Tooling organization

[lilscorpion]

Re: Tool Organization

Figured you guys would appreciate this - So I needed a metric tap and did I pay dearly for it at the last minute...so this is how I roll (and why I have a huge tap drawer).

eBay hunting resulted in this score - the entire metric tap chart plus a mess of between sizes, mostly new, all for $60 shipped.



Guess I'll be making some more tap organizers soon!

 

[Strouty]

That is a great score, I don't have as many metric taps as I wished I had.

 

[RonRock]

I just watched a Youtube video. The guy drilled a board for his taps and drill bits. Each tap had the correct drill bit for tapping, and another for the "clearance" hole. Pretty handy set up if you do a lot of tapping.

 

[ruffryder]

OP, can you take some overall picture of your garage? It would be great to see the layout and all the cool organizing racks you have made.

Keep up the great work!

 

[icecactus]

OP, can you take some overall picture of your garage? It would be great to see the layout and all the cool organizing racks you have made.

Keep up the great work!

I second this.

I was just about to ask if you had a pic of the overall layout and Ruffryder beat me to it.

 

[dittle fart around]

I just watched a Youtube video. The guy drilled a board for his taps and drill bits. Each tap had the correct drill bit for tapping, and another for the "clearance" hole. Pretty handy set up if you do a lot of tapping.

That's a pretty common site on most electricians workbenches.

 

[lilscorpion]

I just watched a Youtube video. The guy drilled a board for his taps and drill bits. Each tap had the correct drill bit for tapping, and another for the "clearance" hole. Pretty handy set up if you do a lot of tapping.

I'd do that however That would end up moving drill bits away from their brothers. I have at least dozens of each size. What I end up having to do is have a few copies of drill/tap charts around the shop.

I don't have as many metric drills though, maybe I could with the metric.

 

[lilscorpion]

OP, can you take some overall picture of your garage? It would be great to see the layout and all the cool organizing racks you have made.



Keep up the great work!

I've got a truck project that's about to leave the garage. Once it does, the first thing I'll do is a full shop layout. I've been promising one for a few years now...but this summer will be different.

 

[ckadams00]

I still read this thread daily! Hey lilscorpion, going back to the MFT tables, what's the height on those (thisckness of the torsion box, not the height of the table . . . )?

 

[yhprum]

I like the jigsaw mounted on the table. Second time in a week I have seen this idea now. After reading you almost abandoned the concept because of the blade tooth orientation, I googled backwards jigsaw blades. Yep, they make em!

 

[Coolabah]

I like the jigsaw mounted on the table. Second time in a week I have seen this idea now. After reading you almost abandoned the concept because of the blade tooth orientation, I googled backwards jigsaw blades. Yep, they make em!

Maybe I misunderstood el escorpión in his post, but I thought he had safety concerns with the blade up ??

 

[lilscorpion]

I like the jigsaw mounted on the table. Second time in a week I have seen this idea now. After reading you almost abandoned the concept because of the blade tooth orientation, I googled backwards jigsaw blades. Yep, they make em!

Backwards? Pulling the material into you instead of pushing the material away?

Maybe I misunderstood el escorpión in his post, but I thought he had safety concerns with the blade up ??

Coolabah's correct, I'm not a fan of the reciprocating saw blade pushing up through the plate unguarded while I feed the material into it. Conceptually it's no different than a table saw except the jigsaw blade can bind, break, and then blade parts are pushed up into the operator...works like a champ but feels unsafe.

 

[yhprum]

I think we mean the same thing, yes.
http://my.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-tips/techniques/sawing-solutions/jigsaw/?page=5

 

[lilscorpion]

I think we mean the same thing, yes.
http://my.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-tips/techniques/sawing-solutions/jigsaw/?page=5

Ah yes, the blade cuts on the down stroke. I have a few of these that were specifically (or maybe "also") designed for laminated countertops. Though they don't do anything about the blade pushing up into the operator they do make more sense for the inverted jigsaw. I'll try them instead next time. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Grumblebum]

What a great reading thread lilscorpion. I have ended up here after the French cleat images search in google had several that belonged to you and hence I've read your entire thread over the last few nights. Some great storage/organization ideas here that I might also have to *borrow* as others have done.

