New workshop time (nearly there...)

Sporky

The new PC for the CNC machines is complete and working - a few bits of software to go on but otherwise there. Monitor arm arrives tomorrow, then I'll work out where it should go.

I've also ordered some 6x3 metal sheds and bases; they'll go down the side and house the gardening tools and so on. I'll start building the bench at the weekend - that'll get stuff in order. I'll make a base from the load of poplar I have knocking around and then use a beech kitchen worktop for the top.

Also going to get a few packs of these pegboards so that I can have useful tools close to the relevant machines:

http://www.workshopping.co.uk/media/prod_images_nodel/S01102.jpg

And a big pack of Bessey cramps arriving sometime soon.

Sporky

Racking ordered - should be enough to take all the timber, and I can easily make stickers to promote good air flow.

Yesterday I got the rust off the bandsaw and lathe tables and started cleaning up the pillar drill.

Today I started on the tablesaw. First job was to rotate it on its base so that the wheels point the right way - turns out it's not square so that meant taking it apart (too heavy to lift in one go), taking it off the base and then rebuilding the base 1 slot bigger one way and one slot smaller the other. 12 bolts to adjust. Now I just have to figure out how to put it back together - helpfully I have drawings such as this one:

http://www.mtmc.co.uk/Images/Products/104518/01_0910050001_10.GIF

And yes, there are that many pieces for just the travelling table - it's also got end and side extensions, a sliding carriage and a set of extension rails to take a router table. Good times.

Sporky

Wel, that was moderately successful, in that I now know both (a) what all the bits are and how they attach, and (2) that I put the saw on its base 180° wrong...

Sporky

Here, documented, are my adventures in assembling a tablesaw I've never used, and only saw assembled once about two years ago.

These are bit bits you get when you buy a used Elektra Beckum PKF 255 with a few options:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/tablesaw 080117/sawbits.jpg

This is the main bit with the whirling blade of death:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/tablesaw 080117/sawbody.jpg

This is with the sliding carriage attached (jolly heavy considering it's all aluminium) and the guide rail for the angle table. The chap I bought it from put the warning tape on after walking into it a few times. I walked into it a few times today, so it is not my intention to leave it there if I'm not using the angle table.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/tablesaw 080117/carriage.jpg

And with the angle table on - just behind you can see the support outrigger - with that you can cut full sheets of ply or similar.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/tablesaw 080117/angletable.jpg

And a close-up - the really neat thing is that the fence pivots  and you then set the angle with the gauge - it's very accurate.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/tablesaw 080117/angleclose.jpg

That's about what I managed today; I did also get the support rails on for the router table which hangs off the back. I've got a bit of kitchen worktop that'll go onto the rails and take my router lift - quite a neat way of doing it.

Andyjr1515

I continue to watch in awe, Sporky, both at the effort and the results.  Take a bow on both counts

Sporky

Ta! I wasn't sure if anyone was still interested after the build bit was done, but if you're still reading I'll keep it up.

Last night I got the bases in for the sheds - they're clip-together plastic. I'll get a photo later - it was very dark at the time. Also rebuilt the planer-thicknesser and took it apart again - when I first made the mobile base for it I was in a workshop that was arranged very differently, and I now need the wheels the other way around.

The PT is very, very heavy though - no hope of lifting it, even with Lady BMcH's help, so I've had to be a bit smarter (ish) about it. Took the fence and tables off as they're all cast iron, that gets the weight down a bit. I then got some little wooden blocks under the corners and managed to disassemble the mobile base around it. I could then tilt the PT and get some more substantial blocks under the sides. Next step is to rebuild the mobile base to the correct size and orientation - it was a bit tight beforehand.

First lot of racking has arrived, but I need both; I'll have a pair of 30x75x150cm ones and a pair of 40x90x180cm ones, but the plan is to swap the uprights as I need the smaller footprint ones in the front corner where the ceiling (and therefore ducting) is higher, and the bigger footprint ones on the back wall. Let's hope they're compatible, eh...

