I want to fabricate four metal brackets. They will convert IBM T85A LCD panels from non-standard mounting scheme to the VESA 100mm standard mounting scheme.
An image of the bracket needed is here:
The width of the bracket (the flat part with the four holes) would be about 5.5". The length, down to where the legs descend is about 4". The little tab at the upper left of the drawing slides into a hole in the heavy plastics of the case. That hole is about 7/32" wide. There are plenty of screw holes down near the base of the feet of the bracket, with which to firmly attach the bracket.
From browsing this news group I see that most of the folks here are well equipped with special tools and machinery. I am not. I can not afford to spend a lot for these brackets* so my questions are as follows:
1) Can such brackets be fabricated without special equipment affordably (say about $10 - $20 each)? I have a Dremel (variable speed model), access to a friend's drill press, a saber (jig) saw but no table, various hack saws, files hammers and such. A propane torch that could be used for heat treating metal, but not for cutting (it's for a friend's bead making class). I am fairly handy, used to do all my own car work including pulling the engine, and fabricate my own PCBs.With great care, I'm guessing I could cut the shape of metal I need out of
1/16" stock, using a metal routing bit on the Dremel. Then maybe find a bench vice to help me do the bending. Or maybe do the bending first and then cut out the extra metal bits--which leads me to the second question...2) How would you go about fabricating these on the cheap? They don't need to be super precise. They just need to hold the LCD panel steady and safely so it can be attached to a VESA standard mount. Now the standard mount will probably tilt and swivel, so folks are likely to grasp the LCD panel to do the tilting and swiveling, so that force will go through the panel, and the bracket to the joints/hinges on the mount. Oh and the panels weigh just under 20 lbs.
So what steps would you use in what order with which tools? Would the bends need to be heat treated in some fashion afterwards?
3) Could a sheet metal shop do this affordably? Or would set up costs make it not worth asking for less than a score or a hundred units? I understand that they need to be paid for their time. Could they whip out four of these in an hour, if I provided proper drawings? Or is it more complicated than that? I know very little about this area.*Note from above. The reason I'm in this situation is that I found inexpensive used 18" LCD panels without power supplies or stands. I carefully researched power supplies before buying. And IBM's marketing page for the T85A claims that it is compatible with third party VESA standard mounts.
But it's not! Not unless you attach the pictured bracket, which is not included even if you buy a new T85A. To get that bracket, one must buy IBM's Radial Arm Mount (19K4464) for $169. If one just orders the "LCD Mounting Bracket" (19K4470) for the Radial Arm Mount they send two of the four originally included brackets, but the two they send do not include the one pictured.
So I thought I was making a carefully researched purchase, but I have no way to mount the things and if I had a bunch of money to spend, I would have just bought them new.
Thank you for any helpful or humorous suggestions,
Jeff