I'm setting up the back wall of my garage with French cleats which I think will work quite well and I'm quite excited to see how it turns out.

I think it's great that you have had the opportunity to do your own cabinet work in the house too. Just a great sense of satisfaction knowing that you did it and there are no bodge jobs hidden away like you found with the old wall oven unit I think it was.

Hope to see some pics of the truck project and the garage layout too when you get to it.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers GB

 

[lilscorpion]

It's been a while since I've done some garage org and posted about it. About a month ago I ran into a wall with the house projects and drifted back to the garage to regain focus. Having not moved the damn truck out of the garage yet, it's hard to gain context but in the far back corner of the tandem side of the garage (opposing the mill) is a craftsman toolbox with a counter top on it. You can see it to the left in the pick behind the slide-out tooling cabinet.



I decided that the bolts bin that was on the counter didn't have enough bolts in it anymore to justify the bin. I like the bin, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to refill it like I used to at the shop since I barely use bolts anymore. I'll buy as I need.

Since I've been adding and updating my tooling for the mill I've found the tooling cabinet is no longer adequate for storing my tools and I needed better and more accessible storage. The goal of this project was to create a tooling and machining workspace. Unfortunately I didn't get the first steps documented (got all excited) but I built some shelving that I attached to the wall which I would be mounting more HDPE sheet into for the tooling. Here's the mock of the concept while I'm measuring.



The frame is constructed from 1/2-inch Baltic birch and screwed together for strength. The HDPE is 1/2-inch cutting board I bought years ago from WoodCraft. Previously, when making R8 collet racks, I machined an upper and lower retaining plate to "keep" the tooling in the rack. After looking around I decided to attempt to buy a mill that had the appropriate angle so only a top plate were necessary. I believe this was a 10-degree...or 7...I'd have to look it up again.



Since it's center cutting, a basic plunge and then circular motion got to the right dimensions very quickly.



4 setups later I have the layout complete and only need to screw it down and load it up.



...and loaded



I'd been thinking about the lighting in that back corner in advance. I ordered some super bright led strips from superbrightled.com which are both waterproof (completely unnecessary after seeing were I ended up putting them) and extremely bright (380 lumens) in comparison to the ones I used in the kitchen (240 lumens). The difference is I went with bright instead of warm...not sure how I feel about them yet.



It's MUCH brighter but the whiteness isn't what I'm used to. Good start but I need to finish the lights and then build the upper cabinet (which goes over the upper shelving you see in the pic.

 

[Huxley]

I was watching some of this series & thought you would appreciate this project...

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

All I can say is WOW!

Is that a picture of the mill you used to cut and shape the holes? or did you use another tool?

 

[lilscorpion]

I was watching some of this series & thought you would appreciate this project...

I've seen this one before (I'm a YouTube CNC junky in my spare time). He makes entertaining videos and has a nice shop layout. I wish I had space for such a machine, I'd start my build tomorrow.

 

[jeff g]

Hi
Photos of the mill please & or Lathe if you have one lol.
Jeff

 

[lilscorpion]

Re: Tool Organization

Completed the lighting.

 

[lilscorpion]

Re: Tool Organization

Did a little machining today. I've been wanting a variety of handle lengths for the mill. Previously, before I knew how to make threads on the lathe, I made one by welding some all-thread into some 1-inch x .250 DOM tubing



It was crude but effective. The problem was that it was so long it was a hassle when tapping (I only use the manual fees when power tapping now). When tapping I really only need to get the tap started and then it does its thing on its own. A 4-inch handle is perfect.



I made a 4, 6, and 8 inch handle. Here they are next to the 9-inch tubing handle.



As luck would have it, the spindle break is the same thread pitch. The 6-inch handle is perfect there and makes the break much easier to grab quickly now.



