Welding Shop Layout

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Some time ago I requested information on setting up a corner in my shop for welding.  Well, I have made progress on the shop including adding additional wiring, installing an exhaust fan and building a welding bench.I installed a 3/4 HP Dayton tubeaxial fan above the bench.  I hooked it up with a 3-phase motor and a variable speed drive.  I cushioned the mounting and added a hood and a shutter system.The welding bench is set up on 4 large casters that I had around.  It is a 4 x 6 x 1/4"tube frame in the shape of an H.  Vertical framing uses 2 1/2" x 3" x 1/8" tubing that I had around the shop.  The shelf is 1/8" plate steel and the top is 3/8" plate steel.  The projection on the left is removable.  I have not set up the right side yet as I haven't figured out whether to do a vise or grinder station.  Anyway, thanks for all the tips and advice on building my project.  I still have a lot to do on the adding torch holders, clamp holders and accessories.  I might decide to add some cabinet doors as well.  I am also working on some crank down feet to stabilize the unit.  It rolls too easily on the big casters. Jim Attached Images
Reply:Nice setup.  Way too clean for me.  DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Probably won't stay that way too long but it was built out of a mixture of tubing I had around that were black, orange, blue, and yellow.  It really looked bad until I painted it.Jim
Reply:that is a pretty sweet set-up.  looks like you could perform surgery in your shop.
Reply:I really like it.  It just doesn't look like a welding shop.Perhaps you could make an over center thing for supports to keep it from rolling around.  and one under the anvil.  Someday I will have an anvil.   DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:The anvil is just sitting there temporarily.  It was my dad's and I have to build a base of wood (that's what it was on) or metal or combination of both.Something that had an over center throw would work.  I have a couple of leg levelers that have an over center throw but they only give an inch or so clearance so I can either live with that or build something that swings up out of the way.  Nothing is ever very simple, is it.  The Tig and its water cooler sitting underneath may be in need of some protection.  I also want to do some kind of a firebrick setup for brazing.  Jim
Reply:what do you serve in there.....refreshments and hotdogs?? way too clean for meGuy_48Welding is an art......Millermatic 252Lincoln SP175PlusLincoln 225 AC/DC
Reply:Come on guys, give me a break.  This is a new shop ready for projects.  Might  as well start out looking nice.  By the way this is really the second project.  My first was the paint booth where I painted these.  We used to manufacture storm windows.  When we set things up we painted everything.  Had a big impact on employees, quality too.  Won't stay that nice forever.  Soon it will get that weathered, used, and comfortable look.Next project is steel racks and setting up a lathe and mill.Jim
Reply:That's one very nice shop!Nice equipment too! Keep posting the progress pics.Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:Is that a variable frequency speed drive on the ex fan?  Me!
Reply:A clean shop is a happy shop. Plus you can find what your looking for a lot quicker when everything has its place. I lean a little on the tidy side myself. But has I'm sure you know it doesn't take long to make it look like ****. What's the panel with all the LED's for? By the way nice set-up.
Reply:It is a variable drive.  I have one on the 3 phase welding fan and one on my paint booth.  The drive works great for varying rpm and hence fan capacity.  You can cut down rpms a bit and cut noise a lot without having a great effect on the cfm.Jim
Reply:Very Nice Setuppro-level dumpster diver                                     Hobart 125EZ
Reply:Originally Posted by Jim Marshall  ...  It rolls too easily on the big casters. Jim
Reply:Nice idea.  I like the bright color painting.  Probably keeps them from being misplaced.  If I get lazy I can probably whip them up on my table saw out of plywood, too.  Should go really fast and I can put a taper on the blocks really easily.Thanks,Jim
Reply:Where is the fridge? nice shop. how do you keep it clean?
Reply:Originally Posted by ramblerx15Check this thread out, to keep it from rolling out the door!http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...t=project+stop
Reply:Originally Posted by Jim MarshallCome on guys, give me a break.  This is a new shop ready for projects.  Might  as well start out looking nice.  Jim
Reply:You have to realize that it is basically unused and so it does come with some future resolutions.  I found in that past that if I didn't really set things up nicely to start they tended to get cluttered up and dirty really quickly.  This time I decided to do things right and I have spent a lot of time building shelves and cabinets for places to keep things.I painted the walls with oil base enamel to try to keep it clean.  I also built a paint booth earlier and found a pealable clear paint for thewalls and ceiling.  You can even spray it over lighting.  It is funny stuff because I had to be careful removing masking tape from the edges to keep it from pulling the paint.  As the thing gets painted and ugly you just peal the clear surface off and apply some more.  I put it on with an airless sprayer and so far it has worked out really well.  I guess too many times in the past I have just pushed too hard to get things done and paid a price for it.  My dad had a shop in his business that he always kept clean even though we worked on machinery that was dirty.  When we really got crappy stuff we tried to work on it outside.  Even though I thought he was a pain at times I learned a lot from him.  We always kept our equipment and our shop in good shape.  I bought an ironworker from a guy who was building trailers for a living.  His shop was a pigpen that made you depressed just looking at it.  I can see why he quit.  The Scotchman Ironworker was it really bad shape.  I basically took everything apart and reworked the machine.  It was the most patched up thing you could imagine.  It is about finished an looking like new now.  I guess I would say that it is never easy to keep a shop clean.  Good lighting and good organization help a lot.  Also, I have to learn more about throwing things out.  Jim
