Data Switch Bracket

admin

Saturday morning in the garage...It is sometimes surprising the difficulties one needs to resolve in what seems to be a most simple project.A fellow in the data network lab where I work came to me with a special request: make a bracket he can attach to the bottom of a wooden lab bench to hold a single 19" wide data network switch.  He supplied me with the material:  The 72 inch long channel-shaped vertical rail of a standard 19 inch (wide) network gear rack.  The rail is about 2 1/2 inches wide and 1" deep.  There is a row of pre-drilled and threaded holes along one of the side flanges.  This rail is made from 3/16 inch flat stock that is cold-formed into the c-channel shape.   His specifications were that it provide 4" of vertical space while maintaining the standard 19" nominal width.  (This meant the threaded holes would be 18 3/8" apart o/c horizontally).I had to figure out how long a piece to chop out of the 6 foot rail and where to make a set of V-notches so I could make two right-angle bends in the appropriate places to meet the dimensional requirements.  Simple, right?  Except for the part about the spacing of the pre-drilled holes is not  constant, hole-for-hole.  Although the holes are all exactly the same diameter and thread, and they are all the same distance from the edge of the rail, the spacing leap-frogs: two wide and a short, two wide and a short...  I needed to figure out where I could make the two bends so the spacing was the same on both sides:  two wide and a short opposite two wide and a short, while achieving the requirement that the width be the same as the standard rack.  If the spacing was not the same any equipment mounted in the bracket would slope to right or left and look stupid in the lab, which is often visited by multi-million dollar customers.A bit of trial and error with a tape measure and a sharpie marker resolved the problem of where to make the notches.  The rest is academic.I am still taking my pics with a cell-phone and some are out of focus, but you can see the work.  The camera caught at least one weld pretty well.    .025 L56 / Ar-CO2 (C25)I had to fill the gaps in the joints, I couldn't get 'em tight in bending, but the dimensions came out exactly as required.  And yes, I ground the welds flat for visual appearance before painting.  Not to hide crappy welds, but to make the face flat and smooth. Attached ImagesMember, AWSLincoln ProMIG 140Lincoln AC TombstoneCraftsman Lathe 12 x 24 c1935Atlas MFC Horizontal MillCraftsman Commercial Lathe 12 x 36 c1970- - - I'll just keep on keepin' on.