Workshop thread

[T.Saslow]

This past summer, my grandfather and I started a 2 week long project at his house up in Michigan and I wanted to share it, and my workshop with you guys.

The project was a 2x72 belt grinder. It took us over 2 months to round up all the parts and steel for the project and we had a little help from my Grandfathers friends for which I am very grateful. The motor is a 1.5 hp motor we bought new from the local electric store. It runs at 1750 rpm. A good half of the parts we bought, along with the plans were from USA Knife maker. What was out of stock or too expensive there was bought elsewhere which ended up saving me a few dollars Total, the grinder cost me about $300 in parts and my uncle got us the steel from shipyard were he works. My grandfather covered the motor and some other little things. All said and done, you could probably make one like this at around $500 if you have the steel on hand!

This was my larges project to date and I had a BLAST making it. Now I just need to get a 8" contact wheel and some cubitron belts

Besides showing off my new grinder, I wanted to make a thread about your shops so we can see what others shops look like. I don't know if anyone is going to jump on this bandwagon but I think it would be cool to see others shops, jigs, fixtures, etc. So feel free to show us what you guys have in your shop. Shop Dogs too

*Sorry For The Mess!*

My fathers table saw, radial arm saw, and our collection of wood too big to fit under the grinder bench. There is some walnut, Ipe, cedar, maple, oak, and plywood over there. most of it won't make it onto a knife but it is nice to have for woodworking projects.


Our Drill press- it is an old Delta and it works great for wood and steel.


This is my finishing table. I do most of my hand sanding and finicky work here. It is rarely this clean


Here is my forge. I bought it for around $500 at NC Tool co. It's called the "Whisper Mama" and it has served me well. Comes with all the fittings so all it needs out of the box is some propane. Highly recommended for heat treating 1080 and small forging jobs.


And at last, here is My Pride And Joy! I put a really Beautiful Royal Blue Rustoleum enamel coating on it and I like it; it matches the motor almost perfectly! Under the table is my collection of exotic woods- I also store my various metals on that shelf, along with my acids, oils, and WD-40. When I get my contact wheels, I'm going to put the different fixtures down there as well so I think this turned out to be a really nice setup.


You may realize the work rest is a bit crooked. This is okay for me because I plan on just freehand grinding with this (when I get the hang of it). It works well for my purposes


Thanks for looking guys!
Tanner S.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Good job on the grinder and neat shop.

Do yourself and all that nice shop equipment a big favor and get that bottle of muriatic acid out of the open shop. It will cause rusting. Either store it in an outside shed, or place in a tightly sealed 5 gallon tub ( paint/drywall type bucket).

 

[MadBug]

Forging and wood dust. My favorites.

 

[T.Saslow]

Good job on the grinder and neat shop.

Do yourself and all that nice shop equipment a big favor and get that bottle of muriatic acid out of the open shop. It will cause rusting. Either store it in an outside shed, or place in a tightly sealed 5 gallon tub ( paint/drywall type bucket).

Will Do Stacy- probably a good idea

 

[T.Saslow]

Forging and wood dust. My favorites.

Mine to. However, some very influential people in my life have requested I put the forge stand on castor wheels and take it outside when I do stuff. Probably a good idea with so much wood around.

 

[Kosa_PL]

Niiice
non-secured wood, wood dust, etc + sparks or better a gas forge

You are Kamikadze or what ?

 

[T.Saslow]

Hahaha! yeah, it is a bit of a death wish... I'm trying to get some castors to put on the stand so I can move it out of the wood shop but they are expensive to get locally. To eBay I go I'm thinking of making a bracket to hang a large bucket onto below the platen so I can keep the sparks from landing on the wood below; We'll see. When I do that, I'll try to get some pictures up but I'll have to figure out how the support the weight of the water. Obviously this is going to take some time to get things where I like them and where my personal fire marshal is satisfied

Getting 220 volt outlets in the shop is my priority at the moment though; Can't make any sparks if your grinder keeps pooping out on you every 1/2 hour

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Forging and wood dust. My favorites.

That's just what I was thinking. I'm far more scared of the grinder than the forge, though. Forges send the occasional spark when hammering, but grinders send sparks everywhere and it can't be moved outside nearly as easily. I saw two extinguishers, I hope they are charged and that you never have to use them.

 

[T.Saslow]

Yep, Neither of them have ever been used. I do know that I'm going to be moving my occasional forging projects outside to avoid lighting the dust, However, I don't know how to keep the sparks contained besides a big bucket under the platen. I do sweep the garage floor in the work areas frequently though so, directly beneath the grinder, there will be minimal build up of wood and steel dust. Besides having the Fire Dept. on speed dial, anything I can do to avoid catastrophe other than what I have mentioned?

