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Old 06-28-2011, 05:08 PM
D8R D8R is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Ronninge, south of Stockholm, Sweden
Posts: 425
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Default Re: D8R +463 in 1/5,6

Here´s a little shop tour, but sorry to say , it´s not cleaned/orginazied the last months due to hectic building. I´m not spending that much time on cleaning but belives in with each tool in right place works goes faster!

The shearer are actualy the last bought big tool in the shop. have used it for some time now and think it will be a very useful tool for coming models.
This one was ordered from a german company, in us you have same type of machine available from different shops like(http://www.tennsmith.com/notchers.html).
Working with 1mm steel is no problem, cutting straight or in corners is no problem. I have a bigger shearer, electric operated that can cut 2mm plates up to 1m wide. Normaly I use this to cut down steel plates to more useful sizes or cutting parts to right sizes direct. This machine is to big to have at home, it´s a 1000kg machine.

Next machine is a drill and then a band saw. Both those machines are a little to small now but have problem with space in shop (inside in basement in my house) so I have to keep them.

On opposit corner is an milling machine, RF-35, think 14 years old now. Did put on digital read outs DRO on this one 2 years ago and it´s recomended, it´s like a new machine (but almost to small to!). The Emco lathe Compact 8, is more than 30 years old and was my first machine, used it when buildning the CAT992 loader. It´s a very accurate machine but only used for small parts today. On right is a bender bought at same time as shearer, have not used it so much yet, can not decide it this a recommended machine or not, maybee because of my skills using it is not so good yet.


This is my bigger lathe, can be found under a lot of different names, a chinees machine, not as good as Emco but quite useful for bigger jobs. A better quality lathe had been much more expensive and I couldn´t justify that at this time. machine has also got DRO´s, helps a lot.


Last pic shows an overall view of my shop, size is 12´x15´. I guess we all want bigger spaces, at the moment I´m satisfied with what I have. The shop was expaned 2 years ago, still needs more shelfs to put all stuffs at. The D8 stands on a very useful tool, the movable cart that can adjust working height. The model weights around 400lbs now so I need something to move it with. Have 2 of those carts, was bought used.


When I started buildning bigger models (Cat992 was first) I had very limited resources and tools. It was only handtools and a electrical drill. I think you can do miracles without having a lot of machinery but it´s much easier to do if you have them!
If you missed another tread from me, please check out this models, the maker has only a couple of small hand held tools and a small welder, it´s amazing models.
http://rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=646

On my wish list is a computer controlled milling machine, I like to draw parts in computer and with such machine I think I could go another step in quality.
For you that read this tread knows that I use a lot of laser cut parts. There´s no way you can have this type of equipment on your own, and with a good contact with local companies, parts can be done rather cheep.

Not shown here is welding and grinding equipment, that´s because I do not do those jobs at home, use another bigger work shop designed for those works. I would love to have this possibilities at home but can´t find space for that shop. It could save me hours every time a small part have to be welded. Yes, I use MIG, trying to learn TIG and gas but as mentioned before, I´m working in office, have no education in metal fabrication, every thing has to learned hard way.

I would recommend everyone to buy as big machine you can afford or have space for. Accuracy will be better, some times it´s also better buing a used one (high quality) than a new cheaper copy.

If you have more questions of what I use or how I build parts please feel free to ask, I will answer as soon as I can.
Dan
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