My hobby shop...

[macona]

Here are some pics of my shop. Most everything was acquired in the last year to year and a half. I have actually very little out of pocket capital in this equipment. A most of the big stuff was a matter of finding some who had what I wanted and finding something for them that they wanted and that did not cost me much!

Other things were found through ebay and craigslist. Some required travel like the lathe. I drove with a friend from Portland to LA to get it. 2000 miles round trip. When you want something you have to be prepared to do whats necessary to get it. I WANTED THIS LATHE!

Spent this weekend building a 4th axis for my CNC mill. So things are a bit of a mess.

Pics didnt come out all that great. Will take more when its light out and I need to scrounge up a tripod.

Welding Stuff:

Mill corner:

Lathe Area:

Bench and Gantry Crane:

Tooling and grinders:

Looking in from garage door:

 

[macona]

Some more detailed pics:

Miller XMT304 with S54E feeder, Smith Gas proportioner, Optima Pulsing Pendant, Home made spoolgun. Does MIG, DC Tig, Pulsed Mig, Air Arc. Up to 400A out.

Thermal Arc 300GTSW AC/DC tig machine (Purple thing on shelf). 300 amp tig machine with water cooler and braided rubber hoses. Great machine when they work. Below is Thermal Dynamics Stack Pak II plasma cutter. Two modules installed for 70 amps out. Has water cooler for machine torch if I ever get room to build a plasma table.

Where I keep my tooling:

Monarch 10EE lathe and tooling hanging on console of CNC mill.

Powerex Oilless scroll Air Compressor 15CFM at 90PSI.

Supermax YCM-16VS Mill. Converted to CNC by Tetronix for use in their Model Shop. Taken out of service around 2000. A friend bought it from them a couple years later. Had issues so I traded stuff for it. Built a new control and a bunch of other stuff.

 

[wareagle]

Very nice! We're in the same boat of having rescued equipment. :lol:

How do you like your low bay lights? Just wandering if they are very noisey in the tight quarters. A good friend of mine has four he wants to put in his garage, but doesn't want to go through all of the trouble to do it if they are going to buzz alot.

 

[Cedge]

Macona....
I still admire that monarch. Nice work on restoring it. It looks like your next trade is going to have to be for a bit of shop extension...LOL. It' doesn't matter how much room one has initally, we do tend to fill it up beyond anything we ever imagined when we began. Nice assemblage of equipment you have there. Tis the envy of many for sure.

Steve

 

[macona]

The lights are 175w metal halide. Got them when I used to work lighting. Work pretty well. If I had some more HO fixtures I would put that up instead. Really would like another F54T5 fixture like I put over my pool table.

Cedge, I was hoping to get a small surface grinder but after I got that Tsugami Tool Grinder it took up the spot where I hoped to put a grinder.

Oh well...

The Monarch continues to amaze me every time I use it. Easily take off .2" off a 1" shaft in one pass yet will take tenths off just as easily. Even with carbide and no tailstock support I get about .0002 taper in about 3 inches. Not bad for a 65 year old machine!

 

[shred]

Do you use the T&C grinder much? I acquired one a while back, but haven't done much useful with it besides a few experimental hex-cutters. Someday I'll sit down and figure out what all it can do.

 

[macona]

Havnt used it much. Not at all really. Then again really didnt pay anything for it.

Came out of Epson. They had it shipped over from Japan for use in one of their printer manufacturing facilities near where I live. They closed that plant down and one of the guys that worked there saved it from the trash. Its got a new CBN wheel, used diamond, collets from .5mm to 12 in .5mm steps.

Came with 4 grinding spindles and the work spindle. All had just been rebuilt by a spindle shop just before they decided to get rid of it.

Unfortunately the collets are all in metric and they are an odd collet I have not been able to ID. Kind of like a 3C but has Buttress threads.

Eventually it ought to come in handy though. I do need to make up some carbide engraving bits in the next couple days so I will give it a whack.

Do you have a Tsugami?

 

[cfellows]

Boy, Do I have serious Lathe envy! I love those Monarchs.

Chuck

 

[rake60]

Very Impressive Toy Room!
Years back. I worked for commercial shops that were not as well
equipped as your home shop.
Thanks for posting the pictures.

Rick

 

[shred]

Eventually it ought to come in handy though. I do need to make up some carbide engraving bits in the next couple days so I will give it a whack.

Do you have a Tsugami?

I have an Elite AR5e (John will get a chuckle out of that). Likewise if it weren't cheap, but for the moving, I wouldn't have it. I use it as a fancy grinder every now and then. Unfortunately the manual was mouse-eaten in large part and the only place selling another wants more than I paid for the machine.

 

[macona]

Well, from the pics I found on the web of other machines the same model as yours it ought to be much more versatile than mine. Mine is limited to cutting straight flute design cutters and reamers. It was called a pin grinder when it was at Epson as they used it for grinding steps in pins and the like.

 

[steamer]

Macona,

Check the dimensions on the collet, Is the body 20mm in diameter?

I would bet they're Schaublin W20. Actually designed by Waltham Lathe and later copied by Schaublin.

Do and ebay search and you will see there are a few sources of W20 used and about 1 new.

Dave Sobel used to sell them used for $4-$8.

Dave