Rod's Aussie Shed

[rodw]

Hi guys I thought I better post up a picture of my shop. well we don't call it a shop in Australia, It has to be a shed. Mine is tiny weighing in at 2.4m x 4.8m. For those who still work in feet, I will leave it to you to multiply those numbers x 3.28 to work it out in feet!

It is a bit of a work in progress as I still have to add the roof to the materials rack I put down the side

Note the slab for the compressor I will put there one day You can see that I have already made provision to secure the roofing sheets to the fence. I built this shed myself from a Stratco kit and added a heap of shelves and benches at the time!

Anyway, enough of the boring stuff, come inside my mini shop (err shed)!

Up one end I have my welding station, band saw and drill press.

You will note the welding table is on (noisy) steel wheels so I can pull it out and away from the 200 amp MIG welder. You probably can't see it but on the back side of the table there is a vice mounted on a 50x50mm piece of SHS that I can remove if it gets in the way (eg. Like a tow bar with a 2" receiver). I had the top, corner braces and castor mounting plates laser cut so I did not have to buy a full sheet of steel!

I just moved the drill press to its current location as it was on the other side of the door beside my lathe but I am trying to reorganise my shop a bit to make way for some more room. The long term plan is to replace the drill press with a Seig X3 mill which is about the same size as the drill press. Behind the drill press is a small 6 tonne hydraulic press. My camping gear lives on the top shelf. The bandsaw can be pulled out to cut long stuff passed through the door way.

Anyway, on the other side of the door is my lathe. It is the same as the Smithy Midas 1220 3-in-1. I have tricked it out by adding a 4 jaw chuck, a quick change tool post and a 4" milling vice. There is a hardwood workbench up the end under the window.

On the other side is my grinding station and I keep a couple of 4" angle grinders behind the bench grinder.

For Gus's benefit the grey tool beside the grinder is a commercial diamond hone knife sharpener I bought at an auction brand new years ago for $26. What a bargain! It was worth 12 times that! It takes about 8-10 strokes to keep all my knives razor sharp!

The red tool chest is a new addition to let me put 3 layers of tools on my ever shrinking bench tops!

Anyway, the main reason I moved the drill press is that I am starting to think I should upgrade my lathe and eventually use a separate mill.

My local "candy store" (as Gus calls it) has some specials on at the moment and I think I can fit this one in if the budget allows
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L682

but if the wallet won't stretch, maybe I will make do with this one
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L141
which has roughly the same footprint. Decisions! Decisions! ANy help appreciated.

Any Aussies, lurking and looking for a used lathe, this one will be up for sale on eBay if I upgrade. I have just recently fitted all new spindle bearings and seals to it.

 

[gus]

Hi Rod,
Your BandSaw,Diamond Knive Hone Machine,lathe,mill and welding trnasformer and a brand new shed makes me jealous.I think I'ii move over to Thornleigh,Sydney and buy the house(with a two car garage) next to big sister's house.Just imagine how many machine tools I could squeeze in.

Just mounted my new Makita Portable BandSaw on a cheap and nasty DIY table. See my post.

Saw a Rotary Knife Honing Machine at TokyuHands,Tokyo and it is not cheap.You got a bargain there.
The "Boss" wants her kitchen knives done up.

 

[canadianhorsepower]

hey Nice "shed" I have a craftex co89 (same as your L141) for sale it's excellent equipement.
It's funny cause I just replaceit with an L682 the main reason the l682 have to rod for different
thread and feed rate

cheers

 

[rodw]

Hi Rod,.
The "Boss" wants her kitchen knives done up.

But every time I sharpen the kitchen knives, my boss cuts her finger!

The electric hone is still the same sharpening process. Rub till edge feathers and then hone it off with the second plastic hone wheel. The first sharpen takes a while to get the angles right, but after that it is easy. You can keep it sharp just by rubbing on the plastic wheels, If you use a steel though, it wrecks the angles and you need to use the diamond wheel.

