Rotating Swivel Tooling Station

[chriscraft]

I've been thinking of fabricating a swivel work station that can lock in any position (360 degrees) and easily unlock to rotate via foot pedal. Most of my tooling projects are less than one square foot and this would be ideal. I also want this to be heavy duty, adjustable in height and can be secured to my concete floor. just want this to be a solid station. Ive had a basic sketch for almost two years and have done nothing with this.

I've just been given a non working heavy duty transmission jack that has a swivel head that will work. So this will be my next project.

Anyone use anything similar? Working out of a work bench is okay but this new rotating work station might be better. Will not know till I try it.

[King's X]

Not me, but I would like to see it.

[cardinal leather]

Chriscraft,
I have thought about that a couple of times as well. Not because I am any kind of a tooler but just to make things more convenient. I first thought of using a lazysuzan like the type used in a kitchen cabinet because of the bearings in it but decided that they were too light duty. Then thought of using two pipes an inner and an outer. The inner 4" pipe would fasten to the floor and the outer 6-8" pipe would hold the slab but would rotate by a foot wheel that I could turn with my foot and anchor with my foot and knee. There would be two layers of Teflon, one attached to the stone wheel and one to the support plate. This would make it easier to turn. The stone would be about 1 ½ - 2 inches thick and about 18 inch round. You might still need bearings under the foot plate but I think the pipe would absorb the movement from tooling and leave you with a solid but movable platform. This unit could be free standing or cut into a desk top. I haven’t gotten any further with it as to many other things to do but it is worth some thought.

[chriscraft]

cardinal leather, I've been scratching my head over what type of heavy duty swivel bearings to use. Maybe some 3/4 ton truck axle Timken roller bearings on a disk brake hub. Somehow fabricated to still be able to spin freely, this would be heavy but that's okay. Was even considering attaching a motorcycle disk brake with hydraulic brake pad to stop it from spinning while tooling. Being able to Frankenstein some automotive parts might work but may not the best way to tackle this project. That's why I just left it alone for a while.

Here is my first sketch of the tooling station with a 12" working plate. I want to be able to swap out a larger 18" plate or smaller 8" plate. Base constructed from heavy wall steel pipe with a pin to adjust height. Simple foot pedal that will operate a stopping pin keeping the work rotating top from free spinning. This would be free standing as I want to keep less things from vibrating while tooling causing unnecessary noise. The semi-circular leatherworking tool storage station would be on locking rubber casters. That way if one needs more work space this can easily roll away. Also if one ever does any craft shows this would be a nice set up to display.

[chriscraft]

This is the hydraulic telescoping transmission lift jack I was given. They had issues with the base cracking and bending so the shop just purchased a new telescoping jack. I was under the impression this jack had a leak and was not working but was told it lifts just fine. Was manufactured by Blackhawk Automotive Inc. and is a 1/2 Ton capacity. Looks vintage but I am not familiar with these lifts. The top plate rotates 360 degrees and has knobs to slant the top mount in different positions.

I'm still not sure how many pieces I will borrow from this jack. It will need a better work base as this one is cracked and way too big for my purpose. It just looks very oily and dirty but will clean up well. Its a start for the free standing tooling station project.

Edited March 24, 2015 by chriscraft

[mojave]

I made one of these stations. It has a semi-trailer brake drum for a base. The post is sch. 40 steel pipe for the inside, and sch. 80 steel pipe for the outside. The post has a 1" round steel plates welded on both ends. The bottom plate is bolted to the brake drum, and the top plate has a hole so I could rotating the tooling plate. The tooling plate has a pipe welded to it and slides through the hole in the post top plate. I use a RV 5th wheel lube disk between the tooling plate and the post top plate. The station worked fine, but I like resting my arm when tooling. I convert it to a rotating patio table, which my wife really loves. ( 4 foot Lazy Susan) lol. I can't post a picture, because i don't have a camera and wouldn't known how to post pictures anyway.

God Speed

Howard

[Slow Learner]

Consider the seat swivel for a boat. They are substantial and readily available at Wally World and I'm sure other places.

