Let's see your shop

Ah, yeah, Edmonton is proper cold.

The big shop.


my indoor shop.
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My new heater seems to work good… Though the garage was only -4 when I started the heater (leftover heat from the prior night I guess)

Changed from a 4800w to a 7500w. And insulated the roof… mostly, a few random spots I couldn’t get to because of clutter

Not really the shop, per se, but it’s where I spend a lot of time. Seems I switch hobbies every few years so right now its 3D printering, laser stuff, and the CNC in from the cold garage for a refit, got a wonky truck that I knew would need replaced sooner or later. I think I enjoy building stuff more than using it.


Luckily the Wife doesn’t mind it spilling out into the “nice” part of the basement. :sweat_smile:

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Nice. I definitely tend to build more tools, and then tinker with them, than use them…

Though that’s a step up from

I’m going to build something
But the garage is messy
Clean/ organize the garage so I can work efficiently
But that’s enough for today, it’s ready for next time
But then weeks pass
I’m going to build something
But the garage is messy
Etcetera, etcetera

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I put the latest pictures on my shop here:Hillsboro, Oregon Primo Build

Mike

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So loosely defined as “my shop”…


And the latest delivery

And my home geek station

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OK, I’ll bite. I’m very grateful the wife lets me take over a good chunk of the basement. Although she does benefit from what I make. Eventually I’ll wall off the shop to keep the basement from getting so dusty. Many of my tools are hand me downs or craigslist finds that usually required a lot of cleaning/fixing.




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A metal lathe… I’m jealous. I want one, but they’re rarely for sale around here, and if they are, people are asking way too much. Often nearly the price of new.

I got it from my grandfather before he passed away. I got a couple of my older tools from him as well but they were all stored in a shed for at least 15 years and needed a lot of cleaning. I’ve seen similar ones for sale near me and they are way overpriced as well.

Here is a comparison of the lathe when I got it to after I restored it. Took almost a year and tore it down to every component to clean, grease or paint, and reassemble.

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Very nice. That’s some beautiful work.

I tore down my band saw and rebuilt it. Need to do the same with my 1940s Delta wood lathe.

All I ever see is stuff like this for sale near here (and that’s a couple hour drive)

…and since it’s just a cheap chinese one anyhow… looking at the equivelant Busy Bee or Grizzly, they’re $3-4k brand new…

This guy shouldn’t be asking more than $1-2k for a 25 year old used lathe

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That makes the one near me for $1300 look like a bargain.

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Lol here’s one my son found. Wish we had somewhere to put it

Colchester Lathe,

Price: $ 325

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I’m so jealous. Though, no motor and no tailstock… probably cost close to $1000 to get a decent motor and find a tailstock. But not bad at all.

This is the one I keep Eyeballing on facebook, but I really want one that can do threads without having to change gears.

It’s been a while since I’ve grabbed snapshots of the shop. Here’s some updated pictures.

First a panorama looking down the length of the shop. The Christmas table cloth is covering the new to me motorcycle lift. I used it on Friday to host a small get together with some coworkers. Much ribs were devoured.

To the left is the electronics workbench. Then the side door, TV viewing area, 3d printer, servers, backdoor, woodworking area, storage, and air compressors. The big pile of stuff under the tarp on the far right is furniture for the wife’s classroom that she’s not allowed to have right now. I still have a small stack of ‘stuff’ from the move in the middle I need to finish sorting through and finding places to put.

Next picture is a close up of the woodworking area at the back of the shop. All the tools are on wheels except the bandsaw and can be easily pulled around if needed for larger sheets of material.

More woodworking tools and storage. I use the filing cabinet mostly for sandpaper storage. Each grit/type gets its own drawer. Full sheet on the right. Round in the middle. Only half the cabinet has stuff in it.

Last picture is a close up of the small parts storage using the HF storage boxes built into my 8’x4’ workbench.

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For cutting threads without changing gears, check out the Electronic Lead Screw project. He’s got a whole series of videos walking through the concept. product design, development process, and finally installation and use.

He uses it on a newer Chinese import lathe, but I don’t see any reason it couldn’t be adapted to any lathe where you can get to the end of the lead screw.

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I’ve seen that. I think I even watched his videos.

I have a Grizzly G0602 on my wish list as well as a G0704. Although the G0602 uses change gears :confused:

Neat shop! Is the electric foundry homemade? The belt sander looks like it is. Is that a small sheet metal brake under the woodworking lathe?

About 30 years ago my brother was living in Williamsburg Brooklyn, and acquired a bunch of tools (Bridgeport mill, Southbend lathe, big metal cutting bandsaw, etc) for free, from old industrial businesses closing down. The catch was you had to have the means to move them. I remain envious. to this day 8^)

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Thanks. Yeah, both are homemade. It’s the only way I could afford to have the tools I have. I just finished the foundry but I’m slowly buying the rest of the materials to start casting. I’m hoping to use my mpcnc to cut foam to use in lost foam casting.

Links to both builds:


I won that little metal brake in a contest my grinder build was in. It’s only a little 12inch one but it’s come in handy here and there.

That would be fantastic to get tools like that. Although I have no idea how I would store them let along transport them but for free I would find a way.

My grandfather, the one I got my lathe from, had a bridgeport and full size lathe but when he died they sold them before I had a chance to talk them out of it. They sold them for dirt cheap just to get rid of them.

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