Shop layout tips

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I am going to be making the transition from 100sqft at home to renting a 1,000 sqft shop with heavy power & 16' ceilings for my current hobby gone bad.My problem is that I'm terrible when it comes to shop work flow and wonder if you all have any tips or tricks on organization/layout since I'm starting with an empty shop.Tips on lighting/material storage/paint&concrete finishing/machine orientation are all welcome. (Pics are worth 1,000 words)It will be a machine/welding shop so how does that change your layout due to the machine tools needing to stay fairly clean? The majority of the machinery is normal sized except for the South Bend & Monarch. There will be larger machines at a later date that will have to be incorperated into the layout.Sent from my SPH-L710 using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Do yourself a favor and frame up a machine tool room or the grit from grinding, plasma cutting, etc. will play havoc with your machines.Lincoln PrecisionTig 275Miller 251Miller DialArc 250Bridgeport millHossfeld bender & diesLogan shaperJet 14 X 40 latheSouth Bend 9" 'C'Hypertherm 900Ellis 3000 band saw21"Royersford ExcelsiorTwo shops, still too many tools.
Reply:Good point, I have been thinking about that. The shop is about 40' long by 25' wide so I might put the partition about 10'-15' from the bay door in the front for the welding area.Sent from my GT-P3113 using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:1/4" sq. graph paper can be your best friend,Each sq. lets say = 2ft. Now measure what you want to put in there,every piece and cut that size out of some of the same paper, place and move everything around until it look like it will work for you. We moved a few times and this worked out well.
Reply:Is your shop a huge open rectangle? How many doors, type?  What size raw material do you handle, regularly.You will need 40' to handle 20' stock metal.What type work do you do?
Reply:The steel truck pulls in. Shortest easiest way to go from delivery truck to rack. Pay the tard and send him away.Shortest easiest to go from rack to cutting device.Overhead trolly or swinging arm(s) where needed.Shortest easiest to go to drill-punch-grind -fit-weld-grind again.Shortest distance to cleaning and primering..... DON'T paint ! Deliver-pickup ONLY in primer.Pending pickup-shipment area with turnaround for truck with trailer or service truck with SA=XX or a roof rack.This is when you begin considering a fork lift.You'll scatter the rest everywhere. Wheels are your friend. Wheels with brakes(or not) let you know if you're a cheapascz.It's great to be able to swarm a piece of heavy equipment with a ton of machinery and tools within 10 feet.Bubble gumTooth pixDuct tapeBlack glueGBMF hammerScrew gun --bad battery (see above)
Reply:It is just like a shoe box, 4 empty walls a floor and a roof.This is currently for my hobby but I'm planning on starting a side business doing little projects because I have almost all the machines & tools I need, and they are all paid for.Mostly going to focus on machine work but have had a couple people ask me to build some small tool bases and storage racks. I never use full length material (20'-24') and my new shop is attached to the shop I manage during the day which has a big bandsaw if needed to cut full bars from the steel truck. Will probably have a small cantilever material rack for 12' length stuff. Will not be doing any production and this is not really going to be a full blown business, only me and on weekends.Sent from my SPH-L710 using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Paint it gloss white. See your local shire in Williams industrial paint jobber. The have some reasonable paint the is pretty resistant to cutting and coolant mist.  Nothing helps craftsmanship more than being able to see what your doing.  I like a 4 bulb florescent fixture every 64-100 square feet.
Reply:If you think you might have customers, have a way to let them in the door - but keep them coralled in a small area with a desk where you can talk to them  but not let them in the shopBut that's not your main desk, you're not giving all your ordering and customer info away to whoever walks in the door while you're in the shop.
