My Garage Machine Shop

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Is that a smile?

Yep!

I would try to get as large a storage tank as possible to reduce the start cycles on that, you are going to need a bit more of a phase converter for that one.

What are you doing to need that much air? Wheel abrading may be a better option?

Hi Steve,

The ultimate plan is for a 500-1000 gallon receiver to extend the cycle time. I already have a phase converter capable of running this machine, I just need to install it (big wire!).

It will be the main compressor for my shop which will eventually have a number of cnc machines with air demands. I also have a 3HP unit for small air needs. I like to buy machines that extend my capability and I've always been impressed with the quality of the QR-25 series machines. I can rebuild this machine in 10 years or so and it will run the rest of my lifetime.

I occasionally do large sandblasting tasks like machine tools and this will allow me to do the job in a matter of minutes instead of days as I did with the DoAll. Plus, if I ever need to run a couple 80lb jackhammers around the house I can do that too.

 

[shopnut]

Re: My Garage Shop

Either you're the same size as my 2-year-old nephew, or that thing is HUGE!
Impressive, to say the least.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Re: My Garage Shop

Is that a smile?

I'd say it's a sh/t-eating grin!

 

[fergus]

Re: My Garage Shop

Holy smokes! Now THAT is a man's compressor. I bet that thing has more displacement than my car.

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Either you're the same size as my 2-year-old nephew, or that thing is HUGE!
Impressive, to say the least.

It's big! The bare pump is over 900lbs.

I'd say it's a sh/t-eating grin!

Holy smokes! Now THAT is a man's compressor. I bet that thing has more displacement than my car.

The total displacement of the four cylinders is 331 cubic inches, but compressors are rated by the displacement of the low pressure cylinder(s), which is 226 cubic inches in this case.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Re: My Garage Shop

Well by either measurement, it's more displacement than my race car.

 

[thk2c]

Re: My Garage Shop

A_Pmech,

Thank you for your posts. No joke, I could read about your shop, fabrication skills and machining all day. If you posted an update everyday on the progress of your projects and rebuilds, I would probably be fired from my job for wasting company time. Not only that, but I probably wouldn't mind as long as you kept posting.

 

[Dirk Hollis]

Re: My Garage Shop

Would you please stop copying my equipment purchases. Just how many GJ's have Quincy V4s? First it was the Doall bandsaw. Then the radial drill. Now you've found the same compressor. All I can say is great purchase!

 

[Thruxton]

Re: My Garage Shop

That is not a shop, that is a facility. What size piping, d+l, are you installing for that compressor? Not useful knowledge to me, just curious.

 

[Zengineer]

Re: My Garage Shop

LOL, awesome choice in compressors. Overkill is just enough!

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Well by either measurement, it's more displacement than my race car.

Aye! They make a nice thump when running.

If you posted an update everyday on the progress of your projects and rebuilds, I would probably be fired from my job for wasting company time. Not only that, but I probably wouldn't mind as long as you kept posting.

Thank you for the kind words! Don't get fired!

Would you please stop copying my equipment purchases. Just how many GJ's have Quincy V4s?

Three of us now! I had a sneaky feeling you might have one as we have similar taste in machinery.

That is not a shop, that is a facility. What size piping, d+l, are you installing for that compressor? Not useful knowledge to me, just curious.

It's getting there!

I'll probably install a 1 1/4" iron pipe trunk line.

LOL, awesome choice in compressors. Overkill is just enough!

That it is!

 

[e-tek]

Re: My Garage Shop

Do you make any money in the shop - or is it just for hobby use? I've found a new kind of joy in getting paid to turn out resto's for others rather than just for myself!

 

[Falcon67]

Re: My Garage Shop

Here's something I just finished. It is a bracket made from 304 stainless bar stock. Finish is as-machined. For scale, it is about 4" long.

That kind of finish takes a soild machine on good mounts.

Hey, I found a tank for your compressor:

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Do you make any money in the shop - or is it just for hobby use? I've found a new kind of joy in getting paid to turn out resto's for others rather than just for myself!

Hi E-tek,

The shop is my business but also my hobby. I'm a self-employed machinist, mechanic and industrial designer. In my spare time I like rebuilding old machines for the shop, building new tools and playing with fast bikes.

