Erik's tiny shop

Hi Guys.

I have finally built a small place of my own.

It's only 12 sq.m. inside, but that was the size of the concrete slabs I chose to use. I tore down the rest.
Fortunately I sold my Harrison Standard mill; there simply wasn't room for it.

First a view of the building from the rear, the roof tiles will be up anytime, weather permitting.



Then the insides, clockwise. Starting with a very heavy Danish bench drill, a Swedish Thörns T2 universal tool grinder, a work bench, my Myford Super 7, then my FP2 and cabinet and last my old (new to me) Danish metal band saw.








As you can see, there is still a long way to go. But I don't need to be bored this winter. I have to fix and check out the Myford and the FP2 and put up a lot of shelves and such. I really need storage space.

Cheers
Erik

Your building looks very nice and neat. I like the roof lines and rafter design.

The Danish band saw is an interesting piece of equipment. It appears well built.

Will your shop roof be tiled also? What is the material that appears to be fixed to the bottom of your roof rafters now? Some kind of insulation?

Very nice..... I think the shops on both sides of the pond have so much in common and yet are different....... it is fun to see them. I hope you'll post some pictures when your finished and thanks for these. Great job.

Hi Erik, and congratulations for your nice shop !
Seems to me that you'll have a nice nest to spend the winter

According to me, the tool and cutter grinder is one of the nicest additions to a homeshop (a good welder beeing immediately next on the list)

I tend to think the FP2 is a bit "overkill" compared to the small Myford. Do you plan to upgrade to a bigger/more industrial lathe someday, or was the FP2 buy a matter of circumstances ?

If my eyes serve me well, you seem to have an extra set of scale/handwheel combo for the dividing or rotary head. Would you like to sell or trade it ? Feel free to contact me off list and once again, congratulations !

Thanx for the roses guys.

JL Sargent: I don't quite understand your question, but in Denmark we have what we call an "under-roofing" of some hard 1/8" plate, then some vertical distance sticks and then the hor. thin wood beams that hold the tiles. I chosen to make this roof exactly like the one on our house, where the first row of tiles rests directly on the edge. Right now I need to close between the wall and the roof, where you can see some insulation. Yes, I bought the band saw from a toolmaker friend, when he got a Mössner Rekord. It had served him well for a long time and he had added power feed to it. Very nice machine.

T: Hi, nice of you to drop in. Yes, I look forward to see what I can do with the grinder, but I'll have to install some major suction, because of the dust. I do have a very nice MIG welder, a Danish Migatronic Automig 183XE and a Dillon Mk. III gas welding set with the small tubes. Do you know the Dillon (now Henrob)? According to both sellers and owners it should be great for a lot of different jobs. I can't have them there (yet), no room. Yes, I wanted a round dial SK40 FP1 and I almost bid on a nice one (I believed then it had my name on it),which is now with a forum member in UK. He got it for 3500 Euro, and then the round dial FP1's got scarce. I have read all the comparisons 1 vs. 2 and the FP2 is attractive, when you look at the specs. Twice the x-axis of the older 1's and feed with rapid on all 3 axes. And they are all SK40. So to be sure, I started collecting SK40 accessories, hoping I wouldn't find me a Mt4 FP1. This looked right from the pictures, and I bought it (during working hours) for 4510 Euro. He also had "the" slotting head, "the" index head and a much newer High Speed head, which I got at a good price. Unfortunately someone dropped it backwards, so I'll have to fix whatever is wrong with the y-axis. An idiot with no respect for anything, but if I had lowered the table and fixed the machine to the pallet, it wouldn't have happened. Yes, though the Myfords are really nice, they are basically Inch machines and a bit small. So I hope to upgrade to an EMCO Maximat Super 11 or a Weiler Praktikant. I have a friend working on it.
The loose "Auxillary Dividing" scale/handwheel is for the Index head. They come in 2 varieties, 4 deg. for the 380mm round table (90:1) and 9 deg. for the Index head (40:1). I have both. I also have a good looking renovated Deckel 380mm round table with both the index plates/handle and the Aux scale/handwheel for sale. I have to contact the seller, because the scale is right but the back plate has 4 deg. written on it. Just cosmetics, but I have to see if he can swap it.

