Thread: Machine Arrangement in a Small Space

Originally Posted by Biolog

Where are you? The basement of castle Greyskull?

Yeah, I want to know more about it too. Except for the large windows, it reminds me of a nice military bunker...

Speaking as a fellow packrat, I'd encourage you to begin by trying to cut down on some of the "stuff". I know, I know, all stuff is invaluable and irreplaceable, but stuff takes up space, and makes it tougher to put the bigger and more needed things in logical order.

This is one of those times that bringing in a third party, ideally one who hates you, can be very helpful in determining what's really useful, and what's a dust collector (not the good kind with a filter). That person goes through things, and says "defend this!". If you can't, out it goes...

If you can't bear to do that, then you need to get some good storage cabinets with sturdy shelves to place the stuff in. Loose, unlabeled stuff is the Devil's plaything. I know this too well...

Speaking of good dust collectors, get one with an excellent filter, and set up hose drops and good nozzles near the grinding machines. It'll allow you to place them with less concern about dust migration. Or port to the outside through one of the windows. Extra points if the outlet exits onto the car of the person who hates you.

I really like the look of that space. Please tell us about it!

I did layout my garage shop with the main machines, lathe, mill, band saw, and drill presses at a 45 degree angle. This allows the stick-out from them to go out into the isles. Not good for a commercial shop with several workers, but in a one man shop it can provide the needed space for occasional longer work pieces.

I pulled some other tricks. The band saw is behind the lathe bench. This allows longer stock to be run under the lathe bench while cutting pieces off. The tailstock end of the lathe has space over a work bench. And the mill has space on both sides but it is somewhat limited by the floor stand drill press at it's right. I have two drill presses, one on the floor and the other on the end of a bench, behind a vise. This allows work to progress from one where a hole is drilled to the other where it is de-burred/chamfered. Or two different drill diameters to different depths.

It also leaves one corner of the garage open for projects. In addition to other things going on there, I was recently able to bring a compressor in for repairs.

In addition to the main garage area, I have a store room where my water heater resides along with the main electrical panel for the house. I was able to run new circuits from there easily to the shop area. And I filled three walls with shelves for storage.

Originally Posted by Limy Sami

Mine are 3'' plastic drain pipe set in the shop walls - screw on caps (aka rodding eyes / access points) are available.

IIRC one PMer has gone through 2 walls at the headstock end, ................................. and lined it all up with a laser pen held in the tailstock chuck ??????????????????????was it Ray Behner??

3" wasn't big enough, here. Mine are multi-use. Allows reaching-inside to connect to water, power, or shop air from out on the tarmac. Secures the whole messy lot neatly and no worry about an outdoor water tap freezing.

Bang-stick laser intended to bore-sight rifles, not fire with them, is also handy for this and that pointed TS'ward. With more firearms than machine tools in the USA, these sell well. That makes them cheap.

Back to our regular progreamming:

My KITCHEN is tight at 13 feet short-axis.
Too much NON machining s**t in a 12-wide shop.

A good deal of it should be elsewhere?

I too have a very limited shop space and have found several ideas to be very helpful:

- overlap work envelopes between machines (assuming you only run one machine at a time). For example, set the surface grinder facing the cylindrical grinder face to face with the minimal amount of space between the two to work one machine or the other.
- sneak in as many shelves, drawers, etc wherever you can, be imaginative
- put as much stuff as you can on wheels, making it easy to reconfigure as needed
- go high, put shelves above machines
- and as previously stated, us CAD drawings or paper shapes on graph paper to try different scenarios virtually

Originally Posted by thermite

3" wasn't big enough, here.

It wouldn't be for you, would it?

Originally Posted by Limy Sami

It wouldn't be for you, would it?

When they go low, you go lower?

I started the paper cutouts before I built my machine shop. My first run with them was actually roughed out 3D scale models of the planes in the museum. After spending a day trying to position planes in an exhibit hangar, I found a 1/144 scale drawing and spent two days with file card stock, a scale, scissors, and Elmer's glue making my tiny models. I figured out which wingtips could overlap, what tail might sit under a wing, etc... even figured what had to be moved out a door and what order the planes had to be moved to their positions. Surprised us all how well it worked.

When doing machine tools, I go a little past just making a drawing of the machine. Make a model of the machine including it's work space. A shaper model needs to have the back ram travel included. Bridgeports and other (VN) ram type machines need the back ram travel and table travel in both X and Y, as well as a few feet around them for work space. Even if your shop us already set up, the floor drawing and model method can reveal some possibilities you never considered.

Agree with Grizzly web site their shop planner has a pretty slick setup it has most machines in their inventory
but if your machine is not there you can generate your own size equipment size
pretty slick

"Not unless I were to borrow YOUR train-wreck of a "rotted mind", oh stalker-nutter!"

Certainly termite, You finally said "I have a rotted mind" Now you have used all of your excuses for not participating in this forum by displaying photos, and stop lying!
Calling me a stalker is just great, as you followed me around for years with your shit comments in my threads! I was here 8 years before you troll, you seem to forget that.
You cant take what you have dished out to me and others by doing the same thing. You are stupid and weak....

Originally Posted by dalmatiangirl61

Pics of the current disaster below, since I brought the Gorton in I've been struggling for space, even after removing 2 other pieces already. A couple of machines will be drug out soon and loaded into box trailer, the old VN brake lathe, Logan lathe (although thinking of replacing it with something newer ), and maybe the red brake lathe seen in pic 6, if I could find speed chucks for the Caorle brake lathe (metric arbors)it would do everything. There are also 2 pieces of lapidary equipment and a washing machine that need to go to another room. Vertical screamer compressor can go as soon as I get Quincy wired and plumbed, I can put Quincy outside, it will require drilling some holes thru 2' exterior wall.

