new knife shop ideas

A

AK Knives

Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
155
Gentalman, about a year ago my wife convinced me to move from our house where I had a 30X30 shop to our new house in town without a shop.:grumpy: I am going crazy not being able to grind out my knives, I have room to build a 16'x32' knife shop in my back yard. :)Before I start construction I thought I would pick your brains and ask if you have something about your shop that you really like or have something you wished you would have done diffirent. I have a sandblaster,several grinders, buffers, Mig wire feed welder,plasma cutter,drill press, a metal bandsaw, a wood bandsaw,etc... that I will be putting in my shop. Any ideas would be greatley appreciated.
 
All I have now is a lame drill press, But my favourite thing in the shop is a bench with a flat top and a good vise.
 
AK Knives said:
I thought I would pick your brains and ask if you have something about your shop that you really like or have something you wished you would have done diffirent.
Click to expand...


Wish I had:
Lots of light, windows and power outlets, epoxy on the floor

Have and love:
AC, beer fridge, 100 amps 240V and 3ph power
 
I made good use of one wall by mounting a very solid shelf to mount my drill press, 1 x 30 grinder and buffers, I really like having them close to the wall and out of the way.
 
Phone jack, insulation, tall ceiling, drain in the floor, sink
 
What I like about my shop...
Lots of 110 outlets! I have a 12' x 16' shop, but I have 34 outlets! I never have a problem finding a place to plug in.
Cable TV. I'm a big sports nut, and before I got the cable TV, big games used to keep me out of the shop. Not anymore.
Lot's of storage!

Wish that I had the following...
Refrigerator for beer.
A hot work room.
Clean room.
Small photo studio.

Ickie
 
If shop space is limited,,a sturdy table on wheels in the middle of the room is very useful.
Skip
 
I wish my shop wasnt my garage lol. I also wish I had a clean room and proper ventilation. As it is I use my respirator for everything leaving it on until I finish sweeping.

A beer fridge? I barely keep from grinding my fingers to stubs sober. Heck I just gashed open my palm when my grinder grabbed my blade and pulled it between my work steady and the belt lol. =P Only reason I am on the forums instead of in the shop hehe.

Dustin
 
Good ventilation/dust removal system
Good storage system for raw materials (shelves, cabinets, etc)
Good Lighting, especially over your equipment and work benches
Plenty of windows so you don't feel cooped up!
A "Clean" area for assembly and fine finish work.
A separate room for the air compressor so you don't have to listen to it running.
Music-radio/stereo ( I have XM radio)

Also:
Sweep up at the end of every day
Avoid clutter
 
Thanks for all the good ideas guys. If every thing goes good Ill post pictures of it the new shop in about 8 weeks.
 
A good sturdy workbench in the center of the shop with space all around is a good idea. A station for gluing up knives with everything in place is also a good idea. This is the one thing I don't have that I don't have, and one thing I really want.
Thank you,
Del
 
one more thing, have a place for everything, I could do lots of stuff in the combined time i spend looking for my chuck key.
 
Things I like about my machine shop in Ithaca:Good light! Heat, AC, Lots of outlets, both 110 and 220 volts, 200 amp supply, fridge, Metal Lathe, Drill press, Mig welder, work bench, small lab kiln, big pottery kiln as soon as I have time to wire it in, Garage style rollup door,CD player NO TV! ( I hate TV, it sucks your brain out and sucks you in when you walk by) air compressor, comfortable chair so my wife can read and keep me company while I work when she's there.
Things I don't like about it NO DUST EXTRACTION! No ventilator blower (yet) No seperate room for the noisy air compressor, not enough storage space, need a real sized milling machine. it's an hour away from where I live.

Things I like about my shop at home. It's where I live, my house. I will eventually make it good.
Things I don't like: Cramped basement, 100 amp supply to the whole house, dark, no ventilation, forging in the driveway only works when there's no snow or rain (Syracuse-You do the math) neighbor's house is 15 feet from my anvil and they have small children so no forging after 10 GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

-Page
 
Other things I like

Sears wall mounted shop vac, has a very long hose (20') and out of the way. Can easily be dismounted to move about.

Built my own drawers and cabnets to fit under work benches to make the most of storage space.

Worst aspect is poor tool storage on workbench, I can never get the pegs organized to where I like the placement of my hand tools.
 
Keith_H said:
one more thing, have a place for everything, I could do lots of stuff in the combined time i spend looking for my chuck key.
Click to expand...

Keith,
They make these little rubber thingies that grab onto the handle of a chuck key, and then can be attached to the base of your drill. Always there, always ready, never lost!

Ickie
 
AK
Couple things: Stove Vent hood above the Grinding/buffing area along with a dust collection system. Helps get the superfine airborne dust out of the shop.

Old Oven for tempering--drying wood whatever will be handy

Cover the ceiling with foil faced styrofoam sheets Available from local homecenter and cheap way to enhance the lighting.

Put your compressor and the dust collection motor outside in their own little soundproofed room
 
scottickes said:
Keith,
They make these little rubber thingies that grab onto the handle of a chuck key, and then can be attached to the base of your drill. Always there, always ready, never lost!

Ickie
Click to expand...

there is a little hole on where i stick it but it ends up on the drill table, then off it somewhere else when i drill the hole!
 
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