I am Short 4 Tons of Metal

It has been a year since I’ve used my machine tools. I am not happy.

I left my tools in Miami. I had enough problems without moving them. Now I have to get it done. I have sacrificed an entire year of machining.

When you have machine tools and you move, you have headaches. It’s going to cost me $4000 just for a rigger, which is a company that moves machinery. On top of that, I have to get some new wiring. My lathe runs off a machine that turns single-phase power into triple-phase, and that machine needs a 60-amp socket. My welder and plasma cutter need 60-amp sockets. My smaller 3-phase tools need 30-amp sockets. Then there are the table saw and band saw.

I’ve been putting off getting the wiring done. There are several reasons. For one thing, it’s hard to decide where to put the machines.

I have a thousand-square-foot workshop, which sounds huge, but I have two tractors I keep indoors. My garage is also large, but I keep two motorcycles in it. I don’t actually ride them, of course, they’re here.

Mixing metalworking and woodworking machines is not a great idea. They won’t damage each other, regardless of what people claim, but life is easier when you don’t have sawdust all over your metal tools. It’s nice to have a fairly neat metalworking area.

Another thing: putting woodworking tools in a garage that shares a door with your house causes problems. Sawdust will find its way into the house all the time. Metalworking tools create chips which stick to shoes and make it indoors, but at least chips aren’t dusty, and they’re a lot easier to sweep up than sawdust.

Today I made a plan. It’s official. It’s carved in stone. I think. I’m going to keep all the wood stuff in the workshop, and I’m going to put the metal machines in the garage. I’ll put enough outlets in the workshop to allow me to weld out there if I want. I’ll need that when I work on farm machinery. Mainly, though, I’ll weld in the garage.

I have no idea what 240 outlets cost. The shop has NO 240 power. None. It has very little 120 for that matter. The shop needs several 240 outlets plus a couple of 120 boxes. I’m imagining four-digit prices. I hope that’s wrong.

The garage will probably be cheaper to work with. It’s full of 240 stuff already.

I called an electrician, and I’m getting an estimate. We will see what happens.

Guess what I did when I needed 240 power in Miami. I installed it myself. The wiring back there was a scandal anyway, so nothing I did could have made things any worse. The Ocala house is different. It’s magnificent. I am not going to hack it up if I can avoid it.

Once the juice is installed, I’m going to have my machines moved. Then I can feel like a whole man again.

It’s terrible, not having a mill, a lathe, a real compressor, a vertical band saw, or a drill press. I wouldn’t wish it on Michael Avenatti. When you’re used to having tools, losing them is like being paralyzed.

I’m not saying other guys who don’t have machine tools are less than men. Of course, it’s true. I’m just not saying it.

If the electrician doesn’t give me a heart attack, I could be milling and turning again in 3 weeks. That would be sweet.

After that, I have to look into air conditioning for the garage and a big fan for the shop. I have to have it. Have to.

I don’t want to screw up my beautiful garage with a hole in the wall. A friend of mine suggested a window unit. That would still be slightly hideous, but it wouldn’t be permanent. I’m looking into it. One problem with a window unit is that it will require brackets on the outside to support it, and they may have to be fastened to the wall. I don’t have a nice, smooth stucco wall. I have Hardie board siding, which is like concrete clapboards.

Whatever; whatever. I have to get this done. Half of me is still in South Florida. That is not acceptable.

I can’t wait to have a real shop again.