Pocket sized shipping container workshop

[samthedog]

I had originally started a thread based on my old garage a couple years ago. Since then I have moved and have had to re-think the garage option and although I updated my old thread, I figured it warranted a new thread. Anyway, enjoy the ride...

I needed to move my workshop and given we were moving to a rental, building a garage was not an option. Instead I opted for a shipping container.

It was a 20 footer so I needed to figure out a floor plan that would allow me to have adequate bench space, plus the following machines:

- Metal Lathe
- Metal mill
- Metal bandsaw
- Tool and cutter grinder
- Drill press
- Woodworking combination machine
- Wood bandsaw
- Compressor

This meant having to do some serious thinking about placement since I needed access to use the machines, change gears for various threading and speed ranges, allow access to the metal bandsaw for cutting longer stock etc... I also needed to make the workshop in such a way I could strap the machines down so I could transport the container later with the machines in situ.

Since I knew the area would be cramped, I also wanted to have a travelling bridge crane to allow me to change the milling machine tables and accessories with minimal effort and minimal risk to myself and to the machines. I purchased some H beams for this task.

I also needed to ensure the container was insulated sufficiently for the Norwegian winter so I could work comfortably in winter and the machines would not be at risk of condensation and rust. I decided to go with styrofoam insulation.

I decided to go with 50mm thick plates for the ceiling and 20mm for the walls. To cover the walls I decided to go with 9mm plywood. I made a start by installing the floor first which was 21mm waterproof ply, then installing the wall studs. The floor was done by pre-drilling where the screws would be installed, then grinding away the finish on the underside of the ply to allow good adhesion of the glue to support the screws.

Once the wall studs and ceiling battons were glued up, I started installing the insulation.

I pre-painted some parts to ensure a neat finish when I installed the ply wall material. This provides a sharp contrast and saves having to do taping later.

I also cut out parts of the walls to allow access to tie-down points.

While working on the container, I managed to score some industrial cabinets that would help solve my storage problems. They needed some work.

I needed to get the H beams welded up for the crane before I could finish the walls and ceiling.

More to follow...

 

[samthedog]

Since I had scored the industrial cabinets, I needed to re-draw the floor plan.

Once the H beams were welded up, I zinc primed them and then continued installing the walls. I then moved onto installing some basic power since rain was plaguing me the whole way I really wanted to have power in the container so I could continue out of the rain.

I then started to put a couple toolboards up and move some of the lighter items in so I could begin installing the 3 phase power points and the single phase power points as well.

I made a trade with a friend for a prototype rotary phase converter. I needed to build the cabinte and install a circuit breaker in the container to complete the electrical.

At this point I started to consider the noise problem in such a small space. My main concern was my single cylinder compressor and the racket it makes when running. Luckily I found a 3 cylinder dental compressor and picked it for a very good price.

More to follow...

 

[Denwood]

Excellent thread! I have 2x 40 footers and have aspirations of putting them to other uses. When you move next, your workshop may very well be the easiest move ever

I have noticed the dental air supply at our dentist is very quiet. What is it about them that is done to quiet their operation? I assumed it was some kind of scroll compressor..

 

[samthedog]

Excellent thread! I have 2x 40 footers and have aspirations of putting them to other uses. When you move next, your workshop may very well be the easiest move ever

I have noticed the dental air supply at our dentist is very quiet. What is it about them that is done to quiet their operation? I assumed it was some kind of scroll compressor..

Thanks Dennis. The dental units have multiple cylinders, meaning they can have lower RPM motors and still pump the air efficiently. Mine is a 3 cylinder unit and has some serious rubber mounts to avoid excess vibration which results in noise. It also has mufflers for the air intakes as these also contribute to the noise level significantly. Scroll compressors produce lower pressure in greater volume so for a small shop, multi-cylinder units are a better option.

My compressor looks small but it's a 3 HP unit, with 75 liter capacity that weighs in at 85 kg. Were you considering picking up a dental unit? I can highly recommend them if you are.

Continuing with the build ....

Once the power was installed, I started to move all the cabinets into position and picked up the milling machine accessory cabinet. It needed repainting and some panel work as it had been abused in the past.

