Above 1200 Sq/FT Eastern Washington Workshop

[slodat]

Drives- thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement. I walk in the shop every day and smile. It's crazy looking back at the photos, seeing how it has changed. I've owned it 4.5 years tomorrow. Lots left to do. I really want to finish painting the outside next spring. One day I'll have the spare cash for a ton of concrete work. The list goes on.

I have two sections of Interlake (aka teardrop) pallet racking in the shop. One in the woodshop that holds full sheets of all sorts of materials and the very top is for construction lumber, abs pipe and so on. I keep enough on hand to do a small project without having to drive 90 miles to the Depot. I had more pallet racking in this shop and I was able to eliminate the need for it. I may get some 2' deep stuff for the other building at some point. My storage style in this shop is drawers. Lots and lots of drawers. I don't like looking at clutter once the shop is cleaned up and things are put away. It's funny.. a local friend stopped by one day when I was in the middle of a project and the shop was a complete mess. He was surprised. Said he wondered if I used the shop. Ha! Cracked me up.

The material rack I'm planning a couple posts up is specifically for 32 x 48 (third of a sheet) of the composites I use for fabrication and mdf for prototyping. I'm pretty sure I'm going to weld it together. I don't think I'll really need to change anything with it.

 

[KST1]

I like this idea and am always looking for good ways to store materials. I tend to default to the "lean it on the wall" method most of the time.

Have you considered using UniStrut for the uprights? It would provide the adjustment/flexibility that JB suggested might be useful. Of course, it would come at the cost of having to buy the sliding nuts and drilling holes in the horizontal shelf brackets.

-Derek

p.s.: Following along and loving your projects. Very jealous of the laser!

 

[thieltech]

what happen to nova project interior?
like shop alot

 

[nova66mussl]

I am the owner of Nova wagon. I had an offer to sell that I couldn't pass up. On to the next project.

Pat

 

[Jayman17]

I am the owner of Nova wagon. I had an offer to sell that I couldn't pass up. On to the next project.

Pat

Oh damn! I was looking forward to seeing it done. Good for you though nova66

Shop is looking great!

Jay

 

[thieltech]

I am the owner of Nova wagon. I had an offer to sell that I couldn't pass up. On to the next project.

Pat

so all the nice work on the interior never got finished/ ? would have been awesome to see it finished! awesome car for sure

 

[slodat]

Started on my material rack. 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.065 square tubing and 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.125 angle. Drew in Fusion 360 to make sure it’s what I wanted. This is a really good way to go.



Material cut to length.


Cut a full size layout template on the laser.




Squared up and clamped down to the welding table.


Now I have a square.


I made a layout template out of scrap. This is the material setback from the edge.



This should be some good TIG welding practice.

 

[slodat]

First side went together well.

 

[lilscorpion]

First side went together well.

Lookin sweet! For whatever reason I really like material racks that follow the bread rack design. Looking forward to see it come together.

 

[slodat]

Thanks Matt!

I’ve got it together. Decided to bolt the two sides to the top, bottom and mid shelf. The uprights bowed.. a lot. Despite being clamped to 2.125” thick cast iron plate. I welded angle to the second side and removed after it was welded up. Still bowed. This is the reason for the middle bolt in shelf.

It wants to rack a little. I’ll add a plywood back that should take care of that. At some point I’ll send it out for powder coat. Overall I’m happy with it. I need to do a lot more TIG welding before I’m going to be any good at it. Struggling with feeding rod.

Anyway. This thing was a ton of work, a lot of fun to build and I think it will do a great job cleaning the area up next to the laser.

 

[slodat]

Fifteen hour day working on this thing. 1/2” plywood back took care of any racking. Turns out 1/2 plywood is good for the shelves. Loaded up.. mostly.





I’ve wanted this stuff organized and accessible since I started cutting sheets in thirds almost three years ago.

I’ll sort out a top tomorrow.

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Looking good, are you going to put it on rollers or will it be parked?
Keep up the great work.

 

[slodat]

Looking good, are you going to put it on rollers or will it be parked?
Keep up the great work.

Thank you! It is most definitely parked!

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice job. The organizational force in you is strong. Keep up the additions/improvements.

