Need a place to put them when I'm not using them ...

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I am sure many of you are familiar with the technique. I am in the process of doing the “trailer receiver tube and plate mount” thing for my vice, simple tubing bender, grinder, hand tapper, plus several other items. You know the deal – the workbench has a trailer receiver attached to it and the individual items are mounted to a plate welded to a 2x2 tube that goes into the receiver.But my new “problem” is how to store the items when they are not being used. The obvious answer is “on a shelf” but that means I need to lay them on their side – the 2x2 tube now protrudes 5 inches from the bottom – too much Viagra I guess – and that takes up a lot of space and does not bode well for the tools that have odds and ends attached to them that will fall off when laid on their side. And space is at a premium the same as every other small hobby workshop. So does anyone have any pictures or descriptions of how they store the “not in use” tools?Thanks,Arvid
Reply:arvidj,Why not add some more receiver tubing under your workbench or at some other convenient location to hold your tools/vice/grinders etc. there?Here's part of my setup, my work table stores vertically on the wall with the bench grinder stored below:http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2732...98190200lDazieLane
Reply:Pretty impressive workbench idea.  I like it.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:hi...here is an idea that may interest you...i have no pics to show but i will explain what the idea is, which, just came to me while reading your post... why not, if you have the room in your shop...make a xmas tree using some sort of tubing whether it be round or square tubing as the trunk and weld some more receiver tubes to the main trunk tube...the amount of tools that could be put on the tree would only depend on the length of the trunk...then for placing the tools on the tree, you would put the heaviest on the bottom and the lightest above...  there would be some sort of balance issues in doing this, so the base of the tree would have to be made accordingly so the tree would not tip over no matter how the tools were placed on the tree...i hope you get what i mean...eventually i will be making a table with a receiver tube in it and now that i just thought of how to store the tools when not in use...i will also have to make a tree...lol...i amaze myself sometimes...lololol...ahhh its good to laugh...even if it is at yourself and even if no one else thinks your funny...lol...i'm in a wierd mood today...lol
Reply:we keep 2 drills at the ready by sticking the chuck ends into pieces of tubing welded to the table.  We also welded on a bent piece of sheet with notches cut out that we can sit the angle grinders in, the arbor rests down in the notch.  we also have 2 dyna files in larger pieces of tubing welded to the table.  All of these are stored in about 2 linear feet of table space.You can see them in the background here.Last edited by sn0border88; 11-26-2008 at 05:39 PM.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:I'm in the process of doing the same with my workbench. Here's the idea i've come up with but not implemented yet:my bench has a square tube cross-bar going across left-right near the bottom of it. I'm going to weld another square tube above it, by the height of a receiver tube. So effectively I'll have a 'receiver tube' that is the correct height, but as wide as my bench. A 2" high but 5 foot wide receiver tube so to speak.I figure I can stick all my mounted stuff side-by-side into this space, and avoid having to buy a whole bunch of receiver tubes.hopefully that explanation makes sense...- John
Reply:Thanks for the great suggestions. I am really glad I asked because I appear to have made a serious error in my original plan.Based on the responses it looks like everyone has put the 2x2 tube parallel to the mounting plate which means the receiver tube would be horizontal. My original plan was to mount the 2x2 tube perpendicular to the mounting plate and the receiver tube would be vertical. My original reasoning was that loads would be handled better by the vertical arrangement rather than the horizontal – cantilevered arrangement. But based on what others have done it looks like the horizontal arrangement it the common practice and must therefore be a non-issue. Would anyone care to comment on that?Assuming I go with the horizontal arrangement - does anyone have a preferred method for holding the device securely in the receiver tube? Do nothing – it will not fall out; Drill a hole and put a pin in it ala trailer hitches; Weld a nut on the side of the receiver tube and install a bolt that would be tightened to hold the 2x2 tube in place; other ideas.Again, thanks for helping me think thru this before I commit a design error.Arvid
Reply:drill a hole and put in a pin you could also use a locking pin to prvent theft
Reply:I would use a bolt, and nut, then you can adjust the legnth at which it sticks out and also hold other things in there that dont already have a hole drilled in themHave we all gone mad?
Reply:Here's what I did:If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.