Wokbench power upgrade

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A cheap piece of hardboard makes a great Sacrificial layer and by that I mean you replace it when you find one that has a broken edge at the box stores for cheap.   A couple layers if citrus wax also works wonders.   A can is about 13 at the orange box and can be left too your grand kids.   Also great for protecting cast iron tops on machinery.   

[Big Frank]

In the center picture of the top of my bench, you can see a hole on the far left where I accidentally put a hammer through it years ago. It broke out a big piece on the other side, leaving nothing besides the thin top and some cardboard strips that went between the front and back of the door. I stuck a scrap of wood in from underneath, actually 2 thinner pieces of scrap I nailed together several years ago. It was about the size of a 2x4 6" long, or somewhere there about. The screws I ran through the top of the bench kept pulling through but I got a few in the edge where there's a 2x2 inside it. I covered up the mess on top with plastic wood and filled some other holes in the top and shelf. I may not have enough plastic wood left for the project I bought it for. After I rough sand it and slop some paint around I'll post more pics. When I have excess paint run on the basement floor I don't usually wipe it up. If I wait a few days I can pop it up with a putty knife, and it's even cleaner than it would be if I wiped it off with paper towel.

[Big Frank]

Where that spinning steel plate cut my finger, it was swollen, and shiny red behind the scabbed over part. I finally decided to clean it up earlier tonight/last night. I used my razor sharp Outdoor Edge knife to whittle the scab off, then scrubbed my finger with rubbing alcohol and a triple size cotton ball. I don't buy regular cotton balls anymore, just the triple size. After I scrubbed it a few times with new cotton balls, I used a round toothpick to scrape the dried blood out of the crack between the skin and nail. It's still sensitive to touch because of how deep the wound is, but it looks a lot better and feels better too. It's still swollen and shiny looking but less red. It should heal up just fine. About the only time I need antibiotics is if I have an ear infection. My body fights off all other bacteria on its own. Viruses are a whole different matter.

I sanded down the top and shelf of the workbench a little while ago. I made myself a little seat to sit on when I sanded the shelf. When the second quarter-sheet of 80 grit on my palm sander didn't look like it was doing anything, I called it -- Good Enough. Some of the plastic wood wasn't fully cured because I put down one layer where I probably should have put two, letting it dry in between. Good Enough For Government Work. Then I got a rag, which was half of an old bath towel, soaked it completely and wrung it out, then wiped down the top and shelf on the bench. I just finished up around 4:30 am. I went to bed several hours ago, but was back up an hour later, so I got some work done. My lower back is kind of stabby and I ran out of muscle relaxers months ago. If my back feels better, and I feel okay in general, I may have the bench painted before the weekend is over. But probably not. It doesn't take long to paint the way I slather it on, but the shelf will need a second coat since it's raw particleboard.

[Big Frank]

I made myself a margarita and sat down to watch TV. After 20 minutes or so, I thought my time would be better spent painting. I didn't see my paint stirrer lying around, but I found a long pointed pin with a 90 degree bend on the other end. I think it's from an old post jack. I chucked it in the drill and let 'er tip. The pin was bent and splashed a little paint out of the can but stirred it up well enough. I painted the top then the shelf, then the top and the shelf again. Two coats on each and I'm done. The last time I painted my workbench I got some paint on the vise and painted all the way around the bottom. Today I painted a lot higher up on the vise, but stayed close to the base. The semi-gloss paint is a match for the off-white (beige?) power-strip. Sometime after the paint dries I'll get some pics. Next will be scraping drips off the floor, moving the bench and sweeping under it again, then putting things back where they belong. That might take a few days.

I normally keep my 2 tool boxes with the trays out on the bench as shown in the illustration. I used to keep the toolboxes open all the time, then started closing them to keep them from filling up with "dirt". I had a big pile of dirt on the bench a couple days ago and most of it was sparks mixed with abrasive. I tried using a big magnet to separate all of the small hardware from the dirt and it all stuck to the magnet. I had to pick through the dirt before I dumped it in a wastebasket. I got some small drill bits and several small washers out of it. Most of the washers are the same size as backers for 1/8" POP rivets, but only half as thick. I don't remember if they're for #6 or #8 machine screws but will have to put them back in the right drawer of the hardware storage organizer. The last time I had the drawer on the bench I accidentally dumped it.

I have a dual 4' fluorescent light fixture hanging between the floor joists right above the bench. It's plugged into a light socket. The other 3 light sockets have 100 watt bulbs in the middle of each corner of the basement.

[Big Frank]

Thanks to a long piece of telephone cable I wound around my radio antenna and the cold water supply line last May, I'm able to get more than one station in my basement. I keep the radio turned on but unplugged, then plug it in when I want to hear it. It's tuned to a classic rock station now. The tuning has been kind of fussy for close to a half century, and the volume crackles when I adjust it. By unplugging it instead of turning it off I avoid some hassle, especially that of turning the wrong knob to turn it off and on. None of the conductors in the cable are actually attached to the pipe or the car antenna I put on my radio several years ago when the telescoping antenna broke. There's some type of radio-frequency induction or something going on where the signal passes between the pipes in the house, the coils of wire, and the radio antenna. I don't know what the phenomenon is called, but it works. I don't think it should work without current flowing through the cable, but it does. I can't explain why. I have a hanging bracket I made from a coat hanger that will fit over the edge of any door in my house. The radio stays balanced on the hanger and I can remove it by turning it and the radio at angles and unscrewing it, like solving one of those 3D puzzles made of wire.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

Here's what my workbench looks like as of 10 minutes ago. Pics of the top, left, center, right, and shelf, left, center, right. It's nice not having holes in the top big enough for things to fall through, or inside of the top. I had a hole to the left of the vise that went halfway through the hollow top. I squirted a bunch of caulking and some spray foam in it a couple of months ago. Now it's leveled off with plastic wood and sealed with paint, and the big hole all the way through the top on the left side is gone almost without a trace. If you look at the front edge of the top in the left pic, just right of center you can see where 1 big screw and 2 smaller screws hold the wooden block inside. The big hole was in front of the right hand screw and it vanished almost magically. The top has a strip of 1/4" paneling on the back to keep stuff from falling off where it's hard to reach. I need to clean some paint splatter off the vise, then I think I'm done, except for sweeping up again and putting everything away. The vise jaws are about elbow high now. That's about as good as it gets. It's easier than working crotch high on the bench all the time.

My flood light doesn't have an on/off switch so I bought a switch it plugs into, and that switch stays with it at all times. You can see it plugged into the power strip. I already had some cable ties holding it together and just added some more and cut the excess of the ends. The thicker cable ties probably make it 4 times more secure and the switch should stay attached the rest of my life.