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   Since new server on 4/20/05

Shop projects: Buying tools is over rated when you can build them

Most recent toy, a hydraulic tube bender.  Bought some plans from www.gottrikes.com and started work.

Thanks to John for the use of his milling machine.

Last winter I got bored with working on the truck and the jeep and decided to work on some tool and shop projects.

1st - the welder/plasma cart.  I didn't like the wimpy little carts that Hobart/Miller had to offer, so I built this monster with room for everything and plenty of beef.

After the cart was done, I was thinking about how much easier it would have been if I had a welding table.  So now that I didn't need one, I built it ;)  Made a space for an old craftsman workbench to ride along.

And a nice removable mount for a bandsaw that I had rebuilt.

I'm a big fan of old junk, so I picked up this 40's Avey drill press.  Was still being used in a machine shop that was going out of business.  Needed 3 phase to run in, so I built a control box with a VFD to convert my 220 single to 3 phase.