Machine tools and a wood floor

Try Craigslist. I see them on our local version. They seem to start at about $1600. Three are several sizes. delivery and leveling is negotiable, often included in the price.

there was a good discussion on this on the Practical Machinist forum recently. Some people posted pictures of their containerized machine shops

I need a 20 footer delivered to my home. Trade for machine tools

Gunner

"Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide"

- James Burnham

Sveral years ago I toured a computer manufacturer (Digital Equipment Corp) in Maynard Mass. The building complex was an old wool mill (with water wheels, bricks and 3 stories of wood floors). Pictures on the walls revealed what the place looked like before the high tech stuff arrived.

The mill used to be FULL of VERY heavy machines used in the production of wool cloth according to the pictures.

About the only visible side effect of the prior use was a distinct smell of sheep's oil.

Gary

At one time you could buy them that were converted already. They would put an overhead door, windows or anything else you would want in them.

On thing though, the container is a stressed skin, if you cut any holes in it, you must re-enfore around the hole because of the concentrations of stress caused by the holes. The containers themselves are designed to distribute their weight to four hardpoints on the bottom and four on the top to take the weight of the containers above it when they are stacked. At one time I was looking into making a whole building with the sides made out of four of these and some cheap trusses to make the roof.

John

According to DoN. Nichols :

[ ... ]

Aside from the above -- I also have used a Bridgeport clone converted to CNC by Anilam. That machine was rolled in and set up on a computer center raised flooring -- so it is amazing what can support a Bridgeport sized machine. (In case you haven't seen computer flooring, it is a collection of 18" square tiles about 2-3" thick, supported by a grid of small diameter screw jacks about 12" tall connected by a grid of links in both axes.) Some tiles are available with a grid of holes for pumping under-floor air conditioning into racks of computer equipment, and sometimes the tile under a rack is simply removed for greater airflow and cable access. (Lots of cables are run under the floor to connect racks of equipment together, so people working in the computer room don't have to worry about triping over cables.)

When a safety inspection was performed -- we were instructed that the machine needed to be bolted down for safety. The fellow in charge of the shop simply got some hex head bolts of about the right size and long enough to almost reach to the floor tiles. He then wrapped putty around them and pushed them into the holes in the base. Next inspection was passed with flying colors. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

SNIP

Thats beautiful stuff to work with, My official day job is in telecom so i've seen it a lot and those Telecom cabinets when fully loaded can exceed the mass of a milling machine.

I think that I've found a suitable design I'll give my construction skills the confidence first and if not its modyfyanble later to drop concrete supports under the mill whiles still "appearing" to be a temp structure

I'll post pictures and thanks for the input

Bolting is standard for the data centre racks too

Thats a perfect example of the "they dont build them like they used to"

I'd love to find an old mill and turn it into a shop too but i dont trust that i could get decent timber of the quality level in those buildings without getting it custom sawn at a mill

Funniest thing like the day after posting about being intrested in shipping containers, I saw one sitting on an exit from the highway with a number. Called the guy up and he has like 6 from 1400 to 3400 each and he delivers, pretty cool but think I will hold off at the moment.

Another thing you may want to look at is a used mobile home you can usualy pick them up for 5 grand they will deliver and level them twice for free usualy, its heated insulated etc etc etc of course your still going to figure out how to get your machines in there etc but it shouldent be that bad depending on how many big machines you got, its better for a woodworking shop but I could see it being done for machining as well.

The Press shops at GEC large Electrical Machines, where I started work. Had vertical wood blocks on sand. A very good floor, but lethal when wet.

Can you get used (or new) wooden railroad sleepers in your neck of the woods? It would be a lot more expensive than a concrete slab, but would be both removable, rot resistant and solid. Over here in the expensive UK, they work out at $US 100/m^2 if you use them 250mm deep and $US 50/m^2 if you use them

125mm deep. You could make a jig and drill them for 16mm tie bars, interleave them like a brick wall, lay them on an EPS base and clamp them tightly together. After doing that and before putting the walls on, a rented floor sander/planer could give you a very good floor surface.

PS We have a 4m to the ridge limit without permission here as well. 2.4m for a flat roof. The local planning officer did allow that a 1:6 slope was still a slope though. This gave me a workshop with a minimum height inside of 2.85m from an outside ridge height of 3.4m from the floor and 3.6m from the ground. The workshop is built from PU foam structural insulated panels and would probably count as temporary for your purposes. 150mm of foam in the panels makes for very good heat and sound insulation as well.

