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What would you make with an awesome workshop?

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Mr RB

Well-Known Member
Just a hypothetical question, but imagine if you had a great electronics and hardware workshop with some awesome equipment like;
* a CNC machine, small but very accurate say 12"x12" area can cut wood, plastics and even aluminium.
* small manual metalwork lathe and milling machines, drills saws etc.
* a PNP machine, fast and reliable say 1000 parts/hour and accurate to place fiddly stuff down to 0603 and SSOP, QFN.
* reflow oven, solder paste stenciling setup etc all needed for the auto SMD work.
* good test equipment, scopes and all the usual goodies.
* good microcontroller development systems, hardware, compilers.
* obviously you have lots of skill so you can easily use all this dream equipment!

What would you make? And have I left out anything, any other awesone equipment you would like or need? Or would you have a different dream workshop?

Would you try to make commercial products at home or use the workshop to make prototypes and then send out for commercial production?

The moderators may want to move this to Members Lounge as it's a hypthetical discussion but it is specific to electronics so i thought it might be ok to post it here.
 
I like mobile robots, so I would start building some kind of robot platform that I could use for different kinds of "experiments". Something like this: **broken link removed**
 
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The two questions I would ask myself to start are:

1) Is this a hobby or business?
2) If business, what is your mission?* An example is the difference between running trains and providing transportation. Although that is a well worn example, Sparkfun might be a more modern example where the mission to support the electronic hobbyist is clearly defined on its home page:
SparkFun is an online retail store that sells the bits and pieces to make your electronics projects possible. Whether it’s a robot that can cook your breakfast or a GPS cat tracking device, our products and resources are designed to make the world of electronics more accessible to the average person. {emphasis added}In addition to products, SparkFun also offers classes and a number of online tutorials designed to help educate individuals in the wonderful world of embedded electronics.

As for your dream shop, it sounds pretty nice. I would add grinding and welding/brazing capabilities and a hydraulic press for mechanical fabrication. Even something as basic as keeping your tools sharp needs grinding. I have TIG for welding, which is quite versatile. I would also add PCB etching and plating/anodizing capabilities. Anodizing and etching are quite cheaply done. Plating is a little more complex, depending on what you do, but is not beyond the hobbyist.

John

*Mission = what human problem are you solving, what need are you fulfilling, how will it improve the human condition. MBA's might call that the Mission Statement.
 
I have a manual mill and a myford lathe, both going rusty from lack of use, mainly due to working shifts to pay for this fancy new house with a workshop!
 
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@dr pepper
I have a Smart & Brown Model A Mark II . It is a real jewel -- I've even grown to love Whitworth threads. Please, don't let your little Myford rust.

John
 
If I had your dream workshop, I would try to build brushless motors.

If I had my dream workshop, it would have all that stuff plus a large endmill, divider head, full size lathe, and a plamsa CNC machine, and I would build brushless motors
 
If I had my dream workshop (which would be housed in a large steel building, with a drive-thru bay with roll-up doors, a 12-14 foot clearance, gantry crane/hoist, automobile lift, separate metal and wood shop space, a separate electronics workbench design area, a completely separate office area, and of course separate storage area for wood/metal/components/etc) - there are a few things I would want to try to build, but one of the main ones would be a full-sized recreation of Odetics Inc ODEX-1 functionoid:

https://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2462

Not likely to ever happen, but I can dream; actually, there's a guy out there (but for the life of me, I can't find his blog again!) who -is- building a replica, and is doing it with the skills to make it look and work good, just like the original, but with modern controls, sensors, etc. I'll post the site if I can find it again...
 
I have my dream workshop. :D

Granted it still needs insulation and the concrete floor with in floor heat and my 1340I Smithy lathe/mill is over at my brothers being used to fabricate his second CNC machine but still its well equipped anyway. ;)

As far as may electronics workshop well when the new house is finished I will have that either in the basement or the new attached 4 stall garage. :D
 
John, yes I know rust is bad, real bad esp on a mint ex military ml4.
I've not heard smart and brown for a while, they are good machines, they never caught on in the model engineering world that much as they were expensive, but you gets what you pays for.
My mill is a trident, and has the rare floor stand with it, and also has power x and z axes, z is just a traverse.
I also have 2 bandsaws vert and horiz, a power hacksaw, linisher, grinder, hydraulic press, pillar drlll and all the other home shop junk.
Wish I'd time to use it all.
 
