New man cave!!!!

Thanks Pat.
I do appreciate you saying that. I cleaned it for almost a month.
It is all with the intent of furthering work on the foundry.
My son and grandson will be working with me on the foundry part so I want everything to be in tip shop shape before we go any further.
The shop had been used for automotive repair, fabrication and welding for up on 40 years. 35 years was before I bought it and had never been scrubbed down. The dirt and mess was so bad I could not stand it. Everything stopped until it was cleaned. I still have a few hours to go on that.
Now it will just be a hobby shop for my retirement along with the enjoyment of being able to teach the kids.
I should not have joked that it was my spring cleaning. It will most likely take until the end of spring to get everything fully setup and running properly.
The mill is Wells Index from around 1985. It is basic in that it runs and is built like a larger Bridgeport. Originally it had a DRO that was not working when I got it. It was an easy repair but has since quite again so now it is all analog.
It is very ridged, tight with good lead screws so I like it a lot.
Beings you build steam engines. I will most likely be bothering you in the future.
I have planed to build a steam engine for a very long time now. This will be probably the most ambitious thing I want to build with a foundry.
At this time I am still sorting out what I would like to build but it is leaning towards around a 4 inch piston with a 4 inch stroke.
There will be a great deal of questions to work out before i cast the first part for that project.
Joe

 

David
Have you put any kind of sealer on the cement? I know nothing of cement work and my ignorance has cost me over the years. I recently found a web sight that goes into some details on sealing and finishing cement. Unfortunately I did not book mark it or deleted the book mark when cleaning up favorites . They mention using sodium-silicate as a moisture sealer.
If you have not already checked into it. It is worth the time to check into a how to apply a top coat web sight before going any further.
My cement has some issues that make me wish I had visited this kind of sight first.
The new shop is looking awesome!
Joe

 

I'm done with concrete coatings... Unless it's a $20 a sq foot coating of epoxy process, EVERYTHING on the market is not worth it. I'd take a diamond cut concrete surface sealed with a thin clear any day over any paint/stain or hardware store coating. When you spend half your life mopping pristine high dollar hanger floors, you learn to hate "pretty". The air force bought us a 10k zamboni to clean the floor. It was great until some jackass rode it down the flight line in front of the commanders window. He took our new toy away.

 

From what I have been able to find on line. It looks like the sodium silicate used for surface hardening might be a good way to go but I would have to read a lot more before I put anything on new concrete. I think the sodium silicate is best applied when the cement is still a bit green and is used to harden the surface while keeping down dust.
I am with Jason on that I would not put down any kind of paint but if I was to coat a new floor I would use a 2 part epoxy. You can get good quality epoxy coatings for a lot less than $20 a foot. The 1 part air dried floor paints they sell are a waist of time and money!
After the concrete has been contaminated I don’t think anything works well without a lot of expansive preparation. I have a lot of damage on parts of my floor along with years of grease and oil so I doubt much can be done. I do wish I knew something about concrete but seeing how I do not. When the time does come... $$$ CHACHING! I am sure.
Let us know what you decide to do if anything David.
Joe

 

Don't do what I did and mix fresh cement dust with your 2 pack epoxy resin: the colour is best described as "used sump oil" rather than the expected grey....at least the oil leaks are invisible

 

Sorry dave, but I promised Zap this photo...

Not in love with the loop, the position of the hand and location of the bail. It will need some rework next week.

 

Man that came out very nice! Who's it for? They are going to be very happy.

 

Fritz sculpted the hand. We cast it and formed the ring, made the bail... Its for his girlfriend. Before antiquing, the silver was too bright. It's close but not there yet.

 

I wish you luck with your concrete. I didn't have the luxury of time when I had our warehouse built so I didn't get to seal it. The only post-pouring we could do was to have it saw cut but that was only a few days afterward. I only got one crack in 3200 square feet but it's a doozy. Not from curing though, it was a compaction issue. I can live with it but it's certainly not optimal.

Pete

 

Hey Dave.. here is one of the better concrete weenies on yt..

 

There is nothing like eating a farm raised chicken. Tyson has nothing on your tasty little birds.

 

Greeeeeeen Acres is the place to be, Faaaaaaarm livin is the life for me........land stretching out so far and wide..........keep Manhattan just gimme that country side.........

 

Looking really good!

What's the old coupe?

 

Jeez, don't you get snow there?
It's nice to see you getting settled in there. Wow, chicks and everything! Keep'em safe and warm. Lots of critters just loves'em some chickens!