Reply:Originally Posted by 7A749Like Roy said, get your machine tools in an isolated place. Mine are always dirty because when you work out of a 20' X 22' garage, it's on top of itself. Everything I have is on wheels with the exception of my lathe and mill. When I had my building, I had my welding area in one corner of the shop & most everything else was inventory storage.Getting a small forklift would be a great idea if you can find something local without spending a fortune. You can move your stuff around then if need be, just park your machine tools in one place and leave them there. I would also try to plan it out so your bigger machinery & welding machinery is close to the main service if there's no drops. If you gotta foot the bill for running service to all your machinery, etc it can get expensive really fast. I was looking seriously at an old printing building before I ended up stupidly renting the shop I did. It needed a lot of work, but a key feature that interested me was that because they had a lot of heavy industrial printing equipment that ran on 460 three phase, there were literally dozens of power runs and drops, complete with fused shutoff points. It was plug an play for a welding shop, everything was already run and installed. Alas, it didn't happen and it's still vacant now. I sure would love to get in there but the income just isn't there to support it.I would prolly be living in it if I did pursue it.... ALONE!! I'm sure if you take your time & map it out well, you'll figure it out. Even using newspaper as floor covering to the dimensions of your machinery where you want it will give you a good visual before you move a thing. Great way to take up the space visually and give you an idea what space a machine will actually occupy.Good luck with it man
Reply:Sorry, silly autocorrect. Shirwin Williams paint jobberA ment the walls.  Gloss white reflects the ceiling lights and helps eliminate shadows.  It's also easier to cleanThe coolant and cutting oils necessary in a machine shop will bubble home store latex paint. A decent industrial enamel will to but it takes constant immersion such as on a machine. Epoxy paint is the most durable for hand rails and other places handless constantly and will with stand nearly any chemical but it's expensive.
Reply:I kind of figured you were saying Sherwin Williams.Had to turn off my auto correct because it refuses to recognize tool/welder/machinist and any other industrial words. Has no problem spelling facebook/twiter or anything like that, stupid phone!Sent from my SPH-L710 using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:The electrician met with the power company and they can supply 460/3ph to the building which is awesome compared to a home shop with 60A of 230/1ph.I still have to do some more layout but this is what I'm thinking,Single Phase 230v Breakers 100A-For when I pick up a 330A/BP (Hope 100A is enough)60A-XMT304 (If it stays on 1ph) & Longevity plasma cutter30A-Air compressor (If it has 1ph motor)30A-Metal shaper (5hp max)20A-South Bend lathe on VFD drive20A-Small welder or belt grinder (proposed)Three Phase 480v Breakers80A-Big milling machine like a K&T or Cincinnati up to 50hp (proposed)80A-Bigger lathe up to 50hp (proposed)60A-Maxtron 450 or any other large heavy welder (proposed)30A-Metal shaper (5hp max)30A-Air compressor (If it has 3ph motor)20A-Bridgeport mill (may be 230v/3ph)There will only be one piece of machinery and the compressor running at a time so I'm not going to need a power plant next door, plus it will only be me working there. The issue is that the building has the possibility of flooding in a real bad hurricane which we DO get here in Florida.  All the critical stuff in the shop is going to be fairly high on the wall. I'm most likely going to have a fused disconnect for each machine but to ease moving the welders around if needed does anybody have 3ph plugs on their equipment that don't cost $300 per end?Sent from my GT-P3113 using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Finally moved the welding equipment & material to the new shop. I still do not have the partition wall or 3ph but it is a lot nicer than working in the driveway. The machine tools and measuring stuff is still in my garage shop untill the wall is built to keep everything secured.My new pallet rack[ATTACH]878791[/ATTACHShort material rackMobile full length rack (10'&12'). Picked it up for next to nothing but it needs a few more arms in the empty space Attached ImagesTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:The layout is temporary untill the construction is finished. After that I'm wanting to paint the walls and do a drywall ceiling before a ton of machinery is in there. Then I get to have the electrician come out and give him many pay checks.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:The well laid out shops I have worked in have a flow to them.  By that I mean the material comes in and the saw and cutting tools are right by the stock.  The drilling and punching is next and on you go.  At the exit is paint or sandblast before it goes in the yard ready to load.  Even a small shop can profit from a flow pattern.
