eventual downsizing

I know that I will lose my shop within the next few years. Currently it is located at my parents house as my dad uses it also. For various reasons, none which are relevant for this discussion, I have always rented apartments or houses for short terms. I realize that in the future I may have to move into an apartment again. I have searched the site for similar threads and do envy those who will let others need to dispose of the tooling. Unfortunately, that is not an option at this time.

I have resolved part of the issue by selling some surplus machines but the main issue is of a lathe. Currently I have a heavy 10 underdrive which is movable but not in a stealthly manner. While I know that I can disassemble it for easier moving, the cabinet will seem to draw attention. Not to mention possible stairs.

What I have been considering is to downsize the lathe to a south bend 9 which I know is not much smaller but with the horizontal drive the bench could be made to move in pieces which would be more discrete. I have considered building a mobile shop but that is not an option at this time. Primarily due to tags, insurance, storage, power and multiple other issues.

Anyway, the question of when to downsize is what I would like some other perspectives on. Would you wait till the end then sell the heavy and begin a new search or begin searching now, find what you want then sell the heavy 10.

This forum is diverse enough to provide a different prospective. Sorry for the length but wanted to get the whole picture out

R

Depends on what you consider stealth. If the cabinet looks like mine you could pass it off as an office desk, especially at night. The cabinet is really light with the under drive unit removed, which is only three or four bolts. What about an apartment with a garage? What about just renting a garage?

I guess my position is defending the Heavy 10. If an 9" workshop will do what you want, then by all means start looking for one now and get a nice one. If you do move a lot then its something that can easily move along with you.

I would purchase and get the bugs out of the machines you plan on lugging around well before the "downsizing" needs to be done. Along with this I would sort all the tools into 2 groups, keepers and to go. Then you have time to really plan before executing. If you wait till the last min. you probably will regret it, as things that were let go of, and now you need some of them real bad.

I have heard of a shop in a storage unit.

Bill

Hello R,
Sounds like you need a large garage that you can also live in !!!! Me too !!! I have machinery all over my apartment. Realestate friends could not help me find a suitable live-in garage/shop even without 3-phase juice. I have larger machinery in storage pending the illusive shop-home-garage...

So I'd suggest storing your heavy machinery until you can snag a useful place to live and operate with impunity.

Gary in AZ

I would think, long and hard before trading a Heavy 10 for a nine.

Kenny

Have you got a buddy that will rent/loan you garage space to set your shop up in?

Is floor loading a concern in an apartment? Can you find an apartment built on slab?

Keep the big machine and find a way to make it work. Try and work with the property owner to make it work.

If you can handle the moving of them (I don't have a truck) I will trade you my 9 for your heavy 10

As popular as they both are, I would try to do both at the same time. Look for a 9 now, and also start looking for a buyer for your 10. With luck, you could find someone with a 9 who wants a 10 and is located relatively close to you.

Where are you by the way?

Why the emphasis on a discrete move? Are you loading them with mexican drugs first?

Cole2534 said:

Why the emphasis on a discrete move? Are you loading them with mexican drugs first?

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If I had to guess I would say that his new landlord would freak but I'm kind of curious also.

#2 on splitting your tools into keepers and disposable/store well in advance of any moving. Having done the initial split make a point of only using the keeper set for everything you do, unless its a known one time way out in left field job. That way you will be able to refine things to what you actually need on a regular basis, even if it involves a bit of make do, work around or unorthodox methods. If my shop is anything to go by a goodly proportion of what's in there comes under nice to have, makes life easy, luxury and pure bragging rights.

Clive

Several years ago I started thinking about moving and what it would take to consolidate things into a smaller space. My biggest machine by far was my heavy 10 with a 4 foot bed and a cast iron underdrive. I disassembled it to get it home which was fine because everything needed to be cleaned and painted, but I didn't really want to relive the experience, especially since I replaced the alligator link belt with one that was glued together. Beyond the weight of the heavy 10, the next thing I noticed was the amount of floor space it took up. That had me envying those with cabinet models, until I realized that less than half of the cabinet was allocated to storage! One day, I came across an eBay listing for what looked like a heavy 10 with a horizontal drive and thought of all the possibilities of having the entire footprint devoted to storage, not to mention all of the accessories that I had collected would be usable and stored in the cabinet holding up the lathe! It took a few more years, but I found such a lathe on the local Craigslist. It even had a couple upgrades like large dials, and screws that were less worn than my floor model. It was a model 499Y so it did have a 1 7/8-8 spindle but that was a direct swap with the 2 1/4-8 spindle from my floor model which I have since sold. I also kept the taper attachment that I added to my floor model but have not decided on whether I would install it on my bench lathe given that it only has a 3 foot bed. By shortening the rod linking the lathe with the horizontal drive I was able to fit everything within the confines of a 30" by 48" maple bench top from Grizzly. OK, the cross feed handle does extend a couple inches from the front of the bench, but that’s it. Now most of my shop is in a climate controlled 8' by 16' space.
BakoRoy

Thanks everyone for the imput.

kd0afk, location as listed which is 20 mi west of Indianapolis so as generous as your offer is, I think the gas bill would kill me.

