Shop Tools

[Hospital_Rocket]

Ok

Do most of you bolt them down or leave them loose so you can push them out of the way?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[rstaff3]

Mine are generally 'free range', except for my new drill press.

 

[Stones]

Grinder and vice are bolted. Everything else is free range (ie., bandsaw, drillpress, microwave) ...

 

[sandman]

Well, I have a different approach.

I have a few wheeled tables with multiple tools.

One with the bandsaw and jig saw.

One with the bench grinder and stationary belt sander.

A rollaround table with two lathes (big one and a mid sized).

The I can tuck them into a corner when not in use.

 

[BobH48]

Since 95% of my tools are hand tools and not power tools (I do have a power drill), I guess they are all "portable".

 

[Micromeister]

Most of my major tools are mobile. I wouldn't call them free range as I've built holddowns, Threaded inserts or specialty Dogs to fasten certain tools to a couple different places on both indoor and outdoor work benches. With the exception of my Scroll saw which is permanently mounted to a rolling file cabinet top with a built in blade and noise dampening carpet covered plywood mounting base all the other major power tools: Bandsaw, Lathes, Drill Press, Vertical 4"Belt and disc Sander, 1"x30" vertical belt finishing sander , 10" table saw, grinders and a variety of vices,
even the sheet metal shear and 40" break are mobile though on the heavy side I have one woodworking vice built into my main workbench. everything has to have a place but that space can be occupied by something else in very short order

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

Micro -

The shag carpet under the jigsaw is so 60's


Here is what I came up with:

Free range - Bandsay, Jigsaw, Belt Grinder, Dremen support

Bolted down - Drill Press (the top heavy configuaation of this was just a little uncomfortable for me).

 

[Micromeister]

Originally posted by Hospital_Rocket
Micro -

The shag carpet under the jigsaw is so 60's


Here is what I came up with:

Free range - Bandsay, Jigsaw, Belt Grinder, Dremen support

Bolted down - Drill Press (the top heavy configuaation of this was just a little uncomfortable for me).

Ah ha that's were it came from! leftover scraps from a 60's.. No early 70's living room renovation project. Amazing how relics of the past become a vital part of your like again. Believe it or not that scrap of rug and plywood reduces the tool noise and vibration by 70 precent. My ears are very thankful to whoever mentioned this little trick.

We're talking about mostly Bench top tools, which sort of excludes things like Electric Handdrills, Hammer drills, 4" and 6" angle grinders, jigsaws, circular saws, Chainsaws, Routers, Electic screwdirvers, Beltsander, Palm sanders, Detail sanders, Electric nibblers, Electric metal shears, Cutall, Electric nailing/staple guns, and of coarse Dremel products. All this stuff and there support bits, blades and accessories has to have a place where they can be gotten to quickly. It's a challange to keep track of stuff in a shop, especially a tiny one

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

And the end results.

Looking In

Looking Out

 

[Micromeister]

Lookin Good Al!
That's pretty much what I did also, the Wife doesn't use the Double launder sink, So I boarded it over as a higher work surface, then built a 30" x 8'-0" workbench running along the other side of the room. Built in storage drawers and cabinet beneath keep most of the small accessories Planes, files, Clamps and supplies handy and out of the way. I'd take a pic but the whole back room is stuffed with Christmas overflow at the moment. You might be able to see part of the work bench and tool wall in this Lathe shot, its tiny and cramped in the house which is way I build an 30" x 10'-0" outdoor work area to supplement the work space

 

[11bravo]

Anyone ever stick a thumb into a belt sander?
If not, I can save you the hassle and tell you,

DON'T!

I thought it might be fun last Tuesday night at a welding class and now have a nice V notch groove in the end of my thumb that goes back a bit into the nail.
It's really not too bad now that it has begun to heal, but for a day or two or three or four, MAN did it hurt to bump it.
It is actually a fairly small chasm, it it were on an arm or something it wouldn't be much at all; the end of the thumb however....

