When I sold my Myford ML10 recently the purchaser didn’t want the home made stand that was built for it to stand on. So it sat in the garage part of my little empire being of no use. When scanning through a tools catalogue recently I saw a stand that had an angled top for use in warehouses. It got me to thinking that this style of stand could be adapted and put to use between the Myford ML7 and the Axminster RF25 milling machine. A space presently occupied by two filing cabinets standing on top of each other.
I have only just recently started to organize my workshop papers (invoices, catalogues, equipment manuals and the like) in the workshop rather than my study, by using just one drawer out of a possible four. It was really a case of a storage solution rather than need as I don’t like throwing things out). However since the changed filing system meant that I could now find who supplied me with what (a big bonus since I always forgot to look when going inside). Therefore in any change I wanted to incorporate one of the filing cabinets.
Since only one would fit in the frame that was the one chosen and its dimension noted. I expected that the project would take a few days but since I don’t feel well enough at the moment to do critical machining, the tolerance levels of this project were great.
I couldn’t believe my luck when I came to measure up the frame I was going to cut up (to supply the necessary metal) as the height required was exactly the same as the new framework. All I had to do was cut it in half with my angle grinder complete with its thin cutting disc and remove one set of 1” stringers from one end and weld it back together again. It didn’t take long at all and the following day I managed to complete the project, including painting!!!
As I write this I am resting while the paint dries and hopefully the frame can go into its new little space between the two machines. No wanting to wait I did have a play (trying to keep away from the wet paint!) at using the whiteboard. This one was bought from our local Staples store and I decided to buy a magnetic one. The other large white boards in the workshop are not, and it is a disadvantage.
I couldn’t resist a play and using some plans I printed out off the inline boring tool I recently designed, I attached them to the white board with the proper magnets, and it really worked well. Next I thought I would brainstorm (no sarcastic comments please!) an idea I have been thinking about for a small powered junior hacksaw sized saw, and the benefits of the whiteboard with its position between two machines will prove very useful.
The sloping ‘desk top’ allows any book or magazine to rest on the top for easy viewing and since it slopes I won’t be able to load it with junk, smart eh! If I had to start from the beginning it would have taken much longer, not least because of the time to layout the ends, but in just a couple of my ‘sessions’, I now have a really useful addition to the workshop, at the same time made life easier when parking my classic Mk2 Jaguar 340 Auto. All in all a good couple of days work, at a time when I wouldn’t have trusted myself with anything critical.