This is the one I have geez, $450 on Amazon!
http://www.chefschoice.com/page2d_m2000.html

The welder was another bargain which my bolt shop sold me and the offer was too good to refuse even if it weighs 90 kg!

 

[rodw]

hey Nice "shed" I have a craftex co89 (same as your L141) for sale it's excellent equipement.
It's funny cause I just replaceit with an L682 the main reason the l682 have to rod for different
thread and feed rate

cheers

Luc, good feedback thanks, the cheaper one is probably all I need, but the smaller one optioned up is much the same price, so I was hoping to find the extra $500.

 

[rcfreak177]

G'day Rod.

nice shed you have there mate.

Great to see the camping gear stash'd up on the top shelf. Seig X3 machines go well, great bang for you'r buck.

I have had a super X3 for a few years and has never let me down yet. (Also from Hare and Forbes)

Do you have any projects on the go at the moment?

Baz. Thm:

 

[metalmad]

Hi Rod
Looks a nice cozy little hidy hole buddy complete with Home brew yet LOL
Nice one!
Pete

 

[rodw]

G'day Rod.

nice shed you have there mate.

Great to see the camping gear stash'd up on the top shelf. Seig X3 machines go well, great bang for you'r buck.

I have had a super X3 for a few years and has never let me down yet. (Also from Hare and Forbes)

Do you have any projects on the go at the moment?

Baz. Thm:

Baz, not quite. Does painting the house over Christmas count?

The Oz tent does not get much use these days, as we moved up in the world

Somewhere near Winton a couple of years ago on the back road to Birdsville.

We try to get away once a year.

Overnighter at Parachilna Gorge, Flinders Ranges about 3,000 km from home.

I joined this forum because I found the Ez runner plans but needed to get a few other projects out of the way first. Before I got to it, one of the bearings in my lathe let go, so that was quite a project!

A guy in my street has the Super X3 set up for CNC and reckons it is not rigid enough and gets chatter on parts. But then again he has a big mill beside it!

Anyway, I have all of the material here to try my hand at the Runner and bought set of reamers for the job. I will get to it eventually once I have my paying jobs up to date.

Hi Rod
Looks a nice cozy little hidy hole buddy complete with Home brew yet LOL
Nice one!
Pete

Yes Pete, I should knock the dust off the homebrew, I have not used it for a while. I made a still about 10 years ago, sorry I don't have a good pic of it complete but here it is

The column is about 1100 mm long and filled with stainless steel pot scrubbers. It puts out 94% of the good stuff! Around 95% is the maximum you can get in theory without distilling in a vacuum.

Don't know if you know anything about these, but there is a coil of 1/4" pipe in the top section that you run cold water through to condense the vapour, (the pipes up the column are water inlet and outlet). A couple of needle valves regulate the mount that is fed back to the column and out to the bottle. You need to set it up to recover about 1 part in 4. You discard the first stuff (maybe 200 ml). The temp starts at 81 degrees C and rises to sit on 82 degrees during the run.

Before the temp gets to 84 degrees, you make the cut, but run it out and toss it in the pot on your next run.

Fractionating stills like this let the good stuff to condense on the way up, drip off the potscrubbers so it all gets distilled over an dover again for maximum purity. Purer it is, the less room for bad flavours.....

Maybe I should post it in the live steam forum do you think?

 

[metalmad]

ooooooooooh
I dooo like that Still
Pete

 

[rodw]

ooooooooooh
I dooo like that Still
Pete

Yes, it is a rewarding hobby. Just remember to water down before drinking!

Hmm, went to Hare and Forbes today to grab some countersink tools.

Ooops!!! Also came home with a stand for the AL320G (L141) lathe

The new lathe will follow when it comes into stock in a week or so.

It was the biggest I reckon I can fit in my shed and with 38mm spindle is definitely an upgrade from what I have. I figured the pick gears for threading I can live with because I have yet to cut a thread since I have had a lathe.

