Too much fun huh…
Best, Jim
Hi Judy,
“You can’t have enough tools” (my quote, though Tim Allen might have said that too…)
Still swimming out here, cooler water though.
Best, Jim
??
Love the work space!
Eileen "Snow Goose"
Washington
Hi Jim,
Nice shop, I like the thin green carpet floors. It looks like it’s not too plush where one can actually roll in it with a chair.
Looks like you have multiple lathes including a Unimat with a mill attachment. What’s your opinion about it for use in jewelry, or does it being on the top shelf imply enough of a message? I saw the other one almost out of sight in an adjacent room.
Oh, and great work on those fabricated rings! It’s nice to be reminded that hand fabrication is alive and well today.
Ede
Hi Ede,
The brown lathe is an Elgin (from the watch factory) circa 1890 ish. I have a ton of collets + grinding accessories + stuff whose purpose is unknown… That’s my go-to of most stuff. There is a Boley to the right, more accurate, less torque. The Unimat is set up as a lathe /mill (2 motors) pretty good, lots of torque, don’t use much right now.
There is a Sheerline mill that get’s used a lot, re-worked, braced, modified for accuracy.
Thats an forties Craftsman in the dark background, again a go to for later stuff.
I’ll post shots of the back room equip. on Monday, (there’s a second half of the shop.)
Thanks, Jim
I finally got to take a look at your bench shop this morning Jim - quite impressive & thanks for sharing.
So inquiring minds want to know what is the very small Sensitive Drill press in the corner end of the bench - and is that a Die Filer by the Atlas ?? We’ve been on the look out for a small one .
Patty
Live Oak Studios
Hi Patty,
The drill press is from “Louis G Henes, San Francisco”, circa 1910.
And yes,
There are two die filers.
The one next to the Atlas is a single adjustable table , no motor or base,
cast iron, fully functional. probably mid 30’s (adapts to most files)
The green one is complete and staying. Call me on the other.
Thanks, Jim
949-275-0677
Here’s a new acquisition…
A pattern rolling mill and rollers from a business that closed it’s doors in 1910…
My Friend’s father (Don Ross) got these pieces in a box when he bought the (long closed workshop’s) inventory.
More on that later.
The mill is most likely pre 1900. The crank handles and some of the other parts are blacksmith forged, You can actually see the hammer marks in areas. The mill’s case is assembled with square faced rivets.
There are 38 patterned and plain rollers , none hardened. They show use but great arts & crafts style design.
I won’t restore the mill. but I am cleaning up the patterns on the rollers.
I’ll show the end patterned metal when I get that far.
Enjoy,
Jim
(Sorry Patty, NFS…)
Also,
Shop is a disaster right now, Doing some remodeling + getting ready for Tucson…
op is a disaster,
1 Like
Any Pattern rollers for sale out there???
Any type.
Thanks, Jim
Drooling in Florida…
Patty
Live Oak Studios
Jim -
OK now that I’ve cleaned up the keyboard -
It would seem to me that the rollers were made specifically for that mill.
So am I correct to think that the rollers were hand engraved ?
Very cool .
Patty
Live Oak Studios
EDIT -
On second thought - perhaps the rollers were commercially available & the mill was hand made to use them ?
Hi !
omg…the mother lode!
Julie
Drooling in Toronto too! Nice that good stuff ends up with people who will use it.Cheers,Karen
Hi ,
Yup, hand engraved ands specifically for this mill.
The good news is that there are some i can touch up where worn.
There arrivals blanks so I’m looking for a gun engraver to do some additional patterns.
all in time. My son just made a rack for the dies yesterday after I took the photos and we have a stand just about ready to mount it to.
Fun stuff,
Jim
Wow Jim - thanks for the more details .
I don’t think I have a reply - that thing is just so beautiful -
I’m sure you’ll make some beautiful things with it .
Patty … speechless & somewhat green-tinged today
ohhhh! LOVE tools…LOVE tool storage!
…post pictures when you have a moment, so that I can live vicariously through you!
Julie
Jim, I really appreciate you posting all of the images of your shop. It’s endlessly interesting and inspirational. I’ve recent moved from a 500 sq ft shop to one half that size and am having trouble adjusting. I’m about to remodel to try to improve things and your set up has given me some very useful ideas. So thank you.
I also have loved looking at you wonderful work and have enjoyed trying to work out some of your methods. I’ve been making jewelry for the trade full time since the late 70’s, but this business tends to be somewhat solitary and it’s easy to stay in a bubble. It’s great to see all of the fantastic work you produced, without this forum I never would have.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks , I’ve built shops for about 10 different retailers and manufacturers as a consultant, so it’s fun to play in my own space, I’m actually adding about 250 sq. feet to mine next month so I can do a well equipped photo studio.
I’m happy to share thoughts and methods, just ask. We all develop such different approaches to work with our skill sets.
It’s fun (and often enlightening) to see how another might approach a piece.
Best,
Jim