Reply:Don't put the bathroom next to the snack barBuy American, or don't whine when you end up on the bread line.
Reply:Originally Posted by lotechmanThe well laid out shops I have worked in have a flow to them.  By that I mean the material comes in and the saw and cutting tools are right by the stock.  The drilling and punching is next and on you go.  At the exit is paint or sandblast before it goes in the yard ready to load.  Even a small shop can profit from a flow pattern.
Reply:We have a small shop just a little bigger than yours. One great thing we got was a manual pallet stacker. It does the same job as a pallet truck but allows you to get things up in the air. Ours can lift 2200 lbs. Since you already have a pallet rack you should take advantage of your rack. The stacker will allow you to store heavy things high up and when you need something you use the stacker to bring it down. Just store everything on pallets or on a piece of 3/4" plywood with two 2x4s under so you can lift it.The stacker also doubles as an adjustable height work table when you need one. It also nice to move around other things with it that are heavy, like a welding table. Right now when we build something for our shop that is heavy we try to make it so we can pick it up with the stacker and move it if needed. Sometimes we move things around to get more floor space for a particular job.A real forklift would also work of course but is too big for a small shop. There are electrical stackers as well but they are more expensive, unless you find a used one for a good price.Something like this (there are telescoping models as well that can lift higher)Last edited by Pete.S.; 10-19-2014 at 09:56 PM.Reason: clarification
Reply:Originally Posted by chris t.finally moved the welding equipment & material to the new shop. I still do not have the partition wall or 3ph but it is a lot nicer than working in the driveway. The machine tools and measuring stuff is still in my garage shop untill the wall is built to keep everything secured.My new pallet rack[attach]878791[/attachshort material rackmobile full length rack (10'&12'). Picked it up for next to nothing but it needs a few more arms in the empty space
Reply:Pete S,I really like that little pallet lift and never even thought of utilizing one.Newbury, I agree with you on more racking. I'm going to be picking up some 24" deep x 12' high rack ends in a week or two. I still have not decided on 8' or 10' wide shelves but it is going on the wall by the back door where the orange job box is. There is about 32 inches to the door so it will work out perfect. I'll see about doing a quick sketch of how I think the shop should be arranged.My plan is to have the racking in the back of the shop to leave room for larger projects and my welding area in the front of the shop. Although I have access to two forklifts, I really don't want to waste floor space leaving an aisle to get a big lift to the back to put something on the rack.  When I get the sketch finished up and posted, take a look at it and see if there is a better place for things where it might be possible to get a full sized lift in without wasting floor space. I still might track down one of the mini pallet lifts to move stuff around the shop and to use for bringing projects up to working height.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Why do you want to Drywall the ceiling in a work shop?Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:You're doing it all wrong there is way too much open floor space in the middle if the shop. The only concrete that should be visible is about a 24" oval shape in front of the walk door. And a table, you're missing a big thick top steel table sitting by the door so within the first step inside you can throw whatever you are carrying on the table.
Reply:Originally Posted by Broccoli1Why do you want to Drywall the ceiling in a work shop?
Reply:I live on high ground in the middle of the prairies so the possibility of flooding freaks me out a little. I was eyeing up that open ceiling and thinking I would have some eyebolts and chains. If there's a risk of water damage you could use a chain hoist to hang your equipment from the ceiling out of harm's way. You've got a lot of nice machines on that list that I wouldn't want to see in a mud puddle.250 amp Miller DialArc AC/DC StickF-225 amp Forney AC Stick230 amp Sears AC StickLincoln 180C MIGVictor Medalist 350 O/ACut 50 PlasmaLesOriginally Posted by whtbaronI live on high ground in the middle of the prairies so the possibility of flooding freaks me out a little. I was eyeing up that open ceiling and thinking I would have some eyebolts and chains. If there's a risk of water damage you could use a chain hoist to hang your equipment from the ceiling out of harm's way. You've got a lot of nice machines on that list that I wouldn't want to see in a mud puddle.
