Again, thanks everyone for the kind words!
I’m currently working on the top and side surfaces of the concrete, using a slurry of Portland and the bonding agent Menard’s sells, to fill pinholes. This slurry dried a much lighter color than the concrete. I thought those filled pin holes would look better if darker than the surrounding concrete, rather than lighter. My wife had some Rit die in the drawer so I added some of that to the 2nd coat. Was that a bad idea? Not sure how UV stable that stuff is?
Maybe a sealer could provide UV protection? There are so many different sealers to pick from.
@vonb, I checked the Eagle sealant websight; they offer so many different part numbers!
If I were doing this again, one improvement I would make, is drill & tap the top end of the threaded posts welded to the rebar. Then it could be screwed in-place to the Melamine form. It was a hassle keeping it positioned accurately and was much more difficult than I imagined to tweak it once covered in concrete. Those threaded holes on the top surface would later offer attachment points for things. I used stainless steel for those posts. I had reduced the posts‘ diameter to about .2” where they contacted the form, thinking the top surface would look better with tiny SS circles rather than the 1” hex. But in the process of repositioning the rebar weldment, I think pea gravel may have gotten under a couple of those threaded posts as not all of them now show through the top surface of the concrete.
I finally grabbed the bathroom scale to measure tongue weight. I thought it felt less that what I initially estimated it to be, and guessed it was 50lbs. But no, it’s a few lbs more that the initial 90lb estimate. I measured 94lbs. Maybe I’m just strong…ha ha. Moving them around the shop, I found the balance point to be when the tongue is about waist high. So it doesn’t feel very strenuous pushing them around the shop.
The force you have to push down on the lift handle to raise the bench, measured 36lbs. That’s not a great deal, but when letting the tongue back up (to lower the bench), you have to be ready for it. I could see it smacking someone not engaged in what’s going on.
In the raised position the feet are 4” off the floor (when the tongue is parallel to the floor). The concrete’s center of gravity could be moved a bit more over the axle to reduce the lifting required. That would increase the pushing force required to raise it. Maybe 2 1/2 or 3” ground clearance would be enough? If so, the leverage ratio could be made accordingly to require less pushing force to raise it. But with less ground clearance it would be less forgiving on the ball height of the vehicle moving it.
