# My Shop Equipment



## Tom Anderson (Jan 27, 2010)

Some folks have asked about the equipment I use. It's a collection of machines and gear that I've accumulated over many years. There's nothing really fancy - none of it is CNC controlled (unless you think CNC means "Crank 'N Cut!" )

Some of these photos are a few years old, but my shop looks pretty much the same now. (Well, maybe not as clean!  )







This is my little 2-hp bench mill/drill. I've added a number of gizmos to it (DRO, variable speed drive, rotary table, etc.).






My 12" x 36" gap bed lathe. (I don't remove the gap bed, so it's really more of a 9" x 36" lathe.) Again, I've added a few gizmos to make life a little easier (DRO, 5C closer)






I've actually added a Sjogren 5C chuck to my late since the above photo was taken. It makes accurate turning a lot better.






My 20+ year old drill press and a home-made 18-ton hydraulic press.






My bandsaws. The front one is for metal and the one in the back is used to cut wood and other soft materials.






My Wilton 2" x 72" grinder. I've made a few modifications to this, including a variable speed DC drive. Behind it is a 6" x 48"/12" disc combination sander.






A slow speed (90 RPM) horizontal disc sander. (Made from various bits and pieces.)






My little surface grinder. 






A small 1/2-HP buffer.






Belts for the Wilton.






My air compressor setup. I got tired of burning up motors on the one on the right, so it just serves as an expansion tank. Now I have 140 gallons of air at 120 psi. 






My bench top bead blast unit. It has a number of coalescing filters and a drier attached to it.






My main dust collection unit. I also have two other small filtration units. 






An ultrasonic cleaner.






My anodizing equipment. (I call it "the Tower of Power"  )






My parts queue bench, made from Hastelloy for when I work with acid. (Old photo showing folder blades that I finished years ago. I normally didn't make so many of one model knife at a time, but these were for a dealer.) I stopped making knives a few years ago.






... and, my main workbench.

That's it! 

BTW: All this stuff is located in my basement.


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## PhotonFanatic (Jan 27, 2010)

Looks awesome to me. I feel lucky to have a lathe in my basement.


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 27, 2010)

Those lights you build look really cool!


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## StrikerDown (Jan 27, 2010)

Very nice! Hope you don't ever want to move!


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## precisionworks (Jan 27, 2010)

Nice shop :thumbsup:

The Wilton Square Wheel is an awesome grinder. Looks like you have a 3M structured abrasive belt mounted in the photo ... they work very well.



> Now I have 140 gallons of air at 120 psi


Similar to what I have - mine is 180 gallons (3 tanks at 60g each) plus at least 20 gallons more in piping the shop end to end.


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 27, 2010)

StrikerDown said:


> Very nice! Hope you don't ever want to move!



Me too! I've been in the same house for 34 years. 



precisionworks said:


> Nice shop :thumbsup:
> 
> The Wilton Square Wheel is an awesome grinder. Looks like you have a 3M structured abrasive belt mounted in the photo ... they work very well.
> 
> Similar to what I have - mine is 180 gallons (3 tanks at 60g each) plus at least 20 gallons more in piping the shop end to end.



I really like my Square Wheel grinder. I did a few modifications to it over the years ("tweaking" it to suit the tasks at hand). The biggest improvement was adding the variable speed drive.

Those Trizact® belts are nice for finishing and they last a long time. I use the 3M ceramic Cubitron® and Regalite® belts for heavier grinding. Titanium quickly wears out everything else I've tried.

I agree that you can never have enough air in the shop!


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## TranquillityBase (Jan 27, 2010)

Awesome shop Tom!


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## darkzero (Jan 27, 2010)

Tom, can't wait to see some flashlights created by you! 

Ya got to post the pic of your Ti stock collection too! :naughty:


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## 65535 (Jan 27, 2010)

Nice shop.

Speaking or compressed air, at the CC Theatre I work at while attending school there we have compressor power that would blow you away.

What we have is insane and is illogical for us, but it's nice.

