Changing the entire shop

[J Tiers]

So, the Benchmaster has been modified, reassembled, mounted to the cabinet, moved into the new shop area, and run. The higher mounting seems to improve the view, the old sheet metal stand was probably too low, even though it seemed OK. And the new system of table screw seems to work fine, it does not limit the table travel in any way versus the original.

I don't know why the original screw was as long as it was. The mill did not have a raising block, and such a block would do no good anyway as far as "daylight" under the spindle..

The shop is still a freaking mess, but I have used the lathe and drill press, and so far I am satisfied with their location etc. Now it will come down to moving minor things around, and hanging up stuff that needs a new home.

The workbench still needs a light over it. I have the light, the only reason it isn't done yet is that there is no place to put the hook for hanging one end. It falls right under the hearth above, and there is only the concrete base, no joist or other wood to attach to.

It's looking quite different now.... I can get both feet into the shop at one time, and even take 5 steps from one end to the other.

View into the shop showing mill.



View from inside the shop, ditto.

[J Tiers]

So, now I am pretty much down to details. Stuff like finding the shop floor again, finding the top of workbenches, etc, figuring out where this or that tool that was laying on something should be put, moving light fixtures, etc. It's hard to visualize that level of issue accurately until you not only stand in the actual shop, but actually use the machines.

I did put up some shelves, and put some preliminary stuff on them. Time will tell whether it stays there, or gets moved. The pegboard leaning against the lathe stand used to have clamps hanging on it, but depending on where it ends up going, may get something else.

The space behind the lathe cabinet at the top I expect to fill with a shelf. I don't know that I will put anything on it, but at least things will not fall in behind the lathe that way.



I noticed that I had not put the last drawer in the mill stand cabinet. It can go in there, as in the following pic, despite the remaining stickout of the table raising screw, so I put it in. For instance, in the position the table was in for the previous pic of the mill and stand, the screw does not stick into the drawer at all, in fact it has clearance.

So, I will just wall off part of the drawer. Then, if I need to pull it out all the way, I just need the mill table to be up at least a certain amount from it's lowest position.



Ah, yes, in answer to a previous comment about the bulk of the Rivett stand, there is both the drive, and quite a lot of storage in it. If you look at the first picture of this post, the large door the pegboard is leaning against (farther away in pic) has the drive compartment behind it. But there are two big drawers, and a large cabinet space closer to the camera. The drawers are each, for instance, big enough hold a rack with the entire set of 5C collets, so they are not small. The cabinet space is behind the door below the two drawers.

One goal of this all is to get the long-term re-scrape of the Rivett off the main workbench. I can put the bed on some wood supports (chunks of 2 x 4) on the top of the Rivett cabinet, and do the scraping there just as well as on the workbench.

That way, I can do scraping when I get time, and meanwhile get my workbench back for "normal" projects. Trying to work around the big chunk of cast iron is really an issue, and I will be working on the Rivett bed for a fair amount more time.

[J Tiers]

So, today I found some more flat surfaces both in the shop, and elsewhere in the basement. The Rivett bed got moved to the Rivett base for future work. More stuff found homes, I got the floor cleared enough to actually sweep it.



I very nearly found the top of the workbench, but it isn't much worse than it has been before during a project. Still does need that light overhead, though. The red vise will go on the left end on the front of the bench, mirror image of where it was previously on the right. Space on the upper shelf is not very efficiently used now, but I have not put everything there that should go there. I don't even know where some of it is right now. I'll put it there when I find it.

Yes there are hammers on the floor. It doesn't hurt them any, more likely to stub my toe on them, which is why they got kicked to a corner next to the mill. Not sure where they are going, but I think it will be to the left of the metal shelves. I need to put a vertical strip of pegboard there, it's pretty much out of the way.

[J Tiers]

I think I have about gotten to the point where I need to just use the shop and see where I want things (assuming they are things I can move without altering everything). "Things" being racks of tools, toolboxes, what's in each drawer, etc.

Floor is clear, except for where the rack of mill hold-downs got tipped over... I just left for the evening at that point. I can put down the mats, and figure out which goes where. Before tipping that over (clumsy barsteward) I had swept the whole floor, since even the hammers had been hung up.

Speaking of mats, I had some of those interlocking squares that can be made to form a mat in almost any shape of space, which had been used in the "outer" portion of the old shop, beyond the wall.. But, I looked at the packaging from one "bundle", and found that they are not flame-retardant.... Even the ones sold for kids playrooms are not flame-retardant. So, I will get a third mat to use where those would have gone.... I don't think the floor should be flammable.
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I already decided that since what is now in the drawer that the mill screw can partly block is only key stock, I can put that elsewhere, possibly in a box on a shelf, and put some basic mill tools in that drawer instead. The tools for that mill were just in a box that was "usually somewhere nearby", since the mill was not in any sort of long-term location (it was in the middle of the wood shop).

Other than that, I have not made any other decisions yet. Using the shop will tell. The main item still left to get things organized is to figure out where the bookshelf goes. I have a 6 foot bookshelf (just one wood shelf, with a backing piece) that was relocated from the office, and needs to go somewhere in the shop.

I had thought about over the Logan, but the "skunk stripe" effect is a bit incompatible with books..... Against that is the fact that most of the time the Logan will rotate in a direction that cannot fling oil onto the books. That makes it at least reasonably possible, although I will end up with a 4 foot and a 2 foot section, as there is only a 4 foot space available there. Also, the light fixture may interfere.

[J Tiers]

I have reached the point where the shop is at least as usable as it was before the move, if not more so. A few things remain to do as far as finding places for smaller items, and I am sure I will be changing things as time goes on. But, in general, it is as I wanted it, it is larger in apparent size than the actual numerical increase in floor area.

