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My #2 shop, built from scratch

JH-Q

Aluminum
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Location
Tampere, Finland
Hello!

I used to have a thread for my previous workshop ( http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...achine-shop-finland-242647/?highlight=finland )

Anyway, things with that workshop got too busy, and the overhead costs out of hand. In the end i ended up selling it completely for my biggest customer. I was left really worn out after too much work, and with a plot in the countryside with a small house on it, and some €€ to have time off. I spent over an year doing other things than work (except occasionally helping my friend with his CNC shop) Mostly renovating the house, gardening etc.

After having too much clean air outside, i began kind of miss the coolant stinking machine shop enviroment.. :nutter: I began tinkering about a home shop, since i finally had some land of my own, and an opportunity to finally build one. I was also a bit worried about where to work after my year off ends, so i needed a back-up plan for income.

This is probably a temporary workshop for 5-10 years until i'm able to build the final bigger workshop here, so i designed the workshop to be transportable with a truck. I intend to sell the building later on when the final shop is finished, someone might get a good summer cottage out of this one! :scratchchin:

Here's some techical details of the shop building;
-Floor area: 2.8x6.6m = 18.5m2 (9.33x22ft, 205sqft)
-Ceiling height: 2.0-2.3m (6.66-7.66ft)
-Electricity: 400V 3-phase, 20amps
-Completely designed by myself, mostly in my head, i made a simple 3D model to figure out places for windows, roof angle etc.
-Completely built by myself, after completing the steel chassis, there was no helping hands at all.
-Built with traditional methods. I cut all the timber with a handsaw (except for some splitting cuts with a hand-held circular saw) and i nailed all the nails with a hammer.
-Timber spent: ~2200m (~7300ft)
-Time spent: A lot. Around 700-1000 hours i guess?
-Cost: ~6500€ (for the building only, not machines) That's 35.7$/sqft for shop space, i don't consider it bad at all:)

Enough said, time to show some pioneer spirit and begin building!
There's around 30 pictures, so please be patient as i upload them and write the story as the building comes up.

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I began the build by ordering 20 metric tons of gravel and compacting it. There's a milling machine stored in the crate.. I got a good deal on it, and didn't have a place for storage, so this is what i ended up with.


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I didn't have a soil compactor, but i had a gasoline powered Pionjär rockdrill, so i designed a plate to fit on it, and my neighbor did the fabrication work in his shop.


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Here we have a flat package workshop! (some assembly required, not for kids under 3 years old, includes small parts.. :D)

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More timber..

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Then i made these cartridges for base floor. They've got a wind stopping fiberboard underside, and will be filled with insulation later on.
 
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Now the fun starts, time for some fabrication work. The frame was welded at my neigbor's shop. He's a great fabricator with decades of experience, and he's very helpful and nice guy to work with. It took around 1½ days for us to fabricate the frame. The long beams are 180mm I-beam, and the smaller ones are 80mm.


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After painting the frame, flipping it over and moving to my place was time to install the cartridges. I also placed some cinder blocks to support the ends of smaller I-beams and make the floor more stable.


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Here's what i came up for floor structure. It was a challenge to design a floor structure stiff enough for a machine shop and have some insulation, but still not involving any concrete. 2x4's were bolted with 60pcs M12 studs to the frame. I secured the 2x4's to each other with 4" nails. On top of them i installed 3mm (1/8") steel plate to provide a durable shop floor.

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After installing the steel plates, i applied three layers of epoxy coat (1x primer, and 2x top coat with anti-slip additive)

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Enough building, let's get some machines!
I made some parts for a local heavy equipment maintenance shop and helped them set up their lathe with tooling, so i managed to borrow their truck and fuel for transporting a lathe i bought. It was a trip of 600km's total in the sweltering summer heat (27-29c that day, one of the hottest summer days) Oh, and the truck heating was stuck in the hottest position, with no way to block the airflow.. :willy_nilly: I remember starting to sweat in the morning when the sun rose, and sweating until i was back home midnight.
 
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Here's the machines on the shop floor! The lathe is a mid 70's TOS SV18RAx1250. 14" swing and 50" centers. The mill is a Värnamo UB-1. I've got a separate thread for rebuilding that one. ( http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...-1-universal-mill-295192/?highlight=v%E4rnamo )

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I was in a hurry to get the machines protected from the rain, so i put up the roof joists and nailed a tarp on them. At this phase they didn't have braces yet, and were a bit flimsy, but enough to keep off the rain...


