Shop Build...should be a fun journey...

[Steve Wurster]

Need to machine adapters for the gate which I'll order from Blastgate Company once I have the iVac gate to precisely measure the port diameters. Blastgate Company has a machine that adjusts the ID of the adapters to slip over the "machine" port...ports vary in exact size. For example, the machine adapter for the G700 was sized to 5.89" ID which made for a slip fit that can easily be sealed with foil tape.

Ah, I see. I knew that Blastgate would customize things for you if need be. Just didn't realize you would need it here, but that makes sense.

[Jim Becker]

Interesting. Why is static a serious issue for CNC operation? Expensive electronics?

Big time. Even though the machine is isolated from the dust collection electrically, a static charge in the "hose" can still jump around and cause erratic results. 'Nature of the beast... Gary Campbell has an excellent video about this on the 'Tube for anyone interested. As a general practice, I try to set up any hose connections so that the drain in the hose is connected to my duct work anyway, but pay particular attention to it at the CNC machine. A few years ago I was "feeling the charge" at my J/P when I got my hand near the hose during intense milling sessions and discovered I failed to connect said drain. Once I did, no more "special tingle". Friction of material moving through the hose can sometimes build up a good charge, depending on the particular hose.

[Jim Becker]

Ah, I see. I knew that Blastgate would customize things for you if need be. Just didn't realize you would need it here, but that makes sense.

Yea, Machine Adapters are pretty much the universal case where customization of the machine end of the adapter is necessary because no matter what measurement machine manufacturers say their dust port is, there is a lot of actual variability in design and because of materials used. Getting a good slip fit makes for a "tighter" system. Other vendors, such as Nordfab, would do the same.

[Jim Becker]

Right after we got back from some morning errands followed by some salad and pizza, the big brown truck dropped off my OmniWall order. I will readily admit that I got interested in this system from some of the folks I follow on the 'Tube. Historically, I've never been a fan of "peg board", but these metal wall systems are a combination of peg board and shelf standards that provides a "yuge" amount of flexibility. THe original intention was to do a "bench wall" full of French Cleats, but I have other fish to fry and the price of even inexpensive plywood isn't chump change. For a few shekels more, I had wall organization that went up in about an hour including measuring, prep, background painting and assembly without wrestling with sheets of plywood. Discovering that simple "cheap" shelf brackets can lock into the slots was icing on the cake...I can use them as components as I fabricate custom storage/display supports for hand tools and more.

At any rate, I bought a four pack of the wall units plus a few other accessories that I could use immediately. I bought the drill/driver storage last summer and used it in the temporary gara-shop by being creative and added the air tool bracket now. The wall units are heavy steel with a very nice finish. I opted for black since that's the theme, but if you like colors...they have colors. With a four panel package, there are two 32" top supports and two 32" bottom supports.

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Installation began with hanging the top supports level on the wall. I did have to use screw in anchors because the top of the units were not in line with the horizontal girts inside the wall. As should be no surprise, stuff like this is designed with the assumption that you have vertical studs that are 16" OC. I don't have that. So I adapted accordingly. The brackets cannot be moved up or down behind the panels because the panels actually hang off the top brackets and are held up at the bottom with the bottom brackets. I did put a few long screws through the grid into solid wood after completing the formal install to insure that even the heaviest loads would be supported. Painted black, those screws effectively disappeared. Here's the "test hang" after the top brackets were installed

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In the photo just above this text, you'll likely see that the light grey wall color bleeds through the holes and slots...not what I want to see...so a quick coat of flat black paint took care of the issue.

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Installing the panels couldn't be easier. After hanging one on the top bracket and locating it to the side where it will live, typical "push button connectors" are placed through two holes that are in both the top of the panel and the top of the top bracket. Similarly, two of those same fasteners go up through the bottom bracket and through the bottom of the panel. This locks it in place from moving horizontally or vertically in a very strong way.

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Before mounting the next panel in the series, two of these soft double sided connectors are placed in holes in the panel already installed and the next panel is then slid over (with a little force) to engage these connectors/spacers before doing the same operation at the top and bottom as the first panel. Rinse...repeat...as many times as you have panels. The net result is thus...

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[Jim Becker]

At that point, the wall system is complete and ready to "put stuff on it". I played around a little but ultimately decided to stack the air tools over the drill/drivers as that left the most space out to the right for things I intend to make. I did opt for the double wide "screwdriver" holder from OmniWall and mounted that along the bottom of the wall unit.

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After seeing this in place, I've decided to add one more panel before putting up a shelf unit to house the CNC tooling drawer unit and another hardware drawer unit stacked...a "half" of what I built previously for the hardware at the other end of the run. This will space things out nicely and allow for more growth/flexibility. For those who are interested, the cost of the four panel setup plus the air tool bracket with a "free" shelf unit plus the double wide screwdriver thingie was about $200.

Tomorrow, I'll start planning on what I need for my hand tools to relocate to this wall as well as maybe get started on a mobile clamp rack.

