Inside the Shed

[rodm]

I have just spent the better part of three weeks stripping and setting up my 8.4M by 4.6M shed. I would love a larger shed but my block size is 480 so I have already taken half the yard. Three ute loads to the dump (that was real hard) and another load to the bother in laws got the old shelving, offcuts and other "I will use it one day" junk off site. Shed completely bare and a fresh sart. The problem was that I have 14 machines ranging from a bench mounted morticing machine to a sliding table saw. Mainly woodworking but a metal lathe and milling machine combo thrown in. The fact is that you cannot permanently mount all these in the area I have and still be able to use them in safety.
Solution was to purchase locking swivel casters and keep the machines against the wall when not in use. The problem here was that the wall space was also required for shelving for hardware, panel racking and bench and assembly space. The final outcome was to build elevated shelving with timber storage above this and wheel the machines under the shelving. Rather than me waffle on the attached photos show how it turned out.
This is the right side of the shed that starts with a steel vertical panel rack (just out of photo but is in the last photo), mechanics mobile tool cabinet, air compressor, sanding machine, drill press, router table, SCMS set up for aluminium and Combination Planer/Thicknesser. Hardware and odds and sods are stored in the plastic containers above and timber over that.
cheers,
Rod

[rodm]

Along the back wall is the lathe (needed an engine crane to lift this beast because the "one who should be obeyed" could not lift the heavy end), SCMS on aluminium stand (see separate post if interested), drum sanding machine and shelf with metal storage drawers (about 200 of them) around the corner.

cheers,
Rod

[rodm]

Front of the shed with table saw with home made sliding panel setup, panel rack to the left that also houses sash clamps above and "f" clamps on the side. Bench on the right and assembly table that is also on locking casters that doubles up as a outfeed table for the saw. Now I can get back to the things I like most like building cabinets and repairing things that are broken.
This is the cleanest and tidiest my shed will ever be so I had to borrow a camera to capture the moment. I am sorry if I have bored you but I needed to share this with somebody.

cheers,
Rod

[Sir Stinkalot]

Ahhh ..... great work Rod .... it is enjoyable having a peak in somebody elses workshop. It is a little voyeuristic http://www.my-smileys.de/fies_sei.gif

I always seem to find some solution that I could put in my humble garage ...... I hope more will follow your lead.

http://www.my-smileys.de/icon_kewl.gif

Stinky

[Sturdee]

Rod,
I loved your photos of your shed, congratulations you have a great setup.

Stinky,
Tomorrow I will be taking some pictures of my dust collection systems and I'll take some workshop photos and post them as well.

Regards,

Peter

[rodm]

Thanks for the comments.
I must admit this is the best it will ever likely to be because it is used just about every weekend to make sawdust or metal filings. Sometimes a cabinet or three sneek out under the dust. I started out thirty years ago with a second hand 10 inch Paulcall saw table and 6 inch planer. I am a desk jockey and have never had a trade but I was fortunate to get some tutoring early on from a retired cabinet maker who did his trade in Italy. He was a real craftman and loved to share his knowledge and grappa.
That is of course the benefit of this forum because it provides an opportunity for us to share and gain knowledge. Thanks Neil, but where's the grappa?
Don't leave me exposed in the company of Sir Stinkalot and his voyeurism (If I could work out how to put a smiley face here it would be, Sir) so I look forward to peeking under the covers of some of the other furum members sheds.

cheers,
Rod

[Honest Gaza]

You're kidding....I have just completed my new brick workshed ( well I mixed the mortar while the brickie laid the bricks ). Unfortunately, it is a little smaller than yours...3.2m x 2.8m. Unlike you, I am working out where to put my screwdrivers so that they don't get in the way of my hammer.

You are a lucky man !!!!!

Honest Gaza

[namtrak]

I think maybe I should post a 'before' photo of my shed to get some ideas. I already know I need walls, floor, doors and windows - it's a bit chilly in winter! It's been in the 'before' phase for some 15 months.

Cheers
Mick

[ozwinner]

Wheres the dust Rod?
Allan:D

[abraxas365]

I like that quote about doubling your money. My favourite is:

The best way to make a small fortune at woodworking is to start with a large fortune.

w

[MajorPanic]

G'day Rod,

I'm just setting up my new shed @ the moment & I know the pain you went through!
You have done a wonderful job with all your machines and you have given me some ideas. I must admit I love peeking @ other people's workshops :p

Keep up the good work.

[journeyman Mick]

Rod,
very impressive. I'm too embarrassed to post any pics of the inside of my shed at the moment because it looks like your "before" description. When I get tidied up and organised (when? indeed) I will post some pics.

