Above 1200 Sq/FT LilScorpion’s Fab Space

[lilscorpion]

Ok, back at it but still bouncing around a little between projects.

Got the router table placed. Wasn’t easy nor difficult, just a bunch of nudgin’.



Found out while running thru start up procedures that I have to run a 5 micro filter before the machine on the air line or the warranty is voided. Dang it, air dryer needs to be plumbed in. To do that, I needed to get filters for the two cans that go on before the dryer. My hankison setup is probably 20 years old at least. New replacement filters were about $180. First filter captures stuff down to 1 micron and the second down to .01 micron. Just a little better than the required 5 micron but kinda needed for powder coating.



Cleaned up the cans a bit too. Almost as good as new.



When putting them back together I noticed that one of the gauges was cracked. Dang it…so I ordered a replacement (this is why progress seems to be very slow).



This vague helps you tell when the filters need to be replaced and should look like this.



On to the air dryer. It’s about 45-ish lbs I think. Not exactly light.



The plan is to hang it on the wall above the compressor on some uni-strut.



Needed some support brackets that could handle the load using some un-strut as well



First welding project in the new shop. Kinda enjoyed it.



Of course I can’t powder coat yet…ok.



Powder coating booth re-assembly is now next. Sigh

 

[loganb]

So how goes the reassembly and commissioning of the powder coat booth?

 

[madison069]

He hasn’t been on since March 21st, hope he’s just busy.

 

[lilscorpion]

So how goes the reassembly and commissioning of the powder coat booth?

Going well. I’ll post and update in the next few days.

He hasn’t been on since March 21st, hope he’s just busy.

The very short version is this - we’d been trying to sell our old house since October. Can’t tell you how many had looked at it…right about the time I posted my last update we went under contract. We went thru the whole BS process of having a buyer kick out *** on a list of things the house needed and then had to move everything out. It’s been a month of chaos…but I’m they it now. This past weekend was the first weekend where I felt like I was human again and back in the garage…so update very soon!

 

[zmotorsports]

Glad to hear you're still with us Matt. I know how stressful it can be trying to sell a home while wanting to do things in the new one.

Best of luck now that you have the most stressful part done.

 

[zanyad]

update very soon!

Can't wait!

 

[lilscorpion]

Back at it full time now. So happy. When I checked out I had a bunch of projects mid-flight. Now I need to start wrapping them up.

Powder coating booth. Needed to figure out how to retain the filters better primarily because I lost the wood ones I was using in the move. I suspect they ended up in the dumpster or went out in one of many trash cans damn it.



I started by framing the sock filter with pre finished plywood sized just right to hold the wire frame of the filter in place.



I used some aluminum angle to make this frame for the primary filter. The way I had retained the primary before was sloppy and allowed dust to get around the primary filter causing the secondary to need to be replaced more frequently. The new frame eliminates that problem. The second I got the frame on I was coating…



And the coated parts were the support legs for the air dryer out in the garage I need to get installed asap.



the plan was to hang over the air compressor on some unit strut just to the left of the door joint the shop and garage.



Like this…just low enough I was able to shoulder press it over my head (without dropping it).



Mounted the previously rebuilt and cleaned pre filters.



And added in the hoses so I can next tackle the pre-cooler and compressor.



And before calling it a night, I got the compressor off the pallet and installed the isolator feet. The compressor is right at the weight limit of the mini-tractor. Fortunately I had the ballast in the rear tires or I wouldnt have been able to lift it.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Good to see you on the mend.

 

[lilscorpion]

Use the magical machine dolly trucks to spin the compressor around and into position.



Used 4 washers under the front 2 feet to level it out. Almost nailed it.



Almost nailed it



Got the wires run thru the liquid tight conduit, plugged in the dryer, and fired it up. Good
Enough for now. I have a valve, some special copper fittings, and some switches on order. I’ll run it like this until they arrive.

 

[lilscorpion]

I’ve also been chipping away at organization but it’s going way slower than I would have guess primarily because it’s all from scratch and the scale is much larger than in the last garage.

Though it was a difficult decision, I’ve decided to change the format of my base cabinets to be shallower than what I had before primarily because I’ve realized that 24” drawers are too deep to be able to comfortably access the entire drawer in one motion (given how long my arms are). I know…crazy talk. But I learned that with a 24” drawer I -

1) have to take a step back to open it all the way and
2) found I tend to be Less organized towards the rear of most drawers

Instead, I’ll make all my drawers longer and uniform in length. So my existing drawer bases will be deconstructed and converted to the new format. I might regret this…



It took a considerable amount of time to pull all drawers and deconstruct everything. I did need to keep some of the drawers assembled so I had a place to keep my stuff as I build
The new ones.