Threading on the lathe is a snap and can leave a beautiful thread. Hunching over does tend to kill my back so I try not to do to much consecutively.



Ive ordered some Cold Blue to finish the steel with and should have it in time to complete the handles next weekend. After that I'd like a rack to hang them and the parallel keepers on.

 

[lilscorpion]

Hi
Photos of the mill please & or Lathe if you have one lol.
Jeff

Mill AND lathe?! Dude...

The mill first - a Kent 9x42 that has been converted to CNC using Elrod Machine's conversion parts and a Centroid CNC retrofit kit. X, Y, and Z control with conversational programming. It's a damn mess in between projects since I'm currently reorganizing the shop.





Lots of upgrades since the CNC conversion. Added a tooling rack



Which is a French cleat that holds my tiling holders





Which I store in my slide out cabinet which is mostly empty since the R8 tooling rack build I just completed.



I also added a manfrotto arm (typically used for photography which holds a shop vac hose which I use for chip collection. Works a charm.



I'm running a pair of Kurt 688 vises so I can run twosies or multiple ops/fixtures.



Maxi-torque drawbar and auto-lube are the basic, but necessary upgrades.

 

[lilscorpion]

Re: Tool Organization

Lathe is the well sought after Mori 850 manual gap bed lathe. She's a beast weighing in at more than my MDX (I think). 6-feet long and just over a 2-inch through-hole. S-A-weet...



I have every attachment for it - the taper, steady, follower, and a mess of huge-*** chucks I can barley lift. I ain't gonna take picks because they're hidden all over the garage.

It's taken a while but I have most of the tooling I could need for grooving, threading, parting, boring, facing and turning as well as a compliment of chucks and a live center.



It's a beast and runs as smooth as when it was brand new (I'd imagine anyway).

 

[jeff g]

Hi
Very nice, well tooled, very nice.
jeff

 

[sakurama]

I never quite believed that tooling could end up costing as much or more than the lathe/mill until you've spent years collecting all that stuff. I'm missing the taper attachment still. Yeah she's a beast all right.

Love the updates. Always inspiring.

Gregor

 

[Jim Johnstone]

I never quite believed that tooling could end up costing as much or more than the lathe/mill until you've spent years collecting all that stuff. I'm missing the taper attachment still. Yeah she's a beast all right.

Love the updates. Always inspiring.

Gregor

Yeah its pretty crazy how much tooling adds up. The last 2 cnc mills my boss bought, were ordered with over $40000 of tooling each, just to get us up and running. That didn't get us everything we needed.

 

[lilscorpion]

I never quite believed that tooling could end up costing as much or more than the lathe/mill until you've spent years collecting all that stuff. I'm missing the taper attachment still. Yeah she's a beast all right.

Love the updates. Always inspiring.

Gregor

Newish it weren't the case but it's very true. My lathe uses larger holders (1-inch) which mandates a bigger tool post. I have an Aloris which, itself was pricy but that one-time pop didn't mean the end. Each time I get a new tool and need another holder it costs me another $55-$85 with the most frequent cost being on the higher side. The tools themselves usually run about the same without inserts.

Unfortunately, if you want to take full advantage of a lathe you'll need the capability of the various specialty holders. Just recently I purchased a left hand grooving tool because of an auction mistake. I managed to spend about $200 on about $750 in inserts for my grooving/threading tool. When I got home I found out my big score was really all for a left hand tool and I didn't have one. So lucky me, it's cheaper to buy another tool (left this time) and holder to go along with it. Now I'm $500 in...

 

[86turbodsl]

Re: Tool Organization

You have a cnc mill, why are you not making aloris holders instead of buying?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[lilscorpion]

Re: Tool Organization

You have a cnc mill, why are you not making aloris holders instead of buying?

I probably should be making my own but there's a few factors that encourages me to buy not build.