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Here's the final roofing material being installed. I have always liked old fashioned buildings, so i chose bitumen felting with triangular laths.

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I was excited to see how the building would look like, so i installed one of the windows and completed exterior siding on one end.
 
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Windows and double doors installed. They're 1.3m (4.33ft) wide, should be wide enough to take out the machines from the shop when necessary.

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Painting underway. I chose a (horribly expensive) traditional linseed oil based paint, which is known for it's longevity and it works great with a hygroscopic breathing structure, since it doesn't form a moisture insulating barrier like latex paints do.

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Insulation work in progress. What a mess.. :ack2:
I used cellulose insulation from Ekovilla company ( Ekovilla - Lammin vihrea | Kierratettava lammoneriste | Puhallusvilla | Lammoneristeet | Selluvilla ). 3" in the walls and 4" in the roof.

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Installing the electric cable. I had to pull a tree stump where the cable was about to be installed. Took some days with hand tools, and pulling with the small Mitsubishi Colt :eek: I used a thick PE water tube for protecting the cable. Also i installed plenty of grounding copper in the soil.
 
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Here's a better picture of the roofing. I'm really satisfied how it looks, although there are a few wrinkles in the sheeting..

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..And the exterior work is finished! :cheers:

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Still some insulation work to do.. Lathe is in it's final place, but i had to move it later on when installing drywalls.

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Made a workbench from scrap plywood and timber i had lying around. I think it lacks one thing essential on every work bench.. Where's the clutter?

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Ahh.. Much more comfortable with the clutter!
 
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Putting the drill press back together. This is the only machine i kept when i sold my old workshop. I dismantled it and stored it in the corner of my kitchen for 1½ years... The house is really small, and i thought the DP needs a warm place for storage, so i brought it inside to live with me.. :D

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These pictures are taken today.
There's a couple months picture gap, since my camera broke and few weeks ago i got a new one. I installed the drywalls, painted them and ran some electric wiring. Not a fun thing to do with machines around, but i got it done!
The workshop is still too cluttered up, as i haven't built any storage shelfs yet. The Värnamo mill is taken into pieces, and i've got a cleaning and maintenance going on the lathe. I've machined a few parts on it already before cleaning. I hope to get it back together in few weeks, as i've got an interesting and challenging job coming up.. There's one historical pre-WW2 aircraft, which is in need of new engine cylinders.. :scratchchin:

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Here's a soviet-made power hacksaw i bought. It was listed at 250€, which i didn't consider a bad price at all. The saw weights 650kg (1400lbs), and it can cut up to 250mm (10") bar. I fount a cutting tool dealer who was quitting, and i bought almost all hacksaw blades (40pcs) from him for few euros each, so i've got a long supply of them now..


So, this is my workshop currently, and i'm going to post more as it progresses. I hope you enjoyed the building story! :typing:
 
Hyvin tehty !
Toivottavasti kaikki menee hyvin. Terveisiä Barcelonasta - Hannu.

Well done.
Hope it works out.

PS..
Was the 3 phase expensive hard or slow ? Total kW ?
Whats the electric rate ?

Fwiw..
I have 380 / 14 kW.
I pay about 300€ every 2 months.

Old install = grandfathered, but any change is all-new, 10-20k€ job.

A new 100 kW install is approx 30k€ over here, with permits.
To industrial estate, with no new trunks.
Just insides, permits, and connection.
 
Cozy for sure! You seemed to think of everything important to the construction of your building. Good job!
What kind of snow load can you expect on that roof?
 
Hyvin tehty !
Toivottavasti kaikki menee hyvin. Terveisiä Barcelonasta - Hannu.

Terve Hannu! Mitä espanjaan kuuluu? Olen ajatellut sitten joskus eläkepäivillä muuttavani myös etelän lämpöön, ehkä Portugaliin. Mutta siihen on vielä aikaa.. Palataan asiaan joskus 2050 paikkeilla. :)

Electricity over here is a silly thing. 3-phase is everywhere, there are no noticeable fluctations and blackouts are really rare. (1-3 times a year, under an hour each here in the countryside with air lines) 1-phase subpanels are only fount in apartments, and really rural buildings, which were connected to the grid before 1960's and not updated after that.

