Monday, September 4, 2017

A Nifty-Keen Rocket Building Bench Accessory

Happy Labor Day!
This morning I got up and headed down to the shop to knock together a project for the work bench.
I have this unused Flat Screen TV stand banging around in the basement, and recognized it as a perfect benchtop stand for doing close-up detail work on model rocket components.

Pulling out my vintage hand tools, I set to work....
First, an appropriate sized piece of 1/2" birch plywood was cut out to make the work surface.
A little work with a hand plane and file to clean up the cut edges.

Once the piece is marked for centering on the mounting plate, I had to mark out and drill a few recess holes to accommodate some mounting screws and metal guide pins.

Now the plywood work surface gets attached with a few flathead wood screws.

Almost done.
As a finishing touch, a wooden stop bar will be added to the lower edge of the work surface to keep things from rolling and sliding off.  A paint stir stick from the BORG will serve nicely for this.  This particular stick has the added feature of an inch scale printed on it.
Cut to length...

Drill, countersink, and mount with some more flathead screws...

And, voila!..a very useful assembly accessory.
Coupled with a mag. light, it is just the ticket for doing some of that close up detail work.

Cheers!