If I can't sell the round table with both sets, I am tempted to sell the scale/handwheel, but would rather like to get something else in exchange. But it is getting hard to find something I want in exchange:

Hmm, feeler gauges for my Centricator, Deckel short SK40 -> Mt2 arbor, distance piece to go between table and round table, so it doesn't need to sit at the edge (I have the large FP2 table).
Or maybe some accs. for the lathe I want?

Cheers for now
Erik

PS: I forgot; in the "large" work space in the middle of the room we (3-5) sit around a camping table. Once a week our model R/C model aircraft club meet to discuss the world situation and such.
It's a tough contest, space-wise. I am tempted to bring the bench drill and the cabinet it's sitting on, back into the house. Naah, only if the others force me.

Nice cosy shop Erik.
looking forward to seeing pics of all the projects you will be churning out .
why does the Deckel have such a large electrical cabinet.
I have a migatronic 180-mxe welder...it's a good welder....bought before the company started building them in Italy.
all you want in there now is a nice pot bellied stove.
all the best..mark

"why does the Deckel have such a large electrical cabinet?"

Because its a Deckel! European machinery tends to have these huge oversized cabinets, I guess they like the room to work. (At least thats my impression)

Hi Erik, nice shop!

I was just curious about whether you're planning to paint the walls or not? Reason I ask is that my workshop rebuild is at the stage of bare plywood walls too - I think I'll paint it to make it all a bit brighter, as I only have a window at one end... but I like the bare wood look too...

What's happened to the Myford cross-slide? Doesn't seem to have the usual dial/handle...

Do you have any plans for a crane or something over the FP2 to handle accessories, as currently being discussed over on the Deckel forum?

Cheers!

Pete (who will post some pics of his shop as soon as the lights are put in!)

Eric- thanks for the pics of your shop. Very nice! I've never seen the Danish band saw before. Is there a transmission on it? Tell us a little more about it.


Markus

Hi Bicycle Pete.

I like the wooden look too. Right now there is too much bare wood, but I think it'll be nice when I put up shelves and generally fill most wall space with tools and such. A calender with something the wife won't like is a must, also something aircraft related (I fly R/C). I just wish there was a colour cross section poster of a FP2, like the one of the FP1. Some paint would lighten up, but then it might not give me that "Erik's Cave" feeling.

I believe the Myford (dec. 1975) has been used for fatigue testing of plastic parts at a university. The gap has been slightly widened and there are 2 small threaded holes near the spindle. There was no cross or compound slide at all. I took off a 550W DC motor with Eurotherm (?) 506 controller, so I can fit a 550W 3 phase with a Danfoss VLT drive. I would like a new (or like new) cross slide, but I can make do with this old battered one. I just need the end plate for the cross slide, a metric dial and maybe a few small things. I have had 2 beautiful Super7's one unused from 1986 without gearbox and one almost unused from 1994 with gearbox. I didn't dare using them, they were too expensive. But this one I'll use and maybe modify a lot. Maybe some home made gearbox and a metric leadscrew, ahh just dreaming. Easier to get another lathe.

Originally I had planned a steel beam on top of each "long" wall, but I thought it overkill. I just need something to lift a table, a Long Reach head or a Fine Boring head. And now my plan is a shelf about 12" from the ceiling all around, so I may just use 2 wood beams on the walls and a wooden traverse for a hoist(?).

I think the large cabinet is a part of "The Deckel System". It has a power plug for the High Speed Head, and low-volt power for the optical round table and the centering scope. When the centering scope is used, the machine (and spindle)can't start. Having such a small workshop I know I should get rid of the cabinet, but I just can't. It's Deckelstuff and probably the original one. The FP2, head, Index head and slotting head have been buddies since they were born and I wouldn't separate them.

Cheers
Erik

Hi Erik,

Thanks for the reply!

It's not very relevant but as it happens I worked at Eurotherm Drives one summer when I was a student (quite a few years ago now) - it is based in Littlehampton on England's south coast. As well as VFDs and the DC motor drives they did big industrial installations - I spent some time on the shop floor putting the control cabinets together, then accompanied a service engineer for a few weeks. My impression of the company and product was all pretty positive.

So just out of interest, what made you take off the Eurotherm DC setup on the Myford?

Cheers!