Mick

[rodm]

Thanks for the comment. This is a fairly old post - September 2003 and it's amazing how quick things change. The table saw has now been upgraded to a TSC-10HB with a commercial sliding table, there is a dust extractor in a cabinet squeezed in there and a woodworking lathe. There is also a layer of dust over everything. Most of the set up works well but I am not happy about the plastic storage crates. Can't find things easily and end up with half a dozen of them on the floor while I am looking. More shelves and putting doors on the storage area should fix that - next year maybe.

[jow104]

I have seen your pictures above with machinery fixed to bases and moveable on castors.
After nearly a year with this setup can you recommend other members that this is a completly satisfactory route to follow, or are there some comments you could now make?

[rodm]

For my shed the castors are the only way to go. I have locking swivel castors which means the wheel and the swivel is locked. It has enabled me to get more machines than would be possible if they were fixed to the floor. I have not had any problems with the machines moving while using them and I have dressed 3 metre lengths of 150 X 100 mm Wandoo (hardwood).
Being able to move the machines to the wall has also saved my hips from being bruised and gives me a fairly large assembly area.
Hope this helps.

[Sea Moose]

Hey Fellas

Your lucky to have your own shed!! i live with my parents and my shed consists of a 1m by .5m tool box ( i keep my chisels and drill and stuff) and two saw horses.

Simmo

[Sea Moose]

Me Again

not that i am complaining, i have just built a coffee table for my sisters birthday (She & her hubby couldnt afford a decent one) and i am in the process of staining it. If anyone is interested i will have a pic posted this week somtime. (i have to have it finished friday is it is her birthday then!!

Simmo

[jow104]

I've got a planer/thicknesser on the way and I am going to put it on a mobile base. Would you look at the attached picture of a base being shewn with construction plans in this months edition of Good Woodworking(U.K.). Is it possible for you to comment and also show the construction details of your own mobile bases.

[rodm]

It is hard to tell too much from the photo. I will assume that there are castors under the front rail and that the rail where you can see the castors is either hinged or sits on pins and can be removed. What is a bit of a worry for me is the vertical locking device much like a door stop. If this is the only means of stopping the unit from sliding it may not offer enough resistance particularly when pushing through heavier timbers. Other than that the construction looks good.
My design is much simpler and is just 70 by 45mm pine framing with half lap joints between the side and end rails. The frame is made to fit snug around the legs and then I drill through the side of the pine rails and the steel legs of the machine and use a 10mm cup head bolt to fix it. I then take off the rubber stoppers from the bottom of the steel legs and this is all the clearance I need and I have not raised the height of the machine.
I sometimes take my machines out of the shed to machine longer lengths of timber and I have a 25mm drop from the shed floor to the outside paving. Even though this is a small lip a heavy machine can be difficult to push over the lip from a standing start. Make sure you have a reasonable diameter wheel on the caster. I have 100mm diameter wheels on my castors – any smaller and I would have a problem.
Hope this helps

[MrFixIt]

Hi RodM

I recognise THAT table saw :D

I saw it recently at Carbatec alongside the s/h T/S I purchased.

I wondered what the "other" fence was for? The fence at the end of the extension table. Was it for anything special?

Do you live anywhere near me? I'm located in Carine.

Regards

Peter

[MrFixIt]

Hi


Originally posted by jow104
I've got a planer/thicknesser on the way and I am going to put it on a mobile base. Would you look at the attached picture of a base being shewn with construction plans in this months edition of Good Woodworking(U.K.). Is it possible for you to comment and also show the construction details of your own mobile bases.

That base seems to be an almost exact duplicate of a mobile base plan in a magazine I have here. It seems quite a good design, though a fair amount of work is involved in its manufacture.

I created a "loosely" similar base from welded steel tube. This saves MUCH of the drilling and screws used in the construction of the wooden type.

I will post a photo of mine soon.

Regards

Peter

[rodm]

Hi Peter,
That probably means you are the proud owner of a green Woodman 10 table saw. In fact I traded both the Carbatec and Woodman table saws on a TSC-10HB table saw. I made some built in Tasy Oak cabinets for my brother and he gave me the Woodman saw in appreciation. Having two 10" table saws was a bit too much for my sized shed so I traded both on the TSC-10HB. The Woodman has seen little work and was always covered so you have basically a new saw.
Recently I found the mitre guide for that saw (actually both saws) so it is yours. I have sent a PM to you. You should have been given the original manual unless it got lost at Carbatec. Mind you the manual was not a great deal of use.
The bit you are referring to is a home made sliding panel attachment - I think.
I hope you are enjoying your new purchase.

