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My Tinkering Bench

reible

I was inspired by this post:

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=23902

Mine was done to fit my 500 and in particular the one I have set up as a drill press.

It is made out of MDF left overs so some of the sizes were dictated by what I had. I did do the design in Sketch Up so I have it for reference in case I wanted to make some changes or to make a couple more for family. I just finished the assembly today, I might put some sort of finish on it or not....

I have to look for a few surfaces, like perhaps an insert with a nice fabric for working on nice things and another perhaps would be an anti-static pad for working on electronics and yet another for gripping things when working on them. I have one attachment planned and perhaps that will show up tomorrow or the next day, I have to see what scraps I have to fashion it out of.

So lets get started with some pictures.

The tray is held in place with overhangs, same on both sides. Snug fit but if it loosens up later on I might have to add something to fit in the miter track.

The tray in the back was done with a dishing bit on the router table. Here is a shot of that:

nuhobby

That's looking great, Ed! Thanks for showing :)

JPG

Inspired no doubt by a certain fly tying thread.

Ed in Tampa

Have you thought about a groove or a rail in the front to keep small parts from rolling off? Seems like the perfect work space for doing repairs on things that have tiny screws and parts. I would think it would be a clock maker or model builders dream.

Perfect for repacking small free ball bearings. Also computer repair people should love the design.

Man I see a ton of uses! THANKS FOR SHARING!

robinson46176

I love the concept and I used to have a modified student desk in the farm shop that I used for detail work like carburetor repairing / rebuilding and other detail work. I need to make something smaller to do that again. What I had just used too much real estate. :rolleyes:

The work space designs shown are fine but do fail one of my prime criteria. My back x-rays tell a pesky story of serious arthritis that has to date defied improvement. Simply, for me to be able to work at such a station I must be seated. Just a curse I have to live with. When standing for very long causes major pain and sitting basically stops it you learn pretty quick to sit to work. :eek: :D

We use miles of electric fence with our horses and client horses. We constantly patrol it and make repairs, adjustments etc. Our guys are pretty laid back and never challenge the fences. A number of our client horses are racing stock that spend a lot of time up at the track/casino, stalled constantly, and tend to be a little more squirrely when they first arrive here. They settle fairly quickly while here which is why owners like them to spend time here but they do tend to make a lot more fence work until they relax a bit. :rolleyes: :) We use a golf cart with high traction tires and a bunch of tools and supplies but a lot of the work is kind of low to the ground so I keep a bucket hanging on the back of the cart to use as a stool. It "really" helps.

I have a nice computer desk I don't use that I have looked at thinking "work station". It would probably work fine with some attachments as pictured above.

reible

Just a couple notes that might help people think about this as even more flexible then at first glance. I have this mounted to my shopsmith that is set up as a drill press. One of my first improvements to this was to use a set of drawers I had made for under a shopsmith. They stack and are on wheels so if I have a lot of drilling to do at a single time I can roll the drawers away and put a shop stool in there place. Since the table is adjustable vertically this can be set to a comfortable height. I do have to disconnect the shopsmith cylinder a lot of times for this but it pretty easy to do.

Of course you can also use this with the shopsmith horizontal but that pretty much be a standing event. I didn't really design it to work that way since I have other "end table" that can also function pretty much the same way that use the fixed extension tables or at least the legs from them.

So what is new today is that I have a left over drawer insert I dug out and it is a little smaller then I would like but will work until I get out shopping and pick up a roll at the hardware store. This material works well holding things from moving around for sanding or even layout projects.

The first planned add-on was a small shelf so I had a place to set things like my soldering station or the like. It just slips over and sets there holding what ever. Again just using up scraps of MDF.

I do have plans for a temporary front rail that will slip in place and be quite short, well tall enough to keep small objects from rolling off that way but not so tall as to get in the way. Have to check what I have left in the scrap bit that will work for that.

reible

Found a couple of these trays at a restore. A nice place to work with edges to keep things from rolling out and about.

nuhobby

Nice!

"Just have those chicken wings delivered to my garage"... :)

Chris