[George Yetka]

Im looking all over for it and cant find it now. But Bessey had an add that had a clamp rack put on a hinge that folded down from the ceiling when needed and made it very easy to grab clamps as needed.

Like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BKgbqGsCUQ

[Jim Becker]

I'm not sure a ceiling mounted clamp setup would be very practical with a 10' ceiling. That said, this larger, 24x36, more open space makes for the first time I've actually considered/wanted a mobile clamp rack solution. Part of the "design" is that about a quarter of the space is flexible use so things like assembly, particularly of larger projects or when multiple projects are working at the same time make for anything permanently mounted in one place inconvenient to other places. I even use the CNC table occasionally for assembly when I need that "absolutely for sure flat" surface. So being able to move the majority of clamps around to various areas to work is a big step saver in this space. I'm likely going to build something tall, similar to what April Wilkerson made awhile back that was inspired by a clamp rack project by, I think, Infinity Tools if I'm remembering correctly. Something about five feet tall will easily accommodate the 40" parallel clamps as well as the 30" and 24" versions along with a whole bunch of other things. OTOH, I may also keep a few quick clamps at the bench for, um...quick clamping utility, too, as I use them a lot for fixturing/workholding/etc.

[George Yetka]

https://www.woodpeck.com/ott-clampra...bile-2019.html this design holds 40 parallel and has a relatively small footprint. ive never had the issue of having to walk too far unfortunately so never thought of a cart for my use. My bench is about 12 feet from my main clamp cache. My bench has 12-12" parallels, my 40's are at that 12' mark, and the 60s i have are a bit harder to get to as well as long pipe clamps but I dont use them that much. For quick clamps I made a box and mounted it side ways on french cleat. and clip the quick clamps I have to it. If I need a lot I bring the whole assembly over.

[Greg Parrish]

Jim, here is a store bought version that would probably meet your needs. Can be customized with racks and trays for other items. With a bottom board, you could drop a shop vac in it also for storage and mobile dust collection. However, you could make something similar from wood of course. https://www.rockler.com/rockler-pack...storage-system

I'm not sure a ceiling mounted clamp setup would be very practical with a 10' ceiling. That said, this larger, 24x36, more open space makes for the first time I've actually considered/wanted a mobile clamp rack solution. Part of the "design" is that about a quarter of the space is flexible use so things like assembly, particularly of larger projects or when multiple projects are working at the same time make for anything permanently mounted in one place inconvenient to other places. I even use the CNC table occasionally for assembly when I need that "absolutely for sure flat" surface. So being able to move the majority of clamps around to various areas to work is a big step saver in this space. I'm likely going to build something tall, similar to what April Wilkerson made awhile back that was inspired by a clamp rack project by, I think, Infinity Tools if I'm remembering correctly. Something about five feet tall will easily accommodate the 40" parallel clamps as well as the 30" and 24" versions along with a whole bunch of other things. OTOH, I may also keep a few quick clamps at the bench for, um...quick clamping utility, too, as I use them a lot for fixturing/workholding/etc.

[Jim Becker]

George, in my previous shop setup(s), it wasn't practical to have a mobile clamp storage solution because there wasn't enough space to park it and almost all the clamp use was in one small area. So a stacked, wall mounted setup worked out nicely. Here is an old photo of that setup...it doesn't show some of the less used clamps (primarily pipe clamps) that were stored elsewhere):



Here in the new shop, I have pretty wide open spaces so flexibility is an asset. And I do have "parking space" for something mobile, too.

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Gregg, the Rockler clamp rack is way, way too small for my needs and my clamp collection...you can never have too many clamps, you know, so the quantity is likely to increase.

[Kyle Stiefel]

The Omniwall appears to be pretty cool stuff, Practical and looks sharp.

[Tom Jenson]

Jim, here is a store bought version that would probably meet your needs. Can be customized with racks and trays for other items. With a bottom board, you could drop a shop vac in it also for storage and mobile dust collection. However, you could make something similar from wood of course. https://www.rockler.com/rockler-pack...storage-system

I have this mobile clamp rack and it’s a really good bang for the buck. No issues with clamps up to 50”.


Jim,

Your shop is looking great!

[Dave Sabo]

Looking good.


I’ve been meaning to ask you if your jurisdiction required you t9 paint the exposed foam with intumescent paint ?

[Jim Becker]

I’ve been meaning to ask you if your jurisdiction required you t9 paint the exposed foam with intumescent paint ?

Nope. And I'm thankful for that as it would have been a pain in the you-know-what to do that. Since this is a detached "residential accessory building", the exposed foam isn't an issue. But then again, in our previous residence, the coating wasn't required in the attic, either. The entire envelope was exposed foam. That was considered conditioned space and there was even a gas-fired HVAC system in the space over the addition. Now that foam was "green" in color so perhaps it had some kind of inhibitor in it already, but the installer for my building just said that different foam manufacturers have different color foam. Who knows?

[Aaron Inami]

Out of curiosity, is there a reason why you placed the sliding table saw at an angle? I would think one would want to place machines as efficiently as possible to increase the amount of available floor space. For me, I am placing my slider parallel and closest to the wall as I can.