"Gantry crane"

 

Drill press , welder , vice , torches .





Put a sportster carb on a mini truck .

 

A welder is top of the list. Then air compressor, then press, shop crane, (notice I didn't say engine hoist) trans jack, milling machine, lathe, shrinker stretcher, bead roller, slip roll, metal brake, English wheel, .....I think that's it.

 

Not in priority, but my top 5

Drill Press
Mig welder
Torch
some type of brake press
shop Press

You can do a lot of stuff with those items

Next 5
Bridgeport type Mill
lathe
Plasma cutter
shear
tig welder


I think jack stands, floor jacks, & compressor are a given.

 

Since I already have the one welder I'll invest in other things unless a deal on a nice one comes up. I have a very stout Vice, nice Floor Jack and a stout engine stand.

Unfortunately the shop at the new place isn't really tall enough for a Gantry Crane unless I built a full length frame to also support the roof and cut the trusses out, the landlord is cool but I don't see him letting me do that and that's minimum 200' of I-beam. Not an amount I'm going to invest in someone else's property.

The shop is already wired with 220 so that gives me more/better options for what equipment to get.

A Lathe/Mill is far down the list due to expense and the fact that anything that requires computer programs to run scares me so I will most likely be getting older machinery.

One nice thing about being in Western Wa is that shop equipment is easy to come by and that keeps the prices lower.

 

 

1953 GE refrigerator (was for free and it still works)
Hobart 135 Handler (got for my birthday by my father-in-law)
Sturdy work bench (built from free wood)

 

I do a good bit of metal fabrication and have a lot of more expensive equipment, but the cheap Clarke metal cutting band saw (vertical/horizontal) I can't do without. Over 12 years old now and still serving its purpose.

 

Most of my top choices are covered here but add: PB Blaster, a 36" breaker bar and a 4' piece of galvanized pipe.

 

Forgot about this. I use my horizontal band saw quite a bit.

 

Side note* A vise is NOT an anvil! Ask me how I know.

If you plan on forging parts, but an anvil. I've broken three vises in the past year and a half.

 

Several smaller items I have. Old laptop, toughbook bought at a DOT sale, with shop manual and master parts catalog on it. My gear wrenches are the most used hand tool in the box when it comes to working on vehicles, best money I ever spent. A good creeper and roll around stool. I am lucky enough to have a great neighbor with a full machine shop. He built an apartment upstairs in the back that he lives in. Lots and lots of storage. Oh and a teenager willing to work on stuff.

 

There's quite a few older decent band saws on CL for under $150, depending what I find at the swap meet this weekend and how much money I have left I'll probably be picking one up.

Also looking at buy fully loaded Organizer/shelving system that's 2 units that are 5ft long each and were from an Auto Parts store so they have a LOT of useful bit+pieces in them.

 

Ummm,,, y'all got the beer fridge covered, welder, vise, compressor (in THAT order!! ), I will add in my 19.2 Craftsman tools, 1/2" drive impact, (don't know how I lived w/o it!!) SAWZALL!! another can't believe I did w/o! A sit-on creeper,,, not sure what you call it, had it for forever, great for doing brakes and such. Blocks of wood; 2x4, 4x4, 4x6, 6x6. Drill press, FIRE EXTINGUISHER!! <~~ buy when you get welder/cutting torch or grinder!

Oh,,, and BAND-AIDS,,, saves a trip into the house when your bleeding and a 30-45 min. explanation of what happened. If you go in to the house later, with said band-aid, a trip to the ER is not immediately on the agenda!

5 gal. buckets, empty peanut cans, old coffee cans, you always end up with left-overs,, nuts/bolts etc.

I also have an old laundry hamper for dirty rags, micro-fiber towels from cleaning/waxing (if that ever happens!) and when full, I go to laundromat in town and worsh (yes I am from Missouri) rags and put them back in cabinet. Also, note to selves, keep rag hamper away from earlier mentioned fire tools!!
An old door mirror from my daughters room, it cracked, I put in on inside of my garage door to outside, so when I get something in my eye (add in here, BUY SAFETY GLASSES every time you see them) I can go to door mirror, and get dirt/crumb/grease or whatnot out of eye without aforementioned trip inside and lecture on safety, AGAIN!
Really, she's not that bad, but we have had a few trips to the ER over the past 23+ years, and if you've had any alcohol, i.e; BEER from beer fridge, they tend to not want to give you any pain killers.
Music was covered,,, engine stands, carts,,,

Sears.com

got a few (3) of these on sale for $49 last CHRISTmas, they are great for storing stuff, 1 has cleaners/sprays WD/PB/SimpleGreen/windex/ on top, one has jack-stands on bottom and spare bottle jack on top and other stuff, one has my vehicle electrical tool-box on top and crap on bottom.

Ok,, I will stop for now!

 

Oh, video footage of everything in your shop, and I mean everything. Stored in a safe place. This will come in handy when you need it. My garage burnt down to the ground about 7 years ago and I am still replacing stuff I use to have.