Reply:Originally Posted by Chris T.I was looking at some high bay T-5 fixtures that had 6- 4' bulbs and a mirrored top to light up the shop as there are only 2- 8' fixtures on my side once the wall is built.
Reply:We have some progress!!!My partition wall will be started soon and they installed a 400a/480v/3ph main to he shop in addition to the 200a/220v/1ph standard panel. My boss has 200a of 480v going into the regular shop so that would allow me to have the remainder of the 400 going to mine if needed. My electrician came by Saturday and we looked at the current machinery and he thought a 100a service would be plenty and still allow for some new additions. The largest machine right now is a 10hp lathe and I want to be able to run the highest amp draw machine in the shop along with a compressor. Not sure what the price difference would be to run about a 100' from the main to my shop in 100a vs 200a. He also discussed having my service separated from the rest of the shop just in case somehing over there went wrong and had to be disconnected I would still be in power. (It is all going through the same meter) His plan is to install a step down transformer to supply 220 & 110 1ph to a lighting/outlet panel.Found some pin & sleeve plugs at Fabtech that do not require a disconnect above the outlet, they retract the pins into the plug to ensure safe make and break connections. The new codes REQUIRE a "line of sight" disconnect and arc flash protection for industrial electrical installations. With this new type of plug, it is the disconnect and none of the connections are exposed when the plug is removed. Will be sending them some info to start sizing plugs and configurations.I also found a local (15min away) manufacturer of commercial lighting products so I sent them an email to discuss my needs, might get lucky and they will send someone by. Have been looking at some of the lighting suggestions made above and think I might be going overkill on the lights allthough the blinding baseball field look would be nice. Was originally thinking of having 4-bulb fixtures 3 wide and 6 rows back. This is probably way too much and if the lighting mfg sends someone out they might be able to suggest the right combination of high bay general lighting and lower small lights for above machines. I do want the shop bright and hate the old yellow looking fluorescent fixtures.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Too much light. In 1000 sq ft, you only need 8 to 10 of the high bay 4 bulb t5 fixtures.   The 16 ft ceilings would make me lean to 10.  The highbay version makes a difference.  Only 6 can be on one switch. 100a of 480 is over 200a of 208. Lot of juice. I have 400a of 208 for 9000sqft.  Not too many machines but 60 tons of ac makes up for it.  Havent broken 160a yet according to the smart meter.Multimatic 200Ellis 1800Haberle S225 9" cold sawMM 300;  Spoolmate 30A w/ WC-24TB 302GDynasty 280 DX Tigrunner
Reply:I would consider sheet metal roofing for the ceiling in white, I would consider some flame resistant curtains one can pull around for welding and grinding, to block off the other areas, that building is not that large, and if you get a project going cutting it up in a machine room and such will limit one considerably,  I know going from 100 feet to 1000, right now your saying how is that small, just believe me it is small, you start handing 20 foot or 24 foot lengths of steel,  what I would do is put a iron rack on one wall by the door, and the cutting saw, off to the end of that,  most likely to the right of the rack, and have it so iron can be lifted off the rack and sat on rollers to feed into the saw,  most of the time not necessary to have a full 20 feet on the back side of the saw, but to have a tunnel/path so one can get 15 to 18 foot on the back side of the saw would be good,  if a chop saw is in the works put it in a similar location as the saw, I would place the welding area across from the iron rack on the opposite side of the building, the back of the building the machine tools but with the idea of some area for engine hoist or some type of lifting for loading the machines if necessary, I have the press more in the rear of the shop out of the way of lay out/assembly but in a location one can get long things in it if necessary,I like some work tables, it seem that the benches are just glorified shelves,  (with that height) consider a loft for bolt and supply storage, in the rear,  (even if the stairs are pull down), I have the air compressor in a separate section of the shop, the pressure switch and phone ringer talk to each other and if the phone rings the compressor will come on,  so I separated them.  I helps a lot, wire the shop so tools are not married to a location,  I would run a line around the out side of the shop and use plugs and cords and not hard wire,  one may want to move for future tools or just not working out well as first thought.Last edited by Farmerboy; 06-15-2015 at 10:04 AM.