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Milling PCBs

I would add, a PCB able milling machine for a faster testing of my ideas.

Assisted to a demonstration when still LPKF had an authorized representative in Argentina. Fascinating because it was incredibly FAST.

I am after one (not LPKF, of course) I selected about one year ago but Customs regulations in this impossible country make illusory to have it delivered here.

Not a professional myself, I wish I could participate in producing small series of something.
 
Hi Mr RB,

if board manufacturing - prototype and small to medium series is required a Gerber photo plotter is a MUST for that kind of dream shop.

I was lucky to have a print shop in my neighborhood who printed advertising material for small and medium sales stores and the photoplot's quality was much over the quality of laser printed transparencies, duplicated with positive contact film (to enrich the black areas for no blind spots) to make a highly dense and sharp image of the PCB.

Payment depended on the demands on the print shop owners. Sometimes it was two six-packs and another time is setting up a printer for the network. :D

The Gerber photo plot is pretty much resistant to scratches, which might occur when pushing raw (and sized) PCB material into the prepared pocket for double sided PCBs with no offset between layers. (All copper pads have to meet at the same position.)

CNC drilling is fast and reasonably accurate (0.025mm) Using a target finder optic system (similar to sniper gunner's optics) the accuracy will be 0.000mm with manual drilling and an excellent eye balling system. (Works slowly in the beginning but accelerates with practice.)

Accuracy can be proved by sticking a 96 pin PCB-connector through the drill holes with no significant pressure.

An electrolytic through plating machine is only recommended if you process at least 1 square meter of PCB material per load - or go the the way of an awfully dirty job, emptying the copper bath container into an air tight canister and clean the copper plates when the job is done. If the copper bath rests for 24 hours in the open air it becomes useless and the copper layer on the board looks like a sponge. Through holes will be filled with a sponge-like layer of copper denying any part to pass. If parts are forced through the plating layers will sometimes loose connectivity from top to bottom, making trouble shooting a time consuming job.

One load of 4l of copper bath adds up to EURO95 (120$). The final additive of copper fixer counts EURO2 ($2.5) per 1 ccm.

Last not least, if you are looking for a relatively cheap Gerber photo plotter please check out: https://www.bungard.de.

Boncuk
 
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Apparently Google employees have such a luxury. **broken link removed**

There are a few "think tank" type setups for hobyists that were detailed in either a recent Popular Mechanics or Popular Science that were available for $75/ month. DNA sequencers were even available.

Where I used to work, I did have 24/7 access to a nice machine shop, reasonably equipped electronics and chemical laboratory.
 
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Hmm ok I'll expand the "dream workshop" to include;
* a CNC machine, small but very accurate say 12"x12" area can cut wood, plastics and even aluminium (and mill PCBs).
* small manual metalwork lathe and milling machines, drills saws etc.
* a PNP machine, fast and reliable say 1000 parts/hour and accurate to place fiddly stuff down to 0603 and SSOP, QFN.
* reflow oven, solder paste stenciling setup etc all needed for the auto SMD work.
* good test equipment, scopes and all the usual goodies.
* good microcontroller development systems, hardware, compilers.
* welding/grinding other steel working equipment (optional) in separate room!
* heavy lathes or milling machines (optional)
* PCB production, artwork, exposing, etching (drilling can be done on CNC above)

To MisterT; nice robot on the link. I was surprised to see it as 1983 it looks almost like a classic 1950's /60's SciFi type design.

To JPanhalt; Well what would YOU do with the workshop (and I added some steel working stuff). It's interesting in a workshop primarily for electronics with pick and place facilities to make any electronics projects or products that people are all focusing on machanical fab? Maybe as we work with electronics the "dream" is to do other stuff like mechanical?