Hey, I found a tank for your compressor

Bwaaaahahahah!

Now, a version like that but around 8' in diameter would be great!

 

[cnc-me]

Re: My Garage Shop

That kind of finish takes a soild machine on good mounts.

Hey, I found a tank for your compressor:

Looks like two phase power going right by the side of that tank.
What is that tank used for?

PS: I hope those concrete mounts hold, the Suzuki (and anyone else) doesn't have a chance
if they give away.

 

[cnc-me]

Re: My Garage Shop

Originally Posted by Zengineer
LOL, awesome choice in compressors. Overkill is just enough!

That it is!

You will be glad you got it when you start sandblasting
it will take everything the big Quincy can put out.

Sometimes I run all three of ours, two 5 horse and one 20 horse.
Thats when the nozzle is about shot though.

 

[Stan1967]

Re: My Garage Shop

John,
I had a commerical central dust collection in my shop, but when we went out of business and returned to it being a hobby I sold the collector. I see that you appear to be running your dust collection with a portable collector and 4" PVC "duct work". How is that working for you? If you don't mind could you tell me the size and make of the collector and what the length of you longest PVC run is.

Thanks
Stan

 

[scott37300]

Re: My Garage Shop

Very impressive!

I like reading stories about guys that are as DIY as they come, a man of many skills. I try to do as much as I can myself, hate giving someone else my money for something I could do with a little homework and hardwork! But I am very very far from your level! I also like restoring good old quality machines. Always keep my eye open on craigslist for deals. Wish I had the space you did to fit more. Do you find most of your machines at auctions?

Great job and would love to see more pictures of the machines/shop/shop build/work/anything if you get some time!

 

[Don AJ]

Re: My Garage Shop

This is an awesome shop!
Thanks for sharing.
If I had food in there, I would never leave.
LoL
Very nice

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

I see that you appear to be running your dust collection with a portable collector and 4" PVC "duct work". How is that working for you? If you don't mind could you tell me the size and make of the collector and what the length of you longest PVC run is.

Thanks
Stan

Hi Stan,

The total run is about 60 feet. I'm currently running a 1.5HP portable collector which is moderately under-powered for the application. However, it does do the job and I rarely experience clogging of the dust ports, usually the planer. I do not have the static issue some people experience. The eventual plan is to replace the portable unit with a 7.5HP or 10HP stationary cyclone with a bag house.

The PVC is far more efficient than the spiral flexible tubing I was using prior to installing the PVC.

Very impressive!

I like reading stories about guys that are as DIY as they come, a man of many skills. I try to do as much as I can myself, hate giving someone else my money for something I could do with a little homework and hardwork! But I am very very far from your level! I also like restoring good old quality machines. Always keep my eye open on craigslist for deals. Wish I had the space you did to fit more. Do you find most of your machines at auctions?

Great job and would love to see more pictures of the machines/shop/shop build/work/anything if you get some time!

Hi Scott,

Thanks!

How I find my machines is a secret, but I have developed a method that works.

There will be plenty more photos in the near future, I have projects piling up that I need to take care of!

This is an awesome shop!
Thanks for sharing.
If I had food in there, I would never leave.
LoL
Very nice

Hi Don,

Thanks!

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

I was finally able to download all the manuals from Quincy's website last night. Quincy puts out a great illustrated overhaul manual for the QR-25 machines titled "QR-25 Series Teardown & Rebuild" Manual # 50255-101 published Sept. 2008. If you have a QR-25 series machine, it is worth having around.

I also added some links to some of my projects on the first post in this thread, I'll add more projects to the first post as I think of 'em.

 

[diver2d]

Re: My Garage Shop

Be still my beating heart. I think I'm in love with your tools.

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

The compressor made it home!

Many thanks to Mitch's Delivery Service.

 

[amolaver]

Re: My Garage Shop

i think if i could afford it, i would hire you to teach me the 1/1000th of your knowledge that could be imparted in year of apprenticeship.

it is simply astounding to me the expertise you bring to the table across your breadth of projects. thank you for taking the time to post your projects!

ahm

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Maybe not as cool as some of the other recent additions, but this will be a big time and energy saver. I bought a set of Huot drill cabinets from a machinery dealer a few weeks back. I have drills stashed all over the shop and this will help me consolidate them into one location. As a bonus, they're half full with new USA drills!

