Dealing on some equipment

[Hammerworks]

Nice lathe,wait until you get used to using the foot brake ,then go use one that doesnt have it!Its hilarious.

[fastcorvairs]

Lathe took up more space than I thought.  Bench won't fit under the window so I may cheat the lathe over about 3ft and put the cabinet in the corner.  I got the lathe clean enough to use, but may polish 'er up a little more.  Coolant makes a hell of a mess.  I just leveled the lathe with a decent torpedo level.  I will have to buy or borrow a machinest level for the final setup.

Boost

You have the lathe to close to the wall on the head stock end.  First time you get your self a nice piece of three foot material round stock and want to cut some small part's from it you will have to saw it into before you put it in the chuck.  Not good.  You'll your self in the ass. 

[Doug Heim]

Agreed! move it 3' to the right!

[fabr]

Move it as far right as you can. Fast is sooooooo right .

[Nutz4sand]

If moving the lathe is not an option "maybe" you could put a little window or portal in the wall you could open for longer things to fit thru depending on whats right on the other side of it AND if it would be able to be safe for others (i.e. no kids near the spinning end while you concentrate on the lathe part of it while in use.)

[Boostinjdm]

I agree.  As it sits there is about 15" to the wall.  When I pull the heater, I will move it right about 3'.  That puts me 6" shy of the crack in the floor, gives me room for the bench, plus the the original 15" to open the door and get to the motor.  I've got enough room behind it now to get to the rear mounts and motor tensioner.  I haven't pulled the cover yet to see how big the coolant tank is.  Might not be able to get it out once the lathe is mounted.  Looks like the buggy will have to come out.  I'm running out of room back there.

[fastcorvairs]

I agree.  As it sits there is about 15" to the wall.  When I pull the heater, I will move it right about 3'.  That puts me 6" shy of the crack in the floor, gives me room for the bench, plus the the original 15" to open the door and get to the motor.  I've got enough room behind it now to get to the rear mounts and motor tensioner.  I haven't pulled the cover yet to see how big the coolant tank is.  Might not be able to get it out once the lathe is mounted.  Looks like the buggy will have to come out.  I'm running out of room back there.

Boost

Why not turn the lathe around so when your working it your back is to the wall.  Just leave enough room for a shelf on the wall and a nice size table next to you for your parts and tools.  That way all the excess doors and coolent tank are open for service and the head stock is clear for any length bar stock you want to put in it.  You can hang tooling on the wall behind you and all is good. 

[Boostinjdm]

Fast,

That would severely limit access to that room.  From the doorway to the back wall is about 12'. Room is approx 22' long.  I'm hoping to get my drill press, big press, tool box and a few more work benches in that room yet in addition to my paint fridge and existing work bench.  The idea is to get the stuff I want to stay clean away from the rest of the garage where I do the grinding, welding, painting, and plas cutting.  I push my welders back there for storage too.  That room is also insulated so I can control the temp better.  Try and keep condensation on the equipment to a minimum.  I may also have to park the forklift in there from time to time so a trailer will fit in the big part of the garage.  I'm going to be doing more cleaning/re-arranging today.  I'll try to get pics of the progress. 

Does anybody know if UPS/Fedex is running tomorrow.  IF not, I've got another day to put off ordering my RPC.  I should just bite the bullet and do it, but I was hoping to at least make it through the weekend without dropping another pile of cash.

[Boostinjdm]

Just got off the phone with Jay again.  7.5hp Digital Control W/starter RPC is on the way.

[Doug Heim]

22' huh?

My garage (where I started) was only 20' X 22'

I had a...

- 4X7 weld table (1000#)
- 18" Monarch Engine Lathe (6000#)
- 10 X 54 knee mill ($3000#)
- old Kearney Horiz. Mill (5000#)
- 10 X 54 ProtoTrak CNC mill (4000#)

on top of that I had a cart with a buggy project on it at any time, My Craftsman tool box, house furnace (to heat the garage), tooling grinder, air compressor (5 HP upright), Lincon wire welder, and my phase converter.

Seems to me you have plenty of room as I still parked my personal buggy and my Busa in there at the end of the day. Now I have 1500 Sq, feet and still no room.

YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH ROOM!

[Boostinjdm]

Biggest problem I've got concerning the equipment is the condition of the concrete.  Lot's of cracks and the east side is going down hill.  I've got the mill and lathe set on the best chunk I've got.

IF I end up staying here then I've got a 2000 sq ft building available.  No concrete, no insulation, no power.  A blank slate.  Staying here isn't the best move financially though.  The plan is still to move.  The garage up there  is roughly 1500 sq feet of pretty new concrete.  Good for machining and wrenching, but it's attached so no good for welding.  Running a business out of it would be sketchy too being residential.  Don't know exactly what the future holds yet.

[fabr]

Ya, you will want to keep an eye on the level and make sure you don't fixture anything up using a level if it's critical. You'll need to indicate everything in each time you load the vice/table.

[Boostinjdm]

Ya, you will want to keep an eye on the level and make sure you don't fixture anything up using a level if it's critical. You'll need to indicate everything in each time you load the vice/table.

I plan on indicating everything. 

shuffled some stuff around and here is what I've kinda figured for bench/cabinet placement.  I could swap them or trim the long one down a foot and turn it 90 degrees.  That would still give me room to open the belt/change gear door on the lathe.  It would feel more natural to me too.  The lathe is directly below a four foot, for bulb florescent and lit better than anything I've worked on so far.  I'm thinking of ditching the carriage light or at least re-locating it to the back splash so it's still close if I do need it.  I played around with the coolant tank and found just how close to the wall I can put the lathe and still get it in/out.

[fabr]

I plan on indicating everything. 

shuffled some stuff around and here is what I've kinda figured for bench/cabinet placement.  I could swap them or trim the long one down a foot and turn it 90 degrees.  That would still give me room to open the belt/change gear door on the lathe.  It would feel more natural to me too.  The lathe is directly below a four foot, for bulb florescent and lit better than anything I've worked on so far.  I'm thinking of ditching the carriage light or at least re-locating it to the back splash so it's still close if I do need it.  I played around with the coolant tank and found just how close to the wall I can put the lathe and still get it in/out.

There will be so many times you will wish that was not the case..................

[Boostinjdm]

There will be so many times you will wish that was not the case..................

You might, but I doubt I will have a problem.  Never had to use a level yet.  Everything I have done and seen done was measured off the table or the spindle or both depending on how you look at it. 

Back to my organizing problems..... I will have to either cut down the long bench or swap it for the shorter cabinet.  My circuit did not have heavy enough wire so I will be running a new one.  It was wired with 12 awg on a 20 amp breaker rather than the 10 awg on a 30 that I thought.  Easiest place to do that is right behind the mill.  I cheated the mill another 10" towards the bench so the RPC could sit in the corner and be accessible.  Now the handle hits the bench.