted to make a few changes. The first of which is to accommodate the blast gate that will be attached to it. I'm using the metal style wood working blast gates that are available from the usual outlets. The gate is cast and has a decent draft on the hose connection.


The latest iteration on the part has the taper and hopefully correctly sized inlet for the gate. I also added two fastener holes so I can bolt the gate to the hood.

I don't design parts with curves and such very often. This one was fun.



As you can see in the photos, it bolts to the fixture table on the laser. I thickened the round flange quite a bit so it will be able to take the abuse inherent in the dust collection hose with the internal stiffening wire.



This type of thing is one of the many things that make 3d printers such a game changer in the shop!

 

[slodat]

Fiber laser exhaust duct turned out well. Two screws to attach the blast gate.







Anyone on the fence about the usefulness/utility of a 3d printer.. I don't know how I'd do a lot of what I do without one.

On to the controls for the powder booth. I wanted the light switch and the VFD mounted to the side of the booth, and I didn't want to put any holes in wall. This is what I came up with.



Bolts to existing fasteners and holes in the booth wall. Weld nuts behind the larger holes to bolt the VFD enclosure to.




On the bench ready to bolt in place.


Installed.


Projects like this are a lot of fun!

 

[slodat]

I really appreciate suppliers that provide CAD models of their products. Automation Direct in this case. Of course McMaster is a bit of a gold standard for this. It makes layout of things like the VFD enclosure really straight forward.



For the indicating lamp and disconnect I made a template of the hole locations on the CO2 laser.



Center punch and we're off. "CAD" layout, no measuring to screw up, and the end result looks like the model.



This came together like I had pictured. No new holes in the spray booth, light switch and VFD enclosure have a mounting location, everything looks like it belongs there, and the VFD control panel in the enclosure door is what I was going for. Now to get it powered up and the motor wired in.

I haven't found a suitable small trash can for the office the few places I've been recently. So..



I have more filament than time.. to run to town to find a suitable waste basket that is. Printer time is essentially free.

 

[Finallygotit]

I haven't found a suitable small trash can for the office the few places I've been recently. So..

I knew it! As soon as I finished reading that sentence I thought, he's going to print one and wah-lah!

Good job on the VFD and switch. Looks like something the spray booth company should have done.

 

[slodat]

I knew it! As soon as I finished reading that sentence I thought, he's going to print one and wah-lah!

Good job on the VFD and switch. Looks like something the spray booth company should have done.

Dan- thank you for the kind words. I appreciate the GJ community. Not much in the way of local interest in the gojngs on in my shop. Small town life makes slim pickings for a social life. In or out of the shop.

I didn’t really want to print a waste basket. I also need something that fits the limited space better than the 5 gallon bucket I keep bumping into with my chair. So, here we are. Pretty sure this is my longest print at nearly 40 hours and 1.4kg of filament.

This is how it looked when I got to the shop this morning.

 

[slodat]

Wow! Been almost a month since I posted an update. Strangely, October was my slowest month, but we were slammed nonetheless. Crazy how that can work. I picked up some well spec’d PC’s from Costco at the beginning of October. It was time to get the guys up and running on Fusion. The Costco PC’s had NVidia video and decent specs otherwise. Upgraded the RAM and we were up and running.

We got a repair job in right at that time. Some medium voltage gear parts and pieces to be replaced after an arcing event. One of the MV terminations was done incorrectly and it arced over a couple of hours after initial energization. We had some time, so I had my fabricator draw up all the parts. This is his first time working in any CAD system. He’s a 20 year millwright, welder, fabricator. All the digital and CNC stuff is new to him. I’m proud to say he nailed the CAD side. A couple of small adjustments, but nothing major. And, he made a lot of headway on the CAM side.

The sheet metal parts were the first acute angle parts we’ve done. Not a big deal. What I’ve settled on for stuff I haven’t done before is to work up the corrections with narrow coupon of the bend length. This works well and is a direct path to finished parts.

Some before and after of the steel parts:




I worked with him to get these finished. It wasn’t without some challenges. It’s always the loose nut behind the trigger!!



Oops!

What we were going for vs what I did at the brake:


We got a good laugh. I stopped the brake the second I realized it was tacoing the part.

I stopped the bend and raised the ram after the X axis (back gauge) had retracted. Didn’t fully register in my mind before I did that hit again. I had stopped to make sure I wasn’t crashing the end flanges on the tooling. Oops

No big deal. This is why you have to have your head on a swivel at the brake.

This ten degree offset was fun and turned out great.



