my messy workshop

[mulac321]

hi all, thought id show you some pictures of my workshop:

this is the shed in my parrents garden. i built it of my own design with wood from a local timber yard. it has a concrete floor and 3 opening double glazed windows i made from 5mm acrylic. there a 2 20w solar panels that generate electricity for the lighting. there is no power to the shed unless i run the extension cable out there so solar powered lights are usefull if I'm looking for something or just doing a quick job that doesn't need any power tools. the little solar panel above the door powered a led torch (Mk1 solar lighting)

this is my mill, i bought it new from amadeal and fitted it with a shumatech DRO. on the table is one of my ongoing projects; a 6 inch rotary table that i made an adapter for to fit a stepper motor. slowly i am programming a arduino to output the steps for dividing jogging or jumping a set amount of degrees. I'm making my own digital indexer partly for the challenge and partly because i believe division master is a ridiculous price on medw.

this is my lathe, i bought it second hand locally after spending months waiting for one to come back in stock at warco. also in the picture is my bandsaw that I'm sure you all have versions off, i bought this one and always wish id bought the one that allows vertical operation with a table.

sorry about the mess i have to much stuff in here and need a bigger shed. the workbenches were made by myself from the wood i bought to build the shed. the work surfaces are 18mm of mdf topped with 18mm of hardfaced plywood they could probably hold a tonne each! notice the broken vice i broke it the otherday trying to press a bearing into a hub for my car. it managed the other 3 bearings fine but the last one on the final push...

just a close up of my lathe to finish with, it was a fun day getting that in here! dreading the day that i move out.

Calum

 

[ShedBoy]

Wow you have alot in a little area.
Brock

 

[Blogwitch]

Calum,

In the house I have been in for the last 25 years, I started out in an even smaller shed than yours, an 8ft x 6ft, and it was luxury. In my previous house, I had the bottom end of a kitchen to work in, or outside in the open.

Then when the daughter moved out 20 odd years ago, I got into the empty bedroom, and so my machines started to grow, from a Myford ML2 to an Atlas 10F, plus a Rong Fu mill. Both lathes had to be rescued from boxes of scrap, so it was a gentle swapover when upgrading.

Then the grandson came to stay permanently, and I was thrown out into the garden again (we only have 2 bedrooms). So I decided to build a concrete sectional workshop, 20 x 9, and is what I am in now, and bulging at the seams with nowhere else to go.

Don't worry about your shop, it is normal for them to be crowded, cluttered and a very tight squeeze here in the UK. We don't seem to have the expansive areas that people in other countries do.

Eventually, you will outgrow it and you will have to find somewhere larger (if you are lucky). Until then, class yourself lucky, as there are people a lot worse off for space than you are.
You would be amazed at Stews workshop, about half the size of yours, and I can't stand up straight in it, and he produces some amazing stuff out of it.

Nice shop BTW.


John

 

[mulac321]

John I started with a mini lathe in a 6x8 shed. I had to spend 10 mins moving bits and pieces outside before I could start working. I remember when a friend joined me one day and there wasn't room to pass each other in the shed so we kept having to step outside to swap round. I imagine that I could never have a big enough shed, there are so many machines I would like to own I'd fill up any space and one day I'd like to have a nice display case filled with engines I've made. I am lucky to have a shed that I can fit this, much in, my shed is actually bigger then my bedroom funily enough.

Calum

 

[steamer]

That's not so bad Calum....Just a little "Rustic" ;D

I don't dare show you mine.....Bogs you have more room than I do.....


Dave

 

[blighty]

I remember when a friend joined me one day and there wasn't room to pass each other in the shed so we kept having to step outside to swap round

:big: :big: :big:

i did that in my first shed, in the end i would have to go out side so i could turn around just so i could get something on the other side..... well maybe not that bad, but you get the idea. i think that shed was 6 x 7 or 42square feet. the new shed is 241 square feet ;D ;D ok not that big compared to some other countries, but i think for a typical Brit shed at the bottom of the garden.... its a whopper..... and sometimes i can't move in this one ether. ??? ???


Calum......

you run that lot of a 13amp extension cable . at least your lights wont dip when you turn your mill on.

 

[Tin Falcon]

I have a 11ft x 14 ft shed attached to the back of my house for the main part of my shop . High ceiling on one side tapering to about 7 ft. besides the walkway though there is barely enough room to change ones mind.
Tin

 

[Ryker Carruthers]

When My grandpa started his 1/4 scale case traction engine he had the part of the basement as his shop, I belive about a 10x 20 room. then a few years after the engine was done he had to go down to a 7x 8 room and was like that for 30 years and he has since passed, then in 2006 my dad had a steel building put up in town I cant remember the exact dementions but I belive it is a 80 ft by 60 ft building but with only 14x 40 feet of machine shop area the rest is for storing our big "toys".
the machine shop is pretty roomy still but we dont have all our tools and whatnot in there yet.