 

[Denwood]

Sam, I moved my "twin" compressor setup to an external shed..so pretty quiet. The dental setup though would be perfect if one had to keep it local. Keep the pics coming. Perhaps a packaged workshop in a container might have some success as a commercial project. I see you're in Norway..very cool

 

[samthedog]

Sam, I moved my "twin" compressor setup to an external shed..so pretty quiet. The dental setup though would be perfect if one had to keep it local. Keep the pics coming. Perhaps a packaged workshop in a container might have some success as a commercial project. I see you're in Norway..very cool

I am actually looking at moving to Canada I am not sure how much money there is to made doing this commercially since I would likely use sprayfoam rather than insulation plates. Anyway, a few more pictures...

I picked up the remainder of the machines.

I got some help getting them into the container.

I have not built the crane yet so I had to manuever the machines with a pallet jack. We did manage to squeeze everything in though.

I'll post some pictures later specifically of the machines. There may be some interested in the toys filling the workshop...

Paul.

 

[HSpencer]

Paul

Start to finish, top to bottom just totally fantastic. I really enjoyed your blog as well.

Best Regards
Herb

 

[samthedog]

Paul

Start to finish, top to bottom just totally fantastic. I really enjoyed your blog as well.

Best Regards
Herb

Thanks Herb. It's been a big job. The devil is in the details and in order to get a good fit and finish, you really have to spend some time on measuring and cutting things carefully. Here are a couple of pictures before I go to bed.

Paul.

 

[ADSR]

awesome! I work a little out of a 20x8 container as well.

 

[dhubbard422]

Very, very cool. Well done. It looks like it should be a usable and capable little workshop! Just curious - what type of projects do you plan to do?

 

[LXCam]

Excellent job Paul!. Looking forward to seeing this 100% complete as I'm certain it'll be spotless.

Cam

 

[adam728]

Amazing job.

Just today we were talking at work about using a container as a shed/shop.

 

[samthedog]

Very, very cool. Well done. It looks like it should be a usable and capable little workshop! Just curious - what type of projects do you plan to do?

Thanks for the kind words gents. I do all kinds of projects. I make spares for vintage cars and bikes, sound supressors (they are perfectly legal here in Norway), prototyping for the oil industry and then of course private projects like repairing old obsolete tools or knife making. I have also made parts for custom cars for friends.

All my machines are the result of reinvesting money from fixer-upper machines I had sold on. Nearly every machine required repairs of varying degrees and therefore were bought quite cheap. Because of this, my container and tools owe me no money at all and I am proud to say the banks does not own a single screw in the entire workshop.

The way in which I have purchased my machines has allowed me to buy European tools instead of Chinese so the workshop is quite high spec even though I spent very little on it.

For example, my drill press was purchased at a fraction of the going rate because it was suspected to have suffered damage to the rack gearing because the quill was sticking at a certain point. This was just some slight flaring around the drift slot used to knock out the morse taper tooling that was catching when the quill retracted. I promptly and carefully filed away these burrs and stoned everything flat. I added some golf ball handles and fixed the emergency stop and was left with this:

I also do some sheet metal work and when I was searching for a finger brake, I cam across this:

It is a 25 inch unit, Danish made and can handle up to 18g steel. It looked filthy and had been used to stub out cigarettes. Because I know the going rate of these items and am not afraid to roll up my sleeves, I jumped at it and bought it for a 1/4 of it's normal used price. Some elbow grease, a little green paint and some careful rust removal later and I had this:

My next job will be getting my new mill up and running. I have upgraded to a Deckel FP1 but I need to fix the electrical on it. Mechanically it is very good showing very little wear but cosmetically it looks a bit rough:

I have no CNC machines but the mill is equipped with a 3 axis DRO so it will be a luxury I have never had before because I use Dials on all my other machines.

Paul.

 

[ajohno]

Fantastic job you have done.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[samthedog]

I would also like to add that if you are considering a container as a workshop and have questions, please ask. I scoured the internet for information on how to go about this but found nearly nothing on the process, materials or method for insulating. Because of this, I thoroughly documented the process so others could benefit a little from the planning and techniques I have used.

Many of us don't have the space or the finances for a big workshop and a container may be as good as it gets. This is a limiting factor but certainly not a reason to not make your man-cave a reality. My workshop proves that you can have the space you need and fit quite a lot into a container if you plan it right. One advantage is lighting and heating is far easier in a small shop and you can of course take everything with you wherever you move to afterwards.

