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Thread: Goodbye Tool Well

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    On the edge of Pisgah National Forest
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    Goodbye Tool Well

    This bench which graces the spare bedroom, like all my past benches, was drawn up w/o a tool well. At the last minute, literally as I was spreading glue on the 4 board wide sections, I decided to go all Frank Klausz on it and leave space for a well. Life is change, right?

    Turned out that where once I was a use-it-then-put-it-away kind of guy, I became Charley Brown's pal Pigpen. That got truly aggravating during the large construct of the audio rack. So between Sunday and now, I got the final module out of the closet, sanded and cleaned as much BLO off the edge of the existing as possible, and with dowels to help the join, glued it on.

    Bondo in some large defects when I built it (dumb move) needed removal and filling with epoxy which left the sanding mess you can see and the new section has to be planed to match the old. I've got some work to do.
    IMG_4974.jpg
    Nostalgia isn't what it used to be

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    Turned out that where once I was a use-it-then-put-it-away kind of guy, I became Charley Brown's pal Pigpen.
    My tendency is more like that of Pigpen. Part of my routine is to spend a few minutes sometime while in the shop to put the unused things away.

    Often the case is like last week. A bit of electrical work had to be done in the greenhouse. One of my toolboxes was loaded up with what was thought to be needed. A couple of trips were made to fetch a few more. At the end of the day the toolbox was left on the bench to do some work on a component. The component was modified on the bench over a large piece of cardboard to protect the bench.

    When the work was done, all the tools were returned to their storage spaces.

    It takes a touch of discipline to keep a modicum of order.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    12,120
    The ONLY reason I have a tool well....is to keep things from rolling/sliding off the bench and onto the concrete floor 3' below....

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    springfield,or
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    644
    When I was practicing making dovetails, I decided even though my work wasn't show grade, it was good enough for shop boxes. I ended up making 3 boxes to put all my misc crap in, dividers, marking gauges, pens, etc. It has really been a game changer for me. Whereas I used to just leave a pencil in the bench, that would get covered in shavings and lost. Now as I'm working I just throw it back in the little box and I know exactly where it is.

    I've found the more and more I build storage for tools (within hand range) the faster I finish projects and the less frustrations I have. Once I make a few more things for my wife, my next Project is a saw till. Currently they all live in a pile under the bench and it's very frustrating to dig through the pile to find the one.

  5. #5
    I'm kind of a Pig Pen in real life. A look in my office or pickup would attest. But for some reason, I'm not that way in my workshop. I take out the tools for the task, and then put them away.

    That said, I do have a tool well and like it. It keeps the stuff that likes to roll in one place....and not falling to the floor.

  6. #6
    I also like the tool well although I tend to use it more as a chip and shaving catcher than for setting tools in (I don't like chips on the floor). I do set chisels and planes in it on the right hand side while I am working though.

    I dislike leaving tools out in general, so the tool well tends not to get cluttered. About 25 years ago, back in my machinist days, I got really OCD about putting things away after I used them, mostly because I spent a lot of time organizing the shop and reassembling sets of things back into sets. Now it is just habit to put things away after using them.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Austin Texas
    Posts
    1,957
    Your bench, your shop, your call Bill. If you end up missing a tool well, I bet you can figure out how to add another one back in. Pig Pen needs some love too guys. Just sayin.
    David

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    The old pueblo in el norte.
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    1,846
    I can't have a tool well, it just collects stuff. I have a hard enough time keeping a relatively clean shop (I have to go clean it, again)

    A man's gotta know his limitations.. and I know mine in this case
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    so true.JPG

    Sign in my shop...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    springfield,or
    Posts
    644
    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    so true.JPG

    Sign in my shop...
    Tell that to my 5 and 8 year old boys 🙄 . Actually they've always done well with leaving my stuff alone. Worst is my youngest knocked a wood plane off my bench while "trying to help me". But TBH I'm just happy when one comes and stands at the bench with me.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    Everyone I know in Conservation in Colonial Williamsburg has filled in their tool well. I don't have one on my bench either. Just takes up too much working room.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    New England area
    Posts
    588
    Heavens above.

    You don't have to get rid of the well. Just knock in a couple of thin battens in the well at a depth, say 3/4" to 7/8", to hold an identically thicknessed board which you drop in when you need a flush surface all the way across the bench. The battens are never in the way and the board can be kept under or near the bench. Drill a finger hole at one end to make removing the board easy.

    Best of both worlds!

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