New workshop time (nearly there...)

Sporky · April 2017

You know the rules.

Pics or it didn't happen.

TTony · April 2017

It looks a bit untidy now I look at it in photo form.

In reality, it's quite a lot untidy, but that'll get sorted in time. Just the planer/thicknesser that's still in its box (as I realised when I was looking at the pics) the other boxes are empty.

Image: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/uploads/editor/bd/jqedkhlntewv.jpg

Those desks down the middle are really handy. It's 3.2m of flat workspace, which is very handy if you're cutting long pieces of timber.

Like the long pieces of timber that I cut up to make the smaller pieces of timber that make this workbench ...

Image: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/uploads/editor/ya/kg5sr5h6m7n9.jpg

I was going to buy a workbench, but they cost twice as much in kit form as the wood cost, plus they didn't come in handy L-shapes. Handy L-shape so that the pillar drill has full back/forward movement, and I can get at it properly from 3 sides.

This bench (front of shot) was pretty much my only working surface in my last workshop, which gives a reasonable indication of the relative sizes of old & new.

Image: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/uploads/editor/0m/bmiwl8bryaep.jpg

Lighting is provided by 5 x 4ft LED tubes. Two are mounted on the central roof beam (photo 1) with the others mounted on the wall side of the outer roof beams to illuminate the work areas. They seem to give off decent enough light.

One day I might make guitar-shaped things in there.

Sporky · April 2017

Very nice!

Sporky · April 2017

I finished the router table. Refined the cutout with some bearing-guided bits and slopped some Danish oil on:

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/200417 router table/01 oiled.jpg

It fits. Unanticipated. And a cheeky shot of the mechanism. At some point I'll work out some dust extraction and a fence for it.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/200417 router table/02 fitted.jpg

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/200417 router table/03 lift.jpg

I also fixed the air filter, which had been in limp ode for a while. Apparently a common fault, fixed with a £6 capacitor.

Roland · April 2017

TTony said:

When is it "done"?

I'm just trying to decide:
1. whether I can claim to have "done" mine,
2. whether it's still work-in-progress, or
3. whether it will always be work-in-progress and so I'll never be able to claim done-ness.

You can define it as done whenever you want to. We all know that it in reality it will always be a work in progress

octatonic · April 2017

Yup, it is never done.

WezV · April 2017

Sporky said:

I also fixed the air filter, which had been in limp ode for a while. Apparently a common fault, fixed with a £6 capacitor.

Any more details on that.... mine is borked and I keep thinking it must be a simple fix

Sporky · April 2017

Mine's a Jet AFS-500. There's a big cap on the PCB which is a known failure point; it's pretty obvious. Big black boxy thing.

Before the fix it only worked in fast fan mode, and the fan was barely spinning. Now it's like a wind tunnel.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181885616640?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

WezV · April 2017

ah, mine is a big yellow peform CCAF Cant remember if the spec is the same but it looks just like the Jet AFS-1000B

It started cutting out after a minute or two and eventually stopped working at all.... Just after i had got it manoeuvered up into the rafters

Sporky · July 2017

I did stuff on my day off.

You may remember that I ran out of ducting at the bandsaw and used some semi-rigid stuff. Or you may not, I can't remember if I posted that I wasn't entirely happy with this - it gets in the way of putting the fence on and off and looks scrappy, so I bought a few bits, chopped up some ducting, screwed and taped it all together and this is what it looks like now:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/01 bandsaw ducting.jpg

As well as being neater and quieter it's also resulted in higher airflow and greater static pressure. Aces. Next job!

The tool boards I bought came with crappy plastic drill and spanner and screwdriver holders so I've been upgrading to nicer self-made ones. Today was a holder for the mini screwdrivers. First I took some cheapo pressed steel brackets from t'bay and drilled an extra mounting hole, 18.5mm from the top one (the boards have holes at 18.5mm spacing).