Once we got the sheet metal parts finished it was time to work on the bus. Lots of black char, but no damage other than staining on the boots (not pictured), and safety ground ball stud covers.



These took a trip through the ultrasonic with simple green.



Very satisfying project and what the end user needs to get the equipment put back together.

Had a customer request some custom components for the tooling kits we make. Had some fun with the packaging.



That should keep them situated in the shipping box.

 

[Finallygotit]

Nice work Steven.

Having your millwright working in the digital world has to be exciting for him. I know it was for me when I started learning AutoCAD 12 and CadKey. Man, I am dating myself!

 

[slodat]

Nice work Steven.

Having your millwright working in the digital world has to be exciting for him. I know it was for me when I started learning AutoCAD 12 and CadKey. Man, I am dating myself!

For sure! It was really cool seeing him realize he had completed his first part soup to nuts on his own. We are all somewhat equally excited on this front. My machinist sat down and drew every part he makes without any trouble. I’m beyond happy with the team! Plan is to do a formal training with my Fusion consultant here soon.

 

[slodat]

The arc repair project went out earlier this week. The bus was interesting. It needed bus insulation shrink wrap rated for medium voltage. The way to shrink it is with a propane weed burner style torch. Photos tell most of the story.



The rear stack is the new part on top of the sample. Then the other two pieces of new bus, the aluminum test part is in front. The small angle parts are for the personal protective grounding ball stud.

The shrink tubing is huge, and expensive. I mounted it to the welding fixture table for shrinking. It worked out really well.


Before the heat:


In progress:


Ready to trim the ends:


Completed parts ready to go.


The bus is always a little stressful because of the material cost and how hard it is to source. I’m pleased to report the aluminum test part works well for stuff like this. No scrapped copper on this project.

Next up was a small sheet metal order. First time using the new powder setup in Bldg 2.



This long part is why I got the bigger oven.


Switchboards and switchgear are typically 90” tall, like this part. Everything turned out really good.

 

[rvieceli]

@slodat Steven I am constantly impressed by the quality and looks of the parts you are turning out. congratulations on nailing it.

Ron

 

[Jayman17]

You are really turning out some interesting parts and I'm enjoying watching it. Keep up the good work.

 

[rattle_snake]

Freaking mint! Outstanding.

 

[slodat]

@slodat Steven I am constantly impressed by the quality and looks of the parts you are turning out. congratulations on nailing it.

Ron

Ron- thank you! I appreciate it. We are continuously working to improve the quality of the work.

You are really turning out some interesting parts and I'm enjoying watching it. Keep up the good work.

Thank you from the dry side of the state!

Freaking mint! Outstanding.

Justin- thank you so much! The parts for the arc repair job were a lot of fun and a good challenge.

 

[Finallygotit]

I like how you lined up the shrink tubing on each piece. That's attention to detail!

Just wondering, would the powder coat oven work on the shrink tubing?

 

[slodat]

I like how you lined up the shrink tubing on each piece. That's attention to detail!

Just wondering, would the powder coat oven work on the shrink tubing?

Dan - thank you! Truth be told, that was also dictated by the placement on the shrink tube. It worked out well. 3M does list an oven as an option. For these parts I wanted the highest voltage rating, which meant the maximum amount of shrink needed. Thus, the torch. I don't think it would have worked well in the oven. I didn't want to find out on these parts. Might be worth trying in the future.

 

[slodat]

New machine day is different these days. I mean.. it's still awesome, but it's different. Signed on this today. 5' x 10' 2kw fiber laser with 230psi screw compressor. The compressor allows the laser to cut with air instead of N2 or O2. For thinner metals like I'm working with this is a great, economical solution. From what I'm gathering air will work great up to about 10ga (0.135"). From there on I'll need to use gas. We can use plasma for thicker stuff if we don't have gas. Generally speaking, I don't see much need for anything over 10ga. I'll get a bottle or two of both gases so we have the option.

Once I get the roll up door opening raised in Bldg 2, there will be another machine addition!

These photos are from the importer/seller..

 

[MadeByMiller]

Congratulations Steven!!

 

[ptt49er]

Even though your used to a plasma the laser will be a huge game changer!

The speed and precision is sooo much better!

 

[slodat]

I decided to resurrect my photography hobby from many years ago to both have something to do outside the shop, and to (hopefully) take good (enough?) photos of my products for marketing purposes. I learned photography in high school and loved it. Never one to half *** things, especially on the setup and gear side I turned some unused space in the basement at home into a little studio of sorts. I picked up some budget priced strobes, a couple soft boxes, and thought I was good to go.. Until I nearly knocked the empty tripod over. That got me looking at studio stands. They are really cool. I'll admit I like well made heavy things. I found a screaming deal on marketplace and picked one up. These are crazy money when new.

