Rubber work surface

[cuog]

I'm not sure who's interested in this little project, but it may give someone an idea or two.  Basically I wanted a work surface that would keep those extra tiny screws from wandering off into the abyss of my floor to be lost forever.  I also wanted a soft surface for delicate items to keep from damaging them against my work bench and any of the metal bits and pieces that may make up the work space at the moment. 

It's a simple rectangular frame made from scrap 1x2s and .5x2s and a bit of 1/4 inch birch plywood.  I picked up some 1/16th inch rubber sheet cut it to shape being careful not to leave a gap, and glued it to the plywood.(All I had that seemed size appropriate was wood glue and staples... not the most elegant solution, but it works. 



It worked well for repairing my camera....

... which I did manage to get back together and working better than before. 

[spuddevans]

What a simple, yet wonderful solution. 


Thank you for showing it


Tim

[Stilldrillin]

Now..... THAT'S a good idea! 

Thanks for demonstrating....... 

David D

[Rob.Wilson]

Now thats something i could do with in my shop 



Rob

[buffalow bill]

Great idea, this is one thats being copied. Thanks for the share 

Bill

[cuog]

I'm glad you guys like it.  I stole the original idea from someone on here I believe who had some small frames setup to store drawings and small works under the workbench. 

A happy, unintended consequence of the black  rubber is that seeing tiny metal screws on the dark black is incredibly easy, no little brass screws blending in with the grain on the table.

[andyf]

Looks great, Cuog.

I use something similar for fiddly kitchen table jobs involving tiny screws and parts, like trying to repair a DTI  whose downward fall has been arrested by the concrete floor (again!). I have a old piece of velvet which I spread out on the table to catch the screws etc. When they land on it, they don't bounce or roll around.

Andy

[mklotz]

I use a worn, short nap baby blanket for fine work.  It's a dead, no bounce surface and the white color makes small parts stand out.  I had a framed version similar to the one shown but found it uncomfortable to use for long periods of time; leaning forearms on the frame became annoying.

As a safety  to keep stuff from rolling off the bence when doing less demanding work I attached a strip of self-adhesive weather stripping from the local DIY to a thin strip of steel...



It's easy to plop down at the front of the bench when needed and the weather stripping is soft enough to not irritate the forearms while working.  When not needed it hangs on the wall.

[raynerd]

For my "watchmakers bench" I  purchased a Bergeon rubber work mat which I recently spilt a full 1/2 litre tin of evostick contact adhesive on to! I refused to spend the money on a replacement mat and when trawling the local craft shop waiting for my wife, came across a cutting mat (you know one of these self healing mats used under a cutting knife). Non-slip, soft yet not too soft - it was basically what I had purchased without the Bergeon badge! Just another option. The thing I like about your workbench, is like mine it has a lip around it to stop things falling and rolling off. It must have saved me hours of floor searching! That being said, I have also replaced my flooring with hard vinyl 3" bigger than needed and taped onto the wall at the edge. Anything that falls, it just takes a quick seemingly aimless sweep around and it is normally found!

Thanks for showing...
Chris
 

[cuog]

I looked first at those self healing mats, but didn't really need the functionality of them as a cutting surface, I was able to order enough rubber to make 6 of these for what the same sized self healing mat costs.

This is one of those times that had me considering a table saw purchase.  The lip is a bit higher than I'd wanted, my original plan was to cut some 3/8"x2" in half, but it took all day with the tools that I have to make one piece that I didn't bother.  This would have given a very tiny lip, just enough to keep those pesky screws from wandering too far, and still be able to work comfortably.  All that's left for me is to sand down the rough edges and maybe a bit of a finish to smooth it up some more. 

[raynerd]

I did notice your front edge is very high!  My bench is purposely high so my work is nearer eye level and my arms would kill on that front edge. I just use a very small rounded piece of profiled edging. Granted it isn`t as big as would be ideal! I guess if the bench isn`t too high your arms won`t be actually leaning on it. I believe some of the old clockmakers use to work in a shoebox - sounds sensible to me!!

Chris