Subject: Poor man's chassis holder
From: "Tim Wescott"
Date: 1/24/04 12:11 AM Eastern Standard Time

If it's a steel chassis, use neodymium magnets, possibly with electrical
tape to enhance friction. The two big problems that you have with these are
(a) getting them apart once they've attached themselves to a piece of iron,
and (b) keeping their fragile little selves from shattering when you fumble
them and they bonk into each other at great velocity.

You can do a web search on on the obvious and get a half-dozen or more
vendors. I just ordered some from Gaussboys (www.gaussboys.com); they were
very prompt, and the magnets seem to be good quality.

"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
"Phil
Nelson" writes:

This is almost too dumb to mention, but after years of struggling to prop
up
heavy chassis on my workbench, it finally occurred to me to screw some
heavy
corner braces into the chassis mounting holes.

Great idea, but what about a chassis that has no holes in it for the bolts
to
go thru? Most readers of this newsgroup would not like to drill new holes
in a
vintage chassis.

For years I have put off repairing my Philco 38-116, because its huge
chassis
has projecting studs that prevent it from resting on its sides on the
bench. I
will probably sell this radio (console) as-is before building something to
hold
the chassis.
--Mike K.

Mike and others,

While this isn't as cheap as brackets or magnets, a wonderful solution is a
wooden chassis holder crafted by a retired vocational drafting instructor in
Oklahoma City named Steve Strong. He has two sizes, a small one for your
ordinary chassis dimensions, and a large one for TV chassis and those from
consoles or other oversized products. I have both. If I remember right, the
small one is about $30 plus shipping and the large one about $40 or $45. They
are rugged and beautifully made, worth far more. You won't believe the
craftsmanship.

The chassis is secured to the holder with metal brackets bolted to the
underside. It's easier to see than explain. Once in place, the chassis can be
rotated through 360 degrees and fixed in place to work on.

Get in touch with Steve and ask him to send a .pdf file, which will give you a
better idea than my description can. Say I said Hi. His email address is
.

Good luck!

Avery W3AVE
Potomac, Md.