M1A1 Workbench Addition

A couple days ago I decided I wanted to run power to my workbench so I got an old 15A extension cord and plugged it into the ceiling outlet (e.g. for garage door opener) and held it against the beam running along the ceiling with RG-6 cable clips. I ran it down to my workbench and mounted the duplex outlet box to the leftmost leg. I then drilled through the back of the leg, ran the wiring in, wired the outlet and mounted everything. Then I went back and cut the power cable where it leaves the wall and goes to the workbench, added a female hospital plug to one end and a male to the other so I could disconnect the workbench to move it without having to go to the ceiling to unplug the cord. Looks nice and works great. I like it.

M1A1 Workbench Build Plans

I built my workbench a couple weeks ago and finally finished my build plans to share with everyone. The workbench cost about $120 to make and is build like a tank (thus the title "M1A1"). Feel free to distribute the plans but please credit or cite me. I have provide the Google Sketchup file but I need to clean it up a bit to make it easier to digest. Enjoy!

Craig's M1A1 Workbench Build Plans (325KB)

Squirrel Feeder Build Plans

A month ago I built a squirrel feeder that used a one gallon pickle jar to hold the squirrel food (I use unsalted roasted peanuts). We had no squirrels at all the first month then a couple days ago we had our first squirrel. Tira loves squirrels and she just camps in the backyard, rain or shine, and watches for it to return. She'll be in the yard for hours on end, will forget about dinner, and runs around like a crazy girl. This is the best "diet" plan we've found and hope she likes it...

Squirrel feeder plans (774KB)

New Picnic Table

Just built two picnic tables, one for us and another for a friend. We think they came out nice, although mine has shims underneath on the braces. Took the two of us about six hours to put two tables together.

Picnic Table Plans (576KB)