Small Fab/Machine Shop

Hello everyone!

I recently started building a shop with my Father now that he is retired. I have been a welder/machinist for going on 10 years now, and due to some health issues I am not able to work full-time. Not sure what this will lead to, but so far we are off to a good start getting some good local auctions on bidspotter

Being on forums before I know... Youse need pictures

IMG_20211125_134504 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211125_134445 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211125_134452 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211123_161055 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211123_175631 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211123_161045 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

And I do specialize in TIG welding... This shop is primarily setup for exhaust/automotive Fab work so welding related questions I should be able to help with

IMG_20211125_134538 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211125_134555 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

Who needs red or blue

IMG_20211125_134708 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

20170412_140247 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

bently01 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

looks like a fabulous space to work in. Looking forward to more pics of your shop as you set it up and the projects you work on.

Cool stuff! Keep it coming. Never seen those welders before.

Thanks Bud! There are a few things I have as projects, but hopefully once we get the lathe in place and the shop cleaned up I can try and get some work in

Out of all the imports I would get the AHP. If it works out of the box it's likely a good unit, but keep in mind it's 35% duty cycle so you cant stick weld like you can a bigger machine. TIG is just fine as there is so much prep and dicking around it's hard to hit, and if you pulse like I do you realistically have 50% due to the low amp off time

We didn't get to run the lathe before we pulled it out unfortunately, so we have been going through it. And honestly we didn't expect to get it since we only bid $600, but I realized why shortly after when I noticed a $75 removal fee on 3 calipers... It had a $550 removal fee on top of the 27%; thankfully we got there before the riggers, and the owner helped us pull it out and we got out of all the removal fees

Coolant systems works as it should and there is power to the power feed, but the wire was cut when we got it. The motor we already took apart to see if it was bad, but it looks fine. The transformer in the power feed box was blown so hopefully replacing that will fix the power feeds

It ran pretty loud at first, but then quieted down after it ran for a few minutes. I've run the Hardige tool room version of this lathe and it's about as loud as this one is. We did have to adjust the belts as the whole thing was out of alignment and really loose. Then we ran the high speed and we came to the conclusion that there is a problem with the high speed windings on the motor. Isolating the motor we were getting 4 open circuits and a low ohm compared to the low speed that read correctly. Low speed runs to almost 1k RPM so for now that will have to do.

IMG_20211130_182625 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211201_121402 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211130_182643 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

IMG_20211130_182655 by Matt Arentz, on Flickr

What are you planning to use that turret lathe for? Did you just buy it because it was cheap?

Garwood said:

What are you planning to use that turret lathe for? Did you just buy it because it was cheap?

Click to expand...

Snark attack brought on by image of turret lathe. Oh man.

Nice looking shop! Best!

Garwood said:

What are you planning to use that turret lathe for? Did you just buy it because it was cheap?

Click to expand...

We got it at an auction and bid $600 thinking we would for sure get out bid, but we didn't... It's not ideal for what I need it for, but will work until I can afford something that better suits our needs

standardparts said:

Snark attack brought on by image of turret lathe. Oh man.

Nice looking shop! Best!

Click to expand...

Thanks bud

We did a little more work on the lathe and got it put in place. Unfortunately the power feeds were not as easy of a fix as we thought, and it blew the fuse again once everything was hooked up. Considering we paid $700 for it, I'm considering cutting the current saddle in half to make a proper cross slide section and tail stock. Putting a ball screw on the back and a motor on the y slide. But there will be a separate thread if we go that route





Saw this Bison Chuck for too good of a price here in the for sale section... Thanks again Ray





Still re-organizing the shop and getting everything put in place. I have a few things to get through then I'll be re-doing the exhaust on my dads truck as well as starting the production a Racing SIM rig that I have been working on. Wood prototype is done, and I'm ready to start the steel ones.

Looks pretty good if you ask me. I with I could get that good of deal on a lathe like that.

Nice little shop. Wish you the best. Just enjoy the time with your Dad....it's priceless. Might want to protect the wall behind the lathe it'll get messy.

"I'm considering cutting the current saddle in half to make a proper cross slide section" might (almost certain) not produce accurate results, carriage width relates directly with maintaining alignment to the spindle. The 'straightest' lathes are roughly 2 or 3 times width compared to that across the bed. Increases possibility travel will bind under tow via lead screw.