Various Workshop Projects

[Xiaou2]

 Hello all,

 Sadly, Ive lost my job recently...  so hope I wont have to sell the stuff
I worked so hard for...    But anyway,  I thought since I have the
time, to finally upload the pics of some projects that others may find
helpful.


Monstercade Shelves    

 

 
 With very limited space, I was having trouble with storage.   I disposed
of a table that was in the spot, and basically made the equivalent of 9 tables
of space.       (7 sliding shelves, and 2 non sliding)

 Each Shelf is something like 2.5ft deep  x  3ft wide.    Made of thick MDF cause it
does not sag as much as other materials.

 On the 2x4 shell,  are many strips of wood... and these are so that you can
pull the shelves in and out, without the shelf tipping over.

 In one case, you can see I placed a shelf above the retainer strip - which
was mainly cause I needed a little more space below it.

 The bottom, not shown, is exactly like the very top.  A 2x4 frame with a
shelf screwed into it. (non movable)

 Currently housing 2 pinball machines parts, all arcade controllers, and more.

 Project cost I believe was near $300..  mostly cause of the massive amount
of MDF I used for the 7 shelves.   It was well worth the cost..  as there is no
other shelving system that comes close to the storage ability seen here, and
the nice somewhat compact size...  as well as decent price.

[Xiaou2]

Drill Press Wheels


 Again, little space,  so I need to move things around a lot. 
Decided to build some wheels for my machines.

 I picked up a set of Swivel caster wheels at Harbor freight
a while back..  and decided to try them out.

 Sadly,  after mounting them to the platform,  I found that
it was too unstable cause they turned too much as well as
the base was too tall... causing it to wobble and tip over.

 I took the swivel assembly off,  and ran a bolt thru the wheels
bearing, and into the 2x4 frame.    I made the frame in such a
way that it sits very low - so does not sway at all.   I added
a few small cut wood pieced in the front to level it out.

 You simply have to pull up lightly, and it moves with ease.  Yet,
its very stable when working.    Currently, for ease, I have added
a pull rope to the base.

 I believe the HF wheels are $3 or less each, and are very sturdy.




 

[Xiaou2]

Tablesaw Wheels (w/ dust collector hose)





 Same as the Drill Press wheels..  except that the wheel configuration
is a little different.   Added a few mini shelves,  with dust hose able
to lock in there unhampered.     

 The table I use has plastic feet which I was able to drill screws into
to lock the table to the base I made.   If you dont have such things,
you could easily use L-Braces instead.

 This was cheap and fairly easy to make... and in stores in much more
expensive and not as sturdy.  Tho, maybe the locking mechanism is
better.   Not sure.    Anyway,  I put some rubber pads on the bottom
of the front wood blocks so it wouldnt side when in use.

[Xiaou2]

Vertical 2x4 Rack





 At various times, I needed a specific length of 2x4... and had a hard
time finding the right piece.    Often, I cut a longer section, and had waste
later on.

 I built this little wall mounted system to solve the problem.   It saves
space, and makes finding the right size a real breeze.   

 One thing I did not add yet,  is a set of bungee cords to keep things
from falling.  However, as they are currently..  they stand very well without
falling.

 There are 2 main sections:   Top half is for smaller parts.  Bottom half for
larger stock.   And unseen at the far right, is an open section part where
even larger pieces can be slid into place.  (Sorry - didnt capture it yet)

 All mounted some 4x4s screwed together as a base.  (I had them
from another project..  and they should do well to keep any water from
damaging the 2x4s)

 The storage method also keeps the wood from bending which can occur
in horizontal storage.

(Edit:  You can see the larger storage area in the Drill press pic)

[Xiaou2]

Wood / Metal Rack






 Lastly, I needed a place for very long sections of stock.

 I needed a mobile cart, as it needed to move away from the meter, and storage door
behind it - should anyone ever need to get in there..   so I used a Metal store
bought shelf.

 I then added some Heavy Duty L-frames to the top.   I mounted 2 on each side of a MDF
shelf..   And there are 2 shelves total,  that are mounted in the center of the unit.

 The L-frames keep the thing from flexing under the weight..  and thus keeping the
2x4s from bending and warping.   

 I added a few open/close guards to the front, but they are nothing special, and
I probably could have done better.  Still, they serve the purpose and keep things
from falling forwards.

 Its a lot bigger than you may think.  Maybe 12+ feet in length at that top shelf.
Yet nice that things can fit below it easily.   

 You can see its mounted with bolts and 2 strips of wood.   Drilling thru that
those thick steel L's was the worst part  >.<   hehe

[Xiaou2]

Overview of cramped Shop   heh

[leapinlew]

 

[GadgetGeek]

Very nice use of space.  Thanks for sharing.

[ChadTower]

Very nice.  You keep a LOT of supplies around, man.

[Xiaou2]

Thanks Guys    Happy to share.

  GadgetGeek -  Yeah, took me like 6 yrs to finally arrive at this point.
Now maybe i can actually do some work instead of building shelves  hehe

 CWT -  Heheh,   well,  with 2 pin projects,  countless arcade parts for
future cab,  and other hobbies..  it gets to the point where is hard to
find a place for everything  >.<    lol   

  Ive got a lot of spaces on the shelves which are empty (empty parts bins),
that I could get better use out of.   Still got to organize a little better.

