@laneymachinetech

Machine Shop Tetris 🤔 Taking over management of the college’s machine shop has been quite the learning experience for me. And shop layout has been one of the most difficult things to master. With all the CNC machines we’ve had (and are going to have) coming into the shop, I’ve had to spend a fair bit of time thinking about where to put them all and also where to put all the manual machines displaced by the CNC machines. It’s intellectually exhausting 😵‍💫 Thankfully, we’re getting to the end. All the manual machines have been repositioned. Now I just need to finagle three CNC machines into the remaining space on the Northwest side of the shop. The first machine is our Haas SL-10 CNC turning center. The second machine is a secret machine donation which is arriving on Thursday 🤫 And the third machine is a Haas Super Mini Mill which we are purchasing this Fall semester. I can usually get by with just a tape measure and masking tape to mark the positions of the machines directly on the ground. But this one’s gonna be tight. And all the machines are arriving at different times, so I have to get their placements right the first time ☝️ So I went into Solidworks and made a quick model of the building layout. Then I took some measurements of the various machines and sketched up some simplified models of those too. This made it super easy to move the machines around to find the best fit and orientation 🙌 I’m happy with the configuration. My absolute minimum for spacing between machines is 3 feet (1 meter). And I want no less than 6 feet (2 meters) spacing on the operator side (marked with a blue circle on the models). The models need to be more than just boxes with dimensions which bound the extreme limits of the machine. This doesn’t give enough information about the shape of the machine - for example, where and how far the chip conveyor juts out. On the other hand, the models from the Haas website are a little too detailed and mess with my head when I’m trying to fit things. #shoplayout #lathe #millingmachine #machining #cncmachining #machineshop #machineshoplife #instamachinist #engineering #design #apprentice #machiningstudent