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Thread: What always stays on your bench?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Posts
    350

    What always stays on your bench?

    7AA6B8B0-3BF7-4AC9-ABE9-4297EC9370EF.jpg

    Here's mine - a oiling can (Paul Seller's inspired, but I add 3 in 1 oil and paste wax to it, I find it works better than just 3 in 1), straight up 3 in 1 for moving parts, a 6" rule, a bench brush, a hammer for the hold fasts, a steel plate with some diamond paste and a board of MDF with a leather strop (not pictured).

    Of course I have mallets always within reach and in my apron I keep simple brass calipers, measuring tape, pencil, marker and a loupe, but the items pictured never leave my bench. What's on your bench?

  2. #2
    Two Veritas planing stops and a cup full of pencils are the only thing.

    Everything else that I use regularly - measuring, marking, planes, chisels, rasps, screwdrivers, drills, etc - are directly above my bench on the wall. The rest is in a tool box somewhere else in the shop. Sharpening station is directly across from the bench on the 52" wing of my tablesaw.

    It works for me, anyway.

    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Sebastopol, California
    Posts
    2,319
    Too much junk from other projects...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Northeast PA
    Posts
    527
    Yeah, most of the time my bench top is a catastrophe. This is the main reason that I decided to make my new bench 1 foot shorter and 8” narrower than my old one. The hope is that I will have less room for crap to accumulate.

    The one tool that always seems to be on my bench is a Starrett 6” double square.
    ---Trudging the Road of Happy Destiny---

  5. #5
    Nothing.

    At work I have a small sub bench behind my bench. I keep any loose tools on that. Usually a combo square, measuring tape or two or three, machinist square a couple pencils a drill and a impact driver.

    My home shop I also have a similar setup with my workbench surrounded by other benches. I can’t stand having random stuff on my bench clutter makes my mind messy and chest race. Neither lend them self to quality work in my case.

    When I’m done with a tool I put it away. When I’m done working for the day normally spend 20-30 minutes cleaning the shop so the next day I can start work with a clear mind in clean environment.

    I do the same at work everyday..

  6. #6
    A brush...... I like my bench clean

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    N. Idaho
    Posts
    1,621
    Good question. Depends on when you look, since I don't get long stretches in the shop, waves of stuff go by. I use an alternative bench (table saw) for parts and am cleaning with increasing frequency as I improve the storage in the crude tills above my bench. And try to tidy and sweep at the end of each session, but doesn't always happen. Also just bought a LV lamp bushing and am finding a lamp on the bench with increasing frequency....

    IMG_2323.jpg
    "You can observe a lot just by watching."
    --Yogi Berra

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Poughkeepsie, NY
    Posts
    207
    Nothing, I have a small bench. I have a hand tool cart (complete with lamp) and a tool box to keep stuff on.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Rural, West Central Minn
    Posts
    218
    Like John, I too have a small bench 2 x 4 foot and a 18 x 24 inch 3 tiered wire hand tool cart, that I carpeted. Helps a lot to keep things handy, off the bench, getting damaged and easy to roll aside.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Michiana
    Posts
    3,047
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Houghton View Post
    Too much junk from other projects...
    ^ This pretty much covers it ^
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    N Illionis
    Posts
    49
    not to much i like a clean bench. ive got a plane wick ( just use baby oil) a couple of penciles a some chalk the rest of the marking tools are on the wall above the bench and a brush

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    Posts
    350
    That's a beauty of a bench! I'd love to see more pictures!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Libertyville, IL (Chicago - North)
    Posts
    360
    A very simple and old bench dog and a small block of oak (for sanding, pounding, shimming, etc..). It amazes me that those two bits of wood don't get misplaced or otherwise swept away. Every time I think one is gone and just about give up looking for it, viola! It lives.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    I suppose I could clean the bench off...
    cleaned off.jpg
    Looks too much like Dol Guldor....and abandoned.....

    Much prefer a few items sitting around...shows that at least SOME work is being done....

  15. #15
    A clean bench is a sign of a sick mind . My bench is never clean because there is always something in progress. The things that live on the bench and never put in storage are a couple of cups with pencils, pens, glue sticks, 150mm rules, and so on as well as a half dozen or more squares, a couple or three screwdrivers, two bullet levels, too many marking knifes, a loupe or two, a couple of 5 meter tapes, a Thor and a plane hammer, a beater crank neck chisel, and of course holdfasts. I almost forgot about the Moxon that lives on the backside of the bench.

    mainBenchWithSVForePlane171104dscf2087.jpg

    The joinery bench will have a shooting board and shooting plane.

    ken

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