New Work Bench

Ron Jr.

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Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
211
Location
Viroqua, WI
My new work station before and after. 84â€￾ tall by 52 1/2â€￾ wide. She’s a beast.

Been looking for a new bench and came across this solid oak roll top on Craigslist and instantly became infatuated with it. Not having a table edge to clamp anything onto created some issues though. Thought I’d share a couple things I came up with in case it might be of use to someone else.

The Light; Limited desk top space so I came up with attaching a lamp/light directly to the scope arm. I found this 7 1/2â€￾ x 5â€￾ led light (Viltrox L116T, weighs just 9 oz.) that can run on battery or be plugged in for $33 and this Camvate C-clamp for $17 on Amazon. Took some 1/16â€￾ aluminum plate and cut it to fit the battery pack area then made a spacer so I could attached it to a 1/8â€￾ x 3/4â€￾ aluminum bar. Had the knobs on hand. You can rotate the light on the end of the arm and move it in and out without using any tools. Also the Viltrox is edge lit and they use a honeycomb pattern to diffuse the light. You can see it if you hold something close to the light so I super glued some led diffusing acrylic to the front of it. No more honeycomb pattern or hot spots along the edge.

Scope Mount; I love the swing arm on my Leica and was not about to give it up so I cut off the top part of the clamp drilled some holes and bolted it down to the table top. reinforced underneath and on top with aluminum plate.

Still need to figure out how to convert the center drawer so I can use a full size engraving vise when needed but other than that I couldn't be happier :biggrin:
 

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mitch

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
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Jul 23, 2007
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my iron & granite bench isn't that big, but it weighs about the same!
 

mitch

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Ron, would you mind telling us more about how/why you use that flat panel light? is it just for drawing, etc., or do you use it while engraving? it appears to be able to swing thru a more or less fixed plane, but isn't mounted on a fully adjustable articulated arm. just curious what its purpose is...
 

Ron Jr.

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Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
211
Location
Viroqua, WI
Mitch,

I hold the piece I'm engraving under the light to check my work/progress. As you know hold a puntini engraved piece under a flat even light and you are viewing it in optimum conditions.

I almost never use a vise when doing this kind of engraving (I have no idea how any of you guys that do use a vise for puntini can be comfortable and hold rock steady for any period of time, I simply can't do it). I put some tape on a piece of acrylic, then tape the back of what I'm engraving and then super glue the two pieces of tape to each other. I'm a lefty so I hold and manipulate/move the acrylic holding the piece with my right hand while I'm working. So basically I do some work, stop and pick up the piece of acrylic with the piece attached to it and hold it under the light to check with the naked eye to see how I'm doing.
 

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mitch

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have you ever seen my set-up? i posted this pic some years ago, maybe you missed it. the scope is a Leica S6 with a 60° angle, which is much straighter than their S6E with a 38° angle (most others are about 45°) and no reducer objective lens. i've basically recreated the same situation one gets using a loupe, but with a microscope in a nice, comfortable arrangement. to check progress, i just zoom out- the lighting is already perfect.

i've since tricked out this set-up a bit by mounting the diffuser panel on the scope mount arm. i've considered replacing the diffuser panel and twin Dazor fluorescents with an LED light pad like you're using, but haven't yet.

you could probably do something similar with a platform instead of a vise, and keeping holding/moving your parts the same as you have been.
 

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Ron Jr.

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Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
211
Location
Viroqua, WI
I did see the pic when you originally posted this set up Mitch. It's different and I actually tried something similar at one point but didn't like the light right in front of me. Actually I still have the light that I tried that set up with (see pic) and can recommend it (or something similar) to anyone looking for a large evenly lit light with a fair amount of confidence. They come in a variety of sizes (the one pictured is 1' x 2'), are edge lit with no bright spots, very thin and light, some are dimmable and these days you can find them fairly cheap.
 

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mitch

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i guess i don't even really notice the actual lights out in front of me. between the eye cups and being focused on the engraving, i'm not paying any attention to the source of the illumination. what is the brand name of those 'led light pads/panels'(?), or what would you call those things for a search?

not sure if i mentioned this before, but i originally got the idea from Thomas Hipschen, the now-retired former head engraver at the US Bureau of Engraving. he had a fairly large (maybe 36"w x 30"tall?) light table leaning over his bench at an angle. like a big window with the most perfect, even, any time north light. that was an idea i filed away for future use...
 
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