Reply:I have a 100 amp 480 sub panel powering a 25hp mill, a 15 HP radial drill and 20 HP lathe.    Being a one man shop there is never a time when all three machines are running at the same time.   A comment regarding your desire to get some high powered machines.    I have a 25 total HP 20 on the spindle and 5 HP feed K&T mill and a 20 HP Monarch 2013 series 62 lathe.    These are big machines that require a good deal of space, a 1000 sq ft shop with other stuff is going to get small fast!     What type of work do you have, the bigger machines 30+ HP are bargains but, at the cost of logistics and power.     A 20 HP machine can remove an enormous amount of metal on nearly anything that would fit in a 1000 foot shop.Regarding the pin and sleeve connectors; they are great but, I have never found them to be less expensive than common twist lock plugs.    I have L16-30 plugs on my Dynasty and 450 XMT.    There are receptacles around my shop, I am never more than 30 feet or so from a plug.   I have a 25 foot 8/4 extension cord if needed.    You can find these plugs on ebay for under 20.00 if you have some patience.   If you have a neutral on 480 Service consider getting 277 volt lighting, it takes a significant continuous load off the single phase transformer.Steve from SoCal now in HutchMiller Dynasty 300DX Coolmate3 Speedway TorchMiller XMT 450 MPa plus with D-74 MPa Plus Miller Bobcat 225 NTHypertherm Powermax 45And a whole bunch of machines
Reply:Originally Posted by DrooopyToo much light. In 1000 sq ft, you only need 8 to 10 of the high bay 4 bulb t5 fixtures.   The 16 ft ceilings would make me lean to 10.  The highbay version makes a difference.  Only 6 can be on one switch. 100a of 480 is over 200a of 208. Lot of juice. I have 400a of 208 for 9000sqft.  Not too many machines but 60 tons of ac makes up for it.  Havent broken 160a yet according to the smart meter.
Reply:Originally Posted by FarmerboyI would consider sheet metal roofing for the ceiling in white, I would consider some flame resistant curtains one can pull around for welding and grinding, to block off the other areas, that building is not that large, and if you get a project going cutting it up in a machine room and such will limit one considerably,  I know going from 100 feet to 1000, right now your saying how is that small, just believe me it is small, you start handing 20 foot or 24 foot lengths of steel,  what I would do is put a iron rack on one wall by the door, and the cutting saw, off to the end of that,  most likely to the right of the rack, and have it so iron can be lifted off the rack and sat on rollers to feed into the saw,  most of the time not necessary to have a full 20 feet on the back side of the saw, but to have a tunnel/path so one can get 15 to 18 foot on the back side of the saw would be good,  if a chop saw is in the works put it in a similar location as the saw, I would place the welding area across from the iron rack on the opposite side of the building, the back of the building the machine tools but with the idea of some area for engine hoist or some type of lifting for loading the machines if necessary, I have the press more in the rear of the shop out of the way of lay out/assembly but in a location one can get long things in it if necessary,I like some work tables, it seem that the benches are just glorified shelves,  (with that height) consider a loft for bolt and supply storage, in the rear,  (even if the stairs are pull down), I have the air compressor in a separate section of the shop, the pressure switch and phone ringer talk to each other and if the phone rings the compressor will come on,  so I separated them.  I helps a lot, wire the shop so tools are not married to a location,  I would run a line around the out side of the shop and use plugs and cords and not hard wire,  one may want to move for future tools or just not working out well as first thought.
