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Thread: Visit from a Creeker

  1. #1

    Visit from a Creeker & shop tour

    Jim Becker was over here in the UK on business on Monday and took some time after his flight to come over and visit me in the shop. I really appreciate that Jim took the time and hope that he enjoyed his visit.

    The other effect of Jim's visit was that it prompted me to clean up the shop a little (but only a little as you will see!!). While it was in a nearly sensible state I thought I would take some phots so here is the long overdue shop tour. I think Jim also has some pictures which I hope he will share with us.

    The first shot is just to prove that we really were both in the same place at the same time. The "Land of the Giants" look is 'cause it was taken on a self timer and the viewpoint was a little low. This pic is also the proof that any resemblance between my avatar and reality is purely coincidental.



    The next images is a reminder of the raw canvas - taken before I moved in this was the old dairy before I covered the walls with dust!



    This next shot shows what a mess I have made of it now - taken from a similar viewpoint.



    Looking back towards the doorway. 25 inch double drum sander - Long bed belt sander and dust collector in the background. The DC is raised on a jerry rigged platform to double the bag capacity (Very useful when running the planer)



    The other side of the doorway. 12 inch Planer/Thicknesser (Jointer/Planer) which is about to be superceded with a 20 inch Thicknesser. This one struggle on volume of work but I will keep it for the overhand and as a backup. The big blue box on the right is my phase convertor (rotary) and to the right of that is my original chair back jig. Jet oscillating spindle peeking out behind lumber. Also on the wall behind you can see some of my templates.



    Some of todays production - chair backs - stacked on one of my two hydraulis lifting trolleys. They are fantastic for the way I work. Materials handling is important to me and I use them as outfeed tables as well as parts trolleys and worktables. Get yourself one if you have the slightest excuse. In the background under the yellow cover is the Tormek sharpener.



    Now this shows how my shop - which is organised around a single purpose - is different to a multifunction flexible shop. The walkway between the table saw on the right and the mitre saw station on the left is no more than a couple of feet because I do not rip anything wider than 6 inches. The machine in the foreground is a home made flapwheeel sander. I buy commercial heads but the rest is an electric motor on a grinder stand. Saved about £1000 off the price of the standard machine.



    Another view of the table saw and mitre station. You can just see the flip stops set for my regular crosscut lengths to the right of the mitre.



    Assembly bench. My work is really about repeating things as efficiently as possible and the way I do that is with as may jigs, templates and fixtures as possible. This is my assembly area and going from left to right are the stations where I make seats, backs and fial chair assembly. The orange curly hoses are air supply to my assembly tools, which aremostly air driven. These are held on tool balancers for speed of location. You can also see a couple of electric hand tools (sander etc) hanging from hooks on the front of the bench - again this keeps them out of the way of the wrkpiece but within easy reach.



    My seat assembly jig. The outer vertical walls hold the sides vertical and the right width apart. The bungee cords help to hold seat slats while they are being positioned and fixed. The small vertical partway across is used to assemble footrests. Plastic drawer underneath holds my spacers.



    Back assembly jig. (Jim has some action shots of these - perhaps if he posts them these will make more sense). This pivots on transfer balls - just visible on the left of the jig - which enables me to reach all the bits I need without having to move around.



    Final assembly. This is where I build chairs - again it swivels for speed and ease of use. The vertical at the front holds that seat to a constant height and enables me to get a more consistent result quicker - the name of the game for my business.



    Thats it for now. Thank you for visiting and another thanks to Jim for a great afternoon in good company he (and anybody else who is passing) is welcome anytime.
    Last edited by Ian Barley; 06-15-2004 at 6:42 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Ha! I knew it...no resemblance to the avatar 'taken 20 years ago' and the thing now!

    Ian, it appears your floor slopes on both sides to the center...true? I guess that is how they got the milk flowing???

    Nice shop...great flow. It is always interesting to see the jigs one creates for specific tasks.