Picking up in the seller's garage:


This is a high quality unit and it shows in every possible way. When I got it back to the shop I split the column from the base to shorten the column so it would fit in my basement with a lower ceiling. That went really well all told. I knew I w would need to take in the house in peices. I used the trusty furntiture dolly. It worked great. The column was heavy, buy easy. The base went like this:



A few straps to stand it up and all went according to plan. Once in the basement I reassembled. I picked up two of the HD adjustable height work benches. They are great for the intended use.





The leveling feet were worn away. I was able to find something suitable on McMaster. Good thing because the basement floor has a pretty good slope to it.

Next up was sorting out the drawers.. I've FINALLY started this:



My latest product release, and good evidence I need much better photos.



These featured on the bottom were really satisfying.


Now to keep the X1C's busy for a couple days printing bins!

 

[loganb]

Love how you're continuing to improve all aspects of the business and thanks for sharing the journey with us! Merry Christmas Steven!

 

[Finallygotit]

That is one helluva stand!

 

[slodat]

Thanks guys! I’m excited to have it!

McMaster Carr continues to simply be amazing. The M10x1.5 rubber pad leveling feet are perfect once I shortened the thread.





It needs them on the basement floor.



Now to progress from zero to at the very least a passable result photo

Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas!

 

[RickP]

Electrician, fabricator, 3D designer, and now photographer too? What's next? ;-)

Your business looks like it's going gangbusters.
Congrats on your 0-60 time with it this year!

 

[zanyad]

Congrats on another level-up this year. Merry Christmas!

 

[slodat]

Electrician, fabricator, 3D designer, and now photographer too? What's next? ;-)

Your business looks like it's going gangbusters.
Congrats on your 0-60 time with it this year!

Well.. I know of at least two professional photographers that have been known to check out the thread. I’m an amateur hack at best! I will say I am really enjoying the studio lighting challenges. I *think* I am getting somewhere..



Thank you for the kind words. As I’m sure anyone who’s owned a business will agree, it has its good and its rough days. Lots of cool stuff in the pipeline.

Congrats on another level-up this year. Merry Christmas!

Thank you!! Merry Christmas to you, and you all as well!

 

[slodat]

Happy New Year! So much to be thankful for 2024 and to look forward to in 2025.

It’s such a trip being able to have an idea and in a matter of minutes and hours have it in hand. Closing in on two years with the X1C. No doubt they continue to impress. I wanted a cable clamp to manage the tether cable on the camera stand between the camera and the computer.







It’s exactly what I envisioned and works as intended. Easy on, easy off. I saw in some old documents online where the manufacturer of the stand had a small tray on the stand arm. I made a slightly smaller version to check fitment. Second print turned out well and fit!

The bottom had a lot of support for these locating tabs.




One existing screw location.



Great location for the shutter remote release, light remote, and light meter.


Really happy with how it all turned out.


Some progress on the product shots.

 

[slodat]

Sorting out how to layout the laser and press brakes in Bldg 2. Quickly realized a somewhat accurate 3d model was the way to go. DEFINITELY worth the effort. Didn't take long to get a working model. I've probably had about 50 different layouts for the sander/dc, press brakes, laser, and material stack. I think this is what I like, at least for now. I have some time to sleep on it. All in all, I think it's going to work well with the available space.

The posts are a major pain in the ***. It's nice having a roof overhead, so they stay

 

[slodat]

Current project has some 14ga covers(doors) with a lot (504) of long ventilation slots. It started out looking good.



This one didn’t turn out well.



I then tried cutting fully submerged, then 14ga HRPO (original material was CRS), and then started using various heavy things to weigh the material down.

I settled on cutting the grill separately and rosette welding the grill from the back side.

Door cut great.


As did the grill. They flatten out as they are cut out of the sheet.



I slowed the ram speed down to about 15% of the default for the doors. This was much easier to control the material and support it while forming.



This worked out. A fabricated solution to the heat distortion.


Coated, ready to go.


Next up was a similar but smaller door. Small enough that there’s room to hold it down. And, all that I learned with the larger door. There’s 200 pounds of steel holding it down.



This doesn’t eliminate the heat induced warping of the part. It holds the material down which greatly improves the cut quality.

It’s a trip watching the outside profile being cut. The material moves quite a bit.. up to 2-2.5” in the Z as it cuts the perimeter. This is how it looks once cut all the way.



This is after sanding the backside. The sander is such a game changer. It’s hard to articulate how much better the parts are because of the sander’s consistency.

