Strong Box

Strong Box is a project that I created by assembling random parts and pieces of material that I found around my house. I wanted to complete this project with a budget of $0 so I was limited to things that I already had in my house. The purpose for my Strong Box is to serve as a mini work bench to support a light duty vise. A problem that I had was that I needed to cut trim for my flooring. Strong Box supports the vise which holds the trim that I am cutting. Strong Box solves this problem of mine and allows me to have a mini work bench that I can continue to add components to in order to builds projects more efficiently.

Old Computer Shell, Bricks, wood, E600 glue, Screws, wood screws, nails, PCV Pipe, Hydraulic Cement, Wood Glue, Drill, metal scissors, mallet, hammer, circular saw

I wanted my work bench to be as strong and heavy as possible. Luckily I had an old aluminum computer shell that I removed all of the components from. Next using metal scissors and a mallet I hammered holes into the bottom of the computer shell. Wood screws and then used a long piece of metal that I cut from the computer shell to secure the shell to a piece of wood. Wood glue and E600 glue are also used to keep the shell and wood together.

In order to make the Strong Box heavy enough to withstand the vise being used I filled the inside of the shell with a base layer of Drylock fast plug so that the screws at the bottom will be secure and then I put stones, pieces of cut up wood, and PVC pipes in the shell. Pieces of wood are attached to the sides of strong box in order to hold all of the materials inside and give support. Nails are used for attaching wood to wood. Screws are used for attaching wood to metal.

Again using metal scissors and a mallet holes are punched into the top of the shell in order to attached a piece of wood to the top of the shell. Using screws and matching nuts to secure the wood to the shell. The vise is then mounted towards one end or the other of the bench.

To add to the strength of strong box, I designed and 3d printed a few supports that can be attached to the base of the box to prevent from sliding. My personal strong box is placed on carpet so the supports have prongs in order to prevent sliding.

I wanted to test how well the strong box would be able to withstand forces applied at each side. To test how strong it was on the sides I threw a football at it from about 10 ft away. I had only one support on a side at the time and noticed that when I hit the box on the side without a support it moved back vs. when I hit the side with a support there was very little movement. To test a downward force I stepped on top of the Strong Box and jumped a few times. Strong box was sturdy enough to not give out under me when jumping but there was a little bit of shaking so more weight could be added.

Part of Strong Box being a work bench is its abilities to have additions and other helpful parts added to it. I plan to add more features in the future, but in the mean time I designed and added a screw driver holder that can be mounted with a screw on top of the bench.

Strong Box accomplished its purpose of solving my problem with needing a vise in order to hold trim while I cut it. After completion and depending on the amount of space available on top more tools can be added. Strong Box could be better, the vise installed is for light duty work and in order for Strong Box to support heavy duty work a lot more weight will need to be added.