Ornate Garden Fence Segment to Cordless Drill Rack - Updated and Finished
by Goodhart in Workshop > Tools
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Ornate Garden Fence Segment to Cordless Drill Rack - Updated and Finished
I had just brought my brand new, Illinois Industrial Tools© cordless drill and driver home (it only cost me a few dollars from the Ollie's chain) and in trying to find a place for it to rest until needed, and yet be easily accessible for use and charging. Not having a solution, I ended up with a problem. I hadn't thought about storage.
The next day, as I walked in the front door, I saw several segments of ornate garden fencing laying on the front porch and (of course) asked my wife if she was going to use them or discard them. With her blessing, I took one of the segments and started to work on creating a rack.
This is the process I used to get from pretty piece of fence (but of little use functionally) to a functional albeit ugly, drill rack.
The next day, as I walked in the front door, I saw several segments of ornate garden fencing laying on the front porch and (of course) asked my wife if she was going to use them or discard them. With her blessing, I took one of the segments and started to work on creating a rack.
This is the process I used to get from pretty piece of fence (but of little use functionally) to a functional albeit ugly, drill rack.
Planning !
This is crucial to success, in that, one can ruin a lot of pieces with trial and error, if one doesn't plan ahead a bit.
So, I grabbed a bit of scrap paper and started to draw about what I wanted the product to do, and how it might do it. This is, by no means, a FINAL plan. Only something to get things going.
So, I grabbed a bit of scrap paper and started to draw about what I wanted the product to do, and how it might do it. This is, by no means, a FINAL plan. Only something to get things going.
Finding the Material(s)
My next step, was to find something that was fairly easy to work with, and also strong enough to hold up the tool, which had some weight to it.
Once I noticed the fencing segments, I detached one and worked with testing it's strength (which just amounted to me trying to bend it easily in my hands). It was a decently strong piece, so I brought it inside.
Once I noticed the fencing segments, I detached one and worked with testing it's strength (which just amounted to me trying to bend it easily in my hands). It was a decently strong piece, so I brought it inside.
Doing the Twist.
In this step, I took needle nosed pliers (not really recommended) and later, normal pliers to bend, twist and shape the fence into a kind of a rectangular shape. This would go MUCH easier, if one has a wire bending jig like this one. The lower section would hold the drill (unlike my drawing) and the upper would house the base and transformer.
In the first picture, I indicated the cross bar, which is where the front of the drill will rest on. I bent each end in a hook fashion, and snapped it over the two sides. This also made the entire structure much more stable.
In the first picture, I indicated the cross bar, which is where the front of the drill will rest on. I bent each end in a hook fashion, and snapped it over the two sides. This also made the entire structure much more stable.
Final Tweaking.
After I had all my pictures, and the whole Instructable written up and saved, I went to the final thing I needed to do; twist the hooks to one side so they'd slip over a protruding screw or hook on the side of my work bench. One of the ''legs'' broke at the lower joint (remember what I said about rust at the joints?). I don't have any epoxy of any kind (liquid steel, body putty, etc) left in the house, and I didn't want to have to go out and get more, just for one tiny joint.
SO, I simply took the hooked end, faced in my hand in the direction I wanted it to face (to the side) and put a hook in the other end. Getting that hook to securely hold onto the rack, was a real trick...this wire does not bend easily (I said that before, didn't I ?).
Finally, hung and ready to serve.
I DID add a section out front to carry the charging stand and transformer.
PS: of course, one does not NEED to hang such a thing from their workbench if they do not wish to. Almost any place one can put in hanging hooks or screws would suffice - a pegboard might even work, but it works best if there is some space under where the screws are (like the space under a table).
SO, I simply took the hooked end, faced in my hand in the direction I wanted it to face (to the side) and put a hook in the other end. Getting that hook to securely hold onto the rack, was a real trick...this wire does not bend easily (I said that before, didn't I ?).
Finally, hung and ready to serve.
UPDATE:
I DID add a section out front to carry the charging stand and transformer.
PS: of course, one does not NEED to hang such a thing from their workbench if they do not wish to. Almost any place one can put in hanging hooks or screws would suffice - a pegboard might even work, but it works best if there is some space under where the screws are (like the space under a table).