Duncan,
> In a message dated 12/24/99 11:34:33 AM Central Standard Time,
> rkg@teleport.com writes:
>
> << Gee, where did you work before the IPO :-)>>
>
> Chicago Alderman......
I see... - Sorry, I couldn't resist the comment - I have a lot of buddies that
are becoming"instant millionaires" these days and are
doing stuff like you're describing...
>
>
> Anyway...... The Shop or bye bye bucks.
>
> 45 X 24 ft 2 story building with 12 foot ceilings on the lower level and 12
> foot ceilings on the upper level. (I reread the dimensions this time...). It
> is on a piece of property that has entrances to the ground off both levels
> (cut out of a sloping piece of land).
so the upper level has car wide doors, huh? cool...
> Cinder block/brick construction with 440/230 3 ph. The property was an old
> orchard and has "heavy" power throughout. So..... this is where "work" will
> be done.
Excellent! 3 phase motors make for smoother running machinery, whichmakes for
better cuts with the equipment you describe below...
(the motors
are also lots lighter/cheaper...)
> The lower level will house a Mill, Lathe, Drill Press, Grinder, Blasting
> Cabinet, and Buffer. There is an attached shed that housed an air compressor
> at one point. The above level has space for about 3 cars across and 3 cars
> deep. So I'm thinking of a lift in the corner plus a separate "clean room"
> for the sub assembly of engines, carbs, etc., along with a small flow bench.
At the very least you might want to consider some curtains or something tobe
able to enclose an area for painting (or refinishing
furniture, or whatever).
And again, keep the grinders downwind of your machine tools.
Lifts are a good thing - just be sure that you leave your bays "big" - there's
nothing worse
than having to snake between a couple of projects
> Can anyone make any recommendations as to the type of equipment I should have.
> I'm thinking of a Bridgeport Vertical Mill ($2500) and a South Bend 10X 24
> Lathe ($1200) as the primary pieces of equipment.
the lathe price isn't too far off, but you might want to spend a bit more on
themill (or get a DRO for it if you already own it, and
it isn't so equipped).
I'd also recommend several grinders - a small baldor or? for grinding bits,
etc.,
a larger built up belt driven one for buffing wheels, etc.(be sure to set it up
so
that the wheel spins away from you - most aren't set up this way, but its nice
to not have that small item you're polishing coming at you when the wheel
"grabs" it (the family's had a knife business for 130 years - trust me
on this one....)), and a belt sander
(one of the 1"-4"wide ones with a fairly long belt - great for misc. grinding).
I'd also recommend a plasma cutter, combination bandsaw, 14" cutoff wheel,
and a drill press.
You might also want to consider one of those small oxy acetylene torch kits and
an
electric welder of some type (I have a stick/tig unit, but other people swear by
MIG welders....).
It might be cool to have some sheet metal stuff as well (brake, shear, rolls -
they
have combo units that aren't too expensive).
> My skill level in operating the equipment is almost nil ... but there are a
> lot of closed factories within 20 miles and I hope that there would be some
> retired machinists that would like to put in a few hours a week using my
> equipment in the area in exchange for not telling me how stupid I am.....
> maybe that's asking too much.
Ah, are you somewhere near a city of some kind? If so, check out the
localcommunity college - they usually have courses in how to
use this stuff - the
best thing to do is look for some kind of "industrial arts" class - locally they
hold these in a local high school (its amazing how nice a machine shop a lot
of these places have!), and its basically a weekly open shop class where the
instructor will spend part of the period talking about/showing the people
how to use one type of equipment/week and the rest of the period you get to
putz with it - a lot of people just sign up for the class so they have
access to a "real" shop and only bug the instructor when there's something
that they want to do that they don't know how to... - In fact, you may want
to take one of these to determine what tools you want to use (I did this
with the welder - I spent a lot of time welding different things with different
welders, and decided a TIG unit was what I "really" wanted...).
there are a number of books to check out -
shop savvy by roy moungovan
all the books by ron fournier
welder's handbook by richard finch
Carrol Smith's books
etc.,.
> Any idea as to what I may be missing here......
> As always, thanks.
>
> <<As far as the rest of the site goes, the only other thing I could recommend
> would
> be paving over a big area so you could have an autox course as well (can you
> say "Speeed Acres"...), but that ain't cheap...>>
>
> Actually I LOVE the name idea...... can't do the autox area but I have some
> old copies of "Speed" magazine from the UK and could lift the logo and make a
> sign.
there 'ya go...
rkg
>
>
> Ron
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