Shop Time

[motorheadmike]

You’re only one person. You can only run one tool at a time.

Challenge accepted!

 

[Longroof79]

Mike,
Thanks for sharing your odyssey with us. You have obviously been quite resourceful over the years in the quest for a suitable working shop space.

 

[Max Headroom]

What a cool ironic at times story of perseverance. Congrats on staying with it. When I built my 24X32 block garage/addition 20+ years ago I got an electrician to swap out my 100 amp power box in the house basement to a 200 amp box in the garage. $700.00 at that time. Installed 6 double 8 ft light fixtures. Soon realized that wasn’t enough, to many dark areas. Acquired a bunch of 4 ft double fixtures from work and hung them around the sides with individual switches. As they’ve gotten old and ballist wear out I took a chance on Harbor Frieghts Braun single 4 ft LED single lights at $20.00 each. FANTASTIC. Since I’m in Pgh I needed heat. With 11 ft plus ceiling height I went with radiant tube heat. I have plumbing for the upstairs bathroom running across the ceiling so I keep the thermostat at 50 all winter when not working in the garage. As I was told when planning the construction, no matter what size you build. As soon as you move in, it won’t be big enough. HOW TRUE !!!

Thanks. I was determined to have a shop at one point in my life. It just had to wait till after the wife and kids were taken care of. You are 100% correct. When I was shoving the shop full of my stuff before going to South America, I realized. "This sucker is only half as big as I should have made it." The upside is that I paid cash for it, it is literally four feet from the side of the apartment we built for my mom and I built it tall enough for a two post lift, which I will get sometime in the next couple of years. BTW, I bought some 4' led to replace the fluorescent, which I will move up to the to the upstairs storage, since the lights up there will only be on a few minutes at a time.

 

[Max Headroom]

You will still be able to have your lights on and have a fridge running ,if you have one in the shop, when you are running the plasma. The 40 amp rating on them is full throttle. Most of the stuff you are going to be doing, it won’t draw full amperage. You can put your shop on a 60 amp breaker and you will be fine. With a 60 amp circuit feeding your shop, you should be able to run drills, grinders, and other small power tools while the plasma is running. You’re only one person. You can only run one tool at a time. In case you’re wondering, I have been a certified electrician for 20+ years. You will be fine with your plan. Good luck!

Thanks, that's good to know. Before I bought it I asked a lot of questions and one of the answers was that the unit would almost never run at 45 amps. The package says it has a 30% duty cycle at 45 amps. Not sure what that means exactly but I figured the amp draw would be less than the max. I was thinking the same thing about only running one thing at a time. Also, most of what I will be cutting on the plasma, will be 1/8th 6061-0 aluminum. Most of the cutting will be fast pass and moderate temp to keep warping down. Appreciate the info.

 

[Max Headroom]

I worked for Halliburton for 20 years. They needed a technical manager for South America for the division I worked for. It was late in my career and I really didn't want to go but they threw and *ss load of money at me and my wife didn't object, so I said OK. We lived in Bogota, Colombia and the company really took care of us. I traveled all over South America, visiting every country but Venezuela several times per year. It also turned out to be really good for my daughter. We sent her to the best school in the country, one I could never had afforded by myself, and they paid for all of it. She came home knowing how to really speak Spanish and told us that for two years after we got home, all of her schoolwork were things she learned in South America. My wife enjoyed it to. All in all, it was a decent experience.

 

[Max Headroom]

Yup, totally relate to have a spot in my parent's driveway or garage and paying for storage, to having a single car garage and filling the driveway and paying for storage, to getting my double car garage and paying for storage... until we got here and bought a house with a "huge" shop that I have grown into. It "only" took 20 years to get to this point.

Enjoy it!

Yeah, Time do pass when you are waiting for something.

 

[pagrunt]

You can only run one tool at a time.

Now what if that person is a tool, a tool operating a tool equals two tools?

 

[Max Headroom]

Sounds nice. I think most of us share similar paths starting from the apartment parking spot or carport and leapfrogging to better situations. I'd like to see more on the CNC table when you get it set up.

Don't skimp on the electrical stuff. Safety first.

I think you are right. Most of my friends who are into shop type activities have had to wait till a little later in life to get one. I know I appreciate mine more now that I would have 15 years ago, although I still would rather have had it then. I would happily have grown to appreciate it more as time went on. Your right about safety first. That is one of the biggest life lessons I took away from a career in the oilfield.

My brother and I are starting a little business and one of the biggest cost cutting measures will be the ability to cut our own frames instead of paying to have it done. I did some research and quickly found out that I/we couldn't afford a full sized (4'x8') CNC plasma outfit. I was about to give up when I came across the people I bought this one from. I paid for the thing about 6 weeks ago. They are selling them faster than they can make them. I bought the cutter that they recommended. It arrived about 10 days ago. I also ordered the optional laptop bracket to hold the laptop securely in place. That arrived four days after the cutter. I am supposed to get another four boxes sometime around the end of April. I'm pretty stoked about getting it set up and using it.

I will definitely post some pics when I get it up and running.

Here is a link to the unit I bought. They have a smaller one for less money but I went for the extra expense because this kind of purchase is not one you want to have regrets about.


CrossFire Pro CNC Plasma

 

[Max Headroom]

Now what if that person is a tool, a tool operating a tool equals two tools?

Yes but one of the tools doesn't draw any amps.

 

[Max Headroom]

So, as I said up top, I have been spending a couple of hours at a time cleaning up as my schedule permits. I'm posting a couple of pics that show the shop and the absolute state of confusion the inside is in at the present time. You can just see my 79 Malibu on the right side of the outside pic. In the second pic is my 84 camino hanger queen, sitting dead *ss in the middle of the shop; where it is directly in the way of anything I want to do. Including sweeping the floor. Anyway, I'll take a couple more pics this evening and post them tonight. Let's see some pics of other shops. Its a good way to get ideas about organizing or setting up your own stuff.