Shop talk

Just thought I'd start a post about shop tools, supplies and techniques.
I've been building stuff for about 25 years and have learned a few things. So when I set up shop in our house I knew what I wanted and what I needed.

Here's a couple pics of the workshop in the front end of my garage.
It's not huge, just 12 feet by 8 feet. But I've managed to cram some useful stuff into it.
And trust me, the shop was a mess 10 minutes after I took this picture.

Yes, that's my MGB, I still have it. 

This has been a VERY handy item in my shop lately. It's just a pressure sprayer that a friend gave me. I removed the sprayer parts and cleaned it up to use as a pressure tank. When I'm molding or casting model parts, I place them in the tank and hook it up to my air compressor. It works to compress any bubbles in the mold or cast and it works like a charm. I have had flawless results with this item. If you are doing any molding and casting I highly recommend you get one. In fact it works too well sometimes, pushing the rubber into places I didn't think it could get. Visit my Corellian Freighter post to see the results.

Here's another handy item I bought from Micro-Mark. This lathe is very easy to use and is great for making some pretty neat things. You can buy lots of accessories like bits and bit holders that make it very versatile. With it I've made the engines and docking rings for my Corellian Freighter model.




For the most part my tools aren't expensive or fancy. The bandsaw and drill press are from Home Depot and Canadian Tire, both were under $100 (on sale). I found the sander slightly used and I look for sales on other tools as well. 
I've been using Smooth-On molding and casting supplies, and I bought several 4x8 sheets of styrene of various thicknesses from a supplier in Vancouver.

I searched the internet for some instruction on building a vacuum former and came across a couple modelers who just use a simple homemade job. This is my former, only 16 inches square and it works great. I'm using a shop vacuum and a patio heater.

This is the set up outside, because styrene smells really bad when heated, and you DO NOT want to do this in your house.
The black box on the left is a tin foil lined oven made from some MDF. The patio heater sits inside and heats the styrene up very evenly.

The insides of the former are sloped to help the air flow easily out. I've seen a lot of much fancier machines with air pumps and hydraulic this and levers for that and unless you're going into production and working at it for hours on end, great, but this is all you need for small projects.
I have a set of frames that reduce the working area down so I can form small parts and I don't always have to use a 16x16 piece of styrene. Less waste.

Some samples what the vacuum former can do.

The domes for the Corellian Freighter were formed of 1.5mm styrene.

Yes it's a sad face. But no!
More space ship parts.

I don't have much room left for a spray booth so I built a transforming spray booth. Normally it just looks like a medicine cabinet.

But open up one side.

Then the other and lower the work surface.

Raise the top and clamp it in place, and now I have a spray booth.

Inside is a squirrel fan, not super powerful but better than nothing. It vents out a nearby window.

That's all for now, come back later to see more on Shop Talk!.