Ron Jr.
Elite Cafe Member
My new work station before and after. 84†tall by 52 1/2†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 1/2†x 5†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 1/16†aluminum plate and cut it to fit the battery pack area then made a spacer so I could attached it to a 1/8†x 3/4†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:
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 1/2†x 5†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 1/16†aluminum plate and cut it to fit the battery pack area then made a spacer so I could attached it to a 1/8†x 3/4†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: