No room in the shop for a cnc plasma table, ideas?

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I'm going to be ordering a 4x8 torchmate. I do not have room in the shop for it. I'm thinking of a carport or lean-to for it, but not sure how to handle the cold weather here in Colorado. It will be a down draft table so no water to freeze, but concerned with the electronics. Anyone else have their machine outside the shop?
Reply:A long time ago a buddy did this:He put the machine (the one he didn't have room for) on a swivel base. Nice large piece of 10" pipe he'd come up with from some Oil Field scrap.Now, the machine rotates out of the way when he's in his shop and needs the room. Then the machine rotates into the shop when the day is done.He made two 'outside' walls that slide on rollers, out of the way for transit etc, and back into the Machine Base for weather proofing and security.
Reply:I have a friend here in the Austin area that builds cnc plasma, water jets, and laser tables.  He has one for plasma that is a verticle table.  Nice because you can put it up against a wall and only takes up a fraction of the space a traditional table takes up
Reply:How about a nice little unit like this....2 x 2 cutting area, self contained fume control table (hybrid, has a water trap and two Torit weld fume filters, no smoke), the base measures 36" x 40 ".Jim Originally Posted by Duratrac85I'm going to be ordering a 4x8 torchmate. I do not have room in the shop for it. I'm thinking of a carport or lean-to for it, but not sure how to handle the cold weather here in Colorado. It will be a down draft table so no water to freeze, but concerned with the electronics. Anyone else have their machine outside the shop?
Reply:As Mick said, put it on wheels.   You may need to put everything in your shop on wheels, and move some of it outside when you need more space.    Or just move things around inside to make space where you need it. In my mind, I would just as soon cut outside, keep the arcs and sparks outside, lower fire hazard.RichardSculptures in copper and other metalshttp://www.fergusonsculpture.comSyncrowave 200 Millermatic 211Readywelder spoolgunHypertherm 600 plasma cutterThermal Arc GMS300 Victor OA torchHomemade Blacksmith propane forge
Reply:I would enclose the lean-to, sounds like you need the room..tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Build a bigger shop? Or is it possible to build an attached storage room that you could wheel things in/out of when you needed them? Or if you have the height, get some storage racking and a small pallet lift to get things up and out of the way?
Reply:Install the Cnc plasma in my shop, email me what you need done and I will FedEx you parts the next day to you or your customer.  CATCH:  I get to use it on my stuff when I am not doing your stuff.You have visiting rights on every other week end.  LOL!Seriously, I would be more worried about theft than weather.  You know what weather is coming but not when the thieves are on their way!Some kind of Big Blue constant current welding machineAnother smaller yet, Blue machine (it's got wire in it)
Reply:Order a 4x4 table, use indexing software for larger pieces, put it on wheels.
Reply:how much extra room do you have outside your shop?if I needed extra space(which I do), I'd consider buying a smaller 20' cargo container.this way, you can keep your electronics out of the elements, and secure it at night.theft is a growing problem in my area. and, if you ever need to move, just pack all your tools into the container, and call a moving company!