I started a much needed die and jig rolling table build for the shop on Sunday. One of the requirements was to have the table top height match the iron worker hieght for a break die/jig swap over. The die is heavy and really hard to simply grab a hold of, so the idea of sliding into place from table to IW sounds appealing. The table will also store pipe/tubing dies as well and other heavy dies for the profile roller. In all the table will support well over 1,500# of dies. Im excited to complete the table and free up the floor space which the current dies are stored. Most all material for this build comes from remnant leftovers excluding the casters.
Got most of the table frame welded up as well as punched the base caster plates. The smaller 1.5" angle will span the bottom portion of the table and heavy expanded metal will serve as a shelf for smaller items such as counter dies and such. The smaller angle iron was notched with the iron worker for a nice fit.
I designed a lock in type of indexer to mate with the iron worker to prevent any sideway movement during the sliding of the heavy break die. The swivel casters opposite of the indexer will have locks to prevent movement as well.
Now for the bad news....It was around 5:30 pm when I decided to call it quits and begin my clean up ritual. I jumped on the forklift to pull the project off the welding table to sweep off the table and surrounding floor. I have 12' high doors but I only had the door set to 8' (the late afternoon sun was blaring ). As I was backing out the fork lift, I had the load off the table about 4" and lost track of the headache rack height (I always lower the load while traveling to a maximum of 12" above floor) NOT ON SUNDAY! I took out the first two panels of my door. I spent the next 4-5 hours pulling the panels and straightening so that I could secure the shop. I was sick when I saw the aftermath (still am), what a rookie F@#king maneuver. So much for building a cost effective die table. Sorry, no pictures of damaged door prior to repairing but the door resembled a Jiffy pop lid after the pop corn popped for those of you who remember those . Two new door panels on order and then add metal paint for a rust to match exterior finish, then paint the interior stripes to match. I suppose if I never get out of bed, nothing bad can happen, that said, if I stay busy, I will screw up eventually.
More to come on the table build.