Ten years ago when I decided to take up machining as a hobby, I partitioned off an eight foot x seven foot annex of my design office, hung a door on it, and placed my newly purchased lathe and mill and bandsaw in there and had tons of room. Each year the equipment and all it's peripherals have grown--and grown--and grown. The bandsaw was first to go--out to my main garage. Then I needed cupboards, and shelves, and cabinets. My recent purchase of expanding laps left me with a terrible problem. I had no room to store them anywhere.--But wait--What about the area above the top of the mill? It's free space. So, this morning I raised the head of the mill as high as it would go, then gave an inch of clearance, and made a bridge. Now my laps have a place to live. That top board on the bridge has a 5 degree slope towards the wall to keep things from vibrating off and falling on my head. I won't be putting anything heavy up there. My old head is bald as a cue ball, and shows all the knocks and dings too well.
