"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
om...
Reorganizing a shop recently bought up questions concerning how to get
more efficient storage around a bench top horizontal mill, in this
case a Burke #4 horizontal mill. Any number of similar benchtop mills,
both horizontal and vertical, could benefit from this.

I would be interested in hearing what and how other HSMers have done
to provide efficient storage for all those arbors, index heads,
collets, end mill holders, etc. that are used. I would also like to
hear from anyone who has incorporated this storage in a cabinet or
stand that also allows for the horizontal mill itself to sit on.

My #4 Burke came with a stand. However, you may be interested in what I
did for storage. I didn't like the little compartment in the stand itself.
It isn't very convenient -- dark, coolant drips, etc. I think that its only
proper use (once I get around to it) is to house a coolant system. Okay,
now for the storage problem.
I looked around at thrift shops until I found an old metal desk.
You know the type. Three regular drawers on one side and a single drawer
plus file drawer on the other side -- also a middle drawer, but you will
lose that feature. They also have a lineoleum top -- which you will want to
remove. The best ones are those made during or shortly after WWII, because
they are of the heaviest gauge steel. The desk WILL NOT be used as a
stand -- this is for guys who have a #4 with a stand or a willing to make a
heavy enough stand.
Cut a hole in the center of the desk wide enough for the stand to
poke through. With the casters removed from the desk, the coolant pan will
just sit on the desk top with a fraction of an inch to spare. You don't
want actual contact. You now can reassemble the mill on top of the desk.
You know those wings that the desks have? Sheet metal. Use a hole punch to
cut out a bunch of holes for collets, mill holders, chucks, etc. You can
still put rarely used stuff in that drawer. The big file drawer is good for
storing big items like a rotary table, vertical head, etc.
I found out, soon enough, that even this isn't nearly enough for the
huge amount of tooling one tends to accumulate. Two wall mounted cabinets
and an on-sale Sears rolling cabinet finished off the storage problem.

Boris

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