Brainstorming some ideas ...........

[Tom Reigle]

I am rearranging the framing shop where I work and have to design and build a workbench. I would like to incorporate in this bench some kind of sliding shelf affair to house and be able to use a Seal Commercial 210 M-K press. I have little or no experience with this type of press as I spent my entire business career in custom framing using a Seal 4466 vacuum heat press so be gentle.

I am severely limited on available workspace and will be tearing out a few smaller benches that have make shift storage "bins", some of which are nothing more than foamcore shipping containers and I will be building a 4' wide by up to 16' long integrated bench to do the bulk of the "clean" work for the framing area. I have a separate area in an adjacent building for the new chop saws and Clearmount table and the V-nailer. We do a fair amount of quantity work with framing in excess of 10 to 40 each and I need a quick and easy way to gain access to the mounting press when it is needed and then slide or store it away when not in use so the bench space can be used for other things. Neither the young lady who is doing much of the framing nor I feel OK with trying to wrestle this press onto a bench each time we need its services!

Yeah, I suppose I want the cake and eat some of it also but is there anyone out there who has faced this problem and come up with a workable solution?? I am even open to a shelf that can be levered up into place much like a keyboard shelf on some of the computer desks. I can work out the physics of how to make it work if someone has tried it and had some success with the idea.

Some of you veteran framers may recall back in the early '90's when I ran photos and explanations and diagrams here on the G of the custom workbenches I designed and built. They became the subject of a 7 or 8 page article written by Alice Gibson in the Sept. '93 issue of Decor, back when it was a real magazine!! Well, now I am looking for ideas so lets hear about your successes with minimizing your mechanical press's footprint in your shop. Thanks for any input and photos would be great as I am a very visual oriented person.

 

[neilframer]

You are correct in not wanting to wrestle with that press much, it's heavy.
You need the front and sides of the press open for access.
At one shop where I worked we had a 4466 and a 210.
We kept the 210 on a little end table with wheels and just shoved it away when not being used.
You could have a space under your worktable where a low, small wheeled table could nest underneath.

 

[Framar]

I like Neil's idea - that will be one heavy sucker and a drawer device would have to be made out of solid steel to hold it.

 

[Puppyraiser]

One of our chapter members had a small room where ALL her equipment was on wheels. Each piece could be moved into the main room to be used, and then put back in the 'closet' until it was needed again. I'm talking drymount press, chopper, saw, oval mat cutter, everything. A few of the lighter weight ones hung on the wall. It looked amazingly efficient.

 

[ARTY]

I just got hold of an old hospital bed complete with wheels, locks and hydrolic foot pump to required height, then when not in use just lower and slide under main finishing table. $20 just take off head rest, foot rest and screw a thick sheet of MDF to keep things square and flat. Job done. Suites long or short humanoids. Arty.

 

[framah]

Pullys in the ceiling. When you need it, you lower it down to the bench and when done, back up it goes.

I suggest you figure out a motorized method for this. You don't want to lose your grip and send it crashing down.

 

[Tom Reigle]

I like Neil's idea - ..............

Yeah Mar, I am liking that idea myself, considering that the press is now on a small stout table that is the same height or nearly so to the bench I will be building. I talked it over with the boss's husband and, so far, we think we will be putting casters on this table and using it at the very end of the workbench. That way we are not sacrificing work space on the bench and we can move the press into the back room to mount things if there is a need or a shortage of space in the finish room.

Thanks for all the tips and ideas. I particularly liked Arty's idea with the hospital bed as I usually like to take a 2:00 nap and that would work out just peachy keen for me!!! Only problem is the space in front of the soontobebuilt workbench is only about 7' and there is already a Fletcher 3000 mounted on that wall so extra space for a bed is at a premium. ......... Rats!

 

[wpfay]

Didn't Seal make wall brackets for these? You could fold the press up against the wall when not in use.

I also like the idea of making a modular work bench that can be wheeled around and reconfigured as needed. I have 48x96 and 40x60 stationary benches. I would prefer to have 3 40x60 that could be ganged together into a 60x120 when needed. A massive cleaning would be rekwired.

 

[Tom Reigle]

Yeah Wally, wouldn't that just be the bee's knees?!?! But, like I said in an earlier post, I only have a very limited space for the framing work to be done. It is kinda like the main part of the business is the trophy building and all the different kinds of laser and engraving that is done for various events and purposes from magnetic name tags to 5' trophies to plaques and desk sets and many other types of presentations made for the military, schools athletic programs, retirements, PCS assignments, awards, and the list goes on and on. They are probably the largest trophy shop on the western part of the Panhandle.

I believe that the framing part of the business was a minor add-on when they bought out a photo processing shop that did framing and now they want to try to move the framing portion off dead center and test the waters to see if it will fly in this immediate area. There are presently only 2 other active frame shops in Niceville and one of them may be in danger of closing due to medical problems with the owner. I will do what I can for them but I don't see any miraculous surge in business with the available space I have to work with. You know as well as I that you can't do framing in a closet. And that is essentially what space I have to build into a frame shop.

I have been spoiled by having so much space in my own shops over the years and now I have gone from a small closet with the lady I worked for in Miramar Beach to a larger closet at the present job. Time will tell though, if they want to promote the framing business and spend some money to make some money with custom framing, I can do the work and plan the build out and maybe be instrumental with ideas that have worked for me and then see how it all shakes out.