Originally Posted by
John K Jordan
Wow, nice space!! Beautiful.
I put a cramped little weld shop in my new shop. It's only 12x12 but double doors open to an concrete porch for fair weather welding. Fortunately I can spread out in my maintenance bays if needed.
I like the way you store your grinders on the table, mine are a mess. (You can't have too many angle grinders!) The trailer hitch idea is interesting - mount, switch, and move out of the way when needed.
I made a steel stand for my big vise so the jaws are about 30" above the floor. I find this perfect for most of what I use a vise for - hacksawing, grinding, threading, pounding.
I was a welding inspector at one time but never had my own equipment until much later. I started with a torch, portaband, and a little 110v wire welder, then got a Miller MIG, a Miller TIG (what a great way to weld), an AC/DC stick for bigger farm stuff, and the crown jewel, a Hypertherm plasma cutter - love that thing, it will cut 1/2" steel cleanly, 1" with some slop. Retired the chop saw to the barn. Amazon took my credit card in exchange for a Jet horizontal bandsaw with coolant, and Northern Tool gladly loaded a 20 ton press in my truck. I only fab for fun and farm but it sure lets me make and repair things on the spur of the moment and save a lot of money. I don't think the equipment has paid for itself yet, at least not in money!
No brake (would be nice) but small shears, and a mill and lathe for when I need to start from scratch. Bought 8000 lbs of new steel at scrap prices so I almost always can make something without going shopping. Life is good!
JKJ