 

[Kosa_PL]

Rebuild this room from the beggining to meet standards for metal working workshop.

 

[T.Saslow]

Easier said than done... it's been a garage work shop for over 20 years. I'll clean out what I can- I may put some of the wood in our basement and other random items away as well. I do wood projects in the shop too though (axe/hammer handles, the occasional carpentry project, etc.) and I don't have anywhere else to do those projects so wood is always going to be present in the shop. Any wood shavings and dust is usually cleaned up after a project though so I'm not worried about that stuff. If you're concerned about all the woodworking tools in the shop, don't worry, they aren't used very often. My father is the only one who uses them and he is never really in the shop
So getting rid of fire hazards and clutter is another priority. I still have a long way to go to get the shop where I want it but it's a learning experience...

 

[Kosa_PL]

Also BIG extinguisher or better two.

OHS on the 1st place!

 

[T.Saslow]

I have one on the finishing bench, one behind the grinder bench, and one behind the radial arm saw

 

[Mahoney]

Move the wood away from the grinder or at least put it in sealed bins or something. Not just for fire safety, but grit on the wood surface can dull your woodworking tools, and some woods will stain from contact with iron or steel. Get a water type fire extinguisher too, in my experience water is more effective on burning wood than dry powder, and a bit less messy to clean up afterwards.

You might also want to have a chat with the local fire marshal and see how they feel about a propane bottle stored in a structure, especially if the garage is attached to the house.

 

[T.Saslow]

I like that idea. I believe my mother has a few really nice Tupperware containers laying around that would be the perfect size; I'm sure she wouldn't mind them disappearing for a few years I'm not sure getting the fire Marshall involved is necessary but I'll start storing the propane in the shed out back if you think it is necessary.

I think the main thing keeping me from moving the propane and forge outside when in use is getting inexpensive castors and my neighbor across the street. The guy can talk to hours and if you open that garage door an start working in the drive way, might as well say goodbye to your afternoon I'll work on fireproofing the shop tomorrow...I'm predicting yet another massive workshop layout change is coming...

 

[Mahoney]

It will depend on your local Fire Marshal and fire codes, but where I am the Fire Marshal prefers to see propane cylinders outside the building locked in a cage. I've got 4 tanks of acetylene in the shop, along with lots of Oxygen and other high pressure gas, but I got an earful about the 20 lb propane tank for the forge...YMMV

 

[JoshW]

Came across this thread while looking for workshop setup ideas.
For a very reasonable price you could DIY a fire sprinkler system in your garage/shop that could help tremendously in a worst case scenario type event. Just be sure to run the forge outside so it doesn't activate a sprinkler head.

 

[T.Saslow]

Hahaha, Almost forgot about this thread! Yeah, I probably should and I bet it would be a a good idea. However, I think a few fire extinguishers here an there and a bucket f water will suffice for the next three years (or however long I'm living with my parents...I'm in High School). We have made an agreement that all use of my forge shall take place outside of the garage to avoid such scenarios I'm still working on suppressing the sparks from the grinder since that is the most used machine (that makes sparks) in my shop at the moment. I don't use the forge much at the moment as the school year has severely limited my time in the shop

Since I took those pictures, I have cleaned out the shop considerably and vacuumed nearly every inch of the place. I have also converted a huge round of pine into an anvil stand so the anvil isn't floating around, waiting to kill someones foot Baby steps....

 

[VaughnT]

Honestly, fire is one of the last things I'd worry about. I run a grinder and forge rather regularly, and I've had scorching hot steel fly off into piles of leaves, etc. Never once have I seen a blaze erupt. That's not to say I don't to over and pick up the scorching hot steel and snuff out any small flames that might be licking up.

I'm just saying that getting all nuts on fire prevention stuff can really hold you back. The greater threat is a fire caused by faulty wiring, something that you don't see and which flares up when you're off doing something else.

Kept reasonably clean, you can forge in a woodworking shop with little worry. Just be careful of where that hot steel flies off to, and keep your good wood in a container so the metal dust doesn't contaminate it.

 

[T.Saslow]

Honestly, fire is one of the last things I'd worry about. I run a grinder and forge rather regularly, and I've had scorching hot steel fly off into piles of leaves, etc. Never once have I seen a blaze erupt. That's not to say I don't to over and pick up the scorching hot steel and snuff out any small flames that might be licking up.

I'm just saying that getting all nuts on fire prevention stuff can really hold you back. The greater threat is a fire caused by faulty wiring, something that you don't see and which flares up when you're off doing something else.

Kept reasonably clean, you can forge in a woodworking shop with little worry. Just be careful of where that hot steel flies off to, and keep your good wood in a container so the metal dust doesn't contaminate it.

While all of this may be true, It may be best if I keep the shop as "Fire Proof" as possible. Better safe than sorry