These 3 benches made up for all of my base cabinet storage at the old house and now I have drawers everywhere.



New base cabinets will be just over 19” deep and will have 18” deep drawers. Also they’ll be floating cabinets…for now. I’ll add some hidden legs/supports later but I wanted to be more easily able to clean the floors in the shop when I want to. Like pressure wash clean.



The box have a semi-torsion box-like frame design to handle more weight than my last cabinets.



I plan to have base cabinets like this on more than 50% of the walls on the shop side. Should have more than plenty of storage.



Needless to say, I have a bunch more to build. This is only the beginning.

 

[Max]

I am looking forward to seeing your semi torsion box tops.

I also owe you a thank you from long ago in your thread. You talked about not gluing the base cabinets together and just using screws - which has saved my bacon twice so far. Once when I moved some cabinets around and I had to have a depth change on one cabinet, and the other time when I had a cheap HD plywood back warp terribly on me. Also I’ve switched to the pre-finished BB plywood and it is wonderful stuff.

I do think that changing the cabinet depth is *********. It’s not the base cabinets, but rather the drawers and slides…

 

[quadrcr87]

The new compressor setup looks great. When you are finished, this place is going to be setup better than a lot of manufacturing sites I’ve been in.

I hope you are enjoying setting up the new place and organizing, I certainly would be!

 

[lilscorpion]

I am looking forward to seeing your semi torsion box tops.

I might have created a bit of confusion. The boxes themselves have torsion like supports built into them to better support the counter tops across the span of the cabinets which have wider drawers.

I am looking forward to seeing your semi torsion box tops.

Though it does contradict sturdy cabinet design, It might be my favorite decision (our should I say risk) I’ve made. Had I not only used glue I would have had to pitch all my cabinets from the old garage. Glad it’s worked for you as well.

The new compressor setup looks great. When you are finished, this place is going to be setup better than a lot of manufacturing sites I’ve been in.

I hope you are enjoying setting up the new place and organizing, I certainly would be!

Thanks. I’m excited about being in the new space. It’s refreshing and liberating. Waling by the new compressor setup does put a smile on my face too.

 

[lilscorpion]

Working on getting the router up and running (it’s running now but I mean making). Next up is the dust collector. Truck was how to run the ducting. According to the instructions, the first machine should be 5’ away. I had planned on having the DC right at the machine not realizing the 5’ thing so I chose to offset it as far as I could to the right and plan for the hose to run to machine on the left. Wall bracket was easy enough.



The main body if the cyclone housing was easy enough to place as well tho it did occur to me that I hadn’t really thought about having to carry the pieces and parts 10’ up a ladder when I had been dreaming about a new dust collector setup.



The impeller assembly now installed.



Next step is to mount the motor to the motor plate.



This step should have flown but I missed a key detail in the faded print in the instructions - the hub when fully seated on the motor spindle will have 1/4” gap and not look fully seated, this is normal. Yeah well I end up pushing the 10-24 screws a bit to far and snap…



In that moment I don’t lose my ****. No wrench throwing. I didn’t cuss. I calmly started digging thru boxes of tools looking for my extractor sets and, of course, couldn’t find them. I decided I could at least make progress by center drilling the screw so I started in on that. Once drilled, I went back to look for the extractors and gave up after an hour. Man I could not for the life of me remember what box I put them in. Now more or less defeated I figured I’d try to run a tap down in the hole…like why not? As you can imagine…snap. Broke the tap off in the hole. Well now damn…what happened next was luck or the shop gods smiling on me - I droooed the drill back in the hole to see if the tap had shattered hoping only little parts would come out. The drill bound up immediately but because I was going slow, the screw drove itself and the broke tap out!



So the screw up cost me a tap, a few hours, and a little learning/reminding to read the damn instructions more carefully even when I think I know the next step…and I’m back under way.



Motor wired up uneventfully.



Lifted up and in place uneventfully (and thankfully, it was heavy).



The DC has a contactor box with wireless fob. Neat I suppose for most but I found it to be in ideal how they situated the plugs and wires in the box. Figured I’d just run it as is instead of waste time making it better. Good progress and past the hard part, the rest should be downhill when I can get back to it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Lookin' good Matt. You're making excellent headway.

