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DIY Low Cost Benching Station

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Aja - It's as sturdy as you want engineer it. As currently engineered with simple screws and 1/2in MDF, you'll probably be able to sit on it. If I were to bolt thru instead of screw, you could probably stand on it, altho the 1/2in MDF might break thru in the middle. If I were to go with 3/4in MDF, you could probably stand and jump on it all day long.


Gangaskan - they do make an appearance in the original thread to approximate the size of a radiator.
 
Obviously, more details at the original thread, but here's the summary.


1. Make some plates:

Lumberrouted.jpg




2. Make some brackets:

Aluminumsquaretubewithbrackets.jpg




3. Make some stations:

Tubularframecomplete.jpg
 
Looks mahvelous.

Tell me though, what's all the extra room for? Setting meters and other various equipment up, or is that to set a dually rad/fan/pump? (even though the drawing shows air cooling being used).
 
I originally spec'd 2 versions, one Grande and one Chiquito. The Grande was specifically designed to hold the very large Thermochill PA 120.3 radiator lengthwise (430mm in length). The Chiquito was designed for air cooling or to hold a PA 120.2 rad. However, as the project went on, there didn't seem to be any interest in the smaller version. Anyway, one quick trip to the table saw, and a Grande can be converted into a Chiquito.

navig
 
Chiquito's....that's what Da Yoopers (band from Michigan's Upper Peninsula) call their ginormous mosquitoes. :D

Nice work though. I've been busy at the table saw for weeks, all the time wishing I had a nice router too.

Rock on! :thup:
 
The look and feel of plain mdf isn't so appealing. So I've added some trim tape and sealed it with water based polyurethane. Bonus, scratch proof coating.

Finishedsealer.jpg



I laid an unfinished piece of scrap board on top for comparison.



.
 
Alright the Lubic prototype is complete...and sold.


Lubiccomplete1.jpg


Lubiccomplete2.jpg


Lubiccomplete3.jpg



The buyer wasn't interested in an exhaust fan, so the pci bracket was simplified.


navig
 
If you haven't been by the original thread, there have been some updates.

Lvcoyote installed his system on the station:

Pics here.



Plus I started a complete walkthru on the build of my finalized design (station#3):

Starts with post#56.


navig
 
Well, I've completed Station#2 and Station#3, completing this project.


Twins_1.jpg


Station#2 (prototype) is on the left. And the final version (Station#3) is on the right.






Here are some pics of Station#3:


Station3completebrackets.jpg






Station3completeheadon.jpg





Station3completeleft.jpg





Station3completeback.jpg





Station3completeright.jpg





Both are officially for sale, I'll be putting an ad in the classifieds when I get to it.

Here are my take home points from this project:

1) Its pretty easy to make a fully functional (in many ways even more functional than the commercial product) open case with cheap junk from local hardware stores.

2) Its quite inexpensive, but does require some work.

3) At this point, if I had all the raw materials on hand, I could probably build Station#4 in about 3 days of dedicated time.

4) Learned a lot about putting aluminum and MDF together. I think for my next project I'll be building another frame from aluminum and MDF based on my testing station, but will also take the time to add back a plastic shell to build a full case.




navig
 
That turned out great, Navig. Not like I didn't think it would. Makes me wonder if I have the skill to build something like that and it not turn into a heap.
 
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