Some things you may need to compromise on. For example I changed from an enormous desk:

... to a tool trolley as a desk as it saved square feet and had far more drawer storage space. This also meant that I had to find another way to have my laptop as the bench could not accomodate it:

I also had to upgrade the standard bench top on the trolley as it was not heavy duty enough for attaching the vice:

Again, it was a compromise but not a deal breaker. I have learned alot in this project about how much space you really need and how to get around certain problems. More often than not it just requires a mindset change and a willingness to try out new solutions. Just don't expect to find these solutions off the shelf.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

Fantastic job you have done.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Johno. I am an Aussie myself (born and raised in Central Queensland). Missing the Australian weather with each day we approach the Norwegian Winter

Paul.

 

[Ruger_556]

Nice!

 

[nine4gmc]

Very Nice! I considered a container for my metal working machines but never got around to it.

 

[thunderbird61]

Impressive how you fit this all together, good work.

Imponerende å få plass til alt, imponert

 

[HOTFR8]

What a great idea. If you ever move a container truck could just relocate it for you.

 

[rodsnratfinks]

Awesome work I love the ingenuity that goes into small footprint garages.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[1/2 Cup]

Just awesome and thanks for sharing.

 

[jb3]

Really enjoying this thread

Love the modularity of shipping containers. If you eventually move you can use this as a basis for a much larger structure, especially with how fully you work everything out ahead of time.

Locally there is a junk yard with a huge, but really simple container structure they built a few years back, consisting of a large concrete pad, then they set two containers at either end stacked, welded them together and bolted them to the pad, then spanned the space between with I beams set on top and clear roofing material.

The result was a large open atrium for machine repair with 2 floors of storage rooms on both sides. This shop could be a modular kernal for something of that nature, anywhere in the world

 

[samthedog]

I just want to thank everyone for the interest shown. I wasn't sure if people would be curious about this type of project since there are many larger and more impressive workshops and garages being built.

As mentioned earlier, I documented this in the hope others may have an opportunity to realize their dream of a workshop on a shoestring budget and limited space. From when I screwed in the first screw in the floor to now has been 5 weeks. For some of this I had help from good friends but it demonstrates that this is quite a quick project if you are willing to put the time in.

One advantage is the portability, however I did not mention the fact that no approvals are necessary because the container has no slab. This means I needed no permission from the neighbors (although I did ask anyway to be polite), but more importantly, I needed no permission from the city planners or housing department. This in itself is a huge plus as you can sidestep the mound of paperwork and fees often associated with building a garage.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

Really enjoying this thread

Love the modularity of shipping containers. If you eventually move you can use this as a basis for a much larger structure, especially with how fully you work everything out ahead of time.

Locally there is a junk yard with a huge, but really simple container structure they built a few years back, consisting of a large concrete pad, then they set two containers at either end stacked, welded them together and bolted them to the pad, then spanned the space between with I beams set on top and clear roofing material.

The result was a large open atrium for machine repair with 2 floors of storage rooms on both sides. This shop could be a modular kernal for something of that nature, anywhere in the world

The idea for this shop is that when I find a place I want to buy, I will set another container in front of this one with a covered walkway. One container for a workshop, the other for material and tool storage. The walkway will serve as an outside work area so that I can roll the woodworking machines out and make dust away from the metalworking machines.

I think a lot of companies are catching onto this container solution as it is cost effective, portable and very versatile.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

awesome! I work a little out of a 20x8 container as well.

Thanks! Any pictures that you would like to share? I am always looking for ideas.

Paul.

 

[gbh]

An amazing use of the available space, it's like a Tardis.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ajustable]

This is great use of the space, its just amazing that you managed to get so many tools in there. I have a 20 foot container here in my yard. So far it just houses my old MG and tools. I often curse when I enter it because of the disorganized space. I see by what you accomplished there is hope for mine.

 

[samthedog]

This is great use of the space, its just amazing that you managed to get so many tools in there. I have a 20 foot container here in my yard. So far it just houses my old MG and tools. I often curse when I enter it because of the disorganized space. I see by what you accomplished there is hope for mine.

You just need to be strict and be sure of what you want to use the space for. If anything falls outside of that envelope, you get rid of it. I also saved some space by combining some machines. For example I sold my individual woodworking machines and opted for a combination machine:

Consolidating my table saw, spindle moulder, jointer / thicknesser and morticer freed up a great deal of space. I also can't stress enough how much drawers and mass storage can help save space. For example, in the right of the below picture, I have a rotating small parts stand. For the cost of .6 meters squared, I have eliminated taking up precious wall space with small trays.

