Your own home workshop

[mondeoman]

If you wanted to set up a workshop at home to make small batches (10-20 at a time) of parts/components, mostly steel and aluminium, what tools/machinery would you consider as necessary, nice to haves and what manufacturers would you go for? Most parts steel/aluminium tube (up to 50mm diameter) with holes and slots, steel/aluminium plate (up to 2mm thick, say 1' square max) with holes and some folds.

So far I've got:

a pillar drill (necessary)
a band saw - preferably floor standing horizontal (nice to have)
vertical mill (necessary)
lathe (nice to have)
bench folder
small MIG welder (necessary)
surface plate (nice to have?)
work bench with vice (necessary)
Bench Grinder (nice to have)

Anything else that I should look for?

In terms of manufacturers I'm looking at Sealey, Draper, Clarke - any others?

[TheD]

Paint Box
Cleaning area/Box/Tray
Heating
Ventilation
Fire equipment
Spotlights

[PGM]

Urinal.

Sink.

Or a combination of the two.

[mrdelmonti]

Air compressor, useful for running tools and cleaning stuff.

[mondeoman]

PGM said:

Urinal.

Sink.

Or a combination of the two.

Good call!!

[PGM]

mondeoman said:

PGM said:

Urinal.

Sink.

Or a combination of the two.

Good call!!

Joking aside a sink is a good idea for washing oily hands with swarfega! Saves countless tellings off!

Our wireless internet works in my garage and I have an old laptop in there which is great for the radio and looking up workshop manuals or just general google problem solving. And pron.

[mondeoman]

mrdelmonti said:

Air compressor, useful for running tools and cleaning stuff.

Not a bad idea... can always use that on the car as well.

[allegro]

Kettle
biscuits
pipe bender
scantly clad ladies calender (a must)

[5potTurbo]

Ventilation's been mentioned, but depending on how much woodworking you'll do, a dust extraction system.

The calendar's a MUST though. My Dad has a selection in his workshop, the dirty old git!

[Streetrod]

I would want a 5 Axis CNC milling machine, I have no idea who much they cost but they have to be the coolest tool in the world and probably the most usefull

[netherfield]

Beer Fridge

[GnuBee]

mondeoman said:

If you wanted to set up a workshop at home to make small batches (10-20 at a time) of parts/components, mostly steel and aluminium, what tools/machinery would you consider as necessary, nice to haves and what manufacturers would you go for? Most parts steel/aluminium tube (up to 50mm diameter) with holes and slots, steel/aluminium plate (up to 2mm thick, say 1' square max) with holes and some folds.

So far I've got:

a pillar drill (necessary)
a band saw - preferably floor standing horizontal (nice to have)
vertical mill (necessary)
lathe (nice to have)
bench folder
small MIG welder (necessary)
surface plate (nice to have?)
work bench with vice (necessary)
Bench Grinder (nice to have)

Anything else that I should look for?

In terms of manufacturers I'm looking at Sealey, Draper, Clarke - any others?

Calipers, Micrometer(s), Dial Indicator + stand
As it's aluminium buy one of those bulk WD40 containers it's an excellent coolant/lubricant
Someone mentioned a compressor - would be useful and you could use it for mist or just air blast cooling on the mill
You may not need a bandsaw and could compromise with a cut-off/chop saw if you're just using it for cutting stock to length
For the mill you're going to need a proper vice, some parallels and don't underestimate the cost of tooling

Which mill and drill are you looking at?

There's nothing particularly wrong with Sealey, Draper and Clarke but I'd stay away from them for machine tools. Stuff like the compressor, basic tools etc they're ok for

Can we see the part(s) you're going to make?

[GnuBee]

Streetrod said:

I would want a 5 Axis CNC milling machine, I have no idea who much they cost but they have to be the coolest tool in the world and probably the most usefull

Start at £30k for a used but not completely worn out machine and work your way up from there - buying the machine is the cheap part of 5 axis the cost is in the software, tooling and consumables.

[mondeoman]

Some initial selections:

Here’s the drill

Bench grinder

Band Saw
Not sure if the available bands have a fine enough cut though, need something that can cut 1.6mm plate and 1.2 – 1.6mm wall tube without stripping teeth and 24tpi isn’t fine enough if memory serves.

Mill As this doubles as a drill, could be a good bet. Only need to do 10mm and 12mm slots, drilling 4mm to 20mm

Bench folder

In terms of handtools I’ve got a fairly decent set inc. micrometers, but I will need some files, an marking gauge and a bucket of blue! Clarke MIG welder I’ve already got, angle grinder and hand drills. I’ll even treat myself to a spanking new vice

Its all metalwork – I’m no good with wood

Its all tube and sheet fabrication – and I’ve found the biggest cost isn’t the materials, it’s the finishing. Powder coating is OK, still more than I was expecting but chrome plating is comparatively bloody expensive (this could be ‘cos I only asked for one-offs for a couple of prototypes, hoping it’ll be a lot cheaper for larger batches).

[LooneyTunes]

Got a nice meaty supply of electricity already there?

[PaulHogan]

First aid kit

[mondeoman]

LooneyTunes said:

Got a nice meaty supply of electricity already there?

Yep - used to run a big electric pool heater, air-con, sauna, about 2kW of lighting and an electric shower.

[mondeoman]

PaulHogan said:

First aid kit

That'll be SWMBO (ex-nurse an all that...)

[Crafty_]

That sheet folder will struggle to do 2mm if it does at all.. (ask me how I know..). Mine has stripped the clamp threads, I can fix it, but its a pain. It also flexes in the middle when doing thicker stuff. I would look at getting a proper floor stander. Will cost lots more though.

I'd also look at getting a tig over mig - neater welds and if you buy the correct type it'll allow you to do aluminium too. You can do aluminium with mig but its not easy or neat. If you do go mig avoid SIP machines like the plague. Go find your local welding shop, take their advice and buy a decent machine.

[Simpo Two]

I'd spend a bit more on the pillar drill. Cheap ones have poor bearings and skate on metal rather than cut where you want them to.