 

[Andrew S]

If you're not familiar with that style of taper-lock hub, I recommend retorquing the screws after a few hours of running. They tend to loosen up a bit after use.
Thanks for taking us along for the new shop setup, lots of ideas I need to implement in my own!

 

[LeonardY]

Thanks for the update. So inspiring!

Now I'm going to take a nap until the feeling goes away.

 

[lilscorpion]

Parts showed up for phase 2 of the air compressor install.

 

[lilscorpion]

Insight into how my brain works - didn’t know what drill I had, when I read what was inscribed…FN-L... Hilarious...

 

[lilscorpion]

Damn powder coating stripper casters sucked. They were supposedly rated at 600 per wheel and I used 6. It the damn things don’t swivel fer $hit. When I try to move the drum around (weighs about 800lbs) I end up having to overcome half of the wheels going odd directions. So today I’m fixing that ****.



Using a tow jack I unloaded the weigh on one side and removed the wheels. Then I made a new skate track using angle iron BY HAND. Yeah the mill is still not wired up so I’m using a punch, drill bits, and a hand drill to make holes. Who fabricates without a CNC mill?!?



Actually I enjoyed the hell out of making parts by hand and, to be honest, I think it was way faster and I’d bet the accuracy was perfectly good. Instead of 6 wheels now it has 4 but way bigger with a way heavier load rating. The brakes are better too.

 

[lilscorpion]

Spent a little more time on the dust collection too. Next step was to get the filter assembly attached (to the dangling hose on the upper right)0



The filters are no joke. They’re rated at .5 micron and the pair are just over 5’ tall.



They could sit on the floor if I got a longer hose but since I’m trying f to optimize space, I figured I could install them above the barrel that catches the dust to the right of the router table. To do this in need to make a shelf of sorts just big enough to support the clean out that sits below the filter (the blue thing in the below pic)



With it attached to the wall, it tucks back in there like this



and made a little support which will add strength to the free end and serve for an attachment point for the hose that connects to the barrel too



I could have mounted it lower but I wanted to leave space enough to add casters to the barrel in the future. need to get a clamp for the filters. For some reason I was shorted one on the box…no choose but to pause here…

 

[lilscorpion]

Jumped over to the air compressor install. You’re gonna laugh because I’m about to illustrate just how extra I am. So I realized that for the particulate and moisture pre-filters to work correctly I need a minimum of 25’ of copper pipe before them. It actually says that in the manual. Never realized it before and I’ve been running them for about 20 years now. Anyway, so I’ve been thinking about how to do this and spent maybe a little too long browsing on Amazon. Let me take you back to a teaser pic from a few weeks back…



The U shaped copper fittings are used in HVAC installs apparently. The adapters are 3/4” -> 2”. And the tank is an aluminum air tank commonly used for air bagged trucks/cars. I needed the fittings to all be 3/8” not so I drilled them out and taped the accordingly.



Here’s what I used the U’s for and how I ran 25’ of copper between the compressor and the wall…I built an oversized coil of sorts using unistrut to fixture it. The 2” adapters are foreshadowing…



It looks really cool installed and now the drip legs are obvious.

Now the adapters are for scavenging tanks for the bottom of the drip legs. WAY overkill, I doubt I’ll ever accumulate enough moisture in them to fill just the 3/4” tube but hey, when in Rome right? Also mocked up the mini tank which will be used as a drain accumulation tank for the system.



All of this **** fits nicely in the void behind the compressor but above the silencer/muffler box. Can you visualize it?



Found some 2” copper pipe on eBay. Bought 12” and actually had to buy a larger pipe cutter to cut it down into 2 pieces 4” long. Precision cutting it was.



Never played with big stuff like this before. Apparently it’s used in brew systems.



Dry fit, this is what I’m going for.



Was a little worried about soldering it actually. Knowing that there’s a sweet spot for the flux, and that I’d not soldered much in years…I just went for it but decided to solder it in steps. Drip leg and lower adapter first.



Then, did the wet towel trick and soldere the upper half. Easy it turned out. Pressure tested it too. Held perfectly. Whew.

 

[lilscorpion]

Set them aside, waiting on parts.



Now the next hour or so I spent patiently working the gremlins out of my steampunk inspired copper monstrosity. Turns out that one of my solders on one of the 180* bends wasn’t sufficient and, after trying to hook the coil up to the compressor, it failed (leaked bad). It had pressure tested ok on the bend but I suspect it just barely held air and when moving the tubes a bit to attach it, the solder failed. I think I tried soldering it 3 or 4 times until I got it. As you probably guessed, the first few times I didn’t get it clean enough. Once I did it the right way it actually solders perfectly.



