Lens Holder

When my husband and I bought our house, we inherited with it several decades worth of workbench tools and paraphernalia. I set out sorting it into three piles: “useful”, “junk”, and “interesting”.
One of the items in the “interesting” pile was a broken articulated light with a large diameter magnifying lens built into it. I just didn’t have the heart to throw away such a perfectly machined piece of glass. So, it sat on my workbench for a few years, looking for a new purpose in life. Along the way, I helped a friend on a project involving a 2 inch slab of bubinga wood. In the course of that project, I learned that bubinga is extremely dense. We ended up “cutting” the wood to shape using a drill, as it quickly ate through any blade I could throw at it. I ended up with a very odd-shaped chunk of scrap; however, as Bubinga is such a beautiful and pricey hardwood, I again didn’t have the heart to throw it away.
In a flash of inspiration I decided it would be the perfect new home for my orphaned lens. But working the wood into the right shape was going to be a challenge. It too sat on my workbench until I could figure out a better cutting strategy.
Then came The Facility. I tackled the challenge with a mix of old tools (compass, protractor, calipers, bandsaw, belt sander, hacksaw, and drill press), new tools (design software, CNC mill, and laser cutter) and a lot of patience– it took a solid hour of cutting on the bandsaw to rough in the angles and rip the ring into two halves.
It was worth the effort–the results came out better than I expected! I made the legs out of straight stainless steel rod that I cut and bent to the right height and angle, and after final glue-up I finished it with an oil-based polyurethane.
Now my lens is looking sleek, functional, and right at home.
-Beth