Metal Shed Relocation

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An Update by Rod Hall – PPMSA Workshop Manager

We had arranged a crane truck to move the major items (600kg lathe, 450kg mill etc) and we did the move on Thursday morning 24 June.

All went well thanks to Tim Smith, Don Laird and Barry Bevan loading and despatching at Port Melbourne and Peter King, Chris Sargood and Geoff Bentley receiving at SPUC.

The new shed. Ron preparing the floor (thanks to PPG for the two pack coating).

The crane truck and other gear was provided by Total Crane Trucks who proved to be very professional and (even better) on time. Getting the truck up the narrow driveway and up to the new shed was a bit tight but successful and we quickly had the benches and machines off and in place.

Bob Small and helpers brought the large ladder, air compressor and vacuum etc up to SPUC on Sunday which only left some steel frames to be dealt with.

The empty shed – thanks to Barry who returned later to scrub and clean the floor

Tim Smith, Chris Sargood and I returned to Port Melbourne this morning and cut up the large steel frames. We rescued some usable steel sections, and the remainder can go to recycle.

Rod and Tim cutting up the surplus steel

We now need to get the new shed operational and there are a few things to do we can move the other items currently in storage at SPUC into the shed.

  • Put the main bench back together and either plane the top flat or put some yellow tongue on top so that we have a good flat horizontal surface to work on after editing the galvanised iron sheeting.
  • Strengthen and rebuild the doors which are out of square and quite flimsy.  Before starting this, we should look closely at the front righthand corner of the shed and decide if it needs supporting.
  • Fit “whirlybird” ventilators in the roof – we’ve got two and a nibbler to cut the hole so this should be fairly straightforward.
  • Make a small flat paved area in front of the doors to reduce the dirt etc being walked into the shed.
  • The lathe and the mill need to be set up and the lathe needs some work on the feed screw which Tim Smith and I will attend to.

We can then bring the rest of the shelving, welding gear etc in and be back in business.

I’ve attached a few photos of our recent activities and I’d just like to thank everyone who’s been able to help with the relocation to date as it’s been a very rewarding exercise and great to see how much we can achieve as a group.

Regards

Rod