Reply:Originally Posted by Steve from SoCalI have a 100 amp 480 sub panel powering a 25hp mill, a 15 HP radial drill and 20 HP lathe.    Being a one man shop there is never a time when all three machines are running at the same time.   A comment regarding your desire to get some high powered machines.    I have a 25 total HP 20 on the spindle and 5 HP feed K&T mill and a 20 HP Monarch 2013 series 62 lathe.    These are big machines that require a good deal of space, a 1000 sq ft shop with other stuff is going to get small fast!     What type of work do you have, the bigger machines 30+ HP are bargains but, at the cost of logistics and power.     A 20 HP machine can remove an enormous amount of metal on nearly anything that would fit in a 1000 foot shop.Regarding the pin and sleeve connectors; they are great but, I have never found them to be less expensive than common twist lock plugs.    I have L16-30 plugs on my Dynasty and 450 XMT.    There are receptacles around my shop, I am never more than 30 feet or so from a plug.   I have a 25 foot 8/4 extension cord if needed.    You can find these plugs on ebay for under 20.00 if you have some patience.   If you have a neutral on 480 Service consider getting 277 volt lighting, it takes a significant continuous load off the single phase transformer.
Reply:The TPS has everything set up in a counter-clockwise workflow in order to benefit right handed people specifically, if you will be the only one working in the shop and you're left handed I would switch it to clockwise, however if there will be other employees or people working in the shop and you would like to maintain proper workflow you're statisically better off setting it up counter-clockwise.  Also consider one piece flow if you're using multiple tools to make one part, gravity conveyors and flow racks between machines will assist with that alot.
Reply:Steve From Socal,I answered my own question about the plugs.Amartin74,Good point about workflow. Sounds like you have quite a bit of experience laying out shops.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Hi Chris,I bought one plug from the local electrical supply here in Hutch, it was 28.00, I bought 5 on ebay for 15.00 each.   I was fortunate to have receptacles all over this place, every column had at least one,several had two per column.Here are some teaser shots of the shop, the "tool room" is just under 10K sq ft. Attached ImagesSteve from SoCal now in HutchMiller Dynasty 300DX Coolmate3 Speedway TorchMiller XMT 450 MPa plus with D-74 MPa Plus Miller Bobcat 225 NTHypertherm Powermax 45And a whole bunch of machines
Reply:Wow that tool room....wow.Ok back to the first question about shop layout.  I don't know if it would help you, but I used this http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplannerYou can make the drawing the same as your shop and move different equipment around and see how it all works.  The equipment is all Grizzly equipment, but the sizes are probably close to what you have.  You can also add a sleeping dog to the plan in case you have a shop dog.
Reply:Steve,That shop is absolutely amazing! Did you do a restoration on the smaller Monarch? There sure isn't much those two mills wont do, that's one of the things still on my list but unfortunately the big ones don't go up for sale to often around here. I noticed you use the big office file cabinets and plan on picking up some like that from a local office surplus company. Amazing what can be stored in a cabinet like that.  Originally Posted by Angus in WyomingWow that tool room....wow.Ok back to the first question about shop layout.  I don't know if it would help you, but I used this http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplannerYou can make the drawing the same as your shop and move different equipment around and see how it all works.  The equipment is all Grizzly equipment, but the sizes are probably close to what you have.  You can also add a sleeping dog to the plan in case you have a shop dog.