Tooling - though I dig buying tooling (and there's some entertainment in my wife cringing every time I do), I don't like buying cutters that don't have inserts. My rule of thumb is "1 is none, 2 is 1" which means if I'm going to machine using a tool, I better have a second or I end up done for a week awaiting the replacement when my luck hits a low spot. I just looked at eBay, cheapest indexable tool in the right size is about $200.

Time - though it looks like I spend countless hours in the shop, I don't. I have two lists of projects - (1) household and (2) Shop projects that energize me. Since I've not found the solution to the tooling issue above, holders have never made the list.

Material - the local places that have what I'd need are closed outside of 8-4:30pm unfortunately the only time I can get material is evening s and weekends. For shopping online, shipping would be stupid.

Cost Benefit? - for as long as I've been machining these holders have been about the same price when stamped with "Aloris". My gut says that when I'm done with the shop they'll still be worth about the same. I actually have a second post (was on my last lathe and I took it off before I sold it only to find the new lathe also had one) so I'll likely do really well when I sell. Home made ones won't be worth import prices.

 

[Strouty]

I guess it makes sense, one suggestion may be to have some of the material on hand in case you have a crazy job that you need to make the tooling for, then you will have an alternative. I know I keep things on hand for that purpose (not machining), and when they save your bacon, boy do they save your bacon.

 

[86turbodsl]

Re: Tool Organization

Yeah, you know i never thought about resale. Aloris would probably hold value well. Sounds like a well thought out plan of attack. Looking forward to more updates. Love what you have done so far.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[lilscorpion]

I guess it makes sense, one suggestion may be to have some of the material on hand in case you have a crazy job that you need to make the tooling for, then you will have an alternative. I know I keep things on hand for that purpose (not machining), and when they save your bacon, boy do they save your bacon.

For many years, post fabrication shop business, I kept a healthy supply of material in all sizes. I actually moved a 4' piece of 2 x 4 cold rolled steel from the shop to my old house and then on again to my new house. I got so tired of tripping over it, moving it around, and wondering what I'd ever do with it I ended up letting a friend take it one day...in hind-sight, that was about 15 tool holders. It was an extremely nice piece of steel too, woulda made 15 really nice holders. I try not to second guess decisions I've made but now that you guys mention it, I maybe shoulda kept that around.

 

[lilscorpion]

Yeah, you know i never thought about resale. Aloris would probably hold value well. Sounds like a well thought out plan of attack. Looking forward to more updates. Love what you have done so far.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

eBay has done wonders for the tooling market when it comes to re-sale. Since so many seller are now accessible, it's extremely easy to determine the value of something if you pay attention over time. 10 years ago I would have paid much more for tooling because I'd have to either find it at an auction (and get lucky) or I'd have to find a local guy needing to part with his stuff. The guy who knew what it was worth got top dollar and the guy who didn't got screwed. Now that's averaged out and I'm not convinced that the prices will drop on something like lathe and mill tooling.

As an example - I have somewhat of a Jacob's Super Chuck fetish. It's a little weird, I know, but ever since I became comfortable rebuilding/refreshing them, finding deals became super easy. If I can get a super chuck for about $35, I buy it. As a result of such an awesome buying habit, I have a ridiculous amount of chucks either rebuilt or needing rebuild...here we go.



This pic shows some of the chucks I have, none of the larger regular duty jacob's chucks, only one of the keyless, and the only import I currently have (and it's junk - the jaws are so soft). So in the pic, Three 0's (not Super Chucks but completely useful for smaller bits), five 8 1/2N's, five 11N's, one 14N, one 18N, and one 20N (predominantly for the lathe).

So back to my point. Any of these chucks, when sold locally and/or on Ebay, are worth more than $35. Find a local guy just starting out and he'll pay handsomely for a 3-pack. Anyway, my fixation on chucks shouldn't end up causing me to lose money given how easy I am on them. They should get me all my money back (as long as I buy them at $35).

FYI - I'm telling you all this because I really, really, really don't need to buy any more chucks so please snag them up before I do.