Who knew cutting corners had consequences.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

The copper for air lines looks very cool. Love the work. That is one serious air setup you have.

 

[larry4406]

Are the 2” scavenging tanks just extra large drip pots to increase the interval between draining?

Nice work.

 

[lilscorpion]

The copper for air lines looks very cool. Love the work. That is one serious air setup you have.

Thank you. It’s more than it needs to be by a bit.

Are the 2” scavenging tanks just extra large drip pots to increase the interval between draining?

Nice work.

More or less yes. I had planned on just having a drip leg for the water to collect as it passes thru the coil and cools. I wasn’t honestly sure how to determine how much water could collect when the compressor is running 50% of the time. I know that the other compressor would build up water fairly quickly when I’m sand blasting bigger parts (the most air intensive process in my shop) and fill the small separator which was slightly smaller than one of these I made. So figured 2 would be better. I did consider going even bigger but 2” was the largest diameter I could fit using 1” unistrut. They’ll work no matter what, I’m planning to use home automation and electric valves to be able to purge the system as often as I’d like…it will absolutely be trial and error figuring out how long.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Spent a little more time on the dust collection too. Next step was to get the filter assembly attached (to the dangling hose on the upper right)0



The filters are no joke. They’re rated at .5 micron and the pair are just over 5’ tall.



They could sit on the floor if I got a longer hose but since I’m trying f to optimize space, I figured I could install them above the barrel that catches the dust to the right of the router table. To do this in need to make a shelf of sorts just big enough to support the clean out that sits below the filter (the blue thing in the below pic)



With it attached to the wall, it tucks back in there like this



and made a little support which will add strength to the free end and serve for an attachment point for the hose that connects to the barrel too



I could have mounted it lower but I wanted to leave space enough to add casters to the barrel in the future. need to get a clamp for the filters. For some reason I was shorted one on the box…no choose but to pause here…

When your first set of filters finally clogs n dies, as they will, go to Wynn industrial and buy a set of larger diameter, more loosely pleated filters. They will allow you just to pat the filters down to clear them of the fines. When I ordered, they called me, to make sure I knew what I was after. I never expected that kind of service. They also take calls for technical questions. And they'll help you decide, if you're unsure.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Set them aside, waiting on parts.



Now the next hour or so I spent patiently working the gremlins out of my steampunk inspired copper monstrosity. Turns out that one of my solders on one of the 180* bends wasn’t sufficient and, after trying to hook the coil up to the compressor, it failed (leaked bad). It had pressure tested ok on the bend but I suspect it just barely held air and when moving the tubes a bit to attach it, the solder failed. I think I tried soldering it 3 or 4 times until I got it. As you probably guessed, the first few times I didn’t get it clean enough. Once I did it the right way it actually solders perfectly.



Who knew cutting corners had consequences.

There are wire brushes and plumbers cloth for cleaning copper. The small investment in tools make a world of difference. One of my old teachers said, if you think it's clean, clean it again. He was right. I cheated once and had to do it over.

Be generous with flux.

A cheat for checking pipe temperature when soldering, besides poking it with the solder, is to look for when the flame around the pipe gets a faint green cast to it. At that point solder will nearly jump into the joint.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Thank you. It’s more than it needs to be by a bit.

More or less yes. I had planned on just having a drip leg for the water to collect as it passes thru the coil and cools. I wasn’t honestly sure how to determine how much water could collect when the compressor is running 50% of the time. I know that the other compressor would build up water fairly quickly when I’m sand blasting bigger parts (the most air intensive process in my shop) and fill the small separator which was slightly smaller than one of these I made. So figured 2 would be better. I did consider going even bigger but 2” was the largest diameter I could fit using 1” unistrut. They’ll work no matter what, I’m planning to use home automation and electric valves to be able to purge the system as often as I’d like…it will absolutely be trial and error figuring out how long.

What fun is it if we don't go overboard.

Ok I really like the sound of what you just mentioned. Having the air system set up with home automation to purge itself is pretty cool idea. I look forward to following along how you do it.

I am likely going to go with Prevost piping for my much smaller air setup but that would be something cool to incorporate.

 

[slodat]

Matt- you may want to take a look at zero loss condensate drains. I have this model. What’s cool about them is they only cycle when they have enough moisture present. Not timing. It has been installed on my tank for years and it cycles a few times a day in my desert climate.