Also got most of the Bessey cramps - they're lovely, really light (aluminium bar, magnesium jaws) and precise. Not quite the same clamping force as a conventional G or F cramp but plenty for most jobs, and really handy for holding things together while you get the bigger heavier cramps on. Twelve arrived, four to come, all these with different length bars:

http://www.besseytools.co.uk/media/catalog/product/u/n/untitled-1_5.jpg

They're on offer for about £10-14 each which isn't bad at all - http://www.besseytools.co.uk/bessey-flash-deals.html

I'll update with more pictures this evening.

TTony

Have you compared the cost of the workshop, and fittings, with the cost of the house yet?

It's going to be a close-run thing ...

Sporky

Thus far it's just shy of £30k. Excluding all the machines that I already had. Today I had to buy a new version of the CAM plugin I use as the old one doesn't work with the current release of the CAD software. Gah.

TTony

Sporky said:

Thus far it's just shy of £30k.

You'll regret buying cheap ...
  

Sporky

No doubt!

That includes all the ground work, electrical work, new CNC PC and software, new extractor... but doesn't include the money I've recouped selling bits that have been replaced.

Roland

Sporky said:

Ta! I wasn't sure if anyone was still interested after the build bit was done, but if you're still reading I'll keep it up.

You have an avid reader here. I'm still contemplating whether to dryline my 7m x 18m barn, and convert it to a workshop, or stick with the existing 3m x 4m space. 

Sporky

I'd favour the former - possibly divide it up so you have workshop, clean office and a space for applying finishes. I'm too clumsy to work in a 3x4m space!

Jalapeno

A right riveting read so far, keep it up old thing !

Sporky

Will do. I should be able to get some photos of progress later today or tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have the PT sorted out this evening so I can get on with making the bench frame.

SRich

Voted as "Thread of the Year 2016".........

Great to watch the progress........did you need planning permission to erect that size workshop?

Sporky

Nope. Under 2.5m tall, under 30m2. For commercial use then it'd be different, but from a planning point of view this is just a shed.

Sporky

Todays deliveries include a broom, the pegboards, a fire extinguisher and the second lot of racking. In blue rather than red for some reason, but I'll cope.

Sporky

Another productive evening. First I did some sweeping-up:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/sweepings.jpg

Then I hung up my broom. Also this is how I plumbed the bandsaw into the dust extraction - ideally another metre and a half of rigid duct and a handful of bends would be nicer, but this works perfectly well.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/bandsawandbroom.jpg

Next, time to build some racking. I have four sets. This is two of them.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/racking.jpg

Making the legs is the worst bit (my old workshop had three sets). They're each in two parts, with one of these couplers between. The little tabs have to be bent out a bit and then the end bent back a bit:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/link.jpg

And the tabs go into the little loops in the legs:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/linkin.jpg

And you swear a lot and hit it with a chunk of wood and eventually they sort of go together but are a bit floppy. Then you remember that this is part of the process and all will be well. Once you've had a bit of a rant and a bit of a cry and feel better you can put the horizontal bits in and make a very jolly ladder (the horizontal bits go in much more easily):

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/ladder.jpg

Then you put in the other horizontal bits and the other legs and you have this:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/built.jpg

Hang on, what's Sporky doing with a 35mm bit of plastic pipe? Have the vinegar fumes (from removing rust from the machines) gone to his head?

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/dowhat.jpg

No! He's a boy genius! This is how you fix the racking to the wall, which makes it very solid indeed.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/boygenius.jpg

Ta-da! And my shiny new fire extinguisher too.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/tada.jpg

And finally this is the planer thicknesser with its base sorted out properly.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/110117 racking/planerdone.jpg

Jalapeno

Ossum !

Sporky

I also got the shed bases made and in position. They're 6' x 4' each, whereas the sheds will be 6' x 3', so I'm considering cutting the bases down to the right size to leave a better pathway... I think probably best left until the sheds are here and I can check the exact sizes.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/shedbases.jpg

This evening I will make some more racking, and if time permits I will check the table alignment on the planer thicknesser (using the two-bits-of-wood method) and perhaps have a go at setting up the bandsaw - it had a slightly worrying wobble before it was bolted down, and it's a bit noisy now. As it was in the old workshop. But I think it can be solved.