 

[slodat]

Thanks Justin! The organization projects are super satisfying. Smile every time you use it or just walk by.

Legend made on the laser, attached with 6-32 button head screws. I’m thinking I’ll box the whole thing in with black laminate. Back engraved acrylic on the front once the top and sides are done.

 

[rattle_snake]

Sweet, sounds like a episode of 'pimp my sheet storage rack' to fit in with the style of your workshop

 

[polexican23]

nice work. any plans to paint it so rust doesnt stain the wood?

 

[slodat]

If it ever comes apart it will get painted or powder coated. Going to add side and top panels to cover.

 

[drivesitfar]

SD: you are doing well at GETTING ORGANIZED that is for certain. looking at your shop it looks like you maybe clean up after each job and put everything away? so then when you want to start a new project you don't have a PRE TO DO LIST just cleaning up?

your new rack looks like it's doing it's job. WELL DONE!!

it wasn't mentioned, but did you finish the NOVA before he sold it or did he get the offer in the middle of you doing the interior and pull the plug?

that was a cool car and the stuff you were doing looked like 22nd century so nothing better than vintage looks with ultra modern insides.

cheers

 

[slodat]

I’ve been wanting a 3d printer for a while. It’s an aspect of digital fabrication that I know fits in with what I’m doing in the shop. On a good friend’s strong recommendation and after a ton of research I settled on a Prusa i3 MK3S. I bought it factory assembled. It’s also available as in kit form. I can’t recommend the assembled Prusa i3 MK3S enough. Great prints out of the box. First project was beyond impressive.

These parts mount a Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi camera for OctoPrint- a nice remote management and monitoring setup. Instead of shuttling an SD card between the PC and Prusa, OctoPrint lets you send the file via WiFi. It also allows you to monitor the status of the printer remotely. It even creates the cool stop motion videos. Higher quality prints take longer. They are so worth the wait. Really happy with it all.















The missing screws are because I’m waiting on a hardware order.

 

[slodat]

Calling the material rack done for right now. Top and sides are on. Top has cleats that sit in the open ends of the square tubing uprights. I’m sure I’ll edge bad the top at some point. Entire thing bolts together. The sides took it from slight racking/rocking when pushed hard to a big solid box. I’m surprised and pleased with how big of a difference that made. All in all this is exactly what I pictured and wanted.

 

[harley jim]

Hey slodat
Shop is looking great. I like the material rack. Can't wait to see that 3D printer in action

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[xtremek]

The rack does look really nice,....and sturdy.

 

[slodat]

Forgot to post the before/after of the air management system I did. Wish hard lines would have been in the budget.

 

[bigpokie]

Looks like a 63/64 impala/biscayne. Anymore pics of the whole car ? You cleaned it up really nice.

 

[slodat]

Didn't take any photos of the whole car. All I did was the wiring cleanup, which included making the mounting panel for the ENDO tank.

 

[HotWire]

I stayed up past my bedtime 2 nights in a row reading your thread. Excellent work!

I love the ingenuity and work ethic. I also enjoy all your automation. I used to build automated manufacturing equipment and have taken PLC classes.

I would love to have even 20% the capacity of your shop, but for now Im very happy with my humble shop.

Thanks for sharing with us!


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[slodat]

Thank you for checking out my shop!!


Much needed weekend off is here. Tinkered a bit today on a few things I’ve wanted to get done..

First was changing my Milwaukee battery chargers to switched power via the lighting contactor. I’ve read of batteries (not specifically these batteries) causing fires. Now they only charge when the lights are on, which is when I’m in the shop. While I was up there I made a small shelf for the Sonos speaker.

Baltic birch cut on the laser. Front lip to prevent speaker from falling off.




All back together.


Printed an organizer for Craftsman ignition wrenches. Turned out nice.

 

[OOBER]

Awesome tools and organization. Looks like you are getting some good use out of the new printer.

Nice work!

 

[slodat]

Thank you, oober!

Modified the vacuum table of the cnc router today. The mdf spoil board has been curling up and making it a hassle to get sucked down when I go to use the machine. When the company I bought it from was here setting up the machine I asked them what they do to hold the spoil board down to the table. They suggested wood screws into the vacuum table. Needless to say this project has been on the back of my mind for coming on three years.

