Roundhouse Machine Shop

The project began by cleaning out the tool room and breaking out the concrete pedestal that stood in the center of the room. The brick walls were pressure washed and the room re-organized and wired for LED lighting and wire drops for the machines that were to be moved in.

Machine tools were moved into the room and before long were being used to make small parts as needed for multiple other projects around the facility.

The machine shop was cleared out with some items being put into storage. The walls were given a fresh coat of paint and a floor plan was established for the layout of the large machine tools that would be moved in.

The large machine tools were moved into the shop and set in place. Rewiring of the machine shop began with wire drops to all of the machines.

All of the wire, having been pulled through the conduit with the required drops in place, were then connected to the machine tools. The first wiring completed was to the Edlund drill press after which it was successfully started.

A major piece of equipment in the machine shop is the plasma table that was donated by Lincoln Electric. Although still in need of a plasma cutting head, volunteers have been working hard to get the table up and running using the cutting torch. There has been plenty of progress made in this area the past few weeks as can be seen in the photos.

Over the past month our Plasma Team volunteers have made great strides in getting the table up and running to the point that we are now able to cut accurate shapes out of different thicknesses of steel. Our first paying job is in process, working on pieces for the towpath trail at Irishtown Bend.

Although some of the machines in the machine shop are still undergoing maintenance to get them up and running, volunteers have been busy machining parts as needed for equipment in house along with some replacement parts for Reading 2100 in stall 2.