Marak Adjustable Work Support

About once a year I usually page through all the back issues of the Blacksmith’s Journal.  I almost always find a few things that look useful now which I didn’t really notice earlier.  In the October 1991 issue on page 164 is Jerry Hoffman’s drawing of a work support idea submitted by S. L. Marak of Chula Vista, CA.

I never built one like it but it looks like a neat design.  I decided to draw a version of it in SketchUp and post the model on the 3D Warehouse  where it would be available for others to download.

The base was not shown, only the catch and release mechanism.  The shaft fits through guide holes which closely fit around it.  The catch is a toggle dog.  Lifting the leading edge disengages the dog’s bite on the shaft.  Gravity drops the dog into the locking position.  The shaft hole through the dog is a bit oversized to accommodate the toggle motion.  The dog is not securely attached to the frame.  If the shaft is lifted out of the guides the dog can be removed and the tooth sharpened.  The article states that the tooth should be hardened.

I drew the plan using 1/2” round rod for the shaft but 1/2” thread rod could be substituted and achieve, perhaps, more secure locking.

Published to 3D Warehouse 01/07/14.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=1d48dd635600ce7e4ee323db343c418a&prevstart=0

Catch position, release position, dog removal.

Dog dropped to catch.

Dog lifted to release.

Pipe Fitting Work Support

Last August 29th I wrote about How I’ve made some work stands.  

http://persimmonforge.blogspot.com/2012/08/making-work-stands_29.html

Work supports seem to share a category with clamps - there are never too many.  This is just another method of making a T-handle lock especially good for anyone who has access to pipe and pipe fittings and needs another adjustable work support.

The pipe tee fitting is the key feature to this design.  It is the locking mechanism which hold the height adjustment and lets the pot pivot.  After I made the drawing I decided it might have been better to use the larger pipe for the segment which threads into the base coupler and let the smaller pipe run up to the bracket.  This would keep the center of mass lower.

Making Work Stands

I have made a number of work stands and the most satisfactory design, for me,  is made with a base of 16” to 20” wide plow disc, a vertical section of pipe or tube 16” to 20” tall with a hole drilled near the top where I weld a nut/bolt/T-Handle assembly as a locking devise.  The top vertical section is made from a pipe or tube which will fit comfortable inside the base tube.  The transverse top is made from 1” square tube or round tube 8” or more wide with a couple of end vertical stubs.  The easiest way to make those is to cut three walls of the tube and bend the stubs up and reinforce the remaining wall with a weld bead as shown in the image.

The top width depends on how the stand will be used.  Stability results from keeping most of the mass concentrated toward the floor and keeping the transverse top width to a minimum so the work is centered over the vertical shaft reducing the moment arm.

Most were made in the early days and almost all the components were easily attainable scrap.  Each band saw has two, each drill press has one, the forge has two so that makes eight.  When I was cutting a lot of longer structural steel to build equipment for the shop I made a couple of stands with 2” rollers, scrap from a food processing line.  They were OK for that specific purpose but I no longer use any.   The rolling feature is now mostly annoying.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/