First I had to draw the machine bed in cad. This went well considering I didn’t do any probing. I added brass threaded inserts to the vacuum table so I can bolt the spoil board down. While I was at it I switched to using strips so the t-tracks are exposed for clamping. Last thing was a X0 Y0 fence to make setups quicker.

Tomorrow I will do a bit of cleanup on the fence so the t-tracks are clear. I’m thinking I’ll look into getting probing working soon.

 

[slodat]

Reworked the fence a bit. I didn’t realize until after I made the first fence that the Y axis section doesn’t have an attachment point at one end because the X axis section is using that bolt. And, I needed to clear out the X axis fence section so clamps would slide in t-tracks.

Yesterday’s attempt.. dowel.


Today’s better solution. Domino. Worked out well.


This shows how this fence is used. Makes for quick setup most of the time.


New fence parts bolted down. Dry fit domino between X and Y in the corner.


Outside profile and surfacing done on the machine.


Fun project. Learned a lot. And, the spoil board no longer fights me when I start the vacuum pumps.

 

[slodat]

I’ve wanted a cnc milling machine (and lathe) for a long time. After converting my router to Centroid Acorn, I knew I wanted my other machines to run their control as well. I just got this machine home. Was 150 miles away. Weighs 6000 pounds, CAT40 spindle taper, oiler, coolant, Baldor DC servos, 7.5 HP spindle. I think it’s a perfect candidate for control retrofit and will be a great first cnc mill for my shop. Seller needed it out of his shop. I got it for scrap value or a little under.











Made it to my shop without incident.



Delta 20 control.

 

[harley jim]

Thats a lot of machine. No doubt you will have it running right in no time.

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[slodat]

Got the mill in the shop. Looks like good bones. Needs a thorough cleaning and a complete electrical rebuild. Lots of useable parts.

 

[nova66mussl]

Nice score!!!

 

[matt_i]

Trees are pretty cool machines, the Cat40 spindle is a big upgrade over an R8. Nice heavy machine too.

Only downside is the tool-changer is You, but that can be overcome

I'm not totally sure how Tree processes G-code, I'm guessing it has something like a paper-tape drive or an RS-232 port (?)

I used these guys to add a USB port to my Fadal so I can code on a laptop and push the program (its a .txt file) to the processor memory via flash drive. That has been a very useful feature over typing while standing at the machine....

http://www.calmotion.com/usb-to-cnc.html

Shop is looking good from checking out the last few pages!

 

[slodat]

Thanks, Pat! It is a good score for me. Not a lot of guys wanting a machine this big that doesn’t run. I’ve been on the lookout for one for a few years.

Matt, I’m replacing the control. I don’t want to mess with the Delta 20. Thanks for the info!

Spend several hours and a gallon of cleaner scrubbing the coolant and grime off the mill today. Will need another pass. After getting a closer look, I’m still happy with the machine. Should work well for my needs.

 

[Riley]

Just curious, how the heck did you move 6K lbs around? Got a fork lift hiding somewhere?

It's amazing watching you put these spaces together. Low budget, top quality!

 

[slodat]

The seller had a 4k forklift. It took everything it had to get the mill loaded on the trailer.



Picked from the top with both forks together. Two straps and a clevis mostly leveled the load.


Lifting it to get the steel bar cribbing out was the limit of the forklift.


Load was in the sweet spot for the trailer.


Tied down secure and ready to roll.




Stopped to check things out. No issues. Drove between 30 and 55 mph on two lane backroads the whole way home.



Made it home just as the sun set. Twelve hours round trip.


Rented a 10k telehandler to unload.


Same rigging as the day before to pick it.





Coming up to the shop door.


We set it back on the 3” square tubing it was on at the sellers shop and picked it up from the bottom and drove it in the shop. It’s sitting on the tubing now. I’ll lower it off the tubing onto round bar with a toe jack and roll it into place on the bar. Once it’s in place the toe jacks lift and set it on the ground.

 

[Riley]

Ah ha...the telehandler is a great answer! It did look as though the f150 had a bit of tongue weight on it. Looking forward to seeing you get it up and moving.