To Boncuk; I added the PCB production stuff. Initially I thought if SMD parts were the focus then professional double sided PCB would be preferred especially since they can be made fast and cheap these days and arrive in the mailbox. But it's a valid point that in-house PCB prototypes could be made by people like that, it's definitely fast enough to stick a PCB in the CNC and engrave and drill it. People get fine enough results for proto SMD work;

**broken link removed**

So nobody wants to make high tech electronic goodies at home in their dream workshop? I'm surprised. :)

Re the google workshop, that sounds cool too.
 
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Since you asked...

I make all sort of gadgets and engine parts purely for my fun and pleasure. I make parts for others too, but never charge. It is a hobby supporting my other hobbies. I've attached some photos of my first microcontroller project done in 2006. It is a "retriever," which is used when I fly RC sailplanes. The planes are launched with a winch to a few hundred feet altitude. Unlike the winch launches used for full-size airplanes, the winch we use is operated by the model pilot. The line runs through a "turn-around" about 200M upwind. After the model detaches, the line falls back to ground, which provides good exercise to go get, but can be a bit of a pain when it gets caught in bushes and trees. The retriever pulls it back quickly to the starting point before it has a chance to get into the trees. The retrieve live is separate from the launch line and does not go through the turn-around.

For the retriever I made, imagine a very large spinning reel. The bale moves across the face of the drum. It is latched for launch to allow the line to feed out freely. Then after the airplane is off the launch line, the bale latch is released. The bale captures the line and the cam guides it during rewind. My unit is almost fully automatic. The design is such that no twist is introduced into the line. The pilot can launch, fly the model, and retrieve at the same time with a foot switch or hand switch. Electronics involved an IR position sensor, PWM motor control (about 1.5 to 2 HP at 12VDC) and microcontroller for logic and safety interlocks. I have attached some pictures. Making the cam was a bit of a challenge on a manual mill. There was a little TIG welding and lathe work involved too. The IR sensor is hidden under the smoke colored acrylic plastic. The full view of the retrieve in white was an early version that used a solenoid to release the bale. The final version used a servo operated latch.

Another project is the inclinometer you helped me on last Winter. It is on hold right now due to so many things at the "farm" that won't wait.

Another very useful tool that I forgot to mention is a bandsaw. A vertical bandsaw is more versatile than a horizontal one and is good for cutting metals, wood, and plastic. For very light work, a scroll saw can substitute. With a metal cutting blade, a scroll saw can help cut out panels. If you are doing lots of stock cutting, a horizontal band saw is hard to beat. My horizontal bandsaw is a cheap one from Harbor Freight and works great after clean up and adjusting.

John

View attachment 64674View attachment 64675View attachment 64676
 
That's an impressive project John. :) I'm not sure i get you on how the cam works but it looks like a fishing reel principle? So the line can spool out with very little drag then the cam turns it back to a reel and the motor winds the reel to retrieve the line? I like the way the IR sensor is neatly contained and safe too.
 
Well I aint got a dream workshop but close to it, projects on the go at the moment

A 100mm wide grain mill made from 100% brass

5 cylinder radial engine machined out of solid steel

4kw motor conversion for a wind generator

mini dual axial flux wind generator

then in storage is a full leather workshop and a wood workshop stored in the shearing shed.

The best part is all off the grid and I make my own power so no wasting $$$$$ on power bills.

All machines run first from 24 volts DC to 240VAC then fed into VFD's for full control of speed, direction etc. So far got both lathes, the bridgeport mill and the surface grinder is a project underway. Got a few spare VFD's I use for the bandsaw and when needed for the wool press.

My shed is only 12x11 metres and soon hopefully I'll be doubling the size of it so I put in an overhead crane for lifting the heavy jobs.

Running a small business at home NOWAY these are just big boys toys......

Cheers Bryan
 
Hi Bryan I remember seeing your thread on your motor conversion where you machined the rotor on your lathe and were putting permanent magnets into the rotor to make it into a generator. The 5 cyl radial sounds awesome, they always look great with the pushrods and geometric shaped crankcases.

Everyone seems to have a totally different version of a dream workshop hey?
 
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