I still don't have all the machines in the workshop as I have a tool and cutter grinder waiting for me in the UK. I do however have my endmills stored safely away in a rolling cabinet that the grinder will be mounted on. This will allow me to conduct grinding activities outside to avoid abrasive dust in the workshop.

Anyway, I am heading out camping with the family this weekend. More pictures when I get back

Paul.

 

[LXCam]

Yup these things can be handy for a work area. Here's mine and when I move next year all it will take is a truck and a 30klb forklift.

 

[samthedog]

Awesome!!! That's what I am talking about. I tried to find other posts on GJ of people with containers but was unsuccessful. How do you go in wintertime with an uninsulated container?

Paul.

 

[LXCam]

Awesome!!! That's what I am talking about. I tried to find other posts on GJ of people with containers but was unsuccessful. How do you go in wintertime with an uninsulated container?

Paul.

Winter, what's that??!!. I live in SoCal, it's summer that's brutal.

 

[OJ Bartley]

Awesome project, Paul. Great work on the reconditioning too. This place is going to be amazing when you get it completed.

 

[SouperGrover]

Winter, what's that??!!. I live in SoCal, it's summer that's brutal.

Amen to that. Those containers are like a metal hotbox

 

[Bobby.B]

Awesome idea and great pictures and layout planning! I will definitely be following your thread for all the space saving ideas!

 

[samthedog]

I am still some way from being finished. I have been trying to find some cupboards to use and think I have found them now. I want cupboards that are shallow so I don't lose much open space at eye level. This openness gives the illusion that the container is bigger than it actually is.

I also really have to get the bridge crane built. This will allow me to get the machines off the pallets. I will likely be making the wheels myself as I can't find anything that suits my needs. I am currently away on a camping trip with my family and it just happens to be perfect weather for working on the container...

Paul.

 

[PapaG]

I have,found some small work shops and container boxes set up,as machine shops or wood shops.... I hate to admit it, but they are on Pintrest.

Looks like a tight fit. I think the saw makes it look like that from the door.

How are you going to keep up with the metal shavings? I know a broom will help, but all that stuff will get,behind things. Same with saw dust. You need fresh air with the machine oil and saw dust.

Maybe a small shopvac? Use in the winter could be the fresh air problem.

I have a 12x30 portable building to use for something like this.

Looking good and we'll thought out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[LXCam]

For myself what doesn't get swept up get blown into the corner and vacuumed up. I will however add its so tight a full size shop vacuum ***** getting in and around all the ****. It's like that old joke about the construction worker who goes sky diving for the firs time. As he's getting ready to jump he ties a extension cord around his waist. The jump master says wtf is that for. The dude replies with "well if my chute doesn't open, I'll guarantee you this will get caught on something before I hit the ground".

 

[samthedog]

I have,found some small work shops and container boxes set up,as machine shops or wood shops.... I hate to admit it, but they are on Pintrest.

Looks like a tight fit. I think the saw makes it look like that from the door.

How are you going to keep up with the metal shavings? I know a broom will help, but all that stuff will get,behind things. Same with saw dust. You need fresh air with the machine oil and saw dust.

Maybe a small shopvac? Use in the winter could be the fresh air problem.

I have a 12x30 portable building to use for something like this.

Looking good and we'll thought out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

The metal shavings from the milling machine will e contained by a perspex shield. I won't be using compressed air to blow the swarf away since this can blow them between the table and the ways causing premature wear. I use a brush instead which allows me to collect the chips easily.

The lathe bed has large holes that allow the swarf to fall to the chip pan at the back of the lathe. If some chips happen to make it to the floor I'll just sweep them up. The woodworking machines won't be used in the shop. They will be rolled outside onto the deck I will be build shortly. I won't risk getting wood dust all over the metal working machines and their ways.

I still need to install a small ventilation fan that will take care of the fresh air. I think with a small workspace like this you need to have a day where you clean house each week - whether it needs it or not. This ensures everything stays maintained, clean and tidy.

Paul.

 

[samthedog]

I've been a little busy but managed to pick up some small cupboards from Ikea of all places. They are just big enough to fit my spray cans and cans in them.

I had to make some compromises as they are Chinese, just like my tool boards so they are not built to the highest standards, meaning they don't all line up on the wall. Not a big deal though.

I am hoping to get to work on the crane this weekend if the weather can clear up in time.

Paul.