What Type Of Equipment Do You Have In Your Home Shop ?

I have been intrested in all types of machining since I was a teenager, wood and metal. After high school and before college I took a years course in machine shop and drafting.

In my shop I have all the usual stuff, table saw, band saw, drill press and all types of sanders. A couple of years ago I bought a mini lathe and milling machine. You would be surprised at what you can make with these little machines if you just take your time. They can be very precise down to .001 of an inch if you are careful, very inexpensive and worth the money.

I have also been very interested in all types of firearms most of my life. I have owned about every type of firearm they have made, since I'm getting older I have sold a lot of them because I just can't get out and shoot them the way I used to. That is one thing that got me interested in air guns, I don't have to go to a shooting range to enjoy them just set up a target in the back yard. I haven't done to much machining with the air guns I have now but I have planes to do some mods to them in the future.

Bill

[DanoInTx]

I have a bandsaw, belt/disk sander, floor standing drill press, compound mitre saw, spring compressor and a ping pong table.  I have a boat load of hand tools as I tend to collect them ever since I became a mechanic, and boat loads of small sanders, Dremel stuffs, saws of all shapes and sizes, files out the wazoo(ouch!), a roll away filled to the brim with tools and left over junk from various projects...I could go on forever, but I own no table saw, and no mill or lathe.....just never needed them, but as thing with me go, when I start a project and need a tool to complete it I buy the tools I need.

I was an aviation metalsmith in the military, and really like working with sheet metal.  After leaving my career as an airline mechanic a few years back I found myself without a place to work my metal projects, so I picked up some wood and started doing home improvement projects.  Wood tools are most definately less expensive than good metal tools, and it helps when you can tell your wife,"Hey, I think I'll do some built in shelving in here", she really could care less about metal projects, they don't help much around the house usually....sure makes buying tools easier when your wife gets something out of it:)  Last year I bought my two oldest sons Red Ryders for Christmas, I liked shooting them so much I went and bought myself a RWS M92.  Somewhere from there I saw some custom made grips for a Crosman 2240, I bought them and also bought a Crosman 2240 to put them on...they looked sweet, but I had this thought in my mind that for what I paid I coulda made 20 sets of grips.  So I went out and grabbed a hunk of Pine I had left over from another house project and made a set of grips.  Looked pretty good to me.  About that same time I met Joel Lively from Airgun Artisans, and he introduced me to Steve Corcoran who is a master stockmaker.  It's all been downhill from there.  Those grips I made turned into a completely wooden 2240, then I made a few more for other people, made some Crosman 13XX grips and pump arm...etc... And a few weeks ago I cut my first stock...with alot of help from Steve:)

I shot air rifles when I was a young kid, about 11-13.  I always enjoyed it alot.  I really enjoy working with my hands also, so wood and air rifles just kinda "work" for me.  I was also a mechanic for the better part of my adult life, so the inner workings of these things get me a little hot and bothered also.  Such a beautiful simple machine with so many "tiny" little nuiances that can drive a guy nuts!  It's a challenge for sure.  

Ok, that's my story and I'm sticking to it:)

Dan

[shadow]

Well lets see, One mini lathe,drill press,bench type.Belt sander,table saw,band saw,grinding wheels, one for each bench, 3 benches.Tons of tools,files,parts cleaner tub,electric.One sand blaster but you know what happens when your at the hardware store, oh I've got to have one of those for the shop, maby two hehe.And a RAT I can't seem to catch. I gess the sound of airrifles going off in my loft has made him gun shy.Bob you know something about RAT TRAPS, you think Gene would loan me one hehehe. Ed

[CharlieDaTuna]

Me... I ain't got much,,,, couple a pairs of pliers, couple a screw drivers that I got ground down jist right and two good hammers. Oh...and a chunkin chisel. Wat more do ya need.

