Shop Tour, The rest of Max Machine!

[Mark Winlund]

Here is the balance of the photos... there are a bunch, so I am posting them in replies to this thread. I hope this is legal!

The next assortment... the machine shop. Please see my first post, "Shop Tour, Max Machine (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=76824) " if you are just interested in the engraving setup.

Mark

[Mark Winlund]

More here...

[Mark Winlund]

More yet...

[Mark Winlund]

The fab shop... what's left of my welding days

[Mark Winlund]

Misc stuff... (The safe is an antique.... nothing in it!)

[Pete Simmons]

Wow!

If it was not so cold there I would like to come out (I live in FL ) and be your second employee. Wage of $0.00 would be fine as long as I can use the tools.

How about some explaination on some of the tool pictures. Especially tools that are not in an average backyard shop.

Very nice setup!

[Mike Null]

Well, that's a hands down winner. You've got more toys than anybody I've ever seen.

One suggestion. Maybe you could put a label on some of those things so we'd know what we're looking at.

Thanks very much for taking the time to photograph and post the pictures.

[Mark Winlund]

That's pretty much it. The question I always get asked... 14,000 square ft in two floors. Junk (the priceless kind) is stored upstairs. There are trap doors in the ceiling to allow a forklift to load and unload the upper floor. A lot of time is spent cleaning and finding stuff.

[Mark Winlund]

Wow!

If it was not so cold there I would like to come out (I live in FL ) and be your second employee. Wage of $0.00 would be fine as long as I can use the tools.

How about some explaination on some of the tool pictures. Especially tools that are not in an average backyard shop.

Very nice setup!

If you can ask me a specific question, and give me the file name of the photo, I will try to answer. I'm not trying to be difficult; there are tens of thousands of items... I could write a book and not discuss it all.

Regards,

Mark

[Frank Corker]

From what I can see, you just need a few more machines before you are sorted out fully! Wow.

[Bruce Page]

I could die happy in there. It’s not every shop that has its own foundry!

Major WOW!

[Tom Bull]

When I was a kid, over 50 years ago:eek:, the grocery store, (that was before supermarkets) had a safe like that at the front door. Right beside it they had a little table with comic books for the kids to look at. Can you imagine leaving your little kids alone by the front door in this day? Thanks for the memories!

[Mark Winlund]

I just got asked about the machines in "more..." the first two photos (modelshop1 and modelshop2). The funny looking grey and green machines are not lathes, they are gear hobbers. They make precision gears very rapidly. These two are about 1940's vintage. I have an extensive amount of tooling for them.

Mark

[Larry Bratton]

I thought I had a bunch of stuff. That takes the prize! Ten's of thousands of items the man said...

[Mark Winlund]

From what I can see, you just need a few more machines before you are sorted out fully! Wow.

Actually, I have sold some of them off to make more room. I had a belt drive planer in there at one time, and a radial arm drill. I have sold my big northwood CNC router and bought a small Exitech CNC router to take its place. The shop is really cramped for work space and storage. You may note the use of mezzanines for storage throughout the shop. The engraving area is taken to the limit in this regard. I didn't want to use up more shop space for engraving. You can see that it didn't work; the router and all of the pantographs are now out in the machine shop, along with a spare CNC engraver.

Mark

[Stephen Beckham]

Mark - looks more like "TIRED" than "Retired" That's what I'd be just trying to look at the machines in photos... Truly the American dream for a man who's broke to become a man who can fix anything broke!

If you didn't have so many sharp edges you could charge admission to the "Oregon's very own Smithsonian"

Thanks for the e-tour...

[Anthony Scira]

Man you really took that bumper sticker to heart !

"He with most toys wins"

Or what ever it is.

[jack Halley]

Daddy--
I knew I would find you sooner or later!

Can't wait to come home!

What a great shop!

Will you come and help organize mine?

[Mike Null]

Mark

I have an idea the state of Missouri would come in and tax me right out of all that stuff.

Do you have to contend with that in Wash.?

[pete hagan]

I am finally able to show my wife that you do indeed collect all this stuff over the years in business! (Although I would have to say I am jealous!) We had our business building’s roof ripped off last week from storms causing a mad dash to re-locate my business temporarily. Being the good spouse my wife was “visiting her mother” when all this happened so she missed the majority of the move. However yesterday when she came to survey the damage she complained about all this “junk”. After seeing your posts I quickly pulled up the Creek on my laptop and WALLA I am not alone! THANKS A MILLION for the pictures. I must say you have a very nice collection of fun stuff!

[Robert Ray]

I have never seen anything like your shop in my life! http://www.trainboard.com/tbsmiles/134.gif It makes even the most well equipt shops I have seen rate "Smack Fu Grasshopper in Training" relative! :D

[Ray Mighells]

A very impressive accumulation of STUFF!! More significant are the skills learned and the knowledge and wisdom acquired in the process. I hope you don't have to move until you want to, and you can continue to use your equipment as long as the spirit moves you. I'll bet you still can't resist a new tool.

[Mark Winlund]

A very impressive accumulation of STUFF!! More significant are the skills learned and the knowledge and wisdom acquired in the process. I hope you don't have to move until you want to, and you can continue to use your equipment as long as the spirit moves you. I'll bet you still can't resist a new tool.

Thank you. It is somewhat of a disease; my wife is very patient with me. I used to go to every auction within a hundred miles. Ebay changed all that. There was a long time when I was addicted to ebay. (Also Reliable Tools; at one point they told me I was their best customer!)

The skills learned didn't always make me a lot of money, but it was fun to learn. The process of discovery was more fun than making money (as long as I wasn't broke!)

This shop is the fifth in a long line of shops. I think it will be my last; I am getting too old and feeble to do it all over again. If I did, the one thing I woulld add would be a freight elevator, and two or three stories.

The tools I buy today are usually small in size. The only exception to this lately has been the cold saw, a 12 gauge brake, and a small resaw for award plaques. It is also a zero sum game. I sell stuff I am not using to acquire new stuff that I will use (maybe).

One advantage of the variety of skills and equipment is that I can combine them to make unusual awards. An example is Laser engraving, routing, and custom woodworking. Without similar capabilities, it is difficult for the competition to follow.

Mark

[Rick Larson]

Mark, thanks for all the pictures,but now my wife wont let me back on the site. I just asked for a few of them!! You have a great shop and the way you keep it shows your pride. My question is how did you learn to run all of them?? The knowledge you must have is great. What did you do before the lazer?? Thanks again and keep up the posting.

[Mark Winlund]

Mark, thanks for all the pictures,but now my wife wont let me back on the site. I just asked for a few of them!! You have a great shop and the way you keep it shows your pride. My question is how did you learn to run all of them?? The knowledge you must have is great. What did you do before the laser?? Thanks again and keep up the posting.

Hi Rick...

I have always been curious about how things work. I would rather take something apart and fix it more than anything else. Most of my education has been self taught. I read a lot, and lately, use the internet as a source of information. I consider the internet to be the most important invention since the advent of movable type. I have only taken a few courses formally. With the exception of my Navy training, most of it comes from just diving in!

Please read the first posting I made about my shop for a brief history.

Thanks for the compliments!

Ma

[Brian Robison]

Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures.
Unfortunately I recognize most everything there!
Is that a Barber Coleman Hobb?

[Mark Winlund]

Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures.
Unfortunately I recognize most everything there!
Is that a Barber Coleman Hobb?

You're welcome. Yes, there are two hobbing machines there. One is the standard model, the other is the "precision" model that uses tapered hobs. These are still very useful machines despite being over 50 years old. They will cut gears up to 6" in diameter.

Mark