Reply:Chris,I have a total of nine of the lateral file cabinets, they are wonderful storage.    They also make things look neat due to the closed fronts.    I wanted to line the entire back wall with them but, the columns are in the wrong place for that.   I have pallet racking on another wall and it is a catch all junk collector, the contrast of the two visually is astounding.    Pallet racking is a great storage option if you can use it.   If you only have a conventional forklift as I do, the pallet racking needs wide open access.As far as the lathes; I did a drive conversion and control retrofit on the 13EE the darker lathe in front.   My 10EE had a solid state DC drive installed when it lived at Delco/Delphi, I don't think it was ever completed.    When I got the 10EE I had to call the drive vendor to finish the control wiring.    My Series 62 in the back came from the Mobil Oil, it was the only plug and play lathe in the group.   I have found that initial planning is often just a trial run.   I spent considerable time developing a floor plan for the shop only to completely change it up!    One thing to consider; loading big machines, you will need good access to load a big lathe or mill.   I have one ton jib cranes over the mills and lathes.    I also have a wide aisle that my forklift can navigate to the machines.Steve from SoCal now in HutchMiller Dynasty 300DX Coolmate3 Speedway TorchMiller XMT 450 MPa plus with D-74 MPa Plus Miller Bobcat 225 NTHypertherm Powermax 45And a whole bunch of machines
Reply:Bad a$$ shop Steve.Never seen a 13EE before.I have a Model 61 Monarch. I like it a lot. You have some beautiful machines.
Reply:Got so tired of sorting through lights I just picked up two of the (6) bulb T8 high bay fixtures from HD to try. Loaded them with daylight 6500k bulbs at close to 2900 lumens each and they are amazingly bright! Think having 9 of them will be plenty Getting my 400w metal halide flood light wired next week to brighten up the front yard outside the roll door.Sent from my SM-G920P using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:Looking good Chris,With all the stuff you have perhaps pallet bases on the smaller machines.    I abhor mobile bases on machines but, in a small space the flexibility to move stuff makes sense.    Unless you are height challenged a 3 or 4" riser base will allow a pallet jack or forklift to move many machines.    In one of my pictures above you see my baby 2H mill on a pallet jack, it weighs about 4500 and is about the upper limit on anything short of a perfect floor.    Even if they don't move around much, the ability to angle a machine for odd shaped work is a real plus.    SteveSteve from SoCal now in HutchMiller Dynasty 300DX Coolmate3 Speedway TorchMiller XMT 450 MPa plus with D-74 MPa Plus Miller Bobcat 225 NTHypertherm Powermax 45And a whole bunch of machines
Reply:My boss suggested that too and I think you both are right about doing so. I'm going to draw something up that allows pallet jack use and also leveling feet because the floor is not perfect. The K&T will most likely be stationary along with the Monarch and two South Bends. All the smaller tools I've got will be perfect on a pallet base.Here is a picture of my machine haul last Saturday. The full story is posted on Home Shop Machinist as I'm going to need some guidance getting everything cleaned up and adjusted.Sent from my SM-G920P using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:What'd you do?  Win the lotto?  Nice haul.DanI hope that when i'm dead and gone, people will remember me and think; "Boy, that guy sure owed me a lot of money!"
Reply:What I don't see is a Restroom.  When I was a kid, I could "hold it" for hours, but now I have BPH.  I certainly appreciate the closet with the toilet in it.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
Reply:Originally Posted by skyboltoneWhat'd you do?  Win the lotto?  Nice haul.
Reply:That is quite the haul for 1350!    What happened to the wheels on the front trailer axle?    I lost a wheel on the trip to fetch my 13EE, didn't realize it was gone until I made a turn an saw it missing. Attached ImagesSteve from SoCal now in HutchMiller Dynasty 300DX Coolmate3 Speedway TorchMiller XMT 450 MPa plus with D-74 MPa Plus Miller Bobcat 225 NTHypertherm Powermax 45And a whole bunch of machines
Reply:That's an amazing price for all that.  I've spent more than that for a couple nights hotel at Disney World.DanI hope that when i'm dead and gone, people will remember me and think; "Boy, that guy sure owed me a lot of money!"
Reply:Nice lathe! Looks good in its new home.It was my bosses F750 crane truck and trailer that he took to a tire shop to have all new rubber put on for the trip. Was on I95 and something bumped and he said we lost a tire, no big deal as we have truck air and a spare. Got out and found something a little more than a flat.Waited til 11:00 for a Landoll to come scoop us up.Sent from my SM-G920P using TapatalkTOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE