OK Wood Turners---I Have a Clean Slate

I have a clean slate full sheet of chip board) 9 inches behind the lathe bench and 20 inches behind the lathe bed (so I can get to both sides of the lathe if I really want to and so a long turning tool handle does not bump into the panel).
Do you have any suggestions about how to utilize the space on the panel? I am wide open for suggestions.

Here is a pic of the way it was in the past when the panel was actually attached to the back of the lathe bench. I added stuff to the panel as I learned what I reached for a lot. Therefore the location of stuff was not very logical. I used the, “Where do I have room for this now?” approach.
The DC is removed at this time. I give up on the heavy chips. I just want to collect the fine dust before it gets out into the shop. Therefore you will not see DC in the new "clean slate" version.

Since the slate is “clean” I would like to make a more intelligent use of the area. This includes the drawers below the lathe, the “shelf” above the panel and lighting.

For general illumination in the area there is a dual 8 foot fluorescent luminaire above my head. I have tried several things for task lighting. Each of those things worked but only sort of.

As I said above, " I am wide open for suggestions.

The dark part of the pic on the right is bins which hold sanding materials. It is VERY handy, though larger bins would be better. I'll toss in another pic showing where the turning tools are kept. There are 10 turning tools in the holder at the end of the bench. You can also see the sanding bins easier in this pic. Shorter tools are in the tubes under the lathe bed.

Enjoy and HELP,
JimB
 

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What you store and where you store it is really a subjective personal choice, so I'm not really much help there. I will, however, put in a plug for a true Moffatt lamp for task lighting. I have become very reliant on the one I have on my lathe. The overhead fluorescent is no comparison to a well-aimed 100 watt GE Reveal incandescent bulb in a Moffatt fixture. :thumb:

I also concur with you on the futility of trying to catch all the chips that fly from the lathe. Capture the airborne dust and just let the chips fall where they may. That's what brooms are for. ;)
 
What you store and where you store it is really a subjective personal choice, so I'm not really much help there. I will, however, put in a plug for a true Moffatt lamp for task lighting. I have become very reliant on the one I have on my lathe. The overhead fluorescent is no comparison to a well-aimed 100 watt GE Reveal incandescent bulb in a Moffatt fixture. :thumb:

I also concur with you on the futility of trying to catch all the chips that fly from the lathe. Capture the airborne dust and just let the chips fall where they may. That's what brooms are for. ;)

Yes! A wise man (with the kamakazi squirrel) told me that a few months ago. That is why I am thinking this way.

I have a fairly heavy duty flex arm and lamp, very much like Moffatt shows. However I want to mount the arm to the vertical "wall" behind the lathe. The lamp works fine if the "base" is down on the bench. However, when the "base" is mounted to the vertical panel behind the lathe the arm just cannot support itself and the lamp. All of the Moffatt items that I saw show their lamps with the base down, like on a bench top.

If the 24" Moffatt will hold itself out horizontally, I will purchase one. Do you, or anyone else reading this, know if it will?

Attached is a pic with mine showing.

Enjoy,
JimB
 

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I literally turn up against a wall so most of my chips end up under the lathe by one means or another. Easy to clean that way. Storage is on the opposite side of the shop so I don't dirty to many things. I can't speak intelligently on intelligent use of anything since I no longer have anything to do with intelligence. But I do have some good beer recommendations!
 
...If the 24" Moffatt will hold itself out horizontally, I will purchase one. Do you, or anyone else reading this, know if it will?...

Short answer, yes. The beauty of the Moffatt lights (in addition to the superior bulb socket/heat sink) is the stiffness of the arm. Check out this one I have under my air cleaner, held by the magnetic base. Granted, it's the 18" model, but the 24" one is going to definitely be stiff enough to stay in place horizontally:

Articulating%20Light%20Arm%20-%2018%20800.jpg


The one I have on my lathe also stays where I put it, regardless of any shaking or vibration from out of balance blanks.
 
Short answer, yes. The beauty of the Moffatt lights (in addition to the superior bulb socket/heat sink) is the stiffness of the arm. Check out this one I have under my air cleaner, held by the magnetic base. Granted, it's the 18" model, but the 24" one is going to definitely be stiff enough to stay in place horizontally:

Articulating%20Light%20Arm%20-%2018%20800.jpg


The one I have on my lathe also stays where I put it, regardless of any shaking or vibration from out of balance blanks.

Hmmmm...vue zhah dea...in other words...I've never been there before!
 
The short, this may give you some ideas. I how have a goosneck mounted on the vertical between the doors and it holds its position.

Cabinet gives 52X30 area of shelves 5.5 deep and 16 linear feet of pegboard 30" high.

If you need/want updated pics let me know. All max two steps from lathe center.
 

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OK you Three (Vaughn, Jim and Mike)

Vaughn and Jim---You got me thinking outside of the box I was in. I am going to go ahead with the Moffatt lamp. However, I am going to get it with the magnet as you guys did. I anticipate sticking it on the ways as you mentioned. I will also put a steel plate on the backboard (a round electric box cover) and place the lamp there when it would be in my way or if the light would be better coming from a different direction.

QUESTION: Why did you go with the 100 watt incandescent instead of a twirly fluorescent? It seems to me that the curly lamp would be a lot cooler.

Mike---I did not even have the remotest thought about a thin cabinet on the backboard until I saw your post. It is a darn good idea, however I am not going to use it at this time. One of the members of the local wood turning club (teaches at Palomar College) came over and spent a couple hours with me. He bumped the backboard with the turning tool handle. I sawed a few inches off of the handle and we continued on.

I moved my workbench and TS a couple inches north and moved my sheet goods storage around 6 inches south to give me a gap between lathe and the backboard. This gives enough space that my longest handled turning tool will not hit. It gives me 9" that I can stand in if I want to work from that side of the lathe. I may even move the lathe bench 1" further north to get a bit more room. Nine inches just does not allow enough room for a cabinet and me, even though I am a small male.

If I find that I do not stand in that space I will do the cabinet bit. The cabinets would be set high enough that the turning tool handle could go under them.

If there are anymore ideas out there, send them in!

Enjoy,
JimB
 
Well this is a bit "off the wall" lol thinking.
I dont know if you left or right handed but what about flipping the lathe 180 from its current orientation so your predominant position at the lathe is between the wall and the lathe. This way you turn around and access the wall rather than have to reach over the lathe or walk around.
In my view given you dont have lathe up against the wall making it easier to reach and access something then anything you put up there is going to be pretty much out of the use way. I think you would get way more use of that wall and better layout use too of tools if a turn left ot right would have you facing it and being able to pick a tool.
Then you can still come around and turn from the other side if needs be.
Your draws would not be lost. They may require that you increase space between wall and lathe though. But if you happen to have a platform to turn on (given your height) then it could be permanently positioned between wall and lathe and be out of the way on the other side.


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...QUESTION: Why did you go with the 100 watt incandescent instead of a twirly fluorescent? It seems to me that the curly lamp would be a lot cooler...

I hate fluorescent lighting, and have a hard time seeing sanding scratches under fluorescent lights. And I choose the Reveal bulbs over other incandescents because I prefer the color spectrum they put out.
 
lets see if i understood this right .. jim has a clean slate, so thatmeans he has nothing on his slate or plate as for work??? but yet there was this walnut blank that was being turned that seems to have feel into one of his cracks.. he should have found it after all that cleaning and having glenn there to help sort out the plywood storage.. so where is it JIM::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::)
 
Rob, good outside the box thinking. I will play with that on the computer and with "walk around" in the shop.

I have a feeling it is going to be a "no go" however. I just plain ole don't want to move my bench any further north (the backboard is south of the lathe now). I have thought hard about moving the bench one inch north. So far my decision is to leave it alone and that boils down to not reversing the lathe. The backboard is attached directly to an non-moveable partition so I cannot open the space that direction.

Thanks for the answer Vaughn. I will check out the color spectrum and color temperature of the Reveal lamp.

Larry I'm sending you a PM.

Thanks to all of you for the interest and ideas.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
Jim my thought was based on thinking of your age with all due respect. I don't quiet see you lifting 4x8 sheets of ply on your own anymore. Yet my thoughts were `.......I wonder how much of the workshop space is devoted to this kind of woodworking, essentially reserving space for the maybe and depriving the turning section of valuable space to enjoy turning. Since I moved and have to temporary make do with a strange garage configuration, I have had to prioritise space more than I ever thought to do before.
Best of luck with this challenge. May be worth spending more time turning than analyzing the space for the maybe situation to arise, kind of like most of us buying tools on the chance that we need them. :D
 
The short, this may give you some ideas. I how have a goosneck mounted on the vertical between the doors and it holds its position.

Cabinet gives 52X30 area of shelves 5.5 deep and 16 linear feet of pegboard 30" high.

If you need/want updated pics let me know. All max two steps from lathe center.

Slick setup Mike. I have tried to talk the old man into pegboard. Unfortunately, long, long ago, in days of old . . . when pegboard hooks were crummy and fell out if you even thought about reaching for a tool that was hanging from one . . . was when Dad formed his opinion about pegboard. The upside is that he gave me a bunch of pegboard. The downside is that it is all 1/8" and most of the "good stuff" is made for 1/4" board. I solved the problem with a step bit . If I want something on an 1/8" panel bad enough, I just enlarge the holes :thumb:. With proper hooks and shop-made fixtures, I find pegboard meets my ever changing shop needs quite well.
 
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