Hybrid Jewellers Bench

[Joules]

On my back burner list has been a portable Jewellers bench.  I made the bench top many years ago to use on the workshop bench, however time has not been kind for space 

The recent purchase of an Evolution stand for the mitre saw has seen the stand have a bandsaw table made for it, and now the jewellers bench.  By mounting it on this stand I can use the bench outside in fine weather or indoors during bad weather and winter time.  The base is cut from an old pallet, using the mitre saw to trench the two sides to take the middle spreader, this will take a bench pin at a later date.  I turned some aluminium buttons to drill and tap for holding the base down on the rails the saw stand has, you can buy these separate for your own applications.   The table is fastened on using dowels and glue, plenty of surface area for the Gorilla glue, plus a bead all round underneath.  As todays weather has been damp the bench was moved indoors, beer supplied by wife 

Finally, yours truly inspecting the end mills I just sharpened this afternoon on the Deckel clone grinder.   Wish I had had this done with the apron when I was assembling the insane ball nuts, I might have had a few more balls left over.  The bench is at a convenient height for me working, stable and with arms well supported fine work can be carried out with ease.  Other accessories can still be bolted onto the stand, such as lights or power tools, the only downside is when I need to use the other saws...

Maybe I need another stand 

[BillTodd]

Neat! I like that 8-)

[Joules]

Thanks Bill, did a bit more to the bench.  I fancied one of the dovetailed mounting plates for bench pegs and other fixtures.  They tend to be pricey, aimed at the jewellery trade, and since I haven't 3D printed anything daft in a while....

Another adHoc build, I made the standoffs too long.  I modelled the printed plate on the commercial ones for holes centres, just in case.   Test fit of the parts on the bench and work out positioning, at this point I made a hash of drilling the holes in my pallet scrounged timber, the drill bit developed a mind of its own.  The idea of mounting the plate just on the standoffs was abandoned as they would just sink into the wood.  I pulled out some really scabby alloy plate, cut and drilled then tarted it up with some emery cloth wrapped in beer can, in the chuck on the drill press.  It looks a lot better than what I started with.

I thought long and hard (about 10 seconds) on my mounting bolts.  On hand were M10 high tensile bolts and flanged nuts, will they really handle the load of needle filing and detailed work ???  Slap some glue on the off cut of oak floor used for the backing plate, she'll be right....

I made the mistake of sitting back to admire my work, when the Boss arrived and appropriated the bench...  The glue hasn't even dried yet !!!!

Now I commented about needing maybe one extra saw stand, maybe I should bulk buy.    The plate will take a bench peg and also a Dremel or Foredom tool, that way the tool is stationary and you move the work about.  Custom fixtures can be 3D printed or laser cut for delicate work at the bench.    Maybe I will get back to the little engine when the Boss has finished.

[Joules]

A bit more progress on the bench.  It has proved very useful to the point my wife has now bought me another stand so I can use the saws it was intended for.   This bench has now had it's own computer added for craft related things and to do some research into replacing desktop computers with the latest Raspberry Pi 4.  The tiny Pi lives under the bench in a custom case.  I got hold of a cheap 22" monitor and added a third party stand allowing the screen to be rotated to portrait.   Very useful it is for reading magazines, books or documentation and web browsing.   Also done a couple of invoices on it as it will make a good general purpose business machine.  Boy have these Pi's come on in the last year or so.   Alot of Pi based projects coming up in the future, and looking to replace my aging computer collection.

The stand I got came with a conventional base that took up a fair bit of room.  We tried the computer around the house in different locations before deciding to mount it a little more permanent, on to the bench.  The machine is running Linux, but with developments happening, this little computer (with 8GB of ram) could soon be running Windows, and that means my CAD work could be done on it.  Most of my CAD is pretty basic geometry and very little rendering so it doesn't need a race horse.  I still have plenty of bench space when the little mouse and keyboard are put away, assuming I can get near it.....  Hmmmm, wonder how long before bench number 3 ???

[awemawson]

Is that screen for Giraffes?

[Joules]

 

It complements blind Joules.   I can actually read stuff on it, unlike an iPad and the way it's setup means you stand and work at it, that also saves me falling asleep at the bench.

[Bee]

You never showed what sort of thing goes on the dovetail mounting plate. Need to know if it is something I need......