What would you include in the perfect Austin Seven workshop?

[Vancevr]

i would need people who know what they are doing.

[squeak]

Hugh do I take it your friend means ' the stools of contemplation' are for when the job is giving him the sh-ts.

[Tony Griffiths]

Wheatley and Morgan nailed it for everyone over 50 years ago, except possibly Stuart Giles who clearly has American sized ambitions.

BTW, I borrowed and read the first Wheatley & Morgan book from one of my brothers just after I bought my Special in 1971. The suggested workshop equipment etc. seemed pretty much fantasy as a home workshop to me as an engineering apprentice earning the princely sum of £7.50 (before stoppages) per week. Our home garage then had a Victorian/maybe Edwardian 'Britannia' lathe and a hand operated pillar drill; at the time I thought that was pretty well equipped, although some bits I made/modded back then were 'homers' produced at work.

My father had a screwdriver (for mixing paint) and a mole wrench so the discovery of proper workshops at school was a revelation!
I now have a Maho and consider a "Deckel-ish" style mill as the home workshop ideal. 

Charles

For those who don't know the advantages of a 'deckel-style' milling machine, here is the data: http://www.lathes.co.uk/deckel/  With the right accessories (and skill) there
is little that this type of machine could not make for a Seven.

[Charles P]

Wheatley and Morgan nailed it for everyone over 50 years ago, except possibly Stuart Giles who clearly has American sized ambitions.

BTW, I borrowed and read the first Wheatley & Morgan book from one of my brothers just after I bought my Special in 1971. The suggested workshop equipment etc. seemed pretty much fantasy as a home workshop to me as an engineering apprentice earning the princely sum of £7.50 (before stoppages) per week. Our home garage then had a Victorian/maybe Edwardian 'Britannia' lathe and a hand operated pillar drill; at the time I thought that was pretty well equipped, although some bits I made/modded back then were 'homers' produced at work.

My father had a screwdriver (for mixing paint) and a mole wrench so the discovery of proper workshops at school was a revelation!
I now have a Maho and consider a "Deckel-ish" style mill as the home workshop ideal. 

Charles

For those who don't know the advantages of a 'deckel-style' milling machine, here is the data: http://www.lathes.co.uk/deckel/  With the right accessories (and skill) there
is little that this type of machine could not make for a Seven.

Machined a crankcase casting on mine, so you're probably correct.
The only downside of a Maho over a Deckel is that accessories are ridiculously rare. I made the horizontal overarm for mine.

C

[Bryan]

From “The modern motor engineer “ by Arthur W Judge Caxton publishing 1936 edition

[A G Wood]

Pah!
Why limit yourself to a mere shed? 
   

[Malcolm Parker]

The perfect workshop would have to have a Bugatti bench vice.  (Bugatti didn't just design beautiful cars!)

[Bob Culver]

Nick Lettington got it. Oldies like me need not just spare time but lifetime. Large doses of energy, or any, also much coveted.
Slack Alice bewails lack of mechanically minded acquaintances and successors. Very real. I have only one immediate and one distant acquaintance with similar level of interest. Of my 3 close school colleagues, one still breathing,  all were unusually practical but I knew of no others in the class or year level similar, and I met only one similarly minded workmate. The fate of all ones’ very well cared for micrometers, precision level, straight edges, tools inherited from father and grandfather  etc a significant worry, more so than fate of real riches. My son is an accountant so even more than the average modern, cannot see the point of d.i.y (although I do occasionally capture his interest, always intriguing)
Someone wanted a dinner bell. As a widower, someone to make the dinner would be better, provided no demands on time or energy....
I do not recommend a rubber floor. For electrical safety I work off a sheet of conveyor belt. But any small item  dropped rebounds a vast distance and takes ages to find.
A rattle gun the last thing appropriate near a Seven. Ratchet socket sets and torsion wrenches are threat enough.
Before I acquired a trolley jack I used to lift my Javelin from the house floor joists using a chain block and support on stands made from Seven diffs.....(not bent!)
I suspect many could use a plumber’s horizontal petrol iron. A useful source of considerable heat without the expense of cyl tests, hireage etc.
 I do not know how persons survive without a lathe. Most work is not of great precision but great for making up jigs etc. However if driving Sevens is your thing a lathe can easily displace as a new  hobby (safer and cheaper!) The challenge of devising methods and doing accurate work, esp on a worn lathe, is very satisfying. After a professional messed up a set of liners I rebored my Javelin within new tolerances. The only thing originally straight, square or parallel on the apparently home made Indian marvel of a lathe was the bed.
Price comparisons on the basis of wages are astonishing. Now that tools and machines are relatively very cheap, very few desire them. The Popular Mechanics fix it mentality of the 50s was not without a very real basis. Electric drills, bench grinders etc were a huge chunk of weekly wage.

My father was a plumber and sometimes on home fix it jobs would find the need for a nail, piece of wood etc. He was often intrigued how little of anything many had... a hammer and a screwdriver often the limit. Little boys used to regard his tool kit as a treasure trove. In the quaint past he let them play with some items.

And Stuart, is that a Chev 4 on the lift? I sadly disposed of my fathers long bed 4 inch originally treadle operated Brittania a few years ago. It has outrigger thrust bearing and very rapid saddle control, all with nice balanced handles

[Reckless Rat]

As I get older I find that grovelling about on my knees to do various jobs is no longer something I attack with much alacrity. Moreover, lying on my back under the car is a complete no-no as I get vertigo. Two of the most useful bits of kit I have are firstly a recently acquired extra low 3 ton hydraulic jack (especially useful for getting under an MGF) which has a lift capacity of 55cm, and secondly a little rectangular stool on castors, with a tool tray and a drawer for bits. The two together enable me to do jobs such as brakes sitting down rather than kneeling as I can now get the car high enough. Perhaps some higher axle stands are the next project.

The roller stool also makes a nice accessory to the two chairs of contemplation, which when listening to a playlist on the Bluetooth speaker allows me to put my feet up... mine is black, but you get the idea.

[JohnD]

This is very interesting Stuart, thank you.

I think I will also need other garages to store the cars.  Is having a workshop that remains just for work fanciful?

 No i dont think it is! However the "workshop" tends to get clogged up and then the storage side ends up as a workshop aswell fpr smaller faster jobs 

One thing i have added to my newbuild garage is a wood stove - iam however totaly parranoid by fire, so i had one of these installed - https://www.tecnikstoves.co.uk/ 


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 They load from the top, so no fear of doors opening and things rolling out, last weekend i had the double doors open, t shirt on with 43deg heat over 200m2 garage! Not bad for January in Scotland!

I also installed two Amazon Alexa smart speakers at each end of the garage - they are linked for radio, can do fast maths when asked, note taking etc - but also they can be used in an emergency should the worse happen and you are stuck under a car etc, i can shout on "Alexa" to call my neighbour, Friend or even 999 should i be unable to move, so far i have not had to use this feature, but it does also phone my own phone when it is lost down an engine bay etc to help me find it when lost.

I also purchased one of these, was around £35 from Amazon - you can indeed spend £200+ on some Pro quality ones but i find for the money these are pretty good. I removed the gearbox on my pearl in around 10min lastnight as there was no struggle with spanners, ratchets etc just break the nut, then use this to spin it off. Ive had it around 6months now, and ive used it for all sorts of restrictive jobs, from building furnuture, engine swaps & rebuilds a fantastic bit of kit. Ive recomended it to several people, and they have all said the same - should have bought one years ago!