JasonPAtkins
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2010
- Location
- Guinea-Bissau, West Africa
Hey all,
I realize this is a stab in the dark, and I'm not sure if it would be more appropriate in the buy/sell forums, but...
I run a little fab and machining shop in rural West Africa (Guinea-Bissau). We operate it as a non-profit, both to train metalworkers and to build/repair stuff for other aid and relief projects that need that kind of work in a place where it's hard to find. We make everything from grade school desks to metal roof trusses to factory machines. I end up doing a lot of machining on old parts for the community since often replacements aren't available and I'm the only machine shop for 30 miles.
One of the big projects we support is a drinking water filter factory that we're setting up there in-country. Waterborne diseases are a big deal there, and the idea is to set up a factory that's self sustaining which can use local labor and local (almost completely) resources to make affordable, effective drinking water filters. My shop has modified several of the machines in use at that factory, built the factory building, and has scratch built (mostly from scrap) a couple of the other machines they're using.
So, we have a shipping container going over in the next month or two (leaving from SE Michigan), and are looking around for a few pieces to fill holes in our equipment profile. If anyone has equipment they're not using anymore, are ready to replace, or would just like to help us out with - or if you have a line on someone who might at least be willing to make us a good deal. We're a 501(c)3 and can provide a letter acknowledging the donation for tax purposes. Some of you have donated drills and a few other things in the past, and I've really appreciated it. I've been around here a while, and several of my posts have shown the kinds of work I do.
I have a few specific things we're looking for:
1) If anyone has a box of drills or taps that they're never going to get around to sharpening, I'm happy to! I'm happy to pay for USPS flat rate boxes to ship any donations of little tooling.
2) CXA toolholders - especially normal 3/4" or 1" ones (like a CXA1 or CXA1s).
3) DRO setup for my 15x48" Colchester.
4) 8' apron or finger brake. 14 gauge would be best, but 16 gauge would still let us do most of the work we'd normally do.
5) 52" or bigger kick shear, or better yet gap shear. I have a 36" kick shear, and it is endlessly frustrating that all of our sheet metal comes 40" (1 meter) wide!!! I think a 16 ga gap shear would be about perfect, because it could *almost* slit a whole 2m by 1m sheet of 16 gauge down the middle.
6) Ironworker
7) Pyramid roll profile bender (like for angle, tube, and bar)
8) A couple of lista/vidmar tooling cabinets
9) Blade coil stock - my Wells 8m uses 3/4" blades, and I use everything from 4tpi down to 18tpi.
I'm doing my best to find what I can at auctions, but being a non-profit on a shoe-string budget, it's hard to bid against shops that are going to be using the equipment to make real money, haha...
Hope this doesn't sound entitled (no one thinks *they're* the one unjustifiably expecting the world to hand them everything for free, lol) - but I think there are some people around who would like to help out with the work we're doing. So, if that's not you, no need to get mad.
Just to fill in some details, in case it's relevant to what anyone might be willing to send - our power is 400v/50hz/3ph, but I run lots of 460v/60hz equipment with no problem. I have a Cincinnati Toolmaster MT (NMTB40 tooling) and a Colchester Mk 1.5 15x48" lathe (mostly turn with carbide inserts, mostly steel, and a lot of it hard scrap mystery stock). This container will carry over my first cnc machining equipment, a Tree J425 mill.
If anyone has questions about what we do, what other equipment I already have, etc - I'm happy to answer, either here or in a PM.
Thanks for all of the collective wisdom this group has shared over the years!
I realize this is a stab in the dark, and I'm not sure if it would be more appropriate in the buy/sell forums, but...
I run a little fab and machining shop in rural West Africa (Guinea-Bissau). We operate it as a non-profit, both to train metalworkers and to build/repair stuff for other aid and relief projects that need that kind of work in a place where it's hard to find. We make everything from grade school desks to metal roof trusses to factory machines. I end up doing a lot of machining on old parts for the community since often replacements aren't available and I'm the only machine shop for 30 miles.
One of the big projects we support is a drinking water filter factory that we're setting up there in-country. Waterborne diseases are a big deal there, and the idea is to set up a factory that's self sustaining which can use local labor and local (almost completely) resources to make affordable, effective drinking water filters. My shop has modified several of the machines in use at that factory, built the factory building, and has scratch built (mostly from scrap) a couple of the other machines they're using.
So, we have a shipping container going over in the next month or two (leaving from SE Michigan), and are looking around for a few pieces to fill holes in our equipment profile. If anyone has equipment they're not using anymore, are ready to replace, or would just like to help us out with - or if you have a line on someone who might at least be willing to make us a good deal. We're a 501(c)3 and can provide a letter acknowledging the donation for tax purposes. Some of you have donated drills and a few other things in the past, and I've really appreciated it. I've been around here a while, and several of my posts have shown the kinds of work I do.
I have a few specific things we're looking for:
1) If anyone has a box of drills or taps that they're never going to get around to sharpening, I'm happy to! I'm happy to pay for USPS flat rate boxes to ship any donations of little tooling.
2) CXA toolholders - especially normal 3/4" or 1" ones (like a CXA1 or CXA1s).
3) DRO setup for my 15x48" Colchester.
4) 8' apron or finger brake. 14 gauge would be best, but 16 gauge would still let us do most of the work we'd normally do.
5) 52" or bigger kick shear, or better yet gap shear. I have a 36" kick shear, and it is endlessly frustrating that all of our sheet metal comes 40" (1 meter) wide!!! I think a 16 ga gap shear would be about perfect, because it could *almost* slit a whole 2m by 1m sheet of 16 gauge down the middle.
6) Ironworker
7) Pyramid roll profile bender (like for angle, tube, and bar)
8) A couple of lista/vidmar tooling cabinets
9) Blade coil stock - my Wells 8m uses 3/4" blades, and I use everything from 4tpi down to 18tpi.
I'm doing my best to find what I can at auctions, but being a non-profit on a shoe-string budget, it's hard to bid against shops that are going to be using the equipment to make real money, haha...
Hope this doesn't sound entitled (no one thinks *they're* the one unjustifiably expecting the world to hand them everything for free, lol) - but I think there are some people around who would like to help out with the work we're doing. So, if that's not you, no need to get mad.
Just to fill in some details, in case it's relevant to what anyone might be willing to send - our power is 400v/50hz/3ph, but I run lots of 460v/60hz equipment with no problem. I have a Cincinnati Toolmaster MT (NMTB40 tooling) and a Colchester Mk 1.5 15x48" lathe (mostly turn with carbide inserts, mostly steel, and a lot of it hard scrap mystery stock). This container will carry over my first cnc machining equipment, a Tree J425 mill.
If anyone has questions about what we do, what other equipment I already have, etc - I'm happy to answer, either here or in a PM.
Thanks for all of the collective wisdom this group has shared over the years!