OP
lilscorpion
Well-known member
Yes, we have the energizer bunny, we’ll have in years past. Haven’t seen those commercials for a while. I suppose I’m like that in some regards. If it keeps the blood flowing anyway!
Above 1200 Sq/FT LilScorpion’s Fab Space
- Thread starter lilscorpion
- Start date
Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
OP
lilscorpion
Well-known member
After work i decided it was time to install a few upgrades to my fireball dragon wagon welding table. Most ends of projects start with a delivery from McMaster. Seems like I get one weekly now.
This is a storage rack that is designed to keep the welding table accessories readily available but also Tucker out of the way. Winch purchase I’ve found that keeping the clamps in a drawer is inconvenient and as a result I tend to leave them on the table which takes up a lot of space. Designed the rack in cad and cut it out of 3/16.
The concept was vetted last week so this post is purely install. All cutting, fab, and powder coating has already been done.
The grey things are inserts that allow me to customize the storage options in the future. The hole spacing of this setup matches the table - 3/4” holes in a 2x2-inch pattern. The clamps need more than 3/16” of depth to stand up correctly so two inserts sandwich the rack creating almost .600 of thickness when including the rivnut head.
The clamps sit in the rack very well amd will be very easy to grab.
The rack is tucked out of the way enough so that I’ll be able to use the end of the table without kneeing the clamps as I do
Upgrade 2 - I use a lot of pneumatic fab tools. Most are now kept on my tooling wall. Even tho the wad is almost within reach of the table I tend to not put the tools back between fab tasks, I set the on the table or stand them up in one of the dog holes. It works but inevitably I’m having to move them around as I fixture, unfixture, or weld. Decided I’d try make a tool caddy to help keep things organized.
It clamps to the table thru 3/4” dog holes on the side skirt. With the heads of the rivnuts, the surfaces sits about .065 below the table surface so long parts can still overhang the end of the table (and caddy if/when emptied) easily.
Grommets fit into .800 holes cut into the top which allow air tools to stand up nicely but are easily accessible and removable.
Voila! Tool caddy. All the extra holds and rivenuts enable future upgrades to hold custom tool racks and adapters for things like clamps and such. I’ll add as I go and see need. For now my tools will stay off the table surface.
This is a storage rack that is designed to keep the welding table accessories readily available but also Tucker out of the way. Winch purchase I’ve found that keeping the clamps in a drawer is inconvenient and as a result I tend to leave them on the table which takes up a lot of space. Designed the rack in cad and cut it out of 3/16.
The concept was vetted last week so this post is purely install. All cutting, fab, and powder coating has already been done.
The grey things are inserts that allow me to customize the storage options in the future. The hole spacing of this setup matches the table - 3/4” holes in a 2x2-inch pattern. The clamps need more than 3/16” of depth to stand up correctly so two inserts sandwich the rack creating almost .600 of thickness when including the rivnut head.
The clamps sit in the rack very well amd will be very easy to grab.
The rack is tucked out of the way enough so that I’ll be able to use the end of the table without kneeing the clamps as I do
Upgrade 2 - I use a lot of pneumatic fab tools. Most are now kept on my tooling wall. Even tho the wad is almost within reach of the table I tend to not put the tools back between fab tasks, I set the on the table or stand them up in one of the dog holes. It works but inevitably I’m having to move them around as I fixture, unfixture, or weld. Decided I’d try make a tool caddy to help keep things organized.
It clamps to the table thru 3/4” dog holes on the side skirt. With the heads of the rivnuts, the surfaces sits about .065 below the table surface so long parts can still overhang the end of the table (and caddy if/when emptied) easily.
Grommets fit into .800 holes cut into the top which allow air tools to stand up nicely but are easily accessible and removable.
Voila! Tool caddy. All the extra holds and rivenuts enable future upgrades to hold custom tool racks and adapters for things like clamps and such. I’ll add as I go and see need. For now my tools will stay off the table surface.
OP
lilscorpion
Well-known member
I like it and the utilization of space is prime
Last edited:
signcrafter
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 9, 2012
- Messages
- 12,585
Any chance you have a link to the grommets you are using? I threw together this air tool storage years ago using a 2x10 and it works pretty decent. I just drilled some holes for the air couplers to sit in but would be nice to have a little snugger fit. Need to make a new organizer for the new shop and the grommets are a great idea. Thanks for sharing.After work i decided it was time to install a few upgrades to my fireball dragon wagon welding table. Most ends of projects start with a delivery from McMaster. Seems like I get one weekly now.
This is a storage rack that is designed to keep the welding table accessories readily available but also Tucker out of the way. Winch purchase I’ve found that keeping the clamps in a drawer is inconvenient and as a result I tend to leave them on the table which takes up a lot of space. Designed the rack in cad and cut it out of 3/16.
The concept was vetted last week so this post is purely install. All cutting, fab, and powder coating has already been done.