[MrFixIt]

Hi All


Originally posted by MrFixIt
Hi

I created a "loosely" similar base from welded steel tube. This saves MUCH of the drilling and screws used in the construction of the wooden type.

I will post a photo of mine soon.


As mentioned previously, here is a photo of the mobile base I made. There is another showing the adjustable height axle.

Regards

Peter

[MrFixIt]

Hi

Sorry about the size of the last photo. I meant to post a 16kb image NOT the 100k version :-)

Anyway here is a photo of the adjuastbale axle for the pneumatic tyred wheels.

Got the wheels at Bunnings. There was a hand trolly out the back with the "wheel rod" missing. (I guess that is a lady's description ). So they got rid of the wheels and I paid $5.00 each - $10.00 for two. That was fine by me, though they are "cheap" wheels.

Regards

Peter

[Sea Moose]

I like the steel trolley base, very sturdy. But i think that the timber one, with the right finish will be just as good but will look a million times better :P I think i am biased though this being a wood working site :p

Seamoose

[abraxas365]

Fabulous mobile base. I disagree that wood looks better though. A machine like a table saw with a iron table and steel pedestal looks more balanced when it's on a metal base. Metal has a place in a wood shop.

[MrFixIt]

Hi

Thanks for the comment about my base/dolly.

The advantage (at least as I see it) with metal is that it can be more readily adapted to fit size/shape/design as it is relatively easy to weld on a bracket etc.

Comparing this to wood manufacture generally means having to use heavier/larger timber to fit other brackets etc. It alsio (usually) means more screws/bolts/fasteners or some sort. (yes, welding means more rods <vbg>).

Another advantage (at least to me) is that the trolly is usually smaller. If you compare the "surrounding" size of the wooden trolly and the "surrounding" size of my metal trolly there is a substantial space saving. Sometimes this can be important when you need to be careful with foot placement when using the machine.

Anyway the biggest advantage is in manufacture :-) Cut to length, weld, drill hole, mount wheel(s), paint (colour coordinated with machine tool).

BTW the trolly base I made for my bandsaw took advantage of a similar idea I saw on another home made trolly. The original idea used "U" shaped steel channel and mounted the wheels within the channel. This looked great and was very effective at minimising the additional height of the tool.

I created a similar design by using 25x50 RHS (rectangular hollow section) tube. I cut out a small section of one edge of the tube and inserted a small nylon/plastic castor drilled the axle hole through the face/side of the RHS and have the base only appox 6mm off the floor. This height plus the 5mm thickness of the angle iron used to support the bandsaw feet means that the base increases the operational hight of the bandsaw by ONLY 11mm.

The bandsaw sits on the two wheels and two adjustable feet. The swivel castors (opposite the internally mounted wheels) are mounted on a hinged piece of tube that swings down to allow tool movement and swings up again (out of the way) allowing the feet to rest on the floor.

I could take some photo's if there is a need to see it.

Kind regards

Peter
Regards

Peter

[Sea Moose]

Well okies maybe steel is more sturdy than timber for making brackets. Question though. I am 19, and i have only ever been taught to work with timber. I am thinking about buying a small bandsaw from bunnings, and making a base for it. How would one get into small time welding? Like what do you need and stuff? i dont mean working with stainless steel or really hard stuff but basic aluminium. As you can prolly tell i have not a clue when it comes to welding. Where/how is the best place to learn??

i have set up my bench !!! I live with my parents still and my dads bench has so much crap on it, i got sick of cleaning it every time i wanted to do some wood work. Plus he worked with epoxy so the surface is fkd.... I have large piece of mdf on two tressels. I am going to paint the top white so i can keep it clean. (I plan on brewing beer)

Well thanks guys and dont forget to let me know about welding.

[Dean]

Simmo,

I'm in the same boat, looking to start practicing welding :)
You can get yourself setup with a basic kit for just over $100

ARC Welders are cheapest. A basic GMC model is $99 at present. Good to practice with I guess to see if you like it and can then upgrade to a better machine later on. It comes with a safety welding face mask and some welding rods to use.

You then need some welding gloves. Bunnies sell some for around $9, but I saw a pair at Supercheap Auto for the same price and they look much better and feel more heavy duty.

Also need a good apron to protect yourself from those hot sparks and tiny bits of metal flying around.

Next, check out the websites category int his forum. i posted a link to a great site that has excellent information and tutorials on basic welding.

