The Workbench

Somehow this photo makes my 6 foot, 300 pound workbench look about the size of an end table. This is mostly how it looks in the summer with the exception of the bench vise being missing. You can still see the four holes for it on the right side. The wooden top is made from 2 x 4's standing on end and makes up most of its heft.



Here it is full winter mode with the nordic form clamped in place. I couldn't bear to have ski wax ruin the surface so I covered it with sheet plastic to protect it. A workbench is a tool, and tools should be used, but I have a special respect for this tool that goes beyond simple utility. For over fifty years it was in service in the barn on my grandfather's cattle farm. After he moved to a retirement condo in 2000 in sat mainly unused in his garage until he died in 2007.

This summer I picked it up and brought it home. I had to remove the top from the legs and take the basement door off of its hinges to fit it down the stairs and into the basement. With the help of a friend the whole ordeal took three hours.

With the history this bench has I feel compelled to use it as much as I can, and last week I used it to build a snowboard tuning stand. Carrie needed a place to tune her board, and it only seemed fitting to make it work for her, too.