Gotta tell ya though...ain't got no rats around here.  Fritz takes care of all of the light stuff for me. And I ain't seen none at Gene's either. They probably walk into the garage, take one look at that gun wall and leave...never to return. The guy has everything from Pea shooters to Blunderbus's. I never know what's next when I go over there. Funny thing is, his better half don't ever say nothin' about what all he gots. But then...she can't get into the garage cuz Gene told her the lock got busted somehow. But one day....he's gonna slip up...hee hee

[DanoInTx]

What more does a shop need than a couple "BFH's" anyways?  Most things I can fix with a swipe from a Big Freakin' Hammer, and what I can't fix with one of those I just buy new:)

Anyone want to buy any slightly used tools, just realised how many I have that I don't really need:)

Dan

[daved]

You all forgot the single most important tool in the shop- DUCT TAPE!!  Can't fix nothin without duct tape.  That, and a good collection of sledge hammers is all a guy needs.  My sledge hammer collection runs from 2 to 16 pounds, gotta have the right tool for the job!

Okay, I'll be (semi) serious.  Primarily wood working tools, table saw, radial arm saw, drill press, jointer, bandsaw, wood lathe.  Then there's my "tool box" that goes with me to job sites, a 6'x8' utility trailer rigged out with all my carpentry/framing tools.  I tend to a fairly serious tool jones, my family is convinced that my goal is to die with more tools than God.  I figure I'm about 1/4 of the way there, so at my current rate, I'll have to live to be 200.  Actually longer, because now I'm buying airgun stuff, which cuts into my tool buying :-)!  I'm really thinking I want an R9, but I also really want a mini metal lathe.  Decisions, decisions!  Later.

Dave

Hi Guys

I started off designing and building amateur radio antennas so I set up a small metal shop. Then I decided to make things from driftwood off the local beach so I set up for wood. Then when I found that no one wanted to pay the prices I wanted for my wooden works of art I turned to air guns. The mini lathe I bought for the antennas wasn't really big enough but I made do and started making muzzle breaks, you know the type that are ok here in the UK but not over there. My mini lathe literally went bang one day when it was just out of warranty and after a week spent trying to fix it I gave up and talked the misses into buying me a new bigger one. That was back in October 2006 and since then I have gone from strength to strength with orders coming in all of the time and I have sent my products all over the world. Long live noisy air rifles I say!

So back to the original question of what is in the shop. I have the lathe, bench grinder, two band saws and a pedestal drill plus loads of power tools like routers and planers etc. They don't get used much these days, but I prefer swarf to sawdust any day. I would like a milling machine some day but for now I am busy enough making the round tubular things on the lathe. You can see my website in the mall under muzzlebreaks'r'us, but don't touch you hear!

Jon

Shop tools, well I have one harbor freight 7” X 20” here at the house and a Calusing 12 “ X 48” at my nephews house (he has 440 volts) and also up there I  have a type 1 Bridgeport with a 9” X 48” table. Also at home I have a mini mill, cut off saw, belt sander, 10” table saw, router table, bench grinder, polishing wheel, bench drill press, and big vise for unscrewing barrels. Lots and lots of hand tools, micrometers to 6”, depth micrometers to 12”, inside small hole gauges, telescoping gages, radius gauges, a couple of digital calipers along with dial calipers, air compressor, air brush compressor, a couple of 1” dial indicators and magnetic stands, assorted small dial indictors, large supply of taps and dies to 1 ½”, large supply of drill bits to 1 1/4 “, reamers hand and power to 1”.  Lots more but this is a collection of tooling I have collected over the years of the different jobs I have had.
 I am a card carrying journeyman tool and die maker, and machine builder, but retired and enjoying myself doing what I like with no time card to punch, and the government pays me every month.

Emco 8X24 lathe, Emco FB-2 mill, 30" foot treadle sheet metal shear, 30" toe brake (for sheet metal bending), table saw, radial arm saw, jig saw, bench grinder, drill press, arbour press, air compressor, a bunch of store bought tools and a bunch of home-made tools.

[jct842]

cummins 7x12 lathe, harbor freight micro mill, bandsaw, bench sanders, grinders, and tooling.  a friend gave me a several big  handfulls of end mills, mostly new that fit my mill,  so between them and 2 sets I bought I have a lot of them maybe over 50.  wish I had a bigger mill, there were lots more,   that fit bigger mills.    he gave them to a second person and I could have had them too.   should have got a few big ones, just realized they would fit my lathe, I have a milling attachment for it too.   john