1/16/12 Setting Up Shop

I know it's been a while. I've been hesitant to post too much about things that are not that interesting on the face of it, but to myself and Jordan are pretty darn cool. for the past couple of months, we've been preparing our containers to be the workstations we are picturing.

The first thing on the list was creating a table for the lathe to rest on. Jordan and I spent a good afternoon building and bracing this workbench, only to realize that we hadn't made it deep enough  to accommodate the motor, which I had removed from the lathe because it was destroyed by the flood... Oh well, it will make a good table for the computer or 3D printer, if an over built one.

The next thing on the list was designing workbenches that were built into the wall that could be raised and used as required, but could be folded away to free up space when not in use. To create the prototype bench, I welded a heavy duty door hinge straight to the wall of the container so that we could bolt a table top to. We made the prototype top out of two 5/8" peices of plywood glued together. The front legs are sprinker pipe with flanges bolted to the table top and to the floor. This allows for height adjustment by threading the pipe in or out of the flange. The prototype came out very nice, but we decided to make a few modifications for the rest of them.

Rather than permanently weld the hinges to the wall, we figured that it might be more useful to have a flange with bolts in it welded. This way either a hinge or any number of other things could be bolted to the wall in the future. This also allowed for a flush and much stronger weld. We also used 3 plies of 3/8's board with one layer of masonite on top for a nice work surface.

Lather, rinse, repeat and we had setups for a few tables.

Unfortunately, due to a dispute with another tenant in the navy yard, we are going to have to move our containers. Luckily our new location is substantially nicer than our current space and has a better view. This meant, however, that we needed to paint the roof and remaining sides of the containers, as they would be viewable from the opposite direction. Jordan tackled this last weekend and we are scheduled to move in the next week or so. 

W.W.

-BNYSS