Workshop Set Up

[Pez]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on the forum ahead of kitting out my new work space.

I have a 8m x 6m garage under my house which i have finally got around to renovating, currently in the process of painting the floor and ceiling and im good to go after that (i will attach a photo). I am wanting to start making reclaimed furniture like a website i have seen and little projects like that in my spare time. I wanted to get help on what equipment i would need to buy, where to buy materials and products/stains etc to use..

Here is the website which has a gallery of the type of items i would like to learn how to make. (search rcc furniture sheffield, for some reason i cant add links)

Currently i have bought:-
Makita drill lxt -
Sparky impact driver -
Makita orbital sander 150mm -
evolution mitre saw (may need an upgrade) -
makita circular saw lxt -

I need advice on other tools including welding set up which i may need to take a course to learn or work for free somewhere to learn. Where to buy the type of wood on the webisite.

Any advice really would be great - i know im not going to be able to make this stuff over night but hopefully this will lead to me being able to make more types of furniture!

Thanks

 

[mindthatwhatouch]

Nice bit of space you have there.
Some form of workbench to start with, as well as material and project storage.
What have you done to provide power? Make things moveable to start with as things develop so will the workshop.

 

[Pez]

Thanks -

I have a second fuse board in the garage running from the house. At the moment i have 3 double gang plug sockets (metal housing), lightiing i have 8 x 24w LED sylvania batten lights 5ft.

 

[Pez]

https://www.instagram.com/rccfurniture/?hl=en

Here's the link to what I would like to start making

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Are people really buying this stuff?

 

[MikeJhn]

You will need a chip extractor and a vacuum extractor two separate units that do a different job. MCB's in the fuse board need to be C type to allow for motor spike start up.

Get a MiG welder, easy welding that you can learn whilst doing.

Mike

 

[Pez]

Hi,

The first set of photos on the page arnt great but the tables and computer desks etc look really good. The business has 30 staff knocking this type of thing out all day so I was thinking if I can make a couple of items a week it would a nice second income and get me into this type of work. Buy some steel and reclaimed timber and give it a crack!

Thanks Mike, I will ask my electrician how my fuse board is set up. Looking around I saw I may need more than 13A, not sure what cable he put in so I will check on that also.

Do you think mig is a better option to stick welder for this types of work?

Thanks

 

[Bodgers]

Are people really buying this stuff?

Apparently they are. It makes me sad really.

It is a good money spinner though as the tops can be made of rough reclaimed stuff (I know of somebody that just makes them with a sander and a circ saw and a drill). The rest is just rough welded box section steel. Most of the real work is in the welding.

There are some real cowboys that have jumped on to this though. My brother recently ordered a couple of desks for his own business offices in this style from a custom place down south. When they turned up they were awful. The rustic style tops had the biscuits from apparently previously failed joint attempts sticking out of the sides (badly filed down). The boards were very badly aligned where you couldn't actually use it as a desk. Welds were shocking too. When he complained they guy basically said "you don't know what you are buying, this is rustic stuff".

My wife would rather me build stuff like this than a piece with nice dovetails, bread board ends etc.

Each to their own.

 

[MikeJhn]

Hi,

The first set of photos on the page arnt great but the tables and computer desks etc look really good. The business has 30 staff knocking this type of thing out all day so I was thinking if I can make a couple of items a week it would a nice second income and get me into this type of work. Buy some steel and reclaimed timber and give it a crack!

Thanks Mike, I will ask my electrician how my fuse board is set up. Looking around I saw I may need more than 13A, not sure what cable he put in so I will check on that also.

Do you think mig is a better option to stick welder for this types of work?

Thanks

Mig welding is easy in comparison to stick welding, especially on thin tube or sheet materials, but not restricted to only this type of material, My little Clark has even welded cast iron with an Argon shield and SS wire, the Inert gas surrounds the welding arc and helps prevent the formation of slag in the weld, therefore easier to do and clean up afterwards.

Mike

 

[undergroundhunter]

Learning to weld with a mig is not hard, just make sure there is no flammable material anywhere near where you're working i.e wood shavings. Like has been said above all you really need is a circ saw, drill and a belt sander for the wood, for the steel a 4 1/2 grinder and a mig should cover it (I would get an auto darkening welding mask and not an old school one as they are much easier to weld with).

Where abouts in S.Yorkshire are you?

Matt

 

[MikeJhn]

Agree with udergroundhunter the Auto darkening mask are a boon, so used to mine I forgot there are other types still available, an angle grinder is a must for preparing edge's of sections to weld and to clean up afterwards, until you get proficient and can stand back and say "that weld looks good enough to leave as it is" =D> =D> I haven't quite got there yet. (hammer) must try harder.

In an enclosed environment like a garage without any windows or external draft, you will have to think about air quality, welding fumes can be unpleasant, some wood dust can be lethal, Don't forget the extractor.

As with clamps, you can't have too many sockets.

Mike

 

[undergroundhunter]

Also dont get caught up in the gasless mig thing, if you want gasless get a stick welder. A properly set up mig with the right wire and gas is a beautiful thing. Instead of buying argoshield you can just use plain old Co2, it spits a bit more but I learnt to weld with Co2 and I never had an issue.

Matt

 

[Pez]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm going to look at a grinder, extractor for wood and welder. I'm still unsure with mig or stick, is mig going to cost me a lot more with buying the unit and gas set up? With only doing bits of welding do you think I can get away with the 13a fuse board I have already?

I'm based near Conisbrough underground hunter. I'm going to make sure I buy the right safety equipment, keep reading mixed reviews on the self darkening masks (slight delay may cause problems with eye sight).

I have found a reclamation yard near me that I'm going to look at on the weekend.

It's not going to be cheap all this, hope I can pick up welding, haha

 

[undergroundhunter]

I think stick welding is harder than mig, with mig there is no slag to chip off so you can see the weld as its being laid. I'm by no means an expert but I've had a little experience. You're pretty local to me I was going to offer you a trial on a stick welder and then I remembered I lent my mask to a friend and haven't seen it in over a year (must stop lending out tools)

Matt

 

[pcb1962]

I'm still unsure with mig or stick, is mig going to cost me a lot more with buying the unit and gas set up? With only doing bits of welding do you think I can get away with the 13a fuse board I have already?

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/

 

[Pez]

Good idea, I'm going to look at that forum now.

 

[MikeJhn]

MIG will cost more to set up initially, but the learning curve is so much shorter you will become more efficient in a shorter time, so saving in the long run, as has been said CO2 is easy to procure especially if you have a friendly local landlord, if you are going to weld tube type frames MIG is the way to go, you will blow the tubing apart with a stick welder until you become efficient with a stick welder and that takes time and experience.

A normal 13amp socket will be fine for the welder, its the transformer that does the work for the arc.

Mike

 

[MikeJhn]

If you go the MIG router, I can recommend the GYS MigMag if not just for the settings guide on the front of the machine: http://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/produits ... 1401098255 Bought one year before last and since welded 6mm box section, sit on mower deck too sheet metal all on gasless not re-sale standard but would clean up with some work, I have an automatic visor and it can be adjusted to go instantly dark or have a delay, so no problem with arc eye.

Mike

 

[Pez]

Thanks everyone for the help.

I have just put my post on the welding forum for help with that. Its my birthday coming up s i can ask for tools etc

i will post some photos when the workshop is further along. Im sure i will need to come back on when i but the reclaimed wood and asks about treatment etc!!

Cheers

 

[Treeeeee]

In terms of welding, go for mig.

Get plenty of scraps from your local forge/ fabrication place and get practicing.