[juston33]

I've been thinking of fabricating a swivel work station that can lock in any position (360 degrees) and easily unlock to rotate via foot pedal. Most of my tooling projects

[chriscraft]

I've seen plenty of stands built out of truck steel rims and drum brakes like BBQ pits, bird feeders and mail box post. I would like this build to look more factory built. Would like it to look like it was intended for leatherworking. Like it belongs in a leather work shop and blends with all the other well built leatherworking equipment. Maybe I am asking for too much from myself but I think I can pull this off. I am not trying to re-invent the wheel here but borrow what already exist.

For example, I have this early 1900's Multum Drawing Table that was purpose built. It is smaller than your average drafting table from this era. It was built and designed by a well known manufacture of drafting equipment based out of Chicago.

The base can be adjusted in height and the table top can rotate, tilt or be used in a flat horizontal position. This same wooden top was made to be removed and swapped out with another wooden top if you were working on multiple projects.

I really like the simplicity of this design but it has to be beefed up to be able to take a beating like an anvil. This drawing table base is made from cast iron and is over 100 years old. I have no intention to try and use this for my purpose. The function and idea is what I will borrow.

I wish this Multum Drawing Table was 100% original. I put it together from photos, all I had was the original cast base and rotating table neck/head. The wooden top and drawing chair are not original. After painting this chair to match, I arranged them together to make this look complete.

Howard, I don't think I will need an arm rest. Maybe I just got used to working without touching my artwork. When I would rest my arm I would somehow damage my work as the paint would not be dry or smear stuff all over my project. One of the reasons I want this to rotate is to keep from touching my project over and over again. Chris

Edited March 26, 2015 by chriscraft

[chriscraft]

Took more photos of the drawing table stand. I really like the appearance of this old cast iron stand. The tooling platform does not have to tilt so the drawing table tilting head doesn't have to be copied. I know were not doing blacksmith iron work here so it doesn't need to be built like an anvil. I'm thinking if it were constructed from heavy wall steel, 1" thick steel plate, this might be what it needs to lower the pitch of the tooling sound a bit.

My previous photo that shows the adjustable screw height stool was my first thought of making this stand.

Edited March 26, 2015 by chriscraft

[cardinal leather]

chriscraft,

See the attached drawing. I was on the road this week so spent some time in the evening to see if I could re-develope my thoughts on the swivle table. The drawing is what came out of the process. The weights are off some as the granite weight varies by thickness. A 2 x 18 should be around 64 lbs., the rest of the metal parts vary due to the different pipe wall and plate thickness available.

The lower pipe is welded to the lower base plate which is anchored to the floor. The outer pipe is full length and set for your favorite working height. This pipe is welded to a secondary plate that allows the inner pipe to pass thru but still gives a good foot print for the tooling pressure. The inner pipe is there to support the outter pipe and prevent tipping of a top heavy table. There is a teflon disk glued to both the base plate and the base of the stand pipe to allow easier movement. The upper plate has a rubber disk under the granite to help absorb the impact tooling. This system is not adjustable. I do not know at this time if you can move the upper disk by pushing the lower base plate with your foot or not. If required 2 inch steel wheels could be attached to the exterior under a seperate ring that rides on the outer base plate. The wheels would have to be down tight enough to allow the teflon plates to keep up a solid contact and still allow a person to move it with their foot.

The table that I am using now is set at 26 inches which allows me to sit up over the work but it woud work just as well at desk height. When I am standing I like the work around 36-38 inches so it depends on a persons height, reach etc.

Weight of the unit would run around 180 - 220 lbs depending on what sizes of stands and plates were selected. Lots of oppurtunity for various plans for work station like this.

Hope this makes some sense, for me it would be about rotating the project with my foot while tooling or stamping otherwise I would continue to turn the project by hand and forget about the swivel.

[cardinal leather]

I did have this photo rotated but it defaulted when it was transfered. copy it to your desk top and it will open in microsoft picture it can then be rotated. the three lower drawings just show different ways to set up the station wether a person would like it free standing inside a desk or countertop or out a ways to leave more room on the desk or countertop.