You know the little plastic piece whut holds the metal legs, always breaks
after a while?
Anyone interested how I fixed it??? Yes ok.
workbench, with a strong vice (anyone here have any vices???)
Tap and handle, probably 8-32
screws, 2, ~3/4 inch, threads to match the tap
nylock nuts to match the screws
washers to match, you know...
pliers, needle-nose
screwdriver
OK, take one of your loose stand legs, grab the very end, the curved end, in the vice really hard. Bend the loop around onto mostly a circle. Make sure the circle isn't too tight to prevent the screw from going through. You're trying to make it so that it will pivot around a screw without falling off.
Repeat with other leg...
Tap the holes in the stand plate (the holes that used to accomodate the screws that went into the plastic). If you don't know how to use a tap, just clamp the piece in the vice, stick in the tap (make reall sure that it's perpendicular), turn 1/2 turn, then back out; pressure on the handle will assure that you start cutting threads. Keep turning, 1/2 turn at a time, backing out to shear off the metal chips. If you don't back out, you'll soon be looking at a shattered tap stuck in your plate, and it's hardened metal, impossible (nearly) to remove. Once the threads are finished, the tap will turn freely. Remove. (A dot of oil helps the threads cut, too...)
If 8-32 is too loose, use 10-32. Can't remember what I used...
Now, slip a washer on a screw, put through the leg's loop, and screw it into your newly tapped plate. Make sure the leg is oriented properly. Don't tighten hard, you want the leg to swivel and still snap over the bump in the plate. Tighten the nylock while holding the screw stopped with your screwdriver. Repeat for other leg.
Now here's where you hafta be creative. Mark where the legs are supposed to stop, after "clicking" over the bump. Return the legs to their center (touching each other) position, and cut two slots about 1/8 inch apart with your hacksaw, maybe 1/4 inch deep, in the plate, so that when you bend up the resultant tab it will provide the stop that the plastic used to provide. Bend up the 1/8 inch tab with your needle-nose, and if you did it right the leg will snap into place (over the bump in the plate) against your new stop. The tab will bend a little to the left or right if it's not perfect.
Repeat for other leg.
You now have a functional stand, that won't fall to pieces like the plastic one did!
(You don't really have to tap out the holes if you don't want to, or can't, I suppose, but it provides a much better lock against loosening in the future...)