Sheet good handling

[ChuckM]

I could not imagine how challenging it must be to work out of a basement shop. The thought of moving big machinery down the stairs is daunting enough for me (one of my friends managed to get a SawStop PCS into his basement with only one extra helper).

My basement (walk-out) is a place to store my lumber (on a pool table), but in the winter time when it is snow everywhere, I will try to move the lumber via the stairs -- doable with a bit of care. 4 x 8, if any, probably won't work and must go through the basement door. But then, I usually have a full sheet pre-cut into two at the lumber yard or big box store.

 

[sprior]

You just need to alter the workflow so it’s “parted”, or at least rough parted, in the garage.

That's not a good option for me, besides the garage being a nowhere near as nice environment as my workshop I also tend to keep some plywood "in stock", so there's no specific cuts to be made at the time of purchase.

Maybe someday when I retire I'll move and get a shop at ground level, but that's not soon.

 

[sprior]

I could not imagine how challenging it must be to work out of a basement shop. The thought of moving big machinery down the stairs is daunting enough for me (one of my friends managed to get a SawStop PCS into his basement with only one extra helper).

Depends on how determined you are, I've seen pictures of Brideport mills in basements.  I suspect it'll take a Sawzall to get my big work table out of there.  Not being a city dweller I just recently heard that there are people who specialize in  performing surgery on (and then repairing) furniture to get it to fit in elevators for apartment buildings.

Here's a picture of my workshop, most of the Festool stuff is out of frame behind me as are tools like band saw, table saw, jointer which are stored in a corner and get rolled out on demand.  BTW, almost everything is on wheels and a few weeks ago it took me only 90 minutes to clean out this space to the bare walls (everything to the adjoining room) all by myself.

My current project is building a new miter saw station that has systainer storage.  The platform on top is the old one temporarily borrowed, I'm building a new bigger one with drawers under the top deck and a removable extension wing.

 

[lunchman]

Since I had to make a trip to Lowe's today for plywood and drywall, I figured I'd give the Portamate another go in unloading the sheets off the truck. I only used it for the plywood, which was 1/2",  I carried the sheetrock in by hand.

I set up the Portamate in its horizontal orientation far enough away from the tailgate and slid the ply out onto it. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I had recalled, but this is 1/2" ply and I normally work with 3/4". Lowering the sheet back down to vertical is easy enough with the lever handle. The  tricky part is trying to push the button to retract the extended leg while keeping the sheet almost upright so it won't tip over. As I'd done in the past, I just left the leg extended and wheeled it the 20' into  my garage.

In the past when I had a lot of 3/4" ply to unload, it was handy to have this. This 1/2" sheet could easily have been hand carried, but I wanted to give it another go as a refresher.

Fortunately I can break down sheet goods in the garage with the TS55. There's no room in the basement shop to store 4x8 sheets nor do I want to carry one down the bulkhead stairs.

And those are the results for today's experiment.  Back to making French cleats. 

-Dom

 

[sancho57]

I have a garage shop with the garage in the back of the house behind a gate with a block wall fence. So what works for me is a cheap harbor fireight movers dolly. Yea I still have to muscle the sheet goods outta the back of the truck but once on the dolly its easy peasy to roll in the shop one or 2 at a time then muscle them on to my MFT. I get these on sale with a coupon for about $8 and they are small and easy to store
https://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-x-12-in-1000-lbs-capacity-hardwood-dolly-63095.html

 

[lunchman]

[member=14226]sprior[/member] , nice shop btw. I wish I had that much room in mine,  but it's a vast improvement over working in the garage.

 

[Mario Turcot]

[member=14226]sprior[/member] , nice shop btw. I wish I had that much room in mine,  but it's a vast improvement over working in the garage.

I second that ^^

Looks like a high ceiling. The only negative thing is the x-carve  [eek] I have a Shapeoko 3  [tongue]

 

[sprior]

I second that ^^

Looks like a high ceiling. The only negative thing is the x-carve  [eek] I have a Shapeoko 3  [tongue]

The ceiling height is high, the downside is that it is bare fiberglass which usually isn't much of an issue except like last night when I aimed a compressor blow nozzle up while I was emptying the tank.  It'd be nice to cover it, but I've got a LOT of wiring (mostly networking, video), ducts, and plumbing that would be in the way.  A friend once suggested stapling up Tyvek house wrap.