 

[larry4406]

There are wire brushes and plumbers cloth for cleaning copper. The small investment in tools make a world of difference. One of my old teachers said, if you think it's clean, clean it again. He was right. I cheated once and had to do it over.

Be generous with flux.

A cheat for checking pipe temperature when soldering, besides poking it with the solder, is to look for when the flame around the pipe gets a faint green cast to it. At that point solder will nearly jump into the joint.

I’ve seen that faint green cast of the flame and never given it a 2nd thought!

 

[pickles]

Gawd you do nice work.

 

[kaymccampbell]

And, while I'm thinking of it, get yourself a dust collector barrel level meter. It flashes, you empty it. The NWA folks don't pay attention to theirs and they've choked the filters multiple times, thus drastically shortening the useful life.

 

[lilscorpion]

There are wire brushes and plumbers cloth for cleaning copper. The small investment in tools make a world of difference. One of my old teachers said, if you think it's clean, clean it again. He was right. I cheated once and had to do it over.

Be generous with flux.

A cheat for checking pipe temperature when soldering, besides poking it with the solder, is to look for when the flame around the pipe gets a faint green cast to it. At that point solder will nearly jump into the joint.

I have a wire brush and got the male side super clean. (Per the picture). My issue was getting the inside of an already soldered fitting clean again. I ended up using a small sand paper ball on a grinder.

Green flame huh? I’ll try when I get home

What fun is it if we don't go overboard.

Exactly!

Ok I really like the sound of what you just mentioned. Having the air system set up with home automation to purge itself is pretty cool idea. I look forward to following along how you do it.

I am likely going to go with Prevost piping for my much smaller air setup but that would be something cool to incorporate.

I’m big into using home automation to make my life easier and better. I control my entire house heating and cooling via automation (as opposed to thermostat) and it’s made the house so much more temperature balanced and/or more comfortable where people are as opposed to where the thermostats are installed. The program has adjustments for out door temps by calling a weather API for current weather as well as predictive. Predictive is important if you have radiant heat and need to take into account ramp up or ramp down time…it’s nerd stuff. So many nerds.

 

[lilscorpion]

And, while I'm thinking of it, get yourself a dust collector barrel level meter. It flashes, you empty it. The NWA folks don't pay attention to theirs and they've choked the filters multiple times, thus drastically shortening the useful life.

Agreed! When I get the Grit Automation setup I’m going to get their dust dust bin sensor and warning light.

 

[Cruzan80]

I generally get the cheap multi-size kind, then take them apart and stick the male wire brush end in a drill. Heat up the pipe and then wheel.

 

[lilscorpion]

I generally get the cheap multi-size kind, then take them apart and stick the male wire brush end in a drill. Heat up the pipe and then wheel.

Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll get one for the box so I have it next time.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I’m big into using home automation to make my life easier and better. I control my entire house heating and cooling via automation (as opposed to thermostat) and it’s made the house so much more temperature balanced and/or more comfortable where people are as opposed to where the thermostats are installed. The program has adjustments for out door temps by calling a weather API for current weather as well as predictive. Predictive is important if you have radiant heat and need to take into account ramp up or ramp down time…it’s nerd stuff. So many nerds.

Oh wow, that is really cool. I never thought of doing predictive cooling. I need to look into that.

 

[lilscorpion]

Oh wow, that is really cool. I never thought of doing predictive cooling. I need to look into that.

Check out OpenWeatherMap’s one call 3.0 API.

One Call API 3.0

Explore the versatile OpenWeather One Call API 3.0. It includes features like current weather updates, future forecasts up to 1.5 years, and detailed historical weather data starting from 01-01-1979. Updated every 10 minutes, the API ensures accuracy and relevancy. It allows for 1,000 free daily...

openweathermap.org

Edit : wrong pic before. Below is the features of the api

 

[lilscorpion]

Received a shipment yesterday, a new cart to help me move around, store, and process sheet goods thru the CNC Router and the table saw. I have some shoulder injuries that make doing so by hand nearly impossible now.

The cart tips down flat and has a hydraulic cylinder on it so you can get the height right.



Makes unloading a snap.



The cart is narrow enough to fit thru the breezeway door between the shop and the garage which is really nice. In the vertical position it makes storing, and quickly moving, 12 sheets of 3/4 Baltic birch a snap.



Then when it’s time to process a few, flip it down again, set the level, and cut away.



No shoulders were injured making this post.