 

[slodat]

Continued..

Forming flattened the door out. Really happy with the results… for plasma. The laser can’t come online fast enough!


Had some drama with the big oven. Looks like this lug wasn’t torqued properly.






Replaced the lug and wire. It’s all torqued to spec. Things appear to good now. Manufacturer was quick to send replacement lugs. The heat tripped the breaker, so everything did its job.

We made a lot of bus the last couple weeks. These stack up shots are really satisfying. I’m happy with our current workflow for bus. The real machinery is a serious financial outlay. That will be a while.



Sourcing pre-plated material is really difficult right now. So, we make the parts out of plain bar and send it out to be plated. I was really blown away by how nice the plated parts look.



And, some galvanized parts for the same project.

 

[CGohring]

I am blown away by the quality and finish of the things you manufacture. - Nice work !

 

[rvieceli]

Beautiful warm as usual.

Curious about the “real machinery for bus” comment. What would it do differently than what you are doing now?

Thanks Ron

 

[slodat]

The large(r) oven is working out great. All four doors in one batch.



Doors turned out great!

 

[slodat]

I am blown away by the quality and finish of the things you manufacture. - Nice work !

Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. It has been a long twisty road. I think there comes a point where you make enough things that you start to know how to make stuff in general. I like to think I hit that point here and there. SO much to learn. The shop kicks my *** daily. I wouldn't change a thing.. well.. cashflow.. I'd love that to be better.

Beautiful warm as usual.

Curious about the “real machinery for bus” comment. What would it do differently than what you are doing now?

Thanks Ron

Two machines I have my eye on to speed up/automate bus bar fabrication. First is a turret punch with shearing station. This is a powerhouse of a machine.


Without automated loading and a robot on the outfeed, this is north of $300k, with a one year lead time. Then there's the horizontal press brake. Their offering has internal bend angle correction. Another $100k, but with a much more reasonable lead time.





I didn't ask about the robot that links the two.



All in due time. I really value the organic growth and the iterations of various processes. For now, what we are doing works. Each project with the bus I look for ways to improve the throughput without taking a quality hit. So far things are going well. Making bus is really satisfying.

 

[GeddyT]

The real machinery is a serious financial outlay. That will be a while.

Can you elaborate on this? Is there more machinery you're adding or do you mean the machinery you've already bought has been expensive and will take a while to pay off?

Edit: This is what I get for getting halfway through a post and then asking a question a day later... I see you already answered my question above. Carry on!

 

[4 FN 27]

Steven...perf'in metal without distortion is not for the timid...when using heat, ie: Laser or Plasma adds to the challenge.

We have a couple of jobs running right now...lots of perf'in. I think the proto's were done in the Laser and Lanced in a Press Brake while the Turret Tooling was being developed. After bit of of head scratching and chin rubbing the guys got it done...





If you want to do a lot of Perfs or Shapes you need a Turret Press. I know a guy that might have a couple of used ones he might be willing to part with...LOL...

In my opinion LVD Strippit makes the best Turret Presses. Built 100% in house at the old Buffalo Arm Plant in Akron NY. Built like a tank and almost every part/weldment is heat stress relieved throughout the build process.



Love your work!!! Not to mention your ambition.

 

[don miller]

Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. It has been a long twisty road. I think there comes a point where you make enough things that you start to know how to make stuff in general. I like to think I hit that point here and there. SO much to learn. The shop kicks my *** daily. I wouldn't change a thing.. well.. cashflow.. I'd love that to be better.


Two machines I have my eye on to speed up/automate bus bar fabrication. First is a turret punch with shearing station. This is a powerhouse of a machine.


Without automated loading and a robot on the outfeed, this is north of $300k, with a one year lead time. Then there's the horizontal press brake. Their offering has internal bend angle correction. Another $100k, but with a much more reasonable lead time.





I didn't ask about the robot that links the two.



All in due time. I really value the organic growth and the iterations of various processes. For now, what we are doing works. Each project with the bus I look for ways to improve the throughput without taking a quality hit. So far things are going well. Making bus is really satisfying.

 

[don miller]

Steven a word of caution when purchasing a used Boschert, if it is not the current series they will not give any support (maintenance program is $30k per machine per year) I'm not in the other 2 shops here so I don't know the exact number but believe there is at least a dozen of them. I guess the difficulty getting plated buss is from us(IEM) buying it all. Between Siemens breakers and cradles and **** loads of buss the shop I'm in is packed all 150,000 square foot of it, don't know about the other 380,000sq.ft. We are slammed until 2030. I can see your future being VERY promising