My Two Workspaces
I have two main workspaces. The first is my shop, which is primarily equipped for metal working, but I also do quite a bit of woodworking there as well. The second workspace is the office in my home, where most of the design takes place. I'll begin with the shop's workspace.
The photo below is of my workbench in the shop. It doesn't have a lot of room on it at the moment, but I can access my metal cutting bandsaw, a small vice, and three rotary flex-shaft tools without ever leaving my chair.
To my right are two drill presses and a shop built air compressor.
The top of the workbench is made from laminated fir 2x4's and can take a lot of abuse!
The photo below is of my workbench in the shop. It doesn't have a lot of room on it at the moment, but I can access my metal cutting bandsaw, a small vice, and three rotary flex-shaft tools without ever leaving my chair.
To my right are two drill presses and a shop built air compressor.
The top of the workbench is made from laminated fir 2x4's and can take a lot of abuse!
Grinders and Saws
To the right of my bench are three belt grinders: a 2x48 inch, a 1x42 inch, and a 2x48 inch small wheel grinder.
The wood cutting bandsaw is on wheels, so I can roll it forward to use it.
The precision disc sander is shop-made, and is handy for flattening objects.
The wood cutting bandsaw is on wheels, so I can roll it forward to use it.
The precision disc sander is shop-made, and is handy for flattening objects.
Sander and Buffer
Just behind the workbench is a vertical sander, which can be used as either a belt sander or a spindle sander.
At the end of this table is a shop-made buffer. Underneath is storage for a shop vac and a lot of miscellaneous fixtures.
At the end of this table is a shop-made buffer. Underneath is storage for a shop vac and a lot of miscellaneous fixtures.
Welder, Sander, and Misc.
My wire welder is mounted on a stand with wheels, which I keep covered to keep out the dust when I'm not using it.
I also have a combination sander (belt/disc) mounted on a stand with wheels so I can move it out of the way when it is not being used.
Underneath the blue cover is a heat treating furnace. It is also kept covered to keep dust out of the digital control mechanism.
The rest of the set of shelves contain numerous hand tools and supplies.
I also have a combination sander (belt/disc) mounted on a stand with wheels so I can move it out of the way when it is not being used.
Underneath the blue cover is a heat treating furnace. It is also kept covered to keep dust out of the digital control mechanism.
The rest of the set of shelves contain numerous hand tools and supplies.
More Tools.....
The rest of the shelving stores even more tools and supplies.
Tool Tower
This set of tool boxes probably weighs at least a ton! Every drawer is full......
Communications Center
Moving to the inside of the house, this is sort of my communications center.
The computer desk is an old dresser I found in a thrift store. I refinished it, removed the center drawer and mounted a keyboard drawer. The top right drawer holds the computer mouse.
I converted the space below the "mouse drawer" to house a pc (made the drawer fronts into a hinged door), but my current pc is too tall to fit, so this area now stores printer paper.
The computer desk is an old dresser I found in a thrift store. I refinished it, removed the center drawer and mounted a keyboard drawer. The top right drawer holds the computer mouse.
I converted the space below the "mouse drawer" to house a pc (made the drawer fronts into a hinged door), but my current pc is too tall to fit, so this area now stores printer paper.
Where the Hard Work Gets Done
This is where most of my design work gets done. This area contains another homemade computer (hidden), and sufficient workspace to design things and store reference books. It is a great place to sit down with a blank sheet of paper!
I also program a talking robot head that I built from the computer on this desk. The talking robot head will be a future instructable.
I also program a talking robot head that I built from the computer on this desk. The talking robot head will be a future instructable.
Animatronics
Actually I've built two talking robot heads, which are stored in these two trunks. Rather than show them here, I'll put together a future instructable on one of them.
Salvaged Equipment
A lot of the equipment I have in both the shop and the indoor workspace began as a pile of junk that I either fixed, modified, or in some cases built from scratch.
The IBM copier in the photo is a good example. It no longer worked and was given to me for parts. The owner told me that the IBM repairman said it would cost around $200 just to diagnose the problem. I found the problem was a broken gear, ordered the part for $14, and now have a really good copier. Oh yes, it also came with two brand new toner cartridges!
I hope you've enjoyed visiting my two workspaces. Before I retired, working in these spaces was how I would relax at the end of the day. Now that I've retired, sometimes I spend the entire day in them!
The IBM copier in the photo is a good example. It no longer worked and was given to me for parts. The owner told me that the IBM repairman said it would cost around $200 just to diagnose the problem. I found the problem was a broken gear, ordered the part for $14, and now have a really good copier. Oh yes, it also came with two brand new toner cartridges!
I hope you've enjoyed visiting my two workspaces. Before I retired, working in these spaces was how I would relax at the end of the day. Now that I've retired, sometimes I spend the entire day in them!