What does your shop layout look like?

As long as my wife’s car fits in, the other half of the garage is mine.
My thought was when i bought her her car i made sure it was a small car. :grin: :grin: :grin:

Thanks for the feedback on height! Got my stand welded and painted yesterday and the height is perfect.

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I like how you built the chiller into the base, very nice. But that CW-3000 is going to beg to be replaced with a 5000 soon.

I had a general idea of leaving space on the bottom for the chiller and stuff, but I can’t say I planned it out that carefully - I threw the thing together and it just happened to perfectly fit a piece of white shelving I had on hand! I also just finished attaching the air dryer/regulator for the air assist to the side.

I figured that CW-3000 might be inadequate in the long run, but it was what came with the package and I’ll see how it works out. Our average daily high temperatures here range all the way from 63 F in the winter to a whopping 73 F in the summer, so we’ll see how it does.

If you have max room temps of 73 in the summer you might be ok. My 3000 worked great till the first time the room temp climbed over 70.

I think you would benefit from something like this
With the use of a bracket to mount to your frame.

https://amzn.to/2L1DSmJ

Cheers

Sasquatch

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Thanks, I’ll consider those if I revise it. I got impatient to get the machine settled in so I went with what I had on hand - it’s hard to see here but it does have casters on it, just not terribly heavy duty ones.

Make sure they are rated for a certain weight otherwise they may buckle during the middle of a job . That’s the way it usually happens at the least opportune time.

Also keep in mind that the weight load should consider whatever you decide to put in the bd to engrave as well. Hopefully not slabs of black granite or marble for funeral stones.

Cheers

Sasquatch

I used the ones that came with the machine. I have bigger ones on hand, but they didn’t fit well with the steel I had, and didn’t have brakes. If it seems like it might be a problem, I’ll put some wood blocks under the legs so it won’t go anywhere if they give out. Can’t justify taking it apart again right now - I’m in my shop alone for the lockdown so getting the machine onto the stand in the first place required the forklift and a lot of running around and carefully nudging.

No plans to engrave headstones! I do sometimes laser serial numbers and manufacture dates onto random rocks with my marking laser just to mess with people, though.

Words? Who needs words?

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Nice! What I really need is a second floor - it’d give me about 2000 square feet more space AND give me a lower, flat ceiling for the main floor. No way am I going to have the budget for that any time soon, though.

Is that a commercial shop space or do you have a really large and awesome garage?

I’ve got that same blast cabinet, but the window visibility has gone downhill since a couple of barn owls started roosting over it.

Its my garage (3 car detached garage that sits behind the home). I cut a new window for that blast cabinet with… The Laser :slight_smile: because yes, they can go to hell (either by way of barn owls or reflecting aluminum oxide / glass bead/ walnut shell)

It started out as (and was for many years) just an unfinished space. The one day, I got one of those wild hairs up my. Well, you know.

@Stroonzo,

What I want to know is where your wife parks her car and how big a diamond :ring: did you have to buy her if she does not care .

Awesome :sunglasses: looking shop

Sasquatch

Behind the building is the garden shed with my air compressor. I designed and built the controller for my new compressed air system which incorporates a delay panel so when the pressure switch engages, the air dryer and aftercooler fan start. Then 45 seconds later the compressor turns on. This allows the air dryer to chill down for the recovery cycle and prevents me from having to keep the unit constantly running. (I used my laser cutter to make the mounting panel for the components in the controller box.)

On the lower half of the wall of my garden shed are two gable vents for fresh air intake while on the roof is a vent. I installed a blower (in the picture) just below the compressor. It automatically comes on with the air dryer and pulls in outside air from the vent into the shed (to help keep the heat buildup down).

I also have in here the vac head for the central vac system I plumbed in to the workspace.

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That’s one hell of a garage shop! And your dumbwaiter is freaking awesome. I’ve pondered building something like that for my shop, since for now I have to use my forklift to get heavy stuff up to the loft. The loft is over the office area, though, and I’d have to have some kind of guide or enclosure for a lift.

I’m afraid my shop isn’t likely to ever look that nice. I have a peaked ceiling that goes to 30’ or more, so even changing lights requires a scissor lift, and they only painted about halfway up. It’d take a ton of high-altitude drywall and painting work to make it really look finished.

Tell me about your air dryer - is that necessary for the laser specifically, or is it for general shop air use? I have a 40 gallon compressor out back, but the few things in the shop that need dry air (including the laser) have their own oil/water separators and filters. I’m hoping the unit I’ve got installed on the laser is adequate.

And as I’m writing this I just remembered that one of my workbenches that I got used like a decade ago has a nice filter/regulator hidden away in it that I’ve never used. Time to go cannibalize that thing.

The air dryer is essential for me. The humidity levels are so high here that it is inevitable for water to start spitting out of the air assist in the air conditioned space. It is better for the tools also. I also would not be able to use any of my HVLP paint sprayers without the damn headache of water always ruining my painting.

It was the laser that finally got me to install the air dryer though.

Ah, that’s something we don’t have to deal with here on California’s central coast. It rarely gets very humid, and with an average summer high of 73 almost no one has air conditioning. Of course, anywhere else in the country I could get twice as much space for the same rent…

It’s all just really hobby for me. I’ve been occupied making these ridiculously time consuming Cornhole board sets for me and my brother in law. They’re nesting.

I drew it all in Lightburn! Well I think there was one thing I revised in VCarve. But anyway. So this is what it looks like in here tonight now that I finally got the last step in this complete with the clear coat.

And I’ll make this the last of the photos and others can respond with their shops and ideas to help you with.

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Jeff those are AWESOME!