The grey things are inserts that allow me to customize the storage options in the future. The hole spacing of this setup matches the table - 3/4” holes in a 2x2-inch pattern. The clamps need more than 3/16” of depth to stand up correctly so two inserts sandwich the rack creating almost .600 of thickness when including the rivnut head.
The clamps sit in the rack very well amd will be very easy to grab.
The rack is tucked out of the way enough so that I’ll be able to use the end of the table without kneeing the clamps as I do
Upgrade 2 - I use a lot of pneumatic fab tools. Most are now kept on my tooling wall. Even tho the wad is almost within reach of the table I tend to not put the tools back between fab tasks, I set the on the table or stand them up in one of the dog holes. It works but inevitably I’m having to move them around as I fixture, unfixture, or weld. Decided I’d try make a tool caddy to help keep things organized.
It clamps to the table thru 3/4” dog holes on the side skirt. With the heads of the rivnuts, the surfaces sits about .065 below the table surface so long parts can still overhang the end of the table (and caddy if/when emptied) easily.
Grommets fit into .800 holes cut into the top which allow air tools to stand up nicely but are easily accessible and removable.
Voila! Tool caddy. All the extra holds and rivenuts enable future upgrades to hold custom tool racks and adapters for things like clamps and such. I’ll add as I go and see need. For now my tools will stay off the table surface.
OP
lilscorpion
Well-known member
Sure, don’t mind at all. 1/2” ID is key, there’s many different OD’s which may help make retrofitting your setup easier.Any chance you have a link to the grommets you are using? I threw together this air tool storage years ago using a 2x10 and it works pretty decent. I just drilled some holes for the air couplers to sit in but would be nice to have a little snugger fit. Need to make a new organizer for the new shop and the grommets are a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Buna-N Rubber Grommet for 13/16" Hole Diameter and 1/8" Material Thickness, 1/2" ID
https://www.mcmaster.com/product/9307K27
Last edited:
signcrafter
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 9, 2012
- Messages
- 12,585
Thanks for the link.
OP
lilscorpion
Well-known member
You’d think I’d be sponsored at this point. Or running stickers with some kinda kickback on views. Sadly no, I’m just damn good at installing rivnuts. May go pro in 2027.
OP
lilscorpion
Well-known member
Another project in the pile to share - for all of my build cycles the most common challenge is managing the parts as they move between sub-processes.
I have an extreme duty shop cart which was one of six I built about 20-some years ago for my business which I use frequently. You’d be surprised to know I never coated it and it’s still bare metal. The dryness of Colorado weather is the only reason this is possible. I originally designed the powder coating oven specifically to be able to coat this beast but now that it’s done I’m not sure it will fit. Oh well.
The cart is a beast but with all “shelves” being configured as trays (concave), it’s not really ideal for sheet goods (cabinetry) or stacks of plasma cut parts that are wider or longer than the trays. I figured I need to have a plan I can use to build more easily if and when I need them in the future. This is the first of its kind but not to dissimilar to many you could find/buy. Since it’s about transporting components, I decided to make it with 4 layers and enable the shelves to be flipped into trays should I deem that a better configuration. The first go at it was close. Needed to make a few adjustments so the next one (or more) will fly together. Micro adjustments really.
After coating I tried to assembly and share it but ran out of hardware in the process ending the week stuck waiting for a McMaster re-stock.
After walking past it all week I was finally able to wrap it up this morning with only one thing left to design- the handle. I’ll do that this weekend.
As I snapped this pic I realized that my color preferences for the shop aren’t too dissimilar to Ironman. At some point I’ll want this same design in a slight smaller and lower format to use when working on cars. Maybe even half size would be cool. Another day tho
I have an extreme duty shop cart which was one of six I built about 20-some years ago for my business which I use frequently. You’d be surprised to know I never coated it and it’s still bare metal. The dryness of Colorado weather is the only reason this is possible. I originally designed the powder coating oven specifically to be able to coat this beast but now that it’s done I’m not sure it will fit. Oh well.
The cart is a beast but with all “shelves” being configured as trays (concave), it’s not really ideal for sheet goods (cabinetry) or stacks of plasma cut parts that are wider or longer than the trays. I figured I need to have a plan I can use to build more easily if and when I need them in the future. This is the first of its kind but not to dissimilar to many you could find/buy. Since it’s about transporting components, I decided to make it with 4 layers and enable the shelves to be flipped into trays should I deem that a better configuration. The first go at it was close. Needed to make a few adjustments so the next one (or more) will fly together. Micro adjustments really.
After coating I tried to assembly and share it but ran out of hardware in the process ending the week stuck waiting for a McMaster re-stock.
After walking past it all week I was finally able to wrap it up this morning with only one thing left to design- the handle. I’ll do that this weekend.
As I snapped this pic I realized that my color preferences for the shop aren’t too dissimilar to Ironman. At some point I’ll want this same design in a slight smaller and lower format to use when working on cars. Maybe even half size would be cool. Another day tho