Apologies for the metric units, I assume that you use them in your part of the world...

Just my thoughts.

Mark Rand RTFM

Thanks for the input

Railroad ties (As sleepers are called here) can be found but draw a lot of unwanted attention as they are thought to be extremely dirty contaminated and hazardous to the health of anyone who so much as sets eyes on it. They are dirty to work with but thats never been a problem for me. Setting railroad ties in a residential area here will draw neighbour complaints unfortunately.

I dont know where the bad rap has come from..... it might be deserved but growing up on a beach with railroad tie retaiing walls never killed me.

The canadian Construction industry uses Imperial units still but the canadian standards industries use metric as do those defining the building codes. I think it will be another generation or two before metric fully catches in canada. Mentally i'm wired for both units so its not concern =) I will take a look at PU foam. Over here almost everythig goes up in frame walls with fiberglass batt insulation

Old Mobile Home would be bad for conversion to a machine shop. The floors are made to be lightweight for easy transport and will act like a trampoline when you run the machines.

And the axles are only sized to move the mobile home EMPTY, you couldn't leave the contents and take it all at once. One nasty pothole or road dip, and the chassis will bend like cooked spaghetti.

They are also a financial liability - in California you have to pay the DMV for license plate 'tags' each year in lieu of property taxes, not cheap. And if you report it as 'Destroyed or Dismantled' so you can stop paying the tags and then it miraculously shows up later still in use, well, "You gotta lotta 'splainin' to do, Lucy"...

An ocean shipper wouldn't be too bad - the floors are heavier, usually tongue-and-groove planks on heavy steel stringers, so the load doesn't fall out when picked up by a crane... And you can place it on a concrete-block foundation to further dampen the vibrations.

Plus, no registration.

-->--

Im looking for at least 14 of them myself to build a retaining wall out near the ally. Ive already put in the posts..4" oil field pipe.

Crom but I love my pressure washer. Stick that wand into the dirt..wiggle it around as I plunge it 4' deep, then clean out with a post hole digger. Ground here is clay..a bitch to dig by hand. Did 8 posts in about an hour and a half, including 'crete

Gunner

The aim of untold millions is to be free to do exactly as they choose and for someone else to pay when things go wrong.

In the past few decades, a peculiar and distinctive psychology has emerged in England. Gone are the civility, sturdy independence, and admirable stoicism that carried the English through the war years . It has been replaced by a constant whine of excuses, complaints, and special pleading. The collapse of the British character has been as swift and complete as the collapse of British power.

Theodore Dalrymple,

Creosote isn't exactly a benign material. That said, most people seem to have an understanding of chemistry up there with their understanding of metalworking, or rocket science... "Just way too complex for little ol' me." But they know that anything out of the ordinary is Dangerous.

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

Since originally posting this question in march i HAVE decided to go with a 20 foot shipping container and convert it

THat ceramic spray that makes an R19 wall is amazing thats really piqued my interest if i can find it in canada or find a canadian sprayer

I have disposed of my 40' container which has stored all my furniture and tools for the past year - my youngest son has it now, ready for when he sells his property and has to move all his gear, all automotive stuff including a 2 post hoist, project car, project 4WD, large mill, lathe, 300A MIG & TIG Miller & Lincoln welders + lots of spares - about 40' of 4 high shelving.

I decided that it would not be suitable as a workshop as it is just under 2.4 metres wide inside and I could not fit an 8 foot (2.44m) sheet in crossways to cut, nor even lengthwise as it cannot be cut. ( sheet 1220 + sawblade 305 + sheet other side of blade 1220 = 2745 minimum without workspace ) instead I am getting another shed 6.88 (22'6) x 6.2 m (20'4) 42.65 m2 which is the maximum I can add as I already have a 27.3 m2 shed and I am permitted 70 m2 max on my property. The smaller shed will be metalworking & the larger for woodworking, all up I will have 22 m2 more than in my old house, just think, I can fix stuff in one place instead of everything having to be on casters to move to one side to make working space.

Quoted price for the new shed is $3700 ($3000US) including erection and concrete floor, electrical extra -will get 3 phase on as it is in the house already for stove & aircon.

Alan

The nevelope of a 4X8 sheet of plywood in this case is not significant to the work i will do in it

if i need to do woodowrk i can take out the rolling tablesaw and saw the stock next the the shop in the driveway where dust collection is not a concern or is infeed and outfeed space

the work enveloped for the Tig welder, Lathe, milling machine and other tables fit into the space well and trhat my primary goal