don't be .had them 3 days in a row very nice but only once a week
3 times once a week loldon't be .had them 3 days in a row very nice but only once a week
I built my work/welding table a few months ago. It is 2m long by 1m wide. The frame is all 50mm x 3mm hollow section with 50mm hollow 'cross slats' at approx 30mm intervals.
The top is 'framed' with the 50mm hollow all the way round the edge, and it is covered by a single 2m x 1m steel sheet 4mm thick (about the maximum weight I could handle on my own without resorting to mechanically assisted maneuvering).
I plan to mag drill, tap and use countersunk machine screws to secure the sheet to the frame. (But for the moment it;s just held in place by two or three tack welds at just one corner - plus it's weight - 62.8kg).
Being a 'multi purpose; bench, there are tines when I need a vice - and there are times where a vice could get in the way. Also, I didn't really want to start drilling holes in the bench only to find I need to change location and leave vacant holes.
I decided to build a vice holder that I could clamp to almost any part of the table surround, and quickly remove when not needed.
I had some short left-over sections of 50mm x 3mm angle, and also some 50mm x 3mm flat.
The 3mm thick angle was doubled up to give 6mm thick jaws. The 50mm flat was used both as a side stiffener and also to fill in the top plate. With a couple of hefty nuts welded to the jaws and I had a very strong and secure mount for a vice.
I think the nuts and bolts were for a tow ball hitch.
View attachment 256338
The above image shows the mount upside down. The clamping bolts can be clearly seen.
View attachment 256339
The above image shows the mount the right way up. Two lots of holes are for two different vices - I had a small swivel vice on first, then found a fixed vice.
View attachment 256340
Here it is clamped to the bench. There is no perceptible flexing or distortion when tightening the clamp bolts. Its already been on and off the bench several times and is still a tight fit to lift it into place.
View attachment 256341
And now (above) with a smallish fixed vice bolted in place.
Surprisingly, it is absolutely solid with no movement or flexing. It has now been well tested by pulling and hammering bends into 50mm flat in the vice jaws, and then hammering the bends out of said 50mm flat on the 'anvil' plate.
Reaching underneath with a ring spanner can quickly slacken the two bolts to either remove the vice completely, or mount it to another section of the table.
This afternoon it got its final coat of paint.
Malc.
Thats going on my "to do" list.
My "To Do" list has only one item on it so far . . . . . . . . . . . "Make a 'To Do' List" . .
Looks good Malc , what safety device does it have to stop it slipping off the frame when it's holding something heavy that you need a bit of grunt/ a long lever to undo ?I built my work/welding table a few months ago. It is 2m long by 1m wide. The frame is all 50mm x 3mm hollow section with 50mm hollow 'cross slats' at approx 30mm intervals.
The top is 'framed' with the 50mm hollow all the way round the edge, and it is covered by a single 2m x 1m steel sheet 4mm thick (about the maximum weight I could handle on my own without resorting to mechanically assisted maneuvering).
I plan to mag drill, tap and use countersunk machine screws to secure the sheet to the frame. (But for the moment it;s just held in place by two or three tack welds at just one corner - plus it's weight - 62.8kg).
Being a 'multi purpose; bench, there are tines when I need a vice - and there are times where a vice could get in the way. Also, I didn't really want to start drilling holes in the bench only to find I need to change location and leave vacant holes.
I decided to build a vice holder that I could clamp to almost any part of the table surround, and quickly remove when not needed.
I had some short left-over sections of 50mm x 3mm angle, and also some 50mm x 3mm flat.
The 3mm thick angle was doubled up to give 6mm thick jaws. The 50mm flat was used both as a side stiffener and also to fill in the top plate. With a couple of hefty nuts welded to the jaws and I had a very strong and secure mount for a vice.
I think the nuts and bolts were for a tow ball hitch.
View attachment 256338
The above image shows the mount upside down. The clamping bolts can be clearly seen.
View attachment 256339
The above image shows the mount the right way up. Two lots of holes are for two different vices - I had a small swivel vice on first, then found a fixed vice.
View attachment 256340
Here it is clamped to the bench. There is no perceptible flexing or distortion when tightening the clamp bolts. Its already been on and off the bench several times and is still a tight fit to lift it into place.