Greg

 

[sandman]

While making the tapered fins for my Sprint on the belt sander...I seemed to have lost my fingerprints!

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

Originally posted by 11Bravo
Anyone ever stick a thumb into a belt sander?
If not, I can save you the hassle and tell you,

DON'T!

Greg

Personally when I want to engage in a little self mutilation, I prefer a sheet metal shear or a high speed punch

I have ground the flesh off my paws with my belt grinder so many times that I now don leather gloves before I use it.

Micro - for a rocket maker, there are waaay too many hammers in that picture...

 

[Stymye]

that is a great start on shop tools HR.!.. you can do quite alot with those 2 items... do yourself a favor tho .. it's best not to wear gloves around any rotating tool such as lathe, drill press, grinder, sander... your better off skinning a knuckle.

 

[rabidsheeep]

i have this small bedside dresser that i fill with all my other tools to weigh it down to put my drill press on so it doens't shake too badly

i made a "lathe" to smooth out a body tube once with a drill, 2 plant hangers, and a LOT of duct tape... i actually spun the tube with a brissle-brush attachment for my drill which worked great

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

Originally posted by stymye
that is a great start on shop tools HR.!.. you can do quite alot with those 2 items... do yourself a favor tho .. it's best not to wear gloves around any rotating tool such as lathe, drill press, grinder, sander... your better off skinning a knuckle.

How about some nice chain mail gauntlets...

That belt sander is posessed and out to get me....

 

[Micromeister]

Originally posted by 11Bravo
Anyone ever stick a thumb into a belt sander?
If not, I can save you the hassle and tell you,

DON'T!

I thought it might be fun last Tuesday night at a welding class and now have a nice V notch groove in the end of my thumb that goes back a bit into the nail.
It's really not too bad now that it has begun to heal, but for a day or two or three or four, MAN did it hurt to bump it.
It is actually a fairly small chasm, it it were on an arm or something it wouldn't be much at all; the end of the thumb however....

Greg

No but I've ground down a knuckle or two on the vertical belt sander trimming centering rings...OHHH that smarts.

 

[cls]

since I have the same belt/disk sander as Micro, I won't bother posting a picture of it.

thinking about Sandman's fingerprints ... between using the belt to fix some fins and getting it covered in CA, my thumbprint at the DMV last week didn't come out at all. too bad for them!

back on topic: all my benchtop tools are loose. the only thing I would consider bolting down is the grinder. I haven't used it for a couple months, since I unbolted it from the table saw stand. I can't figure out a good place to bolt it down where it is usable but not in the way.

 

[Micromeister]

The 4" belt sander gets my knuckles, it the darn 1" belt sander the does in the fingernails, fingerprints and sometimes a little bit of a tip... The sure is a great help for stacks of centerng rings and plywood or basswood fins as you can get to those simple inside areas also

 

[11bravo]

The one that got me is a grinder body with a wheel on one end for putting a point on a TIG tungsten and a vertical 2" belt sander on the other end.
I was trying to remove mill scale from pieces that were 2"x2"x1/4" to weld up a sealed box.
I SHOULD have removed the scale before I cut them to size, but..... you know, hindsight, 20/20, all that.
Well, now I know.
Pieces 1-4 worked well. Piece 6 worked well for a right hander that couldn't use his right thumb. It was that piece #5 that caused the problem.

Greg

P.S. After 48 hours under water, there was no water in my box and I did get a 93 on it; strangely, some of the welds weren't too purdy.

 

[Micromeister]

Originally posted by rabidsheeep
i have this small bedside dresser that i fill with all my other tools to weigh it down to put my drill press on so it doens't shake too badly

i made a "lathe" to smooth out a body tube once with a drill, 2 plant hangers, and a LOT of duct tape... i actually spun the tube with a brissle-brush attachment for my drill which worked great

Rabid:
heres a gizmo made to sand and finish Bodytubes be they Blackshaft, layed up fibreglass or pre-primed or painted. Can't stand to throw good electric motors away