Doug, Definitely sounds like this would be a big improvement. One thing I find interesting in my own situation -- the high school where I used to teach music had no problem with the benches during my tenure, but in the eight years since then they've been breaking up. I think the kids tend to rock on the back legs. The benches definitely are not constructed with that in mind. I'll turn your suggestions over in my mind. I may find them useful one day. Regards, Clyde Douglasmahard@AOL.COM wrote: > Hi all: > > School benches are notorious for becoming rickety. This always makes the > bench vulnerable to damage of some type, often times fatal if the technician > isn't around to tighten screws and leg bolts. The following is a > modification I made to several school benches over two years ago and they are > holding up wonderfully. I should note that I made sure the music director in > each situation knew they weren't going to be able to use the storage > compartment in the bench. They were fine with this because they never used > them anyway. > > First remove the lid hinges and prop, then tighten all screws and corner > bolts as best you can. Then scribe the profile of the bench rails onto the > legs. Pad your work bench to prevent scratching the lid and place the top > face down on the pad. > With the legs attached, center the bench on the lid and scribe the outline of > the bench to the underside of the lid. > > Next, remove the legs and take a 3/4" chisel and scrape down to bare wood > inside your scribe marks on both the underside of the lid and the side of the > legs. Also scrape the top of the legs and the tops of the rails. Using > epoxy (I used West Systems) glue the bottom board into its dado or onto its > ledge. Check for square and either let that set up or tack it into place. > Epoxy the legs to the rails using the original corner bolts as your clamps. > With the bench upright, epoxy and clamp the lid onto the rails and top side > of the legs. > > As mentioned above, I have modified several benches in the field this way > over the past two years and they show no signs of weakening. I used this > same method on the legs of my artist bench that goes out with the rental > piano and it is holding up nicely. I should note that the artist bench > travels in its own padded road case. > > Hope it helps. > > Doug Mahard
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