Reply:If eventually you want a stock rack..Make sure all your saws and cutting methods are near by..Nothing like lugging metal from one end of the shop to the other just to cut 1 piece off..Keep all the grinding/sanding machines in one area..Keeps the mess down..Same with all machinery..Try to keep all the same stuff near the same stuff..Lathes/Bridgeports/Etc..Air hoses should come from "up high" so you dont run them over all the time with whatever your moving..Torches..No junk in corners to catch a stray spark..We all know what happens next if it does..A little common sence goes a long way.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Thanks for the info.I have a stock rack and it is actually fairly close.  It is one I built a long time ago out of 1" x 3" x 1/8" rectangular tubing and it is locked into the wall behind it will lag bolts.  I painted it at the time and it still looks pretty good.The idea of keeping your sanding and grinding equipment is also a good one.  These things seem to take up a lot of room and so I have one of them mounted on a movable base.  I definitely think that I am going to paint it a gray color in back.I haven't found a place for my lathe and Bridgeport yet but you are right about putting them together.I have to run a copper line from my compressor so that I can keep the air lines out of the way.Thanks for the tips.Jim
Reply:Is this better?[/IMG]ench.jpg[/IMG]Thanks,Jim
Reply:Jim, Nice, clean shop.  And the welding table certainly has a beefy frame.  I was going to bust you on the thin top plate, until I re-read your description and saw it is 3/8" plate.But I will have to yell at you for putting the table and welding area in front of the electrical panels.    That is a safety and code violation.  No equipment in front of an electrical panel.  30 inches side-to-side of the panel and 36 inches out from the wall (for 240V or lower panels, higher voltages get bigger distances) and 78 inches high is a "Nothing Zone".  Which means NOTHING gets put in that space, no tables, no carts, no machines, nothing.  Mark a rectangle on the floor in front of the electrical panel 30"x36", NOTHING is allowed in that rectangle.  With the table there, you are looking at NEC, fire, and/or OSHA violations.  Some of those violation can carry annoyingly expensive fines for the company.You'll have to put that nice welding table someplace else or chop it down in size to be clear of the access-zone by the electrical panels.
Reply:You are right.  I can rotate the table 90 degrees and push it back in.  That way it should give enough clearance.Jim
Reply:Good Looking Shop!!!Stunning shop Jim.  I have to agree on the neatness.  With the limited time I have to maintain our cars in my garage, more time spent "searching" really takes away from time spent wrenching.
Reply:Really nice.. but why the  floor tile..? just kidding " ..
Reply:It has been a while since I did much on my shop.  This is a little project I did modifying my single grinder stand to take two plus a vise.I have several other projects in the offing and I will post them as I finish.Jimpg
Reply:you keep it clean by picking up after your self i know a hard concept for some but actually its easy it also is more productive because you dont have to look for 30 min to find a tool in the pig sty. " People understand todays dirt but not yesterdays" you dont have to get filthy dirty to be a manLincoln Pro Core 125Lincolin sp 100Miller Big 40Lincoln Idealarc SP250miller matic 212http://www.facebook.com/hdwelding?sk=wallwww.hdweldingbeds.com
Reply:This is a  little dirtier than usual.  I have been mounting my compressor out of the way, like up, up and away.  Man those things take up a lot of space, are top heavy and everything else.  This is the way it goes.  Day one, weld brackets to support compressor--a couple of hours.  Day two, mount compressor on 1 1/8 plywood.  Not happy with it.  Take old shock absorber rubber mountings.  Turn spacers on lathe to make it work.  Day three--want to see some real progress, build an anvil stand of wood, tie it with metal straps, aha.  Day four back to wiring the compressor with conduit, fused switchbox, set up filters, regulators, make special brackets.  Upcoming--connect up to copper air system.  Install automatic tank water drain.  Maybe I should have left the damned compressor down on the floor.  Like it now, it is out of the way. Now, here is a project. Look very closely to see how this guy was using it. It had no switches, you just plugged it in.  This poor thing was really abused by a guy who built trailers.  His shop looked about the same.  Fortunately for us all he went into real estate after that.  Pix of before and after (I even got decals for it).  Lots of hours went into it.  I even painted it with their two part paint and was I surprised to find it was a wrinkle finish.  It came out fine, but it was the first wrinkle finish I have ever done. I had bed liner sprayed on the lower part where it really gets beat up from metal dropping.By the way, in the background on the second picture is the compressor I moved up and away. It is now about eight feet off the ground in a corner, totally out of the way. I have to do some more organizing of my tools.  I saw a picture of a project where the fellow mounted some 20 gauge metal on the side of his rolling cabinet, hanging his most used tools there.  I also did one years ago that was built like pages in a book.  It was made of square tubing (the pages).  The middle one stayed stationary and the two outside ones pivoted on plastic bearings top and bottom.  I even put shock absorbers on them so they wouldn't clang together. Unfortunately I left it when I sold my business a few years ago.Have you ever hopped from one project to another just to keep going when you run out of things.  Multi-tasking, I guess they call it.
Reply:Wow! I'm jealous.HobbyistSS/Aluminum cartATD 130 MIGEverlast 225 TIGSteel cartEverlast PP50 plasma cutterHarbor Freight 130 TIG/90 ArcHarbor Freight 100 Flux coreOxy/Acet
Reply:Good job Jim, looks great.Working on cars and bikes is my hobby, learning to weld the pieces together is my quest.