Drills over 1/2 will still remain in cabinets and on shelves, for now.

I have a whole bunch of projects stacking up that I need to get in the works starting tomorrow. Finishing the floor in the house, the U.S. Electrical Tool grinder, getting the B&S surface grinder up and running, installing an air lift knee in the Bridgeport, installing a new steel frame door in the shop, and drawing up plans for the new electrical / compressor building are high on the list. This, along with work, should keep me out of trouble until spring.

Oh yes, did I mention a forced air gas heater is also on the list?

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Be still my beating heart. I think I'm in love with your tools.

So am I.

i think if i could afford it, i would hire you to teach me the 1/1000th of your knowledge that could be imparted in year of apprenticeship.

it is simply astounding to me the expertise you bring to the table across your breadth of projects. thank you for taking the time to post your projects!

Thanks for the kind words, although I'm not sure whether I know *THAT* much!

You're welcome! I like to read and put ideas into action, which means I'm constantly pushing the envelope and trying new things as well as refining the old.

 

[Amitygravel]

Re: My Garage Shop

John
As usual, your latest shop additions are always interesting.

Do you ever slow down ?
How do you stay motivated and keep the pace that you do ?

Craig

 

[mjozefow]

Re: My Garage Shop

Mitch's Delivery service strikes again!

Would you happen to have any No. 11 twist drills? Or 250?

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Do you ever slow down ?

Funny you should say that, as most people say I'm as slow as Molasses in January. It's more about running at an even pace than anything. I don't rush, but I don't slow down either.

How do you stay motivated and keep the pace that you do ?

Staying motivated isn't very difficult for me. Plus, I usually keep around six projects running at at time. If I get bored with one I can pick up another one where I left off.

Would you happen to have any No. 11 twist drills?

Just a few. Hundred...

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

I uncrated another neat thing today:

This is an air counterbalanced knee screw for my Bridgeport. These were originally installed on the Series II CNC machines to counterbalance the weight of the knee, table and saddle so that the Z-axis servo motor could move the knee.

Essentially, the center of the column is a 5" diameter air cylinder which provides around 1,800lbs of counterbalance force, slightly less than the weight of the table, knee and saddle. Thus, instead of having to crank up the weight of a small car every time I need to make a height adjustment, I'll only be cranking a hundred pounds or so. Fingertip effort!

Series II Standard machines such as mine had one major problem with the built-in DC power feeds. The knee motor was prone to failure as a consequence of the heavy loads it is required to move. My knee motor is no exception, it has shorted out as most of them do. The air knee will allow me to install a smaller motor which will have a much longer lifespan than the original.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to getting this installed.

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Out with the old, in with the new!

This spring, my entry door, your typical $100 wood-frame slab door from Mendards, broke it's finger-jointed jamb. I considered fixing it but the thing is so cheap and flimsy I decided it was time to locate a proper steel frame commercial door, which is what I sized the opening for in the beginning.

Tuesday, I finally found what I wanted on Craigslist. A brand new 36" commercial steel frame door with panic device and closer, all new and still in the boxes. All totaled, about $600 worth of stuff. I paid a LOT less.

Today, I got it installed. No more crappy falling apart entry door!

 

[Hardware]

Re: My Garage Shop

Cant believe how clean it it.. the vac is impressive..

 

[D Force]

Re: My Garage Shop

OMG! You have more fabricating capacity in your shop than most small countries!

Listen, if it ever gets too crowded in there for you, let me know. I've got a truck with a lift and can help you out with that problem!

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

I got another project out of the way today: Better fire extinguishers!

Yesterday, I road tripped to a nearby town to visit the fire extinguisher company where I picked up my two new extinguishers. The two new units are in the back of the photo below, the two small units I had been using are in the front. I upgraded slightly...

The unit in the left rear is a Type ABC Dry Chemical with a rating of 10A, 120B-C. The unit on the right is a Type BC Carbon Dioxide with a rating of 10B-C. These two replace the two small units in the front which have a rating of 5B-C and 3A, 40B-C respectively.

