mouse tray bracket

[elmoleaf]

This is a bracket to hold a computer mouse tray/shelf below a desk surface. It friction fits onto the edge of the desk. The lower arm will have a rotating wood tray held with a bolt, large washers and nut.

This is the third one I've made...they get incrementally better each time. Hardest part for me are the right angle bends. I need to get some sort of adjustable bending jig made with square stock. My current method is first bend made in vise (easy). Second bend is uses whatever random assortment of square pieces I can get into the vice to make a homemade bending jig. Does not work well, especially since the dimension of the first bend is critical to having tight friction fit on the counter. Some of the bends end up too rounded or crooked.

Scrolls seem simple enough...until I make them. Start with punched hole, then slit down to it and open up two halves. It is very difficult to slit the stock equally, taper equally and bend equally so it all looks symmetrical in the end. Did a little brass brushing to highlight the scrolls.

[Momatt]

I like it, encourage you to post a picture in use.  Kind of a fun irony, smithed piece for high tech.

[DSW]

Do you have a pict of the bending jig set up you have now? I have a few ideas for an adjustable setup, I just want to see what you are using now to see if my ideas will work.

 

 

Looks good. I like the brass accent. I've been wanting to remember to do that on a few small projects.

[Stephen Jones]

Looks good.Do you put felt pads on it too?

 

[elmoleaf]

Thanks for the feedback. No pics re: jig. I just grab a couple rr spikes or other 2 pieces of scrap stock and tighten parallel in vice with 3 inches or so protruding vertically. I'm  thinking maybe 2 or 3 pieces of identical size stock notched to slide in u -channel or similar would work better in the vice.  Then the distances between pieces could easily adjust, stay parallel and clamp at once together in the vice.

Ill get a pic at work tomorrow of the previously completed mouse tray so you can see the wood part.

Thank you...one thing always leads to parallel projects...improving how to bend...and I realize I need shallower forge pot and better coal...all of these and practice will lead to making items like this a lot quicker 4 odd hours!

 

[elmoleaf]

Ps.. No felt pads. I want it to grip tight....I just make sure it's real clean so it doesn't mar the laminate when slid on.

[DSW]

I'm thinking of a stack of different thickness bars held together like one of those paint swatch books using a nut and bolt. Start off with some heavy stock like 5/8" or 1/2" and go down to 1/8" and 1/16" to get you close, and then some thinner gauge stock or shim stock for fine tuning.

 

A narrower heat devise like a torch will also greatly help you reduce your radius's. You might also work on bending the bar just slightly past 180 deg so it acts like a spring to clamp the table. By doing this you can probably get away with felt or rubber padding on the stock ( You'd have to figure that in when you space the bends) and the extra "cushion" of the felt/rubber will give you a slight range for clamping vs getting it perfect.

[Frosty]

Do a search for the die Brian Brazeal uses to form collars, it's exactly what you're looking for/thinking of.

Frosty The Lucky.

[elmoleaf]

Here's a bad phone pic of the previous version as installed. 1/8" thick x about 2" flat stock (old spring harrow tine). Didn't do so well on the curved ends on that one. Current version is much shorter in how far onto the worksurface it extends, and is only 1/8" x 1" wide stock (piece of scrap steel found in the gutter while walking in Boston).

Thanks for all of the tips. I'll keep at it.