[AT] Features wanted in a shop.

[Greg Hass]

Farmer wrote:	 "Short list:
			Floor heat.
			Gantry, not fixed hoist.
			Welding area separate from wood working.
			Isolated wood finishing area.
			"Level" floor (mine slopes too much).
			Floor not too slick to walk on when wet.
			Bathroom.
			Screened windows for night work.
			Wood shop on wood floor.
			Room someplace else to take non-shop stuff that migrates in.
			Million dollar tool budget.   ;-)"

Besides the larger shop and a million dollar tool budget (which both of my 
wishes would need), my wish would be for more metal fabricating 
equipment.  in the past yeasr I have become friends with a local restaurant 
owner who enjoys metal-working.  When I go for coffee in the morning, if he 
is not busy we will sit and talk "shop", literally.  He mentioned he had a 
couple of machines he was going to sell and was I interested.  I ended up 
buying a metal lathe from him for $300 and a metal shaper for $150.  (3000 
lbs. worth of machine.)  I understand metal shapers are no longer made, but 
for those who are unfamiliar with them, it has an arm that goes back and 
forth from 0 to approx. 20 inches, and has a metal cutting bit which 
removes a strip of metal about 3/16" wide with each stroke, then 
automatically moves over to cut the next little strip.  Nowadays they use a 
Bridgeport mill or a surface grinder to do the same thing.  I probably will 
not use it much, but for $150 it was worth it just to see it sitting 
there.  Other machines on my wish list would be Bridgeport mill, surface 
grinder, iron worker, and a shear that would shear heavy gauge metal.

On a related subject, and maybe of interest to the majority of this 
group:concerning the advances in 3-phase electric converters.

About the time I bought my lathe, my brother bought a used Bridgeport mill 
and a used surface grinder.  Both, it turns out, were 3-phase.  My friend 
at the restaurant had tried running his on a static converter and ended up 
buring it up.  (Static converters will only run a motor at 2/3 
HP.)  Commercial rotary converters are upwards of $600 for a new one.  We 
decided to try homemade using a 3-hp motor (which brother had been given) 
as a converter.  For the first week or so we used a "pony" motor  (a 1-HP 
single phase motor belted to the 3-phase motor) to get it spinning, thus 
turning it into a converter.  This worked, but seemed rather cumbersome.
(We had done all the wiring ourselves.)  We then talked to a local 
electrical contractor.  For $110 he ordered us a part (I'm not sure what he 
called it) approximately the size of a soup can which has only 2 wires 
coming out of it.  One hooks to a 110 leg, and one hooks to the "wild" leg 
of the idle motor.  He also recommended a $20 capacitor to hook between the 
110 an the "wild" leg to help even out the voltage.  It is amzing to watch 
this little part start up the converter motor in less than 1-1/2 
seconds.  This part also has a built-in timer which disconnects it from the 
circuit in approximately 2-1/2 seconds.  Because of this timer feature, you 
must know the HP, RPM and amperage of your idle motor to order the right 
part.  We have a local welding shop who will sell used 3-phase motors for 
$5 per HP.  I am now amazed at how easy and how reasonable it is to equip 
your shop to handle 3-phase equipment, as is usually the case when buying 
factory type machines.

Greg Hass