brimmy
2006-02-15, 2:11am
Seeing as I had no money for fancy materials, (as well as the fact that I am a sucker for punishment) I decided to try my hand at making my own storage and work bench design from scratch.
Glass Organization and Storage
Have you ever had one of those scoops you use to measure out spaghetti? Well, that is the concept for my glass storage. The entire unit is made from foam core and straight pins, which I just happened to have enough laying around the house from a previous project.
The base is as long and wide as the shelf it sits on and there is a 2" tall rim along the backing to keep glass from sliding too far back. I then secured 2" x 8" dividers one inch apart from each other.
Although only foam core, these units are very sturdy and can easily withstand about 20 rods in each slot. Having the dividers only come halfway across allows easier viewing of the colours as well as ease in retrieving shorter rods. I haven't actually tried out torching with these units in place, but I believe them to be out of the way enough not to cause a problem.
Torch Set up
Everything is actually set up on two bookshelves, the left one being about three inches higher and slightly narrower than the other. To mount my fuel, I took a scrap of 3/4" plywood and cut it into two parts (one being twice as long as the other). I then glued them together in an "L" shape and screwed them together using steel brackets (the small ones used to keep things like fence gates square). On top of the longer section, I screwed down a sheet of 14 gauge copper which is about 6" x 12".
For the actual bracket, I went to a Fire Safety store and purchased a fire extinguisher bracket. The gentleman was rather amused and commented that it was going to good use in helping ensure better fire safety if it was to keep a torch from falling over. (For those who don't know, my torch was previously duct taped to the leg of my coffeetable). If you are going to purchase one, I would suggest bringing along your cannister as they are built slightly different for different models of extinguishers. Before you screw it in place, be sure that you mark how far down it should ride based on how high you like your torch to sit.
In all, my new set up cost me:
~ Foam Core : $2.00
~ Straight Pins : $1.00
~ Plywood : $2.00 (actually free, but I paid cutting fees for them to cut it for me)
~ Hardware (screws, bracket) : $2.00
~ Extinguisher Bracket : $5.00
~ Copper : $10.00
Total : $22.00, though the only thing I didn't have already lying around the house was the extinguisher bracket, so really only $5.00
Now, after over a week without, I can finally get back to torching. Definately an improvement I have to say!
The left picture is an above shot and the right picture shows how the fuel is attached to the workbench.
13073 13074
And for reference, this was my previous studio set up. It was on my coffeetable in the middle of a very tiny living room.
13075
Glass Organization and Storage
Have you ever had one of those scoops you use to measure out spaghetti? Well, that is the concept for my glass storage. The entire unit is made from foam core and straight pins, which I just happened to have enough laying around the house from a previous project.
The base is as long and wide as the shelf it sits on and there is a 2" tall rim along the backing to keep glass from sliding too far back. I then secured 2" x 8" dividers one inch apart from each other.
Although only foam core, these units are very sturdy and can easily withstand about 20 rods in each slot. Having the dividers only come halfway across allows easier viewing of the colours as well as ease in retrieving shorter rods. I haven't actually tried out torching with these units in place, but I believe them to be out of the way enough not to cause a problem.
Torch Set up
Everything is actually set up on two bookshelves, the left one being about three inches higher and slightly narrower than the other. To mount my fuel, I took a scrap of 3/4" plywood and cut it into two parts (one being twice as long as the other). I then glued them together in an "L" shape and screwed them together using steel brackets (the small ones used to keep things like fence gates square). On top of the longer section, I screwed down a sheet of 14 gauge copper which is about 6" x 12".
For the actual bracket, I went to a Fire Safety store and purchased a fire extinguisher bracket. The gentleman was rather amused and commented that it was going to good use in helping ensure better fire safety if it was to keep a torch from falling over. (For those who don't know, my torch was previously duct taped to the leg of my coffeetable). If you are going to purchase one, I would suggest bringing along your cannister as they are built slightly different for different models of extinguishers. Before you screw it in place, be sure that you mark how far down it should ride based on how high you like your torch to sit.
In all, my new set up cost me:
~ Foam Core : $2.00
~ Straight Pins : $1.00
~ Plywood : $2.00 (actually free, but I paid cutting fees for them to cut it for me)
~ Hardware (screws, bracket) : $2.00
~ Extinguisher Bracket : $5.00
~ Copper : $10.00
Total : $22.00, though the only thing I didn't have already lying around the house was the extinguisher bracket, so really only $5.00
Now, after over a week without, I can finally get back to torching. Definately an improvement I have to say!
The left picture is an above shot and the right picture shows how the fuel is attached to the workbench.
13073 13074
And for reference, this was my previous studio set up. It was on my coffeetable in the middle of a very tiny living room.
13075