For example, i moved to this place which was connected to the grid with air lines in 1960's. It was a cottage for an elderly couple in the countryside, and didn't have any amnenities.
The electicity service? 400v 3-phase, 25 amps. So just run the wiring from the panel and connect a machine tool of choice (except the bigger ones).

Rotary converters are unheard of. When i began reading this forum, i had to find out what are those devices, and what's the purpose of having one of those. Now i know, but i have never seen one in real life, nor have any use for one.

Here's some pricing for electricity over here:
-Basic fee for 400V 3-phase 25A service (17kW): 16.5€/month
-Fee for electic usage: 0.128€/kWh
(Including all taxes and transportation fees)
Connecting a new electric panel to the grid is somewhat expensive, i can't recall how much, but it's around few thousand euros depending of the current required.
Some interesting information my energy company provides; 12.5% comes from renevables, 45.4% from coal and peat, and 42.1% from nuclear power plants. (Loviisa and Olkiluoto have nuclear plants)

@ andrewmawson
I know i'm out of space already, but it's all i could afford at the moment. I've got to figure out some good organization in the shop to keep it functional and hide the clutter..

@ Ray Behner
Last three winters have been somewhat mild, and snow layer not exceeding 30cm (1ft), but the construction code requires roofs to withstand 1.8kN/m2. I've got a building with very short roofspan, so it won't be a problem. I'd be more worried about storms felling trees. It's pretty much the only disaster i could imagine happening over here.
 
Outstanding design and forethought! Extremely well thought out and executed project.

My hat is off to you. I think that I saw just a rear corner of a 2CV? I love those darn things!

Lee (the saw guy)
 
Outstanding design and forethought! Extremely well thought out and executed project.

My hat is off to you. I think that I saw just a rear corner of a 2CV? I love those darn things!

Lee (the saw guy)

That's a car which can't be mistaken for anything else :)
I had it for few years, but i don't have a garage here in the new place, so i ended up selling it instead of letting it rust outside.

Here's an extra pic for you, Lee!
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That first pic (shed) will come in real handy down the road.


----------------------

I am Ox and I approve this h'yah post!
 
A new machine for the shop! A must have for every machine shop.

..Shaper. :nutter:

..And i intend to make money with it, call me crazy! :crazy:

It's a Hungarian made Strigon GH450 from mid 70's. The ram stroke is 18", there's automatic feeds for both axis and the compound slide and rapids for the table. It's got a universal table which swivels around two axis and a big 12" vise.

I've actually got first job for the machine. I'll have to make few 50mm wide keyways on some large hubs. This job will pay around 1/4 of the price i paid for the machine.

I bought the machine from Germany from a dealer called Lünehanse Vertriebs GmbH. Making the purchase by email went nicely, and Jürgen was really helpful organizing the shipment and informing me about the delivery time. I can honestly recommend this company, if you are interested in buying a machine from Germany.

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Received some HSS tooling from Ebay and made chips with the shaper!

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Here's a link for the tools i bought, other members with shapers might find them interesting as well;
HSS Drehmeissel 32x18x22 mm Drehling Drehstahl Dreheisen Drehzahn Drehbank Nr.69 | eBay

They're new old stock made in DDR. The shank is plain steel with around 50mm long piece of HSS attached on it. I bought a lifetime supply for myself, 12+12pcs left and right hand.

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I machined this part from D80mm round S355 steel, since i didn't have a flat bar for this job. The blank size is now 35x70x120mm. There will be a 45x20mm slot and eight boltholes still to be done. This is a part for a machine which grinds astronomical telescope mirrors up to one meter in diameter. Still have to make another part for the project, which is a 350mm long dovetailed piece. I'll machine that one on the shaper as well.

This job would have been much faster on a VMC which i have access to, but it was a perfect learning job for getting used to the shaper. I think i already fell in love with the big chips flying around. As for material removal, a machine of this size (1200kg) runs circles around a bridgeport or such mill. I had a DOC of 5mm for roughing and feed of 0.2-0.3mm/stroke. The machine is still on a wooden pallet and not bolted to the shop floor, so i'm limited at 56 strokes/minute. (The machine can do up to 160)
 








 
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