[time-nuts] Migrating to heavy duty work benches...

[Burt I. Weiner]

Mike,

That vice outta hold those LNB and feed horns while you work on them!

I have a metal working table that is actually an old TDZ transmitter 
case.  I gave away the three transmitter doors about 40 years ago and 
just kept the case.  It makes a great storage place for scrap metal 
and such.  I once had to move it about 3 feet and was unable to budge 
it.  I wound up spraying WD-40 on the concrete floor around it and 
then was able to move it with hardly any effort.  In about two days 
the WD-40 had all but disappeared and I was able to completely clean it up.

Anyway, I plan on extending that work table into a wider bench and 
have decided to do what a friend of mine did many years ago.  I will 
get a bunch of 2x4's and cut them to the bench length.  I'll set them 
so the 4" (3-5/8") side is vertical and drill through them and bolt 
them together using all-thread rod.  I'll bolt that to the top of the 
TDZ case and then I may cover the 2x4's top with plywood, frame the 
edge with 2x6's or 2x12's and put 4x4 legs on the opposite end from 
the TDZ case.  The whole table will be just under 5 feet long and 
about 36" deep.

Our barn is still and use and our critters would be real unhappy if I 
stole their home to make a bench!

Burt, K6OQK

At 07:46 AM 1/25/2010, time-nuts-request at febo.com wrote
>My shop bench is made from wood from our family's
>barn.  The legs are 6 by 6 inch (15 cm) and
>the long dimension framing is 2 by 12 inch
>(5 by 30 cm) and leg brace/foot rests are 2 by 2
>inch (5 cm).  I had to use threaded rod because
>the local hardware stores did not have bolts long
>enough.  This wood was old when we purchased
>the farm in 1953.  I built it as a tribute to
>our old barn.  I mounted my father-in-law's big
>metal vise/vice on it.  It is 11.5 inches (30 cm)
>high and 29 inches (74 cm) from front to back
>when closed.  The screw handle is 7/8 inch (2 cm)
>in diameter and 16.75 inches (43 cm) long.  I
>was barely able to lift the vise to the bench
>top to mount it.
>
>I also have my father's half-century old Sears
>vise mounted on the bench.  It is 17 inches (43 cm)
>long (closed) and 11.5 inches (29 cm) high.  The
>vise is in remarkably good condition, especially
>considering all the projects we used it for.
>
>
>The attached photo shows the bench with the
>appropriate number of projects on it.
>
>
>Mike - AA8K

Burt I. Weiner Associates
Broadcast Technical Services
Glendale, California  U.S.A.
biwa at att.net
K6OQK