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/02 brackets.jpg

Then I CNC'd two bits of kitchen splashback. There was a lot of measuring and drawing to get to this stage but that's boring, so here's how one bit came off the machine.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/03 top.jpg

These are the fixin's for mounting the thing to the tool board. On the left are some 4mm cage nuts - they clip into the holes and present an M4 thread. Horribly expensive and bastard-hard to find.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/04 bits.jpg

They pop in using either a pair of pliers to squeeze the sides together, or a flat bladed screwdriver. I favour the latter as they seem to stay in better that way.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/05 cage nuts.jpg

Then I assembled the two bits of splashback around the brackets.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/06 assembled.jpg

The finished holder gets bolted to the cage nuts:

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/07 mounted.jpg

And then all the teeny little screwdrivers (and the small autoloader) go into their slots all nice and snug. Next will be some sort of mounts for the allen key sets.

http://www.monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/310717 another one called stuff/08 filled.jpg

normula1 · July 2017

Rather than pliers you need a cage nut tool
https://www.pgcomputercomponents.co.uk/economy-cage-nut-insertion-and-removal-tool-635-p.asp
Pop the top of the cage nut into the hole and grab the bottom with the tool and pull onto place. Saves on fingers too

You might get cage nuts cheaper at server rack suppliers.

Sporky · July 2017

I've only found one UK place that does the size I need - they're very small indeed. And they want me to order 10,000 at a time!

I get them ten at a time from a German seller on t'bay.

The tool is nice for full sized cage nuts but won't work on these - they're just that much smaller.

TTony · August 2017

TTony said:

It looks a bit untidy now I look at it in photo form.

In reality, it's quite a lot untidy, but that'll get sorted in time. Just the planer/thicknesser that's still in its box (as I realised when I was looking at the pics) the other boxes are empty.

Those desks down the middle are really handy. It's 3.2m of flat workspace, which is very handy if you're cutting long pieces of timber.

Like the long pieces of timber that I cut up to make the smaller pieces of timber that make this workbench ...

I was going to buy a workbench, but they cost twice as much in kit form as the wood cost, plus they didn't come in handy L-shapes. Handy L-shape so that the pillar drill has full back/forward movement, and I can get at it properly from 3 sides.

This bench (front of shot) was pretty much my only working surface in my last workshop, which gives a reasonable indication of the relative sizes of old & new.

Lighting is provided by 5 x 4ft LED tubes. Two are mounted on the central roof beam (photo 1) with the others mounted on the wall side of the outer roof beams to illuminate the work areas. They seem to give off decent enough light.

One day I might make guitar-shaped things in there.

@GSPBASSES ;

re your comment on Wez' LP build thread - here's the workshop. That was a few months ago, so it's a little more organised now. Sadly, I spend more time in there doing stuff for the house nowadays (the house needs the attention!), so I've yet to do any guitar work in there at all.

but theres time ....

Sporky · January 2018

I finished a new CNC bench yesterday. The original was made out of DIY shop spruce and was very wobbly (I designed some weird compound joints for it). It was also a bit too high for comfort - I'd thought the compressor would fit under it.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/291216 move/endwall.jpg

I'd considered buying a welded steel one but it'd be slightly wider than the doors of the house, which'd mean lifting it over three gardens to get it to the workshop, or building one out of ali extrusion but that was going to come to £600ish, so instead I made this out of a crapload of poplar I had knocking around. The legs are 5 bits each, planed to 100mm x 100mm and with very flat bottoms. The CNC machine sits on the tops of the legs so the load goes straight down to the floor, then the side panels hold the legs rigidly compared to each other - it's totally solid.

http://monkeyfx.co.uk/pictures/new_workshop/newCNCbench.jpg

I also put in a larger keyboard/trackball shelf made from the side runners of a cheapie plastic one and a ply offcut.

m_c · January 2018

That CNC is calling out for a nice water cooled spindle to make your life quieter.

Sporky · January 2018

At some point it may get one, but the dust extraction is as loud as the router that's on it at the mo, and the router takes everything from 1/8" to 1/2" bits and goes up to 30,000 rpm...