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Thank you for all the great tips. Here's a few follow up questions and things that I've been thinking about. If you feel very strongly about your recommendation and I have not included it let me know, so we can talk.
Follow up questions:
- My big question is does anyone have any recommendations as far as size? Clearly bigger is better, but I'm thinking about something around 450 to 500 sqft to be reasonable (I think I was looking at 30 x 18)
- Also what's the use of the compressed air line? When I was on the high school team, we had one in the robotics room but I didn't see that we got much use of it.
- It's likely that we will be unable to get a garage door, as they re-did the end of the school (and actually removed a loading dock garage door). Do you think it's still possible to load in a floor-standing lathe (maybe...mill) through standard double doors?
- Power. Bringing in a 220 (or 240V) line, is it worth it? What would it be most used for? Estimated cost?
- I tried looking in the other threads but most everyone talks about mill/lathe/cnc recommendations. Anyone have recommendations for a good floor-standing drill press?
Things that will definitely be getting purchased/in the shop (if we get one):
- Re-vamp our hand-tool collection: Allen Key sets, Screwdriver sets, Socket Wrench set (anything else that is key for hand tools?)
- Floor-standing drill press
- Mobile benchtops for assembly
- Workbench lining the wall (with vises)
- Storage: small part shelving, tool shelving, handheld tool peg board, raw material stock rack
- Power: Definitely, ceiling (or wall) retractable extension cords
- Misc: Stools for mobile benchtops, 1 to 5 computers for work, cabinet for storage of paper/books/dry food, sink
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An air line in the shop allows use of compressed air tools. The benefits of these are high power density and no need to recharge, while remaining relatively portable. An air riveter can be very handy for putting together any significant number of riveted joints, and is invaluable if you start doing lots of sheet metal construction.
WRT getting machines in - if you can mange to get a loading dock/garage door installed, it's ideal. However, in the event that you can't, there's not a lot of machines that you can't get through a set of double doors (provided they have no center post, or it can be removed). You can almost always find a way to get the machine through the door, be it removing the head assembly on a bridgeport and rolling it in on a high-cap dolly, or using an engine hoist to lift up a lathe to roll it in. It helps a lot if you have someone experienced with rigging or moving machinery to direct the process along.
You'll need a higher power drop for either of those machines, if they're of any reasonable size. I can almost guarantee your school has 240 volt power already, so it's a matter of getting a drop installed. Cost-wise, talk to whoever manages the contracting at the school.
For a drill press, you can get a decent Jet drill press in the
~$500-600 range. It's not a precision machine, and you have to treat it kindly, but it'll drill holes, and it'll be a rather robust machine for students to utilize. If you can find an old used one from a local machine shop, that's also a good choice, but be prepared to give it a little TLC to make it happy.
Good luck getting your shop together!