 

[DaOld Man]

I like the pull out shelf idea..
Very cool, I may use it in my work-shed..
Good luck with finding a new job, and you could always go around and sell the pull out shelf idea to people, maybe install it in their garages or shops.
You might could go with a cheaper lighter material for the shelves, maybe use a horizontal brace underneath to prevent the bowing.
 

[Xiaou2]

 Hi DaOld Man,

 Thanks for the comments, and glad you like the design 

 Not sure if I can sell these beast or not...   but,  Im
open to a Donation for the idea usage. 

 I have a paypal account under my email address   xiaou2@hotmail.com
(Steve Lundquist)

 Anything is surely welcome. 
(tho, I do not expect nor demand anything)

 Thanks Again,
 Steve
 


 

[Xiaou2]

A few More Projects:

This is the Frame I built for the Upcoming  Video Pinball Artwork for Mame.

(Do not ask/bug me when it will be complete.  Im taking my time, and its
not an easy as a simple scan due to it being 3d  (1cm deep))

 I was lucky and scored this Industrial Railing for a fraction of the cost
at a surplus shop from a very nice guy who was being overly generous.
$130 + my own manual labor to disasemble it from its previous
machine state (about 4hrs work I think).

 The precision of these are sick.   Should hopefully make for very few
photo alignment problems.

 Just have to build the custom camera   holder/sled   now.

[Xiaou2]

And now for the PC case Mod.

 Well,  heres the deal...    I have many HDs..  and In my experience, Ive
had many of them Die.   Usually, it was always the drive that was mounted
above another that was killed.   I realized it was the heat that was killing
them quickly.

 Most PC cases have many drive mounts.  However,  they are mounted too
close to each other  (maybe 4 mm apart).    And either do not have fans
in front of them -  or there is not enough space for good airflow.

 So,  I decided to make a Hard Drive Rail System.


 I found this plastic C - shaped rail in a surplus store.   However, I believe you
can find a similar material at a craft shop...  or by cutting a box shape apart,
or even by using 2  'L'  shapes opposite of each other.

 Then, I found screws that matched the HDs threads... yet also stuck out enough
to fit into the rails.   I believe I also used small spacers to keep the distances
even.  (put the spacer inbeween the HD and the Screw)

 The C rails are held in place by flush mount screws.   The frame itself is a little
weak... as this was more less a temporary thing until I could custom build an
entire case (which has a differing yet equally powerful cooling solution).

 I used 2 industrial fans from the surplus shop, and a pc case fan above that.
The fans are a bit overkill, and loud.. so maybe its better to use larger PC
fans instead.   Anyways... the air flows very easily both on top and underneath
the HD surfaces.   They are cool as ice.

 The airflow also breezes right thru to the Motherboard and Cpu fan,
as well as the Video card heatsink,  - and right out the back of the case. 

 The CPU cooler + the good airflow = a constant 81 F  degree temp on a
core duo chipset. (in a hot room!)    The HDs are cool to the touch.

 I could have ripped the case up more and added more HDs,  but decided to
mount them into a separate structure for now.

 

[Xiaou2]

And heres the rough Render of the Case Design that I want to build
in the Future  (unless HDs get sick small and massively huge where there
is no need)

 The HDs are placed on the top of the case, vertically mounted.   This
should allow for a cooler drive due to less surface area heating up.
 
 Also, since heat rises.. there is no fighting that.   Instead, the hot
air is aided up with the cooling fans beneath the drives.

 The very Top of the case would be wrapped with something like painted
wire mesh - to allow free airflow thru it easily.


 (this design not to be used commercially without my signed written permission)

[Xiaou2]

Finally for tonight:

 
 This is to do with Martial Arts training.

 The  first, is what I call an  'Iron Bag'.     

(It didnt quite turn out as planned cause the bags gromets were
too loose and popped out... so had to mount it in an odd shape instead of squared)

 The Canvas Bag is hanging on a steel chain as its very heavy.   Its filled with Steel BBs.

 The device is used to develop 'Explosive Power', as well as condition the fists.

 I recommend sand or hard beans for beginners - mounted to a solid wall.

 Hitting this correctly, feels like hitting a steel beam. 

[Xiaou2]

The next is what I call   "Iron Arm".

 In some chinese arts they use arm weights that are basically
heavy metal rings.   However, these are expensive, noisy, and
are too thick for certain dual arm drills.   Some are not heavy
enough either.

 This is the simple use of a coat hanger that was wrapped around
and formed into a sort of giant safety pin.    I used a Tie down strap
for the adjustable wrist strap.   The metal bars are like 1/4" thick,
and pretty heavy.   One can add or subtract as needed.

 The basic use, is a slow steady move of the arm from chest to full
extension, and then return to chest center.   Most would have
burning arms from 2 minutes of the drill without the weight - but
when you get good.. this adds to the strength.   

 It develops a rock stable pathway for a techniques
by developing Specific muscles... making more accurate technique,
and enhanced power.