The reason for stealth is from a past job where we carried inspection equipment in pelican cases. The moron who bought them got them from a gun shop where they were having a factory rep day and thought the decals they were giving away looked good on the case. Until we managed to break that case (thanks to an un-named airline) multiple crews had their apartments broken in looking for the guns. Funny that they did not take the scopes and instruments as they did not know what they were looking at. Most apartments have the community busybody and the last thing I want is attention. In this area, if it is anything but drawing or picture painting, landlords seem to have conniption fits. Something like furniture refinishing outside gets you notices of violations and threats. Shame they do not seem to want address the drug dealers and the like but they must not conduct that off site or management must turn a blind eye.

Floor load concerns are not worrying me as much as the back load from lugging things up stairs. The cabinet is light on level surfaces but go up a flight or two of stairs and is an anchor. The shape of it limits using a refrigerator truck to transport but I have not really looked at that too hard. As BakoRoy states, the cabinet is not really space friendly for the foot print. I have added drawers to mine as I got tire of getting on my hands and knees to find something in the back of the shelves it had. We also have the same approximate space as mine is in a heated 10 x 12 unused milk house.

I have already broken down items to keep and surplus. I have another storage area where alot of items were placed. If i need it, I can get it quickly and once a month, i look to see what is taking space (or I have to move more than once to do something) which is moved out of the shop. The only thing that has not been moved out is the Hardinge DSM but no more tooling that I have for it makes it self contained. It is interesting to see things I thought were important move into storage and things that I never thought would be used often reappear. I have also done this to my tool boxes which have shown me how much I do with so few tools. Even most machines have their dedicated tool kit, I find I go to my main box for allen wrenches instead of those on a shelf or in a drawer at the machine.

Finding a horizontal drive heavy 10 would be ideal. So far, I have only seen one offered for sale but it truly appeared to have seen heavy use. While I am not looking for a long term project that would hold my interest to get it up and running.

I have thought of getting a 9 up and running before selling the heavy as well as trading the heavy for a 9. It would have to meet my requirements as to bed length and tooling package. The one nice thing that even if I sold the heavy, a friend has a Sheldon 10 which I could use for repair work. Sadly, his shop is as tight on space as mine (he also has wood tools to deal with) I have thought of setting up a shop in a storage unit but most around here have no power available so it would require a generator to even use. This does not include the extremely hot or cold weather we sometimes get which makes it uncomfortable at the minimum.

Again, thanks everyone for the input. At least I realize that I have been asking myself the right questions.

R

Rent a warehouse, live in a section of it

wcnaak said:

Rent a warehouse, live in a section of it

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Make sure that it is zoned for residence though. Some cities will fine you rather heavy if it isn't.

"Make sure that it is zoned for residence though. Some cities will fine you rather heavy if it isn't."

Then you are just the night guard on duty.

sorry to bring this back to the top, but my biggest fear and greatest loss has come true. My dad passed friday morning. My shop is now closed and I will have to move it within the coming months. The house and property will have to be sold and my mom taken care of.

With the advice given on this and other sites, I have made the decision to place everything in storage and keep the hand tools and smaller tools with me. I will evaluate at the end of 1 year and see where I am and what my desires are at that time. I plan to spray with LPS or other preservative to protect the precision surfaces. If after some time, it is decided to get rid of everything or parts of it, I will have taken time to evaluate my needs and desires and not just make an knee jerk decision.

Thanks for giving me the advice and direction on this issue and confidence in the decision made over the shop.

Roger

So sorry you have to deal with this while grieving the loss of your father. Sounds like you have your head on straight though. Giving it some time will help you to not make any emotional based decisions. My deepest condolences and best wishes.

Paul

FWIW, a good number of people who put their tools in storage end up paying thousands in storage fees over the next several years. Including myself in younger years.

If you have a clear path to a new location with shop space (within months, not years), that's one consideration in renting a largish storage space. Otherwise, you might consider what you want with you even if it's in an apartment closet PLUS what you really can't part with placed in a smaller storage space.

Personally, unless your South Bend is in mint condition or of sentimental value, I'd consider selling it now and keeping an eye out for both a suitable next digs and suitable replacements. It's a common lathe, not too difficult to replace, and pretty easy to replace with another brand of equal or significantly greater productivity if you have an extra $1000 or so to spend. There are many things it doesn't likely have -- metric threads, one shot lube, enclosed feed gears, a modern chuck mount, etc. etc..

If selling now saves you a move into a storage space, a couple years rent, and a move out of a storage space -- you may well have an extra $2000 to spend on a better lathe; plus the $1500 or so you might get for it right now. Maybe even enough to buy a lathe and mill when you're able to settle into the right place.

Just a thought. Good luck, Roger, with all that's on your mind and your to-do list now.