Once it is here my 3-in 1 will be up for sale to fund the purchase of a Seig X3. Probably during the Hare & Forbes March Sale. As my nice stand/cabinet has to go to make way for the new lathe (which is too big to fit on it), I will let some tooling go as a package so it will be a good starter pack for someone.

Sing out if you know someone that may be interested.

 

[Herbiev]

Rod have you asked Hare and Forbes what sort of trade in you would get?
That has got to be the classiest stil I ever set eyes upon. Well done

 

[rodw]

Rod have you asked Hare and Forbes what sort of trade in you would get?

I thought about it, but did not think it was worth chasing up. I figured I would do better on eBay. I would have asked if it had been one of their models though.

That has got to be the classiest stil I ever set eyes upon. Well done

Thanks Herbiev. I got a bit annoyed when I made it because I soldered one fitting on the wrong way and by the time I took it off and turned it round I got silver solder all over the top of it so it is functional, not pretty. You can see it on one of the photos. If I could work out how to clean it up, I might have polished and laquered it and then it would have been real classy! Maybe some members have some ideas on how to clean it up.

 

[rodw]

I finally got around to unpacking the stand for my new lathe on Sunday afternoon and found that one of the side cabinets had a bent/broken door. I took it back to Hare and Forbes this afternoon and they swapped it over for me. They said that I will probably have my new toy by the weekend which is good as it is a long weekend so it will be a good time to set it up. I also stopped at my bolt shop and grabbed some 75 mm x 12 mm bolts to make up some legs for the stand. I need 8 of them as there are 4 per cabinet.

It looks like these bolts are survivors of the January 2011 Brisbane floods as some were covered in a familiar grey silt. My bolt shop had over 2 metres of water though it and lost about $1m of stock. I have stuck by them even if sometimes they are a bit slow with their orders which I assume is because they are struggling financially without any insurance. I told them I thought they needed every customer they could get after this and I would stay by them and they really do look after me!

So I started off getting my trusty apprentice on the job cutting down some 50mm x 5mm bar into squares with a drop of cutting oil for good luck.

While I was stuffing around getting my camera and cleaning up the cut edges on the bench grinder, he kept wheezing away. I have found that one great advantage of a band saw is that you can get some other stuff done while "the apprentice" works away. (but you do need to keep an eye on it in case the blade jams and burns out the motor). I think I am going to have to call "my apprentice" Gus in honour of the happy fisherman! I will say however, there is one difference between my Gus and Gus the fisherman. You see my Gus has absolutely no initiative! I have to set up every cut for him and once he is done, he just turns off the tool and waits silently for me to get him going on the next cut. :wall::wall:

While I was at it, I also ground off the writing on the bolt head so they sat flat on the plate.

Then with my carefully calibrated eyeometer, I positioned each bolt in the centre of the plates

and spot welded them on

The idea is to use these as adjustable legs to level the stand on my sloping floor. The stand will be sandwiched between the two washers.

After consulting the paint store in my garden shed (which is so messy I keep it hidden from you guys), I hummed and haared about which paint to use, a lighter shade of blue used by Hare and Forbes or a discrete matt black. I decided to go with the black as the can was pretty full, so a squirt of undercoat

and the top coat and we are done!

Anway, I managed to get this far after work today but I am gunna be patient while the paint dries and fit these and assemble the stand tomorrow afternoon.

I started my eBay listing of my curent lathe tonight and at $26, after a couple of hours, it has to be a bargain!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/251217260147

I am glad it is off the mark and not sitting on the starting bid of 99 cents!

Anyway, very early days, I hope it sells well and the strategy of including the extras pays off (Particularly the collets) so I can fund the purchase of a Seig X3/SX3 mill as the lathe has pretty well cleaned out my slush fund!

Cheers guys, I will keep you up to date on this thread as my shed gets a makeover.

 

[rcfreak177]

Hmmm new lathe hey,

Bet you can't get to sleep at night thinking about it.