50HP rotary screw compressor (IR)
250gallon air receiver
Large Dryer

We use pneumatic staplers and nail guns.
Occasionally a impact wrench. That's it.

Not to mention the copper piping with legs around the shop.

Seriously insane.


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## StrikerDown (Jan 27, 2010)

Tom it looks like we have basically the same mill/drill, Mine is the Rong Fu RF-31, looks just like yours except the color.

I am thinking about putting a 3 axis DRO on it and I looks like you have done it to yours. Is there any possibility of pictures showing how your scales are mounted?

Particularly the Z axis.

Thanks.


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 27, 2010)

TranquillityBase said:


> Awesome shop Tom!



Thank you! :wave:



darkzero said:


> Tom, can't wait to see some flashlights created by you!
> 
> Ya got to post the pic of your Ti stock collection too! :naughty:



I think I'm going to leave the making of custom flashlights to the professionals. 

My titanium stock is always changing. Here's the bar stock I had a few weeks while back. (I've used a bit added a bit since then.)






The tubing is stored in another part of the shop. I just got a few more pieces this morning.






1" OD, heavy wall (.200") seamless






I bought this to make a few of my special "Nuke" Titanium Canes. (They're kind of rare - I don't even have them listed on my website right now.)




65535 said:


> Nice shop.
> 
> Speaking or compressed air, at the CC Theatre I work at while attending school there we have compressor power that would blow you away.
> 
> ...



Sounds like overkill. I *love* overkill!!!


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 27, 2010)

StrikerDown said:


> Tom it looks like we have basically the same mill/drill, Mine is the Rong Fu RF-31, looks just like yours except the color.
> 
> I am thinking about putting a 3 axis DRO on it and I looks like you have done it to yours. Is there any possibility of pictures showing how your scales are mounted?
> 
> ...



I made all the brackets myself. The body of the Z axis spar is mounted through two of the holes where the nameplate was mounted. The reader has a steel bracket I made which is then fastened to a titanium strap that is mounted to the quill casting. I had to drill and tap the quill casting for the mounting screws, but it was easy to do. (Sorry, it's been a while since I did this. Needed to jog the memory.)

Anyhow, I think Grizzly now has complete 3-axis DRO kits for this size mill, including the brackets.


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## jch79 (Jan 27, 2010)

One word: oo:


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## precisionworks (Jan 27, 2010)

> The biggest improvement was adding the variable speed drive.


+1

My Burr King 482 became much more useful with the larger 3hp motor & VFD control. Same with the Delta 6" belt - 12" disc sander, the drill press, and the wire wheel machine. Lots of manufacturers offer a variable speed option but want an arm & a leg for a drive that costs not very much.



> 1" OD, heavy wall (.200") seamless


Where do you find the Ti mechanical tubing?


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## wquiles (Jan 27, 2010)

GREAT shop Tom :thumbsup:

Most of us can only dream of such space and tools


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## darkzero (Jan 28, 2010)

wquiles said:


> Most of us can only dream of such space and tools


 
And the items he produces with them! At least that part can be a reality! There's not one item I have seen of Tom's that I haven't drooled over many times. It's been a very long time where I have felt this way about someone's work/products that I have seen. Tom's Twister pens are stunning!

Ok, ok, I'll shut up & go wipe the drool off my face now.


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## ANDREAS FERRARI (Jan 28, 2010)

As a backyard mechanic with mainly hand tools I have to say I'm really impressed with your compressor and your dust collection system.Oh-and all the titanium also.

The rest is just eye candy to me.Mouth watering eye candy..


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 28, 2010)

Thanks, everyone! :wave:



precisionworks said:


> +1
> 
> My Burr King 482 became much more useful with the larger 3hp motor & VFD control. Same with the Delta 6" belt - 12" disc sander, the drill press, and the wire wheel machine. Lots of manufacturers offer a variable speed option but want an arm & a leg for a drive that costs not very much.
> 
> Where do you find the Ti mechanical tubing?



Being able to dial-in the exact speed makes it easier to get a good surface finish and saves your tooling when working with difficult to machine materials.




precisionworks said:


> Where do you find the Ti mechanical tubing?



