Having on hand a second surplus cabinet shelf identical to the one used for the laptop workbench, I came up with another rocket-building application:
With the addition of a couple of 1x3 poplar boards screwed to opposite bottom edges, the shelf became a dandy project surface for the BlastFromThePast La-BOR-atory microscope!
The table surface is at the right height to place objects at the bottom of the instrument's focusing range.
The addition of a clamp-on desk lamp completes the project.
I now have a great work surface on which to perform precision marking and cutting operations for several upcoming scale and plastic conversion projects.
The fixture will also be useful for other purposes as well - examining tiny details and variations on collectable postage stamps and coins, tiny electronics soldering tasks, and one of my favorites - extracting those irritatingly minute wood and metal slivers that I seem to consistently and painfully get stuck in my fingers!
With grand-kiddos around quite often, the microscope will likely get pressed into service to look closely at such things as dead bugs and slides containing pond water complete with all the little critters swimming therein.
But, mostly, it's for rocket stuff....
