No more rickety benches.

[Clyde Hollinger]

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