Technically, the little 3A, 40B-C dry chemical extinguisher I had was sufficient for the shop according to NFPA table 3-2.1 and 3-3.1. However, I don't like going with minimums. Plus, I wanted a CO2 extinguisher to reduce the cleanup requirements in the event of a small fire. Since CO2 is a gas at room temperature, it leaves no mess, unlike powdered dry chemical. If you've ever put out a carburetor fire with dry chemical you know exactly what I'm talking about!

I mounted the extinguishers in the center of my shop on the second floor support columns per NFPA 1-6.10 requiring that extinguishers over 40lbs gross weight be mounted so that the top of the extinguisher is not more than 3.5 feet above the floor and the bottom of the extinguisher is not less than 4" from the surface of the floor. I finished the installation with a placard near ceiling height, to show the location of each unit as they are not readily visible due to the sea of machinery.

These units are on a yearly inspection plan with the fire protection company and are completely serviceable and rebuildable, unlike the plastic units I was using before.

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Cant believe how clean it it.. the vac is impressive..

Thanks!

Central shop air is next. 1-1/4" copper, here I come!

Listen, if it ever gets too crowded in there for you, let me know. I've got a truck with a lift and can help you out with that problem!

 

[Amitygravel]

Re: My Garage Shop

Inch and quarter copper?!?!


Bust out the checkbook !

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Inch and quarter copper?!?!


Bust out the checkbook !

Aye! That's correct, 1-1/4" copper trunk line. I want to keep the losses in the piping system to a minimum in the trunk line. It should flow about 100CFM with around a 5PSI head loss including all the fittings and bends between the compressor receiver out in the yard and the end of the trunk line a couple of shop additions in the future. This leaves plenty of room for expansion later, which will be needed as there will be only one compressed air entrance to the shop, the one I install soon.

The compressor installation is another step closer to reality. I recently purchased a disconnect and motor starter in a lot of surplus industrial electrical equipment. I thought it would be funny to put the disconnect and motor starter in front of my current Ingersoll Rand SS3L for a size comparison.

 

[Zengineer]

Re: My Garage Shop

Aye! That's correct, 1-1/4" copper trunk line.

Tell me you aren't going to soft solder the copper lines! What not use mild steel/black iron pipe threaded?

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Tell me you aren't going to soft solder the copper lines! What not use mild steel/black iron pipe threaded?

No, the tube will be sized and brazed I.A.W. the Copper Tube Handbook which has specific information regarding the connection of copper tubing for compressed gas service.

I don't want to use black pipe because of the potential for rust. The shop air supply will eventually be tapped for filtered instrument air. The less **** I have to filter out the better.

 

[A_Pmech]

Re: My Garage Shop

Another new tool arrived today. Let's see if anybody can guess what it is and what it does!

Here's some work from this week. First, early this week I got an overnight rush job in. These parts needed additional counterbores made for internal magnets for some kind of process control. Here, I'm breaking the Loctite bond on the mounting clip screws with heat from a torch. I still had to drill out three of them:

Getting ready to locate the next counterbore with a center drill. You can see several of the completed counterbores in this part:

I ground this screw machine length drill to make a flat bottomed hole as some of the counterbores were almost 3" deep:

This is another overnight rush job I got in mid-week. It is a coolant manifold and it starts from 5" bar stock which I turned to diameter, partially faced the end and then cut off with the horizontal bandsaw:

Back in the lathe, it gets turned to thickness, faced and chamfered:

The central port is 3/4 NPT. This is drilled and tapped on the mill:

Here's the finished result. The periphery has 8 individual 1/2 NPT threaded holes. The print is in the background:

Finally, this job I did today. They're a pair of rings to stop a hydraulic cylinder. In this photo I'm boring out the center of a piece of bar stock turned to size:

After the boring is complete, each ring is parted off. The drill in the photo was used to drill the starting hole before boring and now it is being used again, to catch the ring as it is parted off!

The final operation is to cut a "notch" in the ring to allow it to pass over a hydraulic cylinder rod:

The completed parts:

That's it for today!