Found Space in my workshop!

cfellows · Feb 27, 2012

My shop shares a 2 1/2 car garage with a car and a pickup and, yes, I do park the truck and car in the garage every night.

oh: Floor space, wall space, and worktop space are all at a premium, so when I find a place to put something without getting rid of something else, I'm always very pleased with myself.

I spend a lot of time in my shop and would like to have a spot for my laptop computer out there. I use the computer for reference, for my drawings, and other things, but I've always been loathe to keep it on the workbench. First of all, I rarely have room for it on my workbench and I'm always worried I'll bang something into it, spill something on it or find some other inventive way to damage it. And, that's not the most comfortable height for it when I'm standing up.

So, today, I finally cobbled together a bunch of found parts and pieces to make a laptop stand that fits at the end of my workbench, uses previously unoccupied space, and is now at a comfortable level to view and well out of the way of typical workbench clutter. Here's a couple of pictures of the completed unit.

The setup is very rigid but the fit of the pipe nipple inside the 1" diameter steel tube is loose enough to easily slide in and out and allow the top to rotate.

Chuck

kuhncw · Feb 27, 2012

Nice piece of work, Chuck. I'll have to keep your design in mind.

I'm always looking for space in my shop as well and like you, I cannot bear to let the car and truck sit out at night.

Regards,

Chuck Kuhn

miner49r · Feb 27, 2012

Looks good Chuck,
Did you use any thing for vibration absorption?
I keep my laptop on the bench and one day when I was pounding on something in the vise (forgot what) The vibrations took out the CFL light in the screen. Ouch. Three attempts at replacing the CFL and I bought a screen off ebay. The laptop now resides on a section of quarter inch press board with a half inch piece of foam glued underneath.
Alan

cfellows · Feb 28, 2012

kuhncw said:
Nice piece of work, Chuck. I'll have to keep your design in mind.

I'm always looking for space in my shop as well and like you, I cannot bear to let the car and truck sit out at night.

Regards,

Chuck Kuhn

Thanks, Chuck, it would also be a good place to keep a calculator, radio, or maybe a TV if you're into that.

miner49r said:
Looks good Chuck,
Did you use any thing for vibration absorption?
I keep my laptop on the bench and one day when I was pounding on something in the vise (forgot what) The vibrations took out the CFL light in the screen. Ouch. Three attempts at replacing the CFL and I bought a screen off ebay. The laptop now resides on a section of quarter inch press board with a half inch piece of foam glued underneath.
Alan

No, hadn't thought about vibration. My workbench is pretty heavy and I don't do a lot of pounding on it. But I might give some thought about how to absorb vibration...

Chuck