Mini bench block ring saver

[mklotz]

I often neglect to remove my class ring when working in the shop. A partial excuse for this is the fact that I don't have a safe place to put it. On the workbench surface it's subject to being swept onto the concrete floor or having some heavy tool dropped on it.

The obvious solution is a ring saver for the shop. Now, I had built a ring saver for my daughter...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/f...ingsaver-48286

but it was just a bit too frou-frou for the masculine environment of the Garaj Mahal. I needed a design that fit into the environment.

While sitting at my workbench, I toyed with my bench block...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/b...ncements-44673

when it occurred to me. If I were to build a miniature version of the bench block, I could put the ring under the block in the cavity that such blocks have to catch pins driven out through the holes. The block would shield the ring from dropped objects and, if made of aluminum, would not scratch the ring. (The fact that I just happened to have some aluminum of exactly the right size didn't affect this decision at all :-).

This picture shows the original block with the half-sized aluminum miniature and the ring...

The holes, and V-groove are to scale. I even gave it a miniature version of the removable, sacrificial brass mini-anvil used when a softer backing is required.

This picture...

shows how the ring nestles into the space inside the mini-block.


Eventually, I'll make a base for it. I'm vacillating between a scaled down workbench top and a look-alike surface plate made from one of those counter-top samples that the big box stores give away so you can see how it would look in your kitchen.