 

[Poonisher76]

Your in luck, I'm willing to pay $36 for my Jacobs chucks. Lmao. Awesome thread. Joined because of it. Very nice home shop.

 

[Hephaestus29]

I'd like to hear a little about your vacuum set-up, the arm that holds the hose etc.
I just bought a commercial car wash vacuum that has two hoses. My plan was to put the vacuum outside "so I don't have to hear the noise" run one hose in to vacuum up chips, and leave the other out to vacuum out my vehicle.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

eBay has done wonders for the tooling market when it comes to re-sale. Since so many seller are now accessible, it's extremely easy to determine the value of something if you pay attention over time. 10 years ago I would have paid much more for tooling because I'd have to either find it at an auction (and get lucky) or I'd have to find a local guy needing to part with his stuff. The guy who knew what it was worth got top dollar and the guy who didn't got screwed. Now that's averaged out and I'm not convinced that the prices will drop on something like lathe and mill tooling.

As an example - I have somewhat of a Jacob's Super Chuck fetish. It's a little weird, I know, but ever since I became comfortable rebuilding/refreshing them, finding deals became super easy. If I can get a super chuck for about $35, I buy it. As a result of such an awesome buying habit, I have a ridiculous amount of chucks either rebuilt or needing rebuild...here we go.



This pic shows some of the chucks I have, none of the larger regular duty jacob's chucks, only one of the keyless, and the only import I currently have (and it's junk - the jaws are so soft). So in the pic, Three 0's (not Super Chucks but completely useful for smaller bits), five 8 1/2N's, five 11N's, one 14N, one 18N, and one 20N (predominantly for the lathe).

So back to my point. Any of these chucks, when sold locally and/or on Ebay, are worth more than $35. Find a local guy just starting out and he'll pay handsomely for a 3-pack. Anyway, my fixation on chucks shouldn't end up causing me to lose money given how easy I am on them. They should get me all my money back (as long as I buy them at $35).

FYI - I'm telling you all this because I really, really, really don't need to buy any more chucks so please snag them up before I do.

Where do you source your rebuild kits for the super chucks? I have 6 or 7 chucks kicking around that I got for free at work and all need new jaws.

 

[lilscorpion]

I'd like to hear a little about your vacuum set-up, the arm that holds the hose etc.
I just bought a commercial car wash vacuum that has two hoses. My plan was to put the vacuum outside "so I don't have to hear the noise" run one hose in to vacuum up chips, and leave the other out to vacuum out my vehicle.

I started using this setup when I got into machining plastic. I've found that it works very effectively for 2 reasons - (1) it evacuated chips from the path of the cutter and (2) draws cool air over the cutter/material.

The setup consists of three parts: manfrotto photography arm, an attachment point/bracket at the mill, and a hose adapter.



Since I have excess HDPE, I machines the hose adapter/bracket out of 2 1/4-inch think material. The hole is about .015 over-sized. Slip-fit enough it doesn't rotate but loose enough I can get the hose out easily.



The hose is then retained when the accessory is put on.



And I did a little relieving of the accessory with a less than precision tool on one side of the end like this



So I can sneak it up very close to the cutter for max chip removal.



It slows and contains the mess but doesn't eliminate it. This is while cutting HDPE..



It works well enough, I never hooked up the coolant setup I bought for the mill 8 years ago. Guess what I like better is the elimination of the cutting fluid. The stuff works great but it makes a mess.

 

[lilscorpion]

Where do you source your rebuild kits for the super chucks? I have 6 or 7 chucks kicking around that I got for free at work and all need new jaws.

I've pieced a few together from eBay over time. Most of the chucks I get become operational (and fairly nice) after just a disassembly, cleaning, greasing, and re-assembly as long as all parts are still good.

I attribute my success to being very careful about which chucks I bid on. I won't bid if I can't clearly see most sides of the chuck and without certain views, I never bid - like I have to see the jaws and up close.

 

[Strouty]

I have a bit of a problem with the big chucks myself. It all started out with a pawn shop that had two 20Ns way too cheap to leave them there.