- Joined
- Jun 8, 2000
- Messages
- 3,140
OK, while I haven't been good at producing knives as yet, I thought you folks might like a peek into my favorite place. My shop is tiny, about 14'x14' and is a self contained room built out in out two car garage (which will never hold a car again).
It's been nearly two years in the making, but I think I've finally got everything I need (almost) and it's finally all in a position that I think will be workable for the long term. While tightly packed, all teh machine have enough clearance around tehm for safe operation.
While I haven't been very successful making knives so far, I have had a lot of fun making other stuff while the shop progressed. Hopefully now that the KMG is in place and set up, I can finally get around to making some blades as that is what has been the driving force that caused me to assemble this project (that and my obsession with tools).
The first shot is from the entry door. To the right you'll notice a glimpse of a floor to ceiling orange curtain. This is welding curtain which that resembles shower curtain material but is flame resistant. I chose this material to section off the grinding area to keep the grit, dist and abrasives from contaminating the rest of my tiny shop, but allow easy access. There's a nice 1 1/2 hp Delta dust collector donated by Steve Ryan that further helps with dust control in the grinding area (Thanks Steve!).
The shop is powered by a 75 amp sub panel dedicated to shop use which gives me 220v single phase at five positions. These locations power the compressor (not shown), the Bridgeport mill, the Hardinge lathe, the Yuasa surface grinder and my new Beaumont metalworks KMG belt grinder. There are also plenty of 110V outlets located all over the place.
Besides the dust collector in the grinding area, there is a 110CFM exhaust fan in the main shop area to remove fumes from epoxy and solvents. I have installed a 9000 BTU room air conditioner up in the soffit which helps a lot on those hot So Cal days. The soffit was necessary as I wanted to keep my garage door fully functional and the air conditione sits up over the lathe by the tail end of my garage door opener.
On the bench, I've mounted a small articulated flourscent light and an articulated illuminated magnifier which help me get a shadow free view of whatever I'm working on. The two white surfaces are covers for my granite surface plates. The one on the left is used for a general work surface and the cover is only there to protect the granite from further abuse when I beat on stuff as the plate is shop grade and somewhat beat up already. The one on the right is a smaller inspection grade surface plate flat to .00004 and the cover is there to protect it from any wear that would affect it's accuracy.
Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask any questions about the how or why I did something.
It's been nearly two years in the making, but I think I've finally got everything I need (almost) and it's finally all in a position that I think will be workable for the long term. While tightly packed, all teh machine have enough clearance around tehm for safe operation.
While I haven't been very successful making knives so far, I have had a lot of fun making other stuff while the shop progressed. Hopefully now that the KMG is in place and set up, I can finally get around to making some blades as that is what has been the driving force that caused me to assemble this project (that and my obsession with tools).
The first shot is from the entry door. To the right you'll notice a glimpse of a floor to ceiling orange curtain. This is welding curtain which that resembles shower curtain material but is flame resistant. I chose this material to section off the grinding area to keep the grit, dist and abrasives from contaminating the rest of my tiny shop, but allow easy access. There's a nice 1 1/2 hp Delta dust collector donated by Steve Ryan that further helps with dust control in the grinding area (Thanks Steve!).
The shop is powered by a 75 amp sub panel dedicated to shop use which gives me 220v single phase at five positions. These locations power the compressor (not shown), the Bridgeport mill, the Hardinge lathe, the Yuasa surface grinder and my new Beaumont metalworks KMG belt grinder. There are also plenty of 110V outlets located all over the place.
Besides the dust collector in the grinding area, there is a 110CFM exhaust fan in the main shop area to remove fumes from epoxy and solvents. I have installed a 9000 BTU room air conditioner up in the soffit which helps a lot on those hot So Cal days. The soffit was necessary as I wanted to keep my garage door fully functional and the air conditione sits up over the lathe by the tail end of my garage door opener.
On the bench, I've mounted a small articulated flourscent light and an articulated illuminated magnifier which help me get a shadow free view of whatever I'm working on. The two white surfaces are covers for my granite surface plates. The one on the left is used for a general work surface and the cover is only there to protect the granite from further abuse when I beat on stuff as the plate is shop grade and somewhat beat up already. The one on the right is a smaller inspection grade surface plate flat to .00004 and the cover is there to protect it from any wear that would affect it's accuracy.
Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask any questions about the how or why I did something.
