This is the barn from when I moved here in 1994. It had swinging doors, a steeple, and an opening on the side to feed horses.

This is the workshop today. I removed the steeple when I re-roofed the building. It now has a roll up garage door and air conditioning. I added a beam and overhang out front for facilitating the lifting of heavy things out of my truck.

Note the hydraulic lift table under the workbench. I have tried to make all my tool stands so that they can be lifted by this table. So my lathe, bandsaw and workbench are all movable by this lift table.

I built this building myself in 1996 as my personal karate studio. It still has a 16'x16' fight ring marked out on the floor. The building has two store rooms inside and another open storage area. This is where the RV-10 will be once it is too long and tall for the workshop.

C-Frame (My Design)
I try not to spend money on things I can make myself and this is one of them. The top and bottom supports are 1x3 and 1x4" plate 6061 aluminum. The rear block is 1.5"x4x4.5" block with two 3/8"-16 threaded rod through all three pieces and tapped into the base. The extension and anvil rods are 1018 mild steel turned on my lathe. Cost about $16 in materials from Davis Salvage yard in Phoenix, Az.

Lathe
This is an Emcomat 8.6 bought at a city surplus auction for not a lot of money. It replaced my Harbor Freight 4x10 lathe. This lathe was missing a couple of parts but was able to self-replicate. It is in great running condition and I am very happy with it.

Workbench
This is the standard EAA workbench with a couple of modifications. First the top extends 2" out on 3 sides for giving a lip for clamping. Second, one side has steel angle attached to make a surface for fabricating the trailing edge of the rudder. Third was that I added an old drawer to it that I had laying around which is handy.

Mini-Mill
This is the Harbor Freight mini-mill. I've gotten a lot of use from it. Lately I've blown the drive gear out of it twice by taking the machine past it's capability. It has a R-8 spindle. I use a tool holder or collet for milling. The photo has a drill chuck in the spindle.

Seig X3 Mill
This is the latest addition to the shop - a more manly mill. At 300 lbs, this mill has more ass behind it than the mini-mill. X-Y table is much smoother and the Z control is a great improvement. Z control is marked in one-half thousands increments and stays where you put it. I bought it from Grizzly.

Bending Brake
36" from Harbor Frieght. More stuff from China.

Blast Chamber
Bought on ebay which I don't recommend because it is shipped completely disassembled. No matter how much I have tried, I have been unable to seal all the seams to prevent glass bead from leaking out. A friend of mine bought one from Harbor Freight and it came mostly assemble and factory sealed.

This is great to have around for rebuilding engines and machinery. Degrease first and then blast it clean in the chamber.

Band Saw
This is a great saw. More made in China Harbor Freight. Put the stock in it, turn it on and go do something else. The saw will do it's job and turn itself off when it is done. Way cool!

Hand Tools
Squeezer: Two things I do not like about it. 1) The C-frames are not flat and can not be held easily in a vise. 2) The handles flex when you really need them to be rigid.

Other tools shown are the seaming pliers. They are used to grab someone's nose and lead them out of the shop.  Fluting pliers - used to grab someone's finger and lead them out of the shop.

Back riveting set, debur and cleco pliers also shown.

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Updated 22Aug2009