Subject: Re: Advice on shops in limited space

From: [email-masked] (Eric Perozziello)
Date: 20 Oct 1994 21:32:09 GMT

[email-masked] (YenHai Harold Tay) writes:

>On the subject of shops in small spaces, has anyone made his/her shop in a van?
>I'm thinking of putting mine in my 1972 VW bus.  I have no equipment yet, but
>I'd like to build a 7" lathe, and put in a small foundry for casting.  
>That way I can 
>always have my shop no matter where I go.  (I'm a student, and I move from
>apartment to apartment, etc.)

Have you any idea how much a quality 7" lathe & tooling would weigh?
Do you know the payload capacity of that VW?
Where would you plug it in?

-Eric "hoping he doesn't end up following this contraption down the road!"

PS: The lathe may have a higher HP motor than the vehicle  :^)

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From: [email-masked] (MikeT nyc)
Date: 22 Oct 1994 01:12:10 -0400

>Where would you plug it in?

In their famous book, "How to Run a Lathe," p. 107, the South Bend company
has instructions on how to build a machine shop into a truck, and shows a
photo and description of a truck housing "a 16" lathe with an 8' bed, a
20" drill press, a forge, anvil grinder welding outfit, etc."  Needless to
say, it's a relatively large truck.  The equipment is powered "through a
generator installed in such a way that it can be operated by the truck
engine.  This same generator also supplies cuirrent for electric lights to
illuminate the shop and also large flood lights which permit working near
the unit after night."  The chapter also gives instructions on how to do
it in a less ambitious manner.  Order from South Bend Lathe, 400 W. Sample
Street, South Bend, Indiana 46623.

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From: Mike Schechter <[email-masked]>
Date: 21 Oct 1994 18:37:42 GMT

Subject: Re: Advice on shops in limited space
From: Eric Perozziello, [email-masked]
Date: 20 Oct 1994 21:32:09 GMT
>PS: The lathe may have a higher HP motor than the vehicle  :^)
But it IS an interestiung idea...
I've often thought of buying an old UPS-style delivery van to put
my shop in. (jewelry-making and torch/arc sculpture; so it's only
a ton or so...)
Mike Schechter                  | [email-masked]
Systems Engineer                | [email-masked]
Institute for Sensory Research  | (315)443-9742

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From: [email-masked] (Greg Lewis)
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 01:25:13 GMT

>Institute for Sensory Research  | (315)443-9742

As for the VW, just jack up the rear end, attach a flat belt to a rear
wheel and use the motor to drive the lathe! (;->

Actually, there is a mobile machine shop pictured in the South Bend
lathe manual circa 1950. It's in a rather sturdy-looking UPS style van.
___________________________________________________________________
[email-masked]
Photojournalism sequence, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism
CSU Fresno, Fresno, CA 93740-0010

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 94 11:43:02 PDT

> >>I'm thinking of putting mine in my 1972 VW bus.  I have no equipment yet, 

Von Dutch, noted car pinstriper, knife and gun maker, heavy drinker and all 
around beatnick had a school bus set up with a complete machine shop and living 
quarters.  The legend is that 'someone' (OSHA?) wouldn't let him set up shop 
with the antique machinery he had so this was his alternative.

Joe