Todays Project - What did you do today?

[PixMan]

I've been very busy lately since my mom was moved to a skilled nursing facility for the remainder of her years. Her home (where my shop in located) is being cleaned out as my younger son Brian and his long-time girlfriend are going to buy it and move from the "in-law" apartment (cave) in the cellar next to my shop.

Outside my shop is a little patio, in front of the "woodworking" shed. My dad had set up a plastic table with a heavy metal base for an umbrella. Brian had bought a new 9ft round umbrella and yesterday I made the mistake of leaving it open while I went home for lunch. When I got back, I found the umbrella had been blown out of the table and damaged the center hole. I felt obliged to fix it, so that was my project today.

I won't bore you with photos of the process (because I didn't make time to take pictures), so I'll describe the process. Because the molded table blew out the boss around the hole, I needed to make plates for top and bottom with a clearance hole for the Ø1-1/2" pole. I also wanted a depth to the bore to beef it up.

Russ had gifted me a few plates of 1/4" thick 6061 aluminum, and some Ø3-1/2" round drops. The plates measured about 8-5/16" x 9-1/2", so I centered them in my Alliant/Prototrak machine and milled a Ø1.560" bore on two of the plates. Then I drilled a Ø2-1/2" x 4 hole pattern, and a Ø6" x 6 hole pattern in one, all drilled to Ø.265" (17/64"). One the second one I milled the same bore, and drilled the same Ø2-1/2" x 4 blot pattern. For the Ø6" x 6 hole pattern, I drilled blind holes to Ø.201 for a 1/4-20UNC tap. This only gives me about 3/16" depth of thread with a bottoming tap, but six of them should be strong enough.

For the length of the Ø1.56" bore, I took one of the Ø3-1/2" drops and cleaned up the faces to a 2" length. On one end I gave it a healthy 45º chamfer. On the opposite end I drilled and tapped a 1/4"-20UNC 4 hole Ø2-1/2" pattern to about 1" of thread. Now using the bottom plate with all clearance holes, I placed it over the damaged area and used it as a drilling template. Now to assemble, I passed six 3/4" long bolts up through the bottom plate, though the table surface and into the mating blind tapped holes of the top plate. Using four 1-1/4" long bolts, I passed those through the bottom plate, table and top plate, threading into the bottom of the "stanchion." (Is that what I should call it?)

Photos of the finished project is all I got for you this time. Sorry.