I ran out of horizontal work space when I purchased my third Aluminatus, so I had to come up with Plan B.  I was going to build a work bench using two sheets of 4’x8’ MDF, cut down to 32″, and a bunch of 2x4s.  I’ve done this before, and the result is sturdy, but quite heavy, and the construction is time consuming. My friend Ray had another suggestion.

I purchased two 72″ tall by 18″ deep by 36″ wide shelving units from Home Depot for $40 apiece.  These units consist of 5 shelves and 4 sets of 4 posts to separate the shelves, along with 4 feet and 4 end caps.  I used just 2 of the shelves and 2 of the sets of posts to create a structure that was about 36″ tall (see the pictures); so, one of these units created two of these structures. And two of the structures could be used to support an MDF sheet as a work bench.

I used the spare shelves as templates and drew circles on the undersides of the MDF to indicate where the posts would meet the MDF.

I then made some wooden post receptacles which I glued to the underside of some 40″ x 48″ MDF sheets, to accept the top of the posts.  The result was two 40″ x 48″ benches, with shelving, for around $120.

Two of the shelving structures, ready to support the MDF sheets.

 

 

The post receptacles on the underside of the MDF.  Not pretty: I used whatever scrap I had around.

 

 

The post receptacles glued in place on the underside of the MDF.  I wanted the shelving units to be about 1″ in from each side and 2″ in from the front and the back.

 

 

Finished benches with 2 of the 3 Aluminati in place.  Note the enormous amount of storage space for filament, tools, and printed parts!

 

 

Thanks Ray!