Equipment cabinet

[sonofagun]

To show how far ahead of the curve I was at one time anyway, here's a pic of an equipment cabinet I designed and marketed (unfortunately with limited success) back around the late 70s/early 80s. Features included adjustable shelves, pull out shelves, castered base, locking front door, and perhaps best of all, a lockable rear door for easy access to the back of your equipment.

[andresohc]

I have one of the BIC FM antennas in my office right now. 70s Chic

[johnaec]

Nice! It'd really be cool if you could match the veneer to customers' speaker cabinets!

John

[sonofagun]

I offered some finish options. Could probably reintroduce an updated line of furniture if I had some marketing/production capabilities.

Spent seven years and considerable $$ chasing the electronic furniture market and in spite of superior designs, didn't make it .

Here's link to a workbench design I'm offering right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT

[Steve Schell]

Sonofagun, I doubt if this bench design will win the $25 but here goes.

Years ago I helped an electronics engineer of long experience move to a new home. He quickly built new work benches along two walls of his new garage, using the same design he had used for decades. Soon after I built the same type along two of my garage walls, and they are still serving well.

The basic idea is to decide how long the bench will be, how high and how deep. Obtain three 2 X 4s of the correct length. Bolt one of these standing vertically to the wall joists, sitting on the wooden plate above the concrete foundation. The other two 2 X 4s form the outer rails of the ladder frame that forms the bench structure. Once the ladder is assembled, bolt the rear rail into wall joists at the height you want the bench to be. Now here is the brilliant part of the design... cut 2 X 4s to run as diagonal braces between the front rail and the rail bolted above the foundation, notch them to fit into the rails, and install these with nails or lag bolts. I nailed mine, and they have never come loose. You can shim a bit as needed to level the bench. I angled mine a degree or two, so things roll back rather than forward off the bench. Last, install the plywood or MDF panels of your choice for the bench top. The resulting bench is as strong as the wall it is bolted to, and has no supports like the usual 4 X 4s running to the floor and being in the way forever. A shelf can be installed underneath if you like, its forward edge anchored to the diagonal braces. The shop is easy to sweep with no floor supports in the way, and there is nothing to bang you on the kneee while you are working.

My friend stressed that most work benches tend to be built too low (back strain) and not deep enough (short on space). I built mine for two different heights: one 38" high (15 ' long) and the second 42" high (9' long). Usually if one bench is not the right height for a particular job, the other one is. Both are 32" deep.

[John]