View attachment 256341
And now (above) with a smallish fixed vice bolted in place.
Surprisingly, it is absolutely solid with no movement or flexing. It has now been well tested by pulling and hammering bends into 50mm flat in the vice jaws, and then hammering the bends out of said 50mm flat on the 'anvil' plate.
Reaching underneath with a ring spanner can quickly slacken the two bolts to either remove the vice completely, or mount it to another section of the table.
This afternoon it got its final coat of paint.
Malc.
Looks good Malc , what safety device does it have to stop it slipping off the frame when it's holding something heavy that you need a bit of grunt/ a long lever to undo ?
I chain drilled disc cut & hand filed a precision mounting slot for a T base that my vice is on , so the T with the vice securely bolted on it is dropped down into the slot and clamped to the the leg of the welding table with a 12 mm bold that passes through a threaded plate welded to the leg . I use one of the cheap extending wheel braces with a spare 20 mm socket on it & a big clamping plate/washer to get it nice and solid
View attachment 256320 A quick fire grate for an old ,now unobtainable QUEBB wood burner.
That pattern in the tiles not being symmetrical, would do my head in
Most of the tiling done!
The under sink, I measured 5 rows dow , screwed a aluminuim bar and worked back up, and then 2 more rows, I was expecting a problem or two, but they all fit almost perfectly. I am impressed with the poundland ruler and wilko level.
"Until I start on the floor tiles which is also the hall way.
Last weekends project. I acquired a PZ hay rake and it took a while to collect with lock downs and all so my wife took the truck and collected it when she went to the mother in laws. They are PTO driven and there are spring tines that throw out against a return spring to throw the hay around. We usually use contractors, but borrowed one last year for some small paddocks. Since we are a small farm by modern standards, the contractors don't want to come and do our hay when they can spend days on a big place. I thought it was worth a punt to have one for the odd job.
The seller wasn't quite honest about it's condition or model and the claim it had been used recently (ish) might have been a bit exaggerated. Now for $NZ350 (around 175 quid) I didn't expect much, but it was marginal to fix.
It was supposed to be the PZ300 model, but is the much older PZ200 model, which Google tells me was known for being a bit fragile and not farmer proof, and makes it probably 1970s vintage. This one is a testament to that with plenty of farmer welding and some rough looking braces, and missing a divider that hangs down underneath. It had also been outside for a long, long time judging by the layer of rust that came off when I hit it with a wire brush. Half the tines were missing and some of the return springs were broken. The divider is missing that hangs down below and one of the wheels is broken, although that is my fault as they are horribly balanced and it dropped rather hard on one side. The divider had a huge hit at one stage that sheared off the arm and twisted up the torsion spring that is supposed to stop that happening.
The PTO driveshaft is missing a guard cover ($NZ140) for 'elf n safety, but more importantly it is rusted together instead of sliding nicely so it will shorten up when you lift the hay rake up. If I can't fix that or it is bent, it will be a new $NZ650 - $700 PTO shaft, which will blow the budget to hell.
View attachment 249102View attachment 249103
it should look more like
I was tempted to scrap it and write off my gamble, but that would be admitting failure. The bearings seem ok, and it has the remnants of grease within living memory, so I will have to at least double my costs, or three or 4 times if I need a new PTO shaft, and see if it will fix up. If not, I will deny to the wife that I ever had it or find another one and pass it off...
I started taking the broken tines off, and the nuts were rusted solid. Blew them off with the oxy set, since they loosen up when they are molten. I started to wire brush it down. I got a quote for sandblasting and proper painting but at around $NZ800, it was more than I wanted to spend on something that wasn't in great condition.
This weekend if the weather is good is to get some rust killer on it and maybe some paint, and drop the wheels off so I can see if I can fit a new wheel. I have ordered new tines and springs.
It was supposed to be an easy job
The hay rake got put on the back burner with the occaisional burst of enthusiasm until it rains again, but last weekend I got around to making the missing swathe divider - the hockey stick shaped thing in the middle. I had been waiting for a spring from Aliexpress, and when it arrived I realised I had ordered the wrong size. 2 months waiting...
The original is 40mm tube for the divider but this one was missing. It had a big hit at some stage and sheared off. There is a spring made of 4 strips of steel inside the tube fixed at one end so in theory it can move. This one moved alright-