The only item that is not in there as planned is the arbor press. It got zapped when the Benchmaster mill base turned into one with drawers that open right into the area where the press would have been. It still does not have a home, but I have a few ideas, one of them may work out OK. And, the press is too small anyway. A larger one to replace it would probably not fit the same space, so really it is not a huge deal that this one has no home. Ideally it would find a new home with someone else in favor of one with a good deal more "daylight".

The books found a home, but I did not use the 6 foot shelf I have, beause I did not want to cut it. Instead, I repurposed one of the boards that was part of the wall that got moved. I removed the inner boards from that wall to get access to where the hold-down screws are.



The hammers have a home, although I need to find some of them so that I can put them in the new place. The c-clamps (when I find them) will go above the hammers, which, oddly, makes them the only items which will stay in the same location as before the move.



The bench got cleared off enough to actually use it. A few tools need put away, and the vise is not mounted, but otherwise it is ready to go. When I find the items that were supposed to go on the shelves under the bench, I'll put them there.



You may have noticed the recurring theme of "when I find the xxxx". A lot of things got moved out to allow room to move while re-arranging. Some of them later got moved more than once during the process. Now I need to go through the rest of the basement and the electronics shop to see where they are and get them to their proper places.

[aribert]

Well, now I don't need the cord-end receptacle, since I put one on the wall. The box is the lower one in the last pic, with the fat SO cord going to it. Done deal, not gonna change it now. Maybe for the next 3 phase conversion.

You buy from Grainger? They only deal with businesses around here. And their prices make McMaster look like a discount house. Speaking of which, McMaster would have most any connector.

I noticed that Grainger was willing to sell to individuals (here in Metro Detroit and also in Houston) about a decade ago. I do not shop much there but find them quite useful when needing a motor capacitor of similar.

[JRouche]

I have reached the point where the shop is at least as usable as it was before the move, if not more so. A few things remain to do as far as finding places for smaller items, and I am sure I will be changing things as time goes on. But, in general, it is as I wanted it, it is larger in apparent size than the actual numerical increase in floor area.

I like it a lot Jerry. Id feel at home in that shop. No pun intended. Very nice shop. JR

Edit: Yer upside down grounds on the recp. Perfect, tell them why... JR

[J Tiers]

Heh... finished up the shop (sort of) then went out of town for a week. Might even get to use it this week.

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Edit: Yer upside down grounds on the recp. Perfect, tell them why... JR

So when something falls on a plug that is not 100% plugged-in, or gets knocked out a bit when the "something" falls, it hits a ground pin, and not a hot pin. So a good chance you don't get a zap when you touch it, or anything else it touches.

For those who say "just make sure it's plugged in all the way", the "something" may be swarf... it finds it's way in anyplace, loose or not. (One thing good about British plugs is the insulated part of the pin. The other is the fused plug).

Sometimes an inspector gives you crap about the "upside down" position, but there is no rule about which way it goes......

[lbender]

Sometimes an inspector gives you crap about the "upside down" position, but there is no rule about which way it goes......

If they do, they're dead wrong. OSHA mandates ground pin up in all workplace outlets.
(Even though this makes the manufacturer's label upside down on every plug if looked at)

[J Tiers]

If they do, they're dead wrong. .....................

Inspectors for small local jurisdictions are capable of being wrong, and also capable of being insistent on their wrong ideas. Worst thing is that they are legally the one to make the call, unless you can get in touch with their boss. They represent the "authority having jurisdiction", after all.

Article 406 makes no comment (in the older version I checked) on orientation. So, logically, the orientation should not be an issue for a non-OSHA location. I was not aware of the OSHA requirement, most workplaces I have seen had them ground down..

You can always make it as they want, then change it after they approve it and go away.

[J Tiers]

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Here is the modified feedscrew, with the removed parts. I need to drill and ream a new taper pin hole through the gear and shaft, I've never been able to get a new hole in line with the old hub.
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Forgot to mention this:

A "first"... I got the new hole drilled to fit the old taper pin hole in the gear, and reamed it to a good fit with the old hole. As mentioned, first time I have managed that, but for sure I'm not complaining.

[lbender]

I was not aware of the OSHA requirement, most workplaces I have seen had them ground down..

You can always make it as they want, then change it after they approve it and go away.

Fellow employee wearing a fine silver chain. The chain broke and fell managing to land and short an outlet. So, yes I have listened to several lectures on outlet requirements.
I didn't hear that last part and I don't think anyone else did either.

[J Tiers]

Used the Benchmaster today to cut down the shank of an insert holder that I picked up for a song at the LaGrange engine show in Ohio. Old Kennametal holder, hardened to some degree so that HSS was very unhappy trying to cut it.

Got it done with carbide... but the point is that the new height of the mill makes the visibility issues of the Benchmaster much much less of a problem. Not sure that it is good enough that the pulley cover would be OK, but it's a lot better than it was. I like it.

Solid and quiet on the new base, too. That old sheet metal one made a lot of noise that I no longer have to listen to. Now I am having second thoughts about even putting the jigsaw on that old stand.

So far the shop arrangement is working out well. Having the roll-around farther away is a bit of a pain, but I can put the more commonly used tools on the bench tool block and that will take a lot of that minor hassle away.

I was a little worried that the mills sticking out a bit right across from each other was going to be a problem, but I find that it isn't. Only problem seems to be the chips the mills throw. I may have to come up with a chip catcher that can be moved out of the way but is easy to set up when wanted.

lbender:
That "last part" was aimed at the local yokels... grounds are "up", and are gonna still be "up" in my shop no matter what the locals want.