jdbnsn
03-10-2009, 04:04 PM
This is such a minor project I don't know why I'm even posting it, but what the heck right? Anyway, my Dad got a new TV for his shop because the last one (Polaroid had a very short life span) died suddenly. He hadn't had it much more than a few months.
His old TV was mounted in a box he built out of pine boards and bolted to the ceiling but the new TV was wider and would not fit the box. Having little else to do at the time, I offered to come up with a solution. He had priced those ceiling mounting brackets but they were well over $100, so I decided to build one instead.
I used some scrap iron laying in the corner for the frame, cut the two angles with a band saw using the metal blade of course. The first task was getting the old paint off which was done using his sand blaster, it took the paint off nicely as well as left kind of a cool rough texture to the metal. Then I used his old arc welder which I've not done before so there was a little bit of a learning curve for that. I set the voltage too high the first time and vaporized a corner of some test scrap, then I worked it down until I got too low and the welding rod stuck to the metal. Then I nudged the voltage up until I was getting a nice steady bead and welded the two angles.
Next I used a portable disc grinder to smooth out the welds on the outer edges and took the sandblaster back out to re-apply that rough texture over the welded areas. Once that was done, I grabbed another piece of scrap metal, this time a small sheet of stainless steel and measured out the size and hole locations from the back of the TV. I cut it to size, filed the edges smooth, and drilled the holes.
I had already picked up some hex head machine screws, nuts, and 4 nylon washers from the hardware store. The nylon washers were to protect the back of the TV from scratches from the screws if I had to tighten them down fairly tight. With all of the pieces cut and welded, I made the final measurements and with a level marked and drilled the holes for the screws that would hold the plate to the bracket.
The they were ready to paint. I just used a couple of coats of primer and flat black paint and when dry assembled everything, then mounted it to the bolt Dad had used for the last TV's box. Voila!
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/jdbnsn/tvmount/1.JPG
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/jdbnsn/tvmount/2.JPG
His old TV was mounted in a box he built out of pine boards and bolted to the ceiling but the new TV was wider and would not fit the box. Having little else to do at the time, I offered to come up with a solution. He had priced those ceiling mounting brackets but they were well over $100, so I decided to build one instead.
I used some scrap iron laying in the corner for the frame, cut the two angles with a band saw using the metal blade of course. The first task was getting the old paint off which was done using his sand blaster, it took the paint off nicely as well as left kind of a cool rough texture to the metal. Then I used his old arc welder which I've not done before so there was a little bit of a learning curve for that. I set the voltage too high the first time and vaporized a corner of some test scrap, then I worked it down until I got too low and the welding rod stuck to the metal. Then I nudged the voltage up until I was getting a nice steady bead and welded the two angles.
Next I used a portable disc grinder to smooth out the welds on the outer edges and took the sandblaster back out to re-apply that rough texture over the welded areas. Once that was done, I grabbed another piece of scrap metal, this time a small sheet of stainless steel and measured out the size and hole locations from the back of the TV. I cut it to size, filed the edges smooth, and drilled the holes.
I had already picked up some hex head machine screws, nuts, and 4 nylon washers from the hardware store. The nylon washers were to protect the back of the TV from scratches from the screws if I had to tighten them down fairly tight. With all of the pieces cut and welded, I made the final measurements and with a level marked and drilled the holes for the screws that would hold the plate to the bracket.
The they were ready to paint. I just used a couple of coats of primer and flat black paint and when dry assembled everything, then mounted it to the bolt Dad had used for the last TV's box. Voila!
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/jdbnsn/tvmount/1.JPG
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/jdbnsn/tvmount/2.JPG