Workbench parts bumper

[mklotz]

I'm a real expert at dropping small parts and having them roll off the front of the bench, into my lap, and, from there, into the clutter of swarf on the floor, never to be seen again.

I long considered attaching some of that self-stick foam insulation (the stuff used to stop leaks in windows and doors) to the front edge of the bench but resisted because I felt it might get in the way of certain jobs as well as interfering when clamping stuff to the front of the bench.

A recent scrap foray yielded a 30 inch length of thin steel about 1-1/4" wide and something less than 1/16" thick. I covered one side of this with duct tape and attached a length of the foam insulation onto the edge of this.

Now, when I'm doing fiddly jobs, I can lay this on the front edge of the bench to stop the rolloffs. It's thin enough and the insulation is soft enough that it's not uncomfortable to rest my forearms on it - an important concern for long work sessions. When it's not needed, it hangs on the wall using the convenient hole that was already in it.

The duct tape insulates my skin from the cold steel when it's chilly.

 

[Deanofid]

Good idea, Marv.

Dean

 

[Hal]

Good idea.
In the shop where we work on large stuff the metal work bench has a piece of angle iron welded to the front of it. Works great for most things.
The first time I saw a Jeweler's/Watch repairs work bench and I saw the catch drawer I thought it was very clever.
It would be an easy add on to most work benches just make a picture frame and loosely stretch some cloth over the center,to make a shallow pocket to catch small parts and gold filings, than attach it with a set of slide rails to the bottom side of the bench. Pull it out when needed.

Hal

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Funny this topic comes up today because this morning I had a revelation on this very thing. Last week I told my wife that standing in front of my lathe for long periods of time was causing my plantar fasciitis to act up. She suggested putting in a soft floor mat so I went down to Home Depot and picked one up. This particular type of mat has holes in it, like swiss cheese.

There I was, standing in front of the lathe today when I dropped a screw. Where do you think it went? Straight down, fell in one of the mat holes and stayed there. I'm going to pick up two more of these and put them in front of the workbench where they can capture those teeny parts that like to jump off the bench.

-Trout

 

[shred]

Funny this topic comes up today because this morning I had a revelation on this very thing. Last week I told my wife that standing in front of my lathe for long periods of time was causing my plantar fasciitis to act up. She suggested putting in a soft floor mat so I went down to Home Depot and picked one up. This particular type of mat has holes in it, like swiss cheese.

There I was, standing in front of the lathe today when I dropped a screw. Where do you think it went? Straight down, fell in one of the mat holes and stayed there. I'm going to pick up two more of these and put them in front of the workbench where they can capture those teeny parts that like to jump off the bench.

-Trout

With my luck, they ricochet off at odd angles from the sides of the hole, but work-mats are highly recommended for anywhere you stand for long periods.

 

[vlmarshall]

I spend my days at work standing on mats of that type, and like Shred's luck, dropped parts hit either the edge of a hole or my toes, and fly away to stop in the exact center of a nearby machine. There's STILL a Cracker locomotive wheel floating around somewhere. ;D

 

[doc1955]

Excellent Marv a very novel idea! I too suffer from the dropsies :big:

 

[skeeter]

I drop stuff too. I have worked with these mats too. I put a piece of low pile carpeting on the mat to keep small stuff from going into these holes. I also will put a little filler board at the front of the bench between the floor and the bottom of the bench to keep things from from going under it. It hurts to be on my knees looking for stuff. If any of you have a wooden bench top you could router a small radiused groove in the top to prevent rolloffs. Watchmakers benches has these. ;D Terry