# My Tiny Shop



## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 14, 2019)




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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 14, 2019)

Hi Folks! I messed up and lost the text part of the post above. After Downsizing and moving to our new condo home in April I renovates the "storage room" to a tiny shop. It has worked out really well! I have enough room even though it's 10% of my previous space and enough free floor space to not feel claustrophobic. got the DRO on the new mill, the DC drive on the Taig complete and am collecting tooling to replace the big stuff I liquidated with the bug machinery. It's a lot of fun building shops. Hmmm maybe I can move again in a couple of years so I can do it again : )


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## kevin.decelles (Jan 14, 2019)

very nice.  I wish mine was that clean.

What brand of vise is on the mill?


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 14, 2019)

Hi Kevin! I got it from my local tool supplier, It's an accusize 4" I like it, it's pretty well made and on my surface plate checks out to a few 10ths, time will tell how it will stand up but so far I'm pleased. It came with a swivel base that I may never use. The wrench I will replace with something smaller, it's really overkill on a vise this small.


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## DPittman (Jan 15, 2019)

Looks like a well organized shop. It almost looks like you had an interior decorator working with you!  Very Feng Shui!  I love to see other people's shop and what they are working with.  I almost love those pictures as much as seeing the projects folks are working on!


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 15, 2019)

Hi Don! this is shop number........? I don't remember after a couple you quickly learn what works and what doesn't one of the black tool boxes under the long counter is full of material, I stock everything in 20" lengths so i don't get caught short on a sunday : )


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## DPittman (Jan 15, 2019)

Kelly McLaughlin said:


> Hi Don! this is shop number........? I don't remember after a couple you quickly learn what works and what doesn't one of the black tool boxes under the long counter is full of material, I stock everything in 20" lengths so i don't get caught short on a sunday : )


Yes I can imagine one gets pretty good at setting up a space after doing a few.  My shop kind of evolved into what it is not because of planning and experience but rather just as a result of the order of the acquisition of my machines.  I'm pretty sure I would do things differently if I started with a clean slate.


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## Tom O (Jan 15, 2019)

That’s a nice little shop have you got to the ooooh you know what would fit there yet?


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 15, 2019)

Hi Tom! Not so far, I think I have what I need with the exception of some tooling, most stuff I do, correction nowadays all the stuff I do is quite small.  I was trying to talk myself into a different lathe, but I just did a little run of 80 parts and the more I use this one the more I like it. I am going to make the reverse functional though it was disabled when I got it. I think because they were student lathes.


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 15, 2019)

Don: I spent quite  few hours on my cad software moving things around to make the best use of space, It's 10% of the floor space I had and I didn't want to feel cramped. The Lathe and mill orientation / proximity are very similar to what I had in my big shop I just turned the mill 90 degrees so the bench area where my surface plate is would be more chip free. I've since turned the surface plate 90 degrees and freed up some space across from the lathe, it saves me putting the current lathe job tooling on the surface plate cover. The mill way cover idea I got from Tom Lipton and they are genius, cuts cleaning to almost nothing, highly recommended. Next I'm going to copy his mill vise handle, don't know who did it first Tom or Robin, I see they both have them but it's a good one.  I always laugh when people comment on how clean my shop is, you guys know you're in charge of that in your shop, right?


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## Tom O (Jan 15, 2019)

The powers that be may have removed reverse if it is a screw on chuck.
I can’t find the start button on my broom!


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 15, 2019)

Hi Tom! I suspect you are correct! Standard modern shows it wired up and the manual reads as though reverse is enabled. I have one backing plate with slots and a collar, apparently that is how they got around the chuck coming off in reverse. I've done a bunch of research and the general consensus is it's a rare occurrence if things fit properly and are clean even without the collar, with the collar it's not a problem. I just bought a 5" six jaw set tru for this lathe so I'm going to slot the back plate and make a collar and see how it goes : )


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## RobinHood (Jan 15, 2019)

Kelly McLaughlin said:


> I suspect you are correct! Standard modern shows it wired up and the manual reads as though reverse is enabled.


Hi Kelly, reverse was enabled when the previous owner to me got it with the three phase motor. He then switched to the single phase motor and upon recommendation from a friend of his, just hooked up forward because he was just learning to use a lathe.

For sure, SM does intend to have the spindle run both ways even with the screw on chuck. I am not sure they want you to take cuts while in reverse though unless you have the chuck secured with a collared plate.

Here is a write-up of how to wire the single phase motor for both FWD and REV operation using a drum switch. The pertinent diagram is in Fig 3a.
IIRC, your manual shows the installed drum switch. I am not sure that it’s poles switch like the one in the instructions and thus correspond 100%. If they are the same, connections can be made as shown. If your switch is different then one needs to rework the diagram to achieve the same switching functionality.

Let me know if i can be of further assistance.
Cheers, Rudy


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 15, 2019)

Hi Rudy! Thanks for the info! It's a rare thing for a used lathe to come with Tech support : )


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## Everett (Jan 15, 2019)

It's hard to make an effective work space with little square footage but that shop looks like you've optimized it well!  Looks good!


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 16, 2019)

Hi Everett! Yes I spent many hours playing the chess game with machines and benches on my computer : )


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## Kelly McLaughlin (Jan 16, 2019)

Here's what I do for material storage.


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## Tom O (Jan 16, 2019)

Looks like a lot of weight for a drawer, on my toolbox I had to replace a poprivet on a drawer 2 weeks after getting it!


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## Tom Kitta (Jan 31, 2019)

Looks super clean and organised.


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