Pete (who also has a Myford - and is also looking to exchange it for something bigger

Pete, I just thought the motor was big and ugly.
And the drive was not in it's own cover, it was inside a rather large cabinet mounted at the front of the Myford plate stand. Being a Dane I thought I would get a Danfoss VLT 3 phase AC drive. When I had the VLT and a 3 phase motor (both 550W), I wanted both to be 750W instead, like the German Super7 I had. Well, I'll just see, if the motor/drive combo has oomph enough.

Cheers
Erik

Erik,
Congratulations on the shop, that will be a awesome place to spend your winter days! Are you going to heat it? I'd think it was necessary with so much nice equipment.
What type of tool cutter is that you have?
Steve

Hi Steve,

you must mean my Swedish Thörn T2 T/C grinder.
I got it at a good price from a friend who is downsizing his home shop because of age.
Like everything else in my shop I'll take it apart and see, if anything needs fixing.
I have a small electrical heater with oil in it just right of the grinder. And a small dehumidifier also.
BTW, I just discovered today, that my FP2 has the color RAL6011 (resedagrün) like the newer Myfords I used to own. And that does it - when I have to strip down and paint my machines, they'll all be RAL6011 coloured!

Cheers
Erik

Erik,
It never ends huh does it, get one more tool and it upsets the color balance in the shop and WHAMO! They all have to be painted again
Either way I can think of no better way to spend a chilly after noon and evening than next to the heater working in your shop..... Especially in fall like it is here.

I REALLY like that tool cutter! It looks like it has almost all of the function of a big cincinatti just in a snmaller package for smaller work. I even have enough room for one!
I've been thinking about a Cincinatti for a while, I love them but they're pretty darn big.

Anyways cool shop.
Steve

I, for one, like the mix of the different RAL colors of my several machines...

I even like when I use my green slotting head on the blue FP1... Don't know why, but I like it. May be it gives it a more "custom" look.

By the ways guys... Did you see my post in the "Deckel auction" thread ?
I thought you'd be a little more excited about the machines...

Hi Markus.

The Danish band saw has a gearbox with 9 speeds.


My toolmaker friend has has owned it for a large number of years and sold it only because he got a Mössner Rekord band saw.

I put the tiles on last week :




And yesterday I used 2 doors as shelves for my R/C aircraft kits. Just a test; I'll have to keep some of then somewhere else. When I get the heater room cleaned up, I'll store some there.




Now I need to install some power. I think I'll just use a single 13A 3 phase group from our house. Then there is no need for extra fusing. More than enough power for my FP2.

Cheers
Erik

Now I need to install some power. I think I'll just use a single 13A 3 phase group from our house. Then there is no need for extra fusing. More than enough power for my FP2.

Click to expand...

Some extra fusing can be very convinient. Especially when your one and only fuse gets blown out. Then your standing in the dark surrounded by all these malicious sharp teethed machines. I have a three fase line and an one fase line to the shed. I put three fuses in the single fase line. One for the outdoor gardenlightning and for the smearing pit (?), one for half of the lights and walloutlets and one for the other half of the lightning and wall outlets. The three fase powerline uses its own fuses in the house. This way you never stand in the dark by a blown fuse and you can work or reroute parts of the wiring with lights on and power for your drill from the other half.

Just a thought to consider from someone who crawled out of his shed in utter darkness in several occasions.
Arjan

Arjan,

I have just installed 2 three-phased groups.
I was happy with one until I thought of the heater. Oops - max. 2 kW one phase. Fortunately I had just enough of the shielded cable. In the house I have 2 HPFI relays, so the group with the heater, lights and other 230V stuff is on one relay with the house electrics, and the other relay take care of washing machine, drier, 4 kW Stenhøj compressor and the 400V stuff in my playhouse. Both groups are 13 Amps. BTW, all fuses are of the modern automatic type. No running around in the dark looking for a new melting fuse. Hmm, now I have find a neat way to get my lights from both groups.

Steven and Tien: I will paint the Thörn grinder in the original Thörn color(s), when I find out what it was. Grey seems a good color for a grinder. I haven't decided about the Myford yet; if I can find a nice, cheap gearbox I am tempted to make it look newer. But I'll probably learn to live with changing the loose gears.

Cheers
Erik