    Hmm, you and Jim look like long lost...cousins??
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla
    Ha! I knew it...no resemblance to the avatar 'taken 20 years ago' and the thing now!

    Ian, it appears your floor slopes on both sides to the center...true? I guess that is how they got the milk flowing???

    Nice shop...great flow. It is always interesting to see the jigs one creates for specific tasks.

    Hmm, you and Jim look like long lost...cousins??
    I somehow guessed you were waiting for this - I have already admitted that the avatar is a fabrication - leave me to my delusions!.

    Yes the floor does slope but I don't think it was milk that the wanted to keep flowing!. I thought long and hard about taking the slope out but it is less than a couple of inches side to side and the amount of work to get it flat was huge compared to the downside.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Barley
    I somehow guessed you were waiting for this - I have already admitted that the avatar is a fabrication - leave me to my delusions!.

    Yes the floor does slope but I don't think it was milk that the wanted to keep flowing!. I thought long and hard about taking the slope out but it is less than a couple of inches side to side and the amount of work to get it flat was huge compared to the downside.
    Hehe...I didn't think it was for milk either! Ewwwwww!!!!

    How about this more updated avatar???
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Talking

    How did Jim react to the "real" electricity.?

    Looking at those plugs in the pics reminds me of home..........

    I forget what its like to turn on the lathe without the street going dim for a second :-)

    Ho Hum.

  6. #6
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    Ian,
    Nice shop; thanks for the tour. Were I in the UK I might call for a similar tour, but have no plans to be there, unfortunately. Did spend the summer of '72 there, at the Univ. of Exeter. Never hit 70 degrees, and that was the South Coast. But, the pints were fine, and warmed me up nicely, as I recall.
    Alan

  7. #7
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    You look great both sitting there.....Becker has time to visit everybody but me! Laguna is like the UK just a bit closer. Don't mind Chris ...he is just young.
    "All great work starts with love .... then it is no longer work"

  8. #8
    [QUOTE=Rob Littleton]How did Jim react to the "real" electricity.?

    QUOTE]

    I don't know Rob - we don't usually connect visitors up to the mains until the third or fourth visit.

  9. #9
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    Talking

    [QUOTE=Ian Barley]
    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Littleton
    How did Jim react to the "real" electricity.?

    QUOTE]

    I don't know Rob - we don't usually connect visitors up to the mains until the third or fourth visit.
    Becker is an exception, plug him in right away :-)

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Ian, thanks for the post & shop tour. I need to do one too....

    So, how fast could you crank out one chair - start to finish?

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Todd Burch

    So, how fast could you crank out one chair - start to finish?
    From sawn timber to finished chair there is about 5 - 6 hours of labour in each chair. As you may have picked up from recent posts I am now starting to invest in some heavier machines to bring that down.

  12. #12
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    LOL! Nothing like getting you picture taken after a night with about an hour and a half's fitful semi-sleep on an airplane! The short version is that the visit was great. Talking with Ian (and his woodworking neighbor Simon) was a very enjoyable experience. I also have some pictures to post, but I'll keep them focused as a nice lesson on how super-organized Ian is toward producing his product. Very slick. We can all learn from him whether we are hobbiests or pros making a living from woodworking.

    And Rob, I really did admire those 30a connections for the "big tools"!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  13. #13
    Shop looks nice Ian! I like the chair backs, you'll have to post a pic of the finished product if Jim doesn't. Even my avatar is a few years old, so don't fret it.

  14. #14
    Nice shop! (Envy, envy! ) The barn seems to be the perfect shape for your assembly line - and BIG! I was in Farnborough about 17 years ago - but the only shops I saw then were in a hanger at the airbase!

    Bob
    Spinning is good on a lathe, not good in a Miata.

  15. #15
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    Man that Becker guy

    will do anything to visit another WW'er
    Seriously he's a good guy to visit with & it's cool you guys were able to cross the pond to see each other. Nice shop too Ian - very efficiant (not that I would know what an efficiant shop actually looks like)
    God Bless America!

    Tom Sweeney BP

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