I haven't you bought any gear, but I'm probably going to go with the GMC setup to begin with as I'd probably only use it once in a blue moon, but would be a handy skill to have if and when the time comes to use it :)

[davo453]

Also don't wear elastic sided boots when welding, they trap falling molten metal particles like a dream. That has had me hopping around the shed on many occasion "I’ll just weld up this broken shelf" forgetting I’m wearing shorts (another no no) and Blundstones "AAAARRRGGGH" result burn hole in sock and another in me foot :rolleyes:

Dave

[MrFixIt]

Hi

Originally posted by Sea Moose
Well okies maybe steel is more sturdy than timber for making brackets. Question though. I am 19, and i have only ever been taught to work with timber. I am thinking about buying a small bandsaw from bunnings, and making a base for it. How would one get into small time welding? Like what do you need and stuff? i dont mean working with stainless steel or really hard stuff but basic aluminium. As you can prolly tell i have not a clue when it comes to welding. Where/how is the best place to learn??

Look around before buying your bandsaw from Bunnings. Check out other "professional" tool shops. You can probably obtain a better bandsaw that way.

As far as welding is concerned it's not too hard to learn. Basic welding is fairly straight forward, at least to make metal things stick together :-)

When you need to depend on it for structural strength ie boilers, cranes etc etc, then you need to learn much much more.

There are night school classes that teach basic (and maybe advanced) welding. This would be a good place to start.

As far as welding stainless steel and/or aluminium, this is a little more specialised. You need special equipment and usually some form of inert gas to create good welds. Gasless welding can be done on some materials as the welding wire is designed for some of these materials.

For basic needs a stick welder is ok. Though you may find that it can be (sometimes) a little difficult welding thin wall tube with a stick welder. A MIG welder is probably better for thin material.

I am sure thoiugh that a GOOD welder can weld almost anything with limited equipment.

Anyway give it a try.

I do not profess to be a quality welder. I learned many years ago during my apprenticeship. My welds stick, but I would not risk my life on them :-)

Kind regards

Peter

[Sea Moose]

Thanks for the info

i will check out trade tools or somewhere like that. Where do you recommend? Cheers about the info about the welding i will do some reading first. i love working with timber. i want to use the band saw to cut 3mm strips and make curves. Just to experiment i have an idea for another project..... :D

[MrFixIt]

Hi

Originally posted by Sea Moose
Thanks for the info
i will check out trade tools or somewhere like that. Where do you recommend?

That depends on where you live, your woodforum location of "AUS" is a BIG place :-)

I'm in WA and could recommend Carbatec, Timbecon, Powertool and Machinery Sales or Alltools.

Check out the net or the yellow pages for tool suppliers.

Regards

Peter

[andreg]

Also don't wear elastic sided boots when welding, they trap falling molten metal particles like a dream. That has had me hopping around the shed on many occasion "I’ll just weld up this broken shelf" forgetting I’m wearing shorts (another no no) and Blundstones "AAAARRRGGGH" result burn hole in sock and another in me foot
One great way yo prevent this is get a pair of gaiters. They are a tightly elasticised garment which has elastic at the top and none at the bottom. It covers your workboots extending from about 4-5 inches above your ankles to below your ankles. They fit very snuggly and prevent all and sundry from getting in to your boots. The pair I have are made from the same material as Dryzabone and cost about $20. I use them in the garden when mowing, ripping wood and any other activity that could potentially deposit crap down my boots. You could probably pick up a pair of military grade ones from an army disposal store probably cheaper and stronger.
Keep safe.:cool:

[MrFixIt]

Some more pictures of my TS mobile base

Hi

Just a quick post to let you know I have updated my home page. A rare event . The update shows images of some of my mobile base for my recently aquired TS

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will help in any way I can.

Go here

http://www.multiline.com.au/~psanders/Woodwork/woodfram.htm


and click on Mobile base

or downlights if that interests you

Kind regards

Peter

[abraxas365]

Thanks Peter,

You're photos are great inspiration. Now I'm thinking, 'I can do that."

I'm doing finishing touches (electrical) on my new shop area and these plans just seem so right for my application. (small shop)

Wally, eh

[MrFixIt]

Originally posted by abraxas365
Thanks Peter,
You're photos are great inspiration.
Hi Wally
Thanks for the compliment.

Now I'm thinking, 'I can do that."
I'm sure you can :D


I'm doing finishing touches (electrical) on my new shop area and these plans just seem so right for my application. (small shop)

In case it helps you (and you did not yet see it in the specific clamp post) you may want to make clamps like these, I made them when I was welding the toolbase and needed to clamp the tube for welding.

go here

http://www.multiline.com.au/~psanders/Woodwork/woodfram.htm

and click on QDT Clamp

Regards

Peter