I have several suppliers that have been kind enough to let me know whenever they come across some. 

I use the heavy wall stuff to make the shafts on these:
















There are 3 tritium vials in the head:


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## kd5ahl (Jan 28, 2010)

Titanium Battle Mace! 

Epic.


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## precisionworks (Jan 28, 2010)

What's the weight on the walking stick ?


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 28, 2010)

kd5ahl said:


> Titanium Battle Mace!
> 
> Epic.



Kind of nasty looking, isn't it? 









precisionworks said:


> What's the weight on the walking stick ?



They can vary a bit, but the last one was 47 ounces. 

The "Nuke" canes are heavier than the Classic or the T-Grip versions I make.


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## KC2IXE (Jan 28, 2010)

65535 said:


> Nice shop.
> 
> Speaking or compressed air, at the CC Theatre I work at while attending school there we have compressor power that would blow you away.
> ...snip...


Back in the 1979-1980 era, I had a summer job for Bulova Watch - they had taken the mfg out of their plant in Astoria (mostly) nad turned it into a warehouse. The thing is, the plant air compressors were there. Cant remember the exact size, BUT there were TWO, and if I remember correctly EACH was something like 75 or 100 HP - BIG reciprocating compressors - the bore had to be like 10 Inches with a LONG stroke. As most of the plant was shut, we only ran one. I never saw the air tank - it was a "ROOM" in the back

That place was strange. Picture a building that you make watches in, and how clean you have to keep it - despite it being a warehouse, it was still kept that way, and the small mfg that was left was in a clean room inside THAT (think it was stuff for the Military)

ODD things I knew because I ended up on the HVAC staff - like the tache that every 'mechanical room' (which had at least 3-4 AC compressors in them - most 8 or 9) was designed that at full load, there was still at least one SPARE compressor, so that by just changing valves, we could keep the system at 100%. Ditto the cooling towers - each of the 4 tower rooms had a spare tower (and yes, the towers were INSIDE, and could be closed off from the weather, or the space fan vented)

The OTHER part - the building ran at 100% fresh air - NOT recirculated, and the building was kept at a SIGNIFICANT positive pressure, to prevent dust/dirt from getting in, and on top of that, all air used was electrostaticlly precipitated - aka the builing - all of it, from the lobby and everywhere else, was basiclly a clean room!


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## StrikerDown (Jan 29, 2010)

KC2IXE said:


> Back in the 1979-1980 era, I had a summer job for Bulova Watch - they had taken the mfg out of their plant in Astoria (mostly) nad turned it into a warehouse. The thing is, the plant air compressors were there. Cant remember the exact size, BUT there were TWO, and if I remember correctly EACH was something like 75 or 100 HP - BIG reciprocating compressors - the bore had to be like 10 Inches with a LONG stroke. As most of the plant was shut, we only ran one. I never saw the air tank - it was a "ROOM" in the back
> 
> That place was strange. Picture a building that you make watches in, and how clean you have to keep it - despite it being a warehouse, it was still kept that way, and the small mfg that was left was in a clean room inside THAT (think it was stuff for the Military)
> 
> ...



You for got to mention when they paid the energy bill the bank became a clean room!


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## KC2IXE (Jan 30, 2010)

StrikerDown said:


> You for got to mention when they paid the energy bill the bank became a clean room!



Yeah, Running 100% fresh air on a building that size must have cost a TON of money - you could keep cool standing 4-5 feet outside the employee doors during the rush times - the breeze was significant


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## Superdave (Jan 30, 2010)

so that drier actually works on your blast cabinet?


i've got 2 of them in the air line to mine and i still get water. my tank gets drained weekly and the driers get drained before use. 


i mostly blast engine parts so it's not a huge deal, just annoying. 



nice setup though!


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## Tom Anderson (Jan 31, 2010)

I have 2 coalescing filters in line right before the drier. (You can't see them in the photo, but they're on the side of the cabinet. The blue hose comes out from them.) 

I also have a big dehumidifier not shown in the photos that keeps the humidity in my shop below 60%.


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