When I got my X-Carve the Shapeoko 3 XXL wasn't out yet, but knowing what I do now I'd go in that direction.  My X-Carve works really well, but I had to spend too much time/money upgrading it for stiffness and other stuff.  Having now seen the difference between the X-Carve and Shapoko extrusion beefiness it's clear who's better int hat regard.  And my dissatisfaction with Easel's cloud based approach has only grown over time, and them pushing the Easel Pro subscription just makes me mad.  I actually use Fusion 360 for my design work and have just been using Easel as my g-code sender out of laziness.

 

[lunchman]

I was prowling thru YouTube videos this evening and came across a Stumpy Nubs review of the Bora Portamate, which may help in a decision re: what to purchase.

And it seems that my method of not retracting the leg during transport is what they did when they used their unit. 

 

[tjbnwi]

[big grin][attachimg=1]

Tom

 

[Mario Turcot]

You are insecure and went berserk on the plywood? or you just want to be busy for the long weekend  [eek]

 

[tjbnwi]

You are insecure and went berserk on the plywood? or you just want to be busy for the long weekend  [eek]

I order 3 or 4 bunks at a time.  Normally last 3 to 4 weeks.

Solids (hard and soft maple) I buy in increments of 500 board feet, unless it happens to be a one off. Then I order what I need plus 15%.

Blum drawer slides I order by the pallet. The last two house used just under 300 drawer slide pairs. House we’re doing now will use 278 pairs of drawer slides.

Hinges and back plates 1000 at a time, edge banding by the mile (speaking of which I need to order 10 more rolls).

Finish is ordered 25-50 gallons per order.

Tom

 

[Mario Turcot]

wow  [scared]

 

[waho6o9]

Impressive 

 

[awil66]

Was that a mic drop by Tom!?!?i think it was !

 

[MikeDVB]

I had a dream that I was handling sheet goods - and that I had some cool multi-use system that not only handled sheet goods but helped me with like 8 other things........ I think it was too good to be true [i.e. I don't think it was physically actually possible]...

When you start dreaming about plywood .

 

[JimD]

My shop is too small to run full sheets through the table saw (14x24).  I like the track saw better anyway.  I haul the wood home in a small trailer which has short wooden sides.  Sometimes I just get a sheet on top of the sides and cut it there with the tracksaw.  Usually I tip it out of the trailer and carry it under my arm, clamped to my side, to the shop garage.  I put a 1 inch thick piece of foam on top of the outfeed/assembly table (3'x7') and lift the sheet on top.  The foam slides some but the table has locking casters and is loaded down with tools so it does not move.  I have to shift the foam a bit once the plywood is up but it works.  I'm 63 but can still handle full sheets of 3/4 OK, but I'm doing this as a hobby so a couple sheets in a weekend is about as much as I typically cut up. 

Slickest setup I've seen was a wooden lattice of 1x3s or 1x4s with folding legs so it can be setup as a cut table.  The guy who used it had health issues where he couldn't manage the sheets but he could slide them off his pickup onto the cut table.  From there, he finish cut with a track saw.  He never had to lift a whole sheet.  If it gets to where I need it, I might do this.  But so far, one lift onto the table is OK.  Carrying it 20 feet or so from the trailer to the shop garage isn't a problem.  I can back the trailer into the shop garage but usually I'd rather carry the plywood (I also have to pivot it 90 degrees while backing it and I'm not great at it). 

 

[BarneyD]

The older I get, the less I find myself willing to lift. I have a cutting table I made of 3/4" ply on folding legs (so I can easily store it). And my shop is fairly small so I prefer to do this outdoors where I have plenty of room.  I just slide the sheets out of the truck onto the cutting table and have a go at them with the tracksaw.  Sliding is way easier than lifting.

[attachimg=1]

 

[sancho57]

[member=61023]BarneyD[/member]

Good idea Is that table one of those ones with the plastic top and the fold away legs?

 

[Michael Kellough]

“a cutting table I made of 3/4" ply on folding leg”