Hospital Bed � Work Bench Conversion.Part One I�ve been after a cheap adjustable, portable work bench for a while, mainly to give my back a rest while working on lawnmowers and engines. Most of the ones I�ve seen have been too expensive. Earlier this year I noticed a few hospital beds advertised on our local internet auction site, some items mentioned that people have been using them as work benches. This example was bought from a rest home, it had been in storage for many years and was in excellent order. A bit of a shame to cut it up but most of the new models are now electric. This one was manufactured in 1999 by Howard Wright Ltd, New Plymouth, NZ. It had an adjustable back rest and a foot operated hydraulic lift, four-wheel brakes and made from �hospital grade steel�. A warning label attached states that loads are not to exceed 180kg. It came with a head board which I will be keeping but no tail board. You also have the ability to tilt it forward or backward which again I probably won't use.
I spent an hour with an angle grinder and spanners removing unwanted items. The top of the back rest had to be cut off so that it sat flush with the frame, two steel plates and some nuts and bolts secured it in place. A sheet of 13mm ply was then attached to the frame using countersunk self-drilling screws and a few bolts. With the bed raised it was easy to work on and no stiff back afterwards.
Finally with a quick rattle can spray on exposed metal areas, it's finished.
When the bed/bench is lowered it stands 470mm high and when raised 845mm.
Smaller items such as hand mowers can easily be placed on the bench, large mowers may need ramps.
It took some effort to pull the engine on by myself but was very easy to raise using the foot pump. The brakes held well, obviously you would need to secured the engine to the bench to work on it.
The last photo shows some of the spare parts left over.
Possible future mods: perhaps attach a vice and put a cover over the hydraulic ram.