The big stainless box parked in middle of aisle is packed full of lathe and mill tooling, best idea at the moment is clear off the 3 work benches, unload tooling there, stand the SS box upright and add shelves to it, have 3 more just like it (although empty)outside still.

Wow! That's some shop - it looks bomb-proof!

Bottom of the home page. Link to Shop planner

Originally Posted by Joe Miranda

Wow! That's some shop - it looks bomb-proof!

I suspect those curved arches might be strong enough... but even so, could easily be more "decorative" than they are structural?

Not to put TOO fine a point on it, but hems sake?

If one owns the whole building?

Why not just use some of the more spacious areas OF it for a very GOOD machine hall, and relegate the 12-foot by 90-foot to any of many better-suited mixed uses for the shape?

When the only tool you have is a juice press, the whole world looks like something in need of squeezing?

Originally Posted by gustafson

Paper dolls

works amazingly well

you can computerize it, but same thing

draw the shop with doors etc

cut out[literally of digitally] paper dolls of the machines and move them around







If you are by your self or limited staff, making aisles do double duty as low value work spaces is a good trick.
A vertical bandsaw or kick shear might be a low use item. Do not give its own work envelope. let it use the aisle.

Long and skinny is tricky

exactly what i did with our shop, i'd upload a screenshot, but PM is being dumb...
easist way of figuring this kinda stuff out imo

Originally Posted by dalmatiangirl61

Pics of the current disaster below, since I brought the Gorton in I've been struggling for space, even after removing 2 other pieces already. A couple of machines will be drug out soon and loaded into box trailer, the old VN brake lathe, Logan lathe (although thinking of replacing it with something newer ), and maybe the red brake lathe seen in pic 6, if I could find speed chucks for the Caorle brake lathe (metric arbors)it would do everything. There are also 2 pieces of lapidary equipment and a washing machine that need to go to another room. Vertical screamer compressor can go as soon as I get Quincy wired and plumbed, I can put Quincy outside, it will require drilling some holes thru 2' exterior wall.

The big stainless box parked in middle of aisle is packed full of lathe and mill tooling, best idea at the moment is clear off the 3 work benches, unload tooling there, stand the SS box upright and add shelves to it, have 3 more just like it (although empty)outside still.

I love that Landis universal grinder! That is really clean!

Interesting building inside, what was it's original use?

I need answers on the beautiful building.

I would focus on getting random stuff off the floor. For example, get lights-on-stands out of the shop, and replace with good lights on ceiling, walls, dock-light style lights (lights on long arms that come out of the wall.)

Make or buy racks for tooling that make good use of vertical space. Likewise build a careful rack for lathe chucks so they are easy to get to to swap while taking up minmal floor space.

II am part way through doing some of these myself and quite pleased with the outcomes so far)

As much as I love and use CAD, I think the paper models (with little gray boundaries for door and operator cleareance, etc) or 3d printed versions are likely winners.

Consider too shelfs (say the wire shelf on posts with compression notches) filled with some shelf-boxes of some kind, where the shelf boxes might have collet holders, slots for taps, etc. The boxes can be moved from shelf to shelf. Now, gather up things like weird taps, drills, extra collets, etc. and put them in these neatly orged drawers. The drawers are well labelled with LARGE labels (so you see them and remember where they are.) This way the 15/16 x 43tpi tap you paid a fortune for doesn't get lost, but isn't taking up space on the lathe bench except for the once every 5 years you need to use it.

Depending on your reach, you could go pretty high - and your round-about might a great place for such shelves and cabinets.

Originally Posted by TheOldCar

I need answers on the beautiful building.

It's in a post in another thread.

ISTR "Industrial" YMCA -> "attempted" casino/ brothel -> aborted, idled -> now being awakened and re-purposed?

I could be wrong.

PM'ers have some of the damndest of buildings re-purposed as "shops"!

Back story on building, I call it lots of different things, we are coming into the season of the Ice Castle.

Website
index

Pics on the "About Us" page are from my first visit before purchasing, it had been abandoned for 10+ years. The pics on the "photo album" page were after the initial cleanout, 4 big roll-off containers of crap in 3 months, 100+ panes of glass, and boarding up those too far gone to save. Threw stupid money at it for a few years and decided I would be broke before it was finished and stopped, I was hoping to do a B&B. It was just a place to escape to for past 10 or so years, mainly worked on a living area for myself, getting it to a point I could keep it warm was the main challenge. Warehouse/shop in Tx sat unattended first few summers I was gone, friend needed a shop space so it was better to have someone watching the place. A few years ago she offered to start paying real rent, if I got my machines out of shop, I decided it was time to make the move for good.

One of the summers of major work Admin | Flickr

More back story - Previous owner bought it as a fully functioning building, then proceeded to destroy it. He also tore out the front steps, painted the brickwork, and hauled out the boiler. His plans were a casino/brothel, with the church next store that was not going to happen. Have not found a pic of it yet, but for some years there was one of those big fiberglass steak house cowboys standing in the front yard, painted as a rodeo clown, his plans are all titled "Rodeo Clown Casino". He had 2 other buildings in town, butchered and abandoned those too. He got crosswise with the community over his plans for this place, he might have just gutted it out of spite, I did try tracking him down for his side of story, never found him.