So my trusty old MDF table I used for stretching screens that I made years ago was getting long in the tooth. I had originally made it as a sanding table for prepping drum shells as shown here:
http://www.drumfoundry.com/t-cutting_drum_bearing_edges.aspxI noticed some of my frames were not so flat anymore. Looks like the table was a bit warped. Time to replace it!
I went down to the local tile and stone retailer and asked them if they had any scrap granite surfaces for cheap. I use 23x31 Newman M3 frames so I knew I wanted a 24x34 or so table.
The nice gentleman in the cutting room looked around back and came up with this:
24" x 36" x 1" thick. Perfect! Price: $0.00...Extra perfect!
I took an ancient 90 duro squeegee with a busted up handle and cut up the blade into four squares. These burly shop shears from home Depot come in handy for this. Cut right through em.
To attach the bits of squeegee to the table, I used this excellent double sided carpet tape made by Intertape. My local hardware store stocks it. It's very thin, almost as thin as masking tape but the adhesive is tenacious. I also used it to stick my Tri-Loc frame to the exposure unit. (it takes a bit of strong orange solvent to get it off...)
See? Very thin.
Viola. Exceedingly flat and stable surface for stretching screens and checking flatness. The 90 duro squeegee pieces provide a safe place for the frame to sit off the table allowing clearance for the wrench, yet are hard enough and consistently flat so each corner is held to the same plane.
Materials cost:
Tape: $5.99
Squeegee bits - hmm. Can't remember. The handle was trashed anyway. Figure about 10" of hard duro squeegee material, preferably used/retired.
Granite surface: $0
Table underneath: Anything sturdy and relatively flat for the granite to go on. I used a wire shelf cart. Find a free old workbench on Craig's List for free and you're golden.
Total cost: $5.99