Good stuff mate, I looked at the same one some time ago, pretty solid machine.

Had a look at you'r Ebay listing for the lathe/mill, someone out there will be getting a good machine, looks great.

I reckon I could make a wicked CNC combo machine with that, fit an auto tool changer and Logitrol cnc kit. You would then be able to turn and mill all in the same setup.

:idea: Ok I will stop dreaming now.

Baz Thm:

 

[Herbiev]

Looking great Rod. One busy long weekend coming up.
Regarding the over-solder I find that a rotary sanding disc in the electric drill gives results

 

[rodw]

Hmmm new lathe hey,

Bet you can't get to sleep at night thinking about it.

Good stuff mate, I looked at the same one some time ago, pretty solid machine.

Had a look at you'r Ebay listing for the lathe/mill, someone out there will be getting a good machine, looks great.

I reckon I could make a wicked CNC combo machine with that, fit an auto tool changer and Logitrol cnc kit. You would then be able to turn and mill all in the same setup.

:idea: Ok I will stop dreaming now.

Baz Thm:

Baz, I hope it sells well. Its got up to $560 with a few days to go so it all looks good so far. You'd probably be better of with an HQ500 which have separate motors for lathe and Mill though

They are here in QLD http://wic043u.server-secure.com/vs4487_secure/dept.asp?id=154

Pretty sure this is the same as the Smithy Granite

I don't think I am ready to tackle a CNC project, but DRO's are on the cards. That's one of the reasons I decided to upgrade. It really would not have been the right machine to spend the money on.

Looking great Rod. One busy long weekend coming up.
Regarding the over-solder I find that a rotary sanding disc in the electric drill gives results

Yes, Herbie, I got the stand together yesterday afternoon and these look like they will do the job. Then I had to dirty my old lathe for rush job last night but it was a paying one so I guess I can live with that!

It was over 10 years ago I built the still so I probably won't clean it up, its the inside that counts

I thought a Dremel grinder might also be worth trying now I have one.

 

[rodw]

Well we better get back on topic!

It's Here!

And off the trailer

The rope is 10,000 kg dyneema winch rope that I had left over. I tried using a winch extension strap out of my 4WD but it did not work for me then I remembered the rope!

I had a bit of trouble balancing it and now realise I did not quite have the ropes where they should have been according to the manual at the headstock end but it is in one piece so far!

Just gotta slip the drip tray under it, bolt it down with a bit of sealant under it in case I set a coolant system up and clean it up in the morning.

Then, I have to go back and get the Seig Super X3 mill which would not fit on the trailer when I went to Hare and Forbes this afternoon.

The shed is at the other end of the house so there is still quite a task ahead of me yet, I will probably hire an engine crane once both tools are ready to be moved. Lucky it is a long weekend and I have Tuesday off as well!

I was pleasantly surprised that the lathe was not covered in waxy grease I was expecting, just a bit of oil so it will be pretty easy to clean up.

Now a question. Should I drain the headstock and replace the oil? It looks like the top of the headstock comes off to clean it out but is it necessary?

PS. I gotta say the 4 jaw chuck is huge compared to my existing 160mm one!

 

[rcfreak177]

G'day Rod.

Good to see, I am sure you will be busy, "SX3 as well", you won't know yourself with all this new gear.

The oil in the lathe should be good for a couple of months or so, I would change it then. I use 68 grade oil Shell Tellus or similar.

No need to remove the headstock cover, It will be clean as a whistle inside. Hare and Forbes reps go to China and deal direct with the manufacturer and don't take any crap from them, Hare and Forbes has a good reputation and put their name against all equipment they sell. They are a good mob I reckon.


May pay to keep an eye on the graduations on the lathe dials, I have the AL336 and they were wrong on the X axis, I would put a cut on for example 0.1 mm and the bloody thing would take 0.13 mm, had to use a dial on the cross slide until my DRO turned up (Sino 2 axis of Ebay $295,00 incl delivery and is shi* hot if you need one).

