As long as you know where everything is, nobody else needs to. My dad keeps things in buckets, but I swear he knows where everything is when you ask him.

Thanks. Posts and two massive 6x12 clear-span beams were bridge timbers; sheathing from a farm house I tore down. Studs were no. 3s from a local mill. Oh, and '60s-vintage Pella windows from a house in town that was being remodeled.

Man, I feel ashamed lol.

I don't have any space to do any work..
I want a shop to do bike/car work... but gov't housing...
=(
some day..
sigh...

I know the feeling.

My dad had a nice workshop in the home I grew up in. While kids my age were getting hurt from sports, I was getting injuries from tools I've been told to stay away from. But I just loved it in there and grew up mucking around with tools far too big for a little kid. Most of the hand tools were USA Stanley items... high end stuff back in the day. By my teens, I was overhauling and hotrodding VW engines in my dad's workshop.

When I immigrated and got married, all the tools I had was a pair of pliers I found in a glove box and a cheap set of screw drivers I bought from the supermarket. Then some cheesy spanners. Man, that was hard... like I was walking around missing one leg. Most of the work I did was on the drive way - or on newspaper over carpet in a small spare bedroom when it was raining.

I've got a little workshop now, but never enough space. :)

Hang in there... your workshop will come in time.

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My porch was attached long after my house was built. They built "around" the existing guttering on the house, so the porch roof and house roof had guttering between them. :mad: It started leaking a couple years ago, so it was just basically storage for crap that could get wet.

I ripped the guttering out this yr. and patched the gap. Now it's dry and I can finally put stuff out there that I previously wouldn't. Gives me plenty of space to work (for now) and still some dry storage.

Wow, that's what I need more of - plenty of space to work and some dry storage... but just you wait - I'm sure you'll fill that up in no time! :D

It doesn't take much for me to run out of floor when I'm working on something. I've got stuff on top of stuff and things lying on the floor because I've got no where to put it. If my dad were still alive, he'd have a fit... he's a stickler for sweeping the floor every day and having every tool tucked away in it's proper place. The other wall in my shop is all cubby hole shelves, and that's full of bike bits and odd & ends. I sure could use twice the amount of floor area.

I always struggle to decide when to and when not to throw away stuff. Everytime I throw out something I haven't used in years, I guarantee you I would have a desperate need for it the following week! :mad: :p

My workbench:


http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...y-workshop.jpg

Now this is the kind of place I could spend the rest of my days.

Thats a nice work zone. Slap a vice on there and you'll be set.

oh man i wish i had a bench vice, guess i'd need a bench first (in fact i think my friend left a small bench vice at my rents house) grrr still need a bench, i'm on a rolling drawer thingy in my apt right now, stupid carpet, i keep stepping on shards of cable i try so hard not to let them get away when i have to cut a cable a tad shorter (get a fresh end) but somehow... also i have to lube chains outside... lame

at least if i have to do serious work i can go to work...

If I was in PA. I'd access to 1,000's of tools.
they got everything from taps and bench grnders and vices, to a bench sandblaster and paint guns and compressors there.

My uncle has a tool fetish... Every time something new comes out in the MAC Tools Catalog... he buys it lol.


I love it when I go there, I can do all my work in plenty of space because during the days the trucks and ambulances are pulled out of the stalls.

Oh man . . . you REALLY didn't need to show me your lathe :cry:. Saw a South Bend in the want ads a couple weeks ago with 3- and 4-jaw chucks, tool holders, everything for reasonable; but I just cannot justify a purchase like that right now. Then you go and twist the knife . . . .

Sorry Dm :o Yeah, I've been wanting a lathe for a really long time too. I got mine about 6 years ago now second hand. :)

Tell you what, if somebody posts a TIG welder I'll be sharing your pain. I've been longing for the day... oh sigh... :(

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My bench, grinder, and vice will be going in next... the air compressor should be here Friday.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/norwood1.jpg

^ I see you've got a dial gauge mounted to a magnetic stand there on the far right. Do you use that for wheel alignment?

what's that black road bike on the left side of the picture?

looks unique...

Oh yeah! I passed on bidding one at a school district auction years back (when SDs were getting rid of their metal shops) - - an it ended up going for $350 :twitchy:. We were a broke young couple at the time and I couldn't have swung it; but I knew what I missed out on.

Or trueing M/C crankshafts :D?

Yep.

The dial indicator is on a steel base with an old road fork mounted in it... I build wheels professionally and have never found the need to spend $$$ on a "professional" stand. I have used PS2's at the bike co-op and at another site where I volunteer and they are decent but not something I find essential.

I can measure dish and check the radial and lateral measurements very accurately with this set up and have been using this for many years with no complaints from anyone.

I do have my eye on an antique Hozan stand as I feel it would be right for my old fashioned shop and also be a functional piece of equipment.

^ Yeah same here, I've never found the need to buy a wheel alignment stand. I just don't do enough alighment to justify the cost. All these years I've always attached the wheel on the frame or fork (turned upside-down) and used masking tape and a popsicle stick! :o

I do have a dial gauge, but no base... hmmm you just gave me an idea. :)


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I built a little shelf next to the bench out of 2x4's that I had layin' around. I let the kids decorate the bench for me.:rolleyes:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC03426.jpg

I also got a little tool holder thingy from the Depot to free up some more space.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC03427.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...e/DSC03428.jpg



My Dad said if I got rid of my table saw, he'd give my my Grandpa's old table saw and wood lathe. We just need to make some room for it!!!:love:

Absolute beauty...

Wonderful craftsmanship on that sucker...

I drilled out a piece of scrap plate to accommodate a 1 inch steerer and left it wide enough to give good support and give me a place for my dial indicator to stick. It is also reasonably portable and can be placed in a vice (although I never had needed to do this).

Being that I worked at a machine shop I had access to a 1 inch drill bit and a drill press that would handle anything up to 4 inch bit so drilling through this rather heavy plate took seconds.

I use the zip ties for initial adjustments and then use the dial indicator to get the wheel as close to perfect as possible... my best wheels have been built to a tolerance of 1/1000 (cause I could) although 5/1000 is more than acceptable.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/truestand1.jpg

^ Up to a 4 inch drill bit?!?? Man, they make really big drill presses in Canuckistan!!! :lol:

Hey, I just found a magnetic base, which I'm hoping to score by next week... hopefully. :) Wow, 1/1000 truing tolerance... now that's close!

I just eyeball mine to about a millimeter cuz they just get bashed on rocks anyway, but soon I might be able to give it a go, just so that I can feel good about it... :D

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I have worked with bigger drills than this... :)

I feel like such a hack - - I'd have probably bored a pilot hole, burned it out bigger with the torch and welded it in place :). Well, a hack with a fairly steady hand . . . .