Edit: I just realised there is a mistake here, I actually paid $295.00+$120.00 shipping. My apologies if I mislead anybody and causing them to get over excited. :fan:

H and F offered to replace the dial but was not worth the hassle, the machine tool guy even came to my house to check out the problem under warranty.

Happy Machining mate, And Happy Australia day for tomorrow. *beer**beer**beer* X lots

Baz.

 

[rodw]

Thanks Baz, the info is much appreciated. Yes Australia Day will be busy on this side of the continent! Not happy that it has been raining all night so far and the machine is sitting in my open carport with rain blowing in! Anyway, I covered it in the plastic bag that was on it when i opened the box so it will be OK.

Worked out I have to take the back splash guard off to sling it properly. On the left hand side, One rope needs to be to the left of the headstock leg and the other to the right. Pictures In The manual are pretty poor.

Warnings in the manual are pretty good too! "Avert the forceful rays and lightning caused by disturbing illuminants of shadows". Any takers on the translation front?

 

[rodw]

Well,I we up at about 5:00 this morning (I wonder why) and started to get the lathe ready. I started with the compound and chucks and then tried to get the drip tray fitted so as not to make any noise so early in the morning. I followed the diagram in the manual when I lifted it and still had a of of trouble with the balance and I knocked a bit of paint off the drip tray. I eventually got it mounted and stuck down with Sikaflex. It was terribly unstable so I had to dtch my little feet I made

Before I really got going, I had a bit of a disaster, I saw all of this oil on the floor and found that somehow the sight glass (and drain plug) in the headstock had snapped off and I had dropped all of the oil in the sump.

I still can't work out how this happen0ed, I think it could have been faulty. Anyway, went off to H&F to grab the mill and asked for a spare but they only had them in stock in Sydney. The guy said they would air bag one to my door and then gave me a 5 litre drum of oil to make up for the 250 ml I spilt!

Anyway, I said to him there must be a Chinese guy laughing his guts out over people following his instructions. So he explained to me how they lift all of their lathes with a sling around the spindle behind the chuck and a strap through the bed! He said lift it then drop it down again which will balance it and then it will be perfectly balanced! So I asked him how to lift the Seig and he showed me on one on the floor and it worked perfectly!

I will be keen to try his lathe method

I was pretty despondent about the busted oil drain on the lathe but eventually after I shovelled of a thick layer of grease off the mill, I found that the table had a spare bung for the lathe (which I promptly borrowed to get my lathe going!)

This must be used for a coolant return outlet but I stole it and grabbed an O ring and it worked perfectly and that is why I know it holds about 250 ml. Maybe I will order one of these parts to replace the sight glass!

Seig definitely made up for the lack of grease on the lathe and it took a long time to clean it after I removed the back cover to get to the column.

.

Anyway by about 5:00 pm, I finally had run up both machines and they both run sweet!

ON the lathe, the tailstock, compound and cross slide are real sweet and silky smooth now but one of the 4 jaw chuck jaws is really tight, I think I might take it back as it is so tight that it squeaks and despite playing with it for an hour or so, I did not get it fixed! I want to be able to dial in the chuck with two keys and I don't think it will work very well as it is.

My ebay auction finished tonight and I got $1125.01 for the lathe which is exactly half what I paid for the miill (well $0.01 more than half actually). I think the strategy of including the ltooling paid off even if I have to send anoter $125 on collets. I paid $1k for the lathe a few years ago so I am happy with the result!

Tomorrow, the agenda is that I will take all of the packing cases to the dump while I have this trailer and bring home an engine crane from Kennard Hire and get these machines down to the other end of the house and hopefully into the shed.

I am still only a noob but I must say I am very impressed with the SX3. It is a high precision tool I think.

I checked the tool post and despite being sold as a 12 mm tool height, there is no way this is true as the holding screws almost miss thetool. Inserting a 16 mm tool which I borrowed is almost spot on to the tailstock.

Maybe I might even be able to build an engine soon!