When I had me jewelry store and every minute on the bench was valued
at $7.00 a minute in the 80’s I designed my work bench in a circle
with circle shelves around. It and steel strips on the face of the
shelfs and zippered magnets to my tools so they would stick to the
metal. All I did was sit and spin in my chair to do most everything
I needed to do. Loved it. Now as I have gotten older i need to get
up and move around more for health reasons. Stillmiss my old work
bench and not needing glasses to see with!!! Take your time in
designing your bench and first do it on paper is my advice.
Hello Orchidland,
I just had to add to Thomas’ posting about :
... the drawers pulled out to catch my fillings. The bottom drawer being far enough below the desk to allow me to do my sawing above it.
My goldsmith mentor, James Cook, used cookie sheets with a raised
lip. He mounted wooden glides that held two of these sheets by their
lips, at the proper level below his bench pin. One sheet for silver
and the other for gold. When sawing, the appropriate cookie sheet was
pulled out (like a drawer) to catch the filings. Being a smooth metal
surface with no crevices, collecting the filings from the cookie
sheet was easy.
James was a real artist. I have often wondered where he went when he
left Abilene, TX.
Judy in Ks, who is a believer in sheathing support posts for the
deck with metal sheets. No coons have made it up so far!!
Good advice Ken S. I have rethought the cork lining and instead I
think I’m going to use Envirotex
tops and is a very thick, slick, and durable epoxy that would provide
a sweepable surface, yet soft enough to not damage dropped stones. I
used this coating on my large work bench (left hand side in the pics)
some five years ago and have beaten on it and it’s still in great
condition (minus the drill holes and acid drips of course). Epoxy is
very forgiving of additives so I think I will mix in some white
Rustoleum
Hi Rick
The guy with the Frankenbench plans is an instructor in California.
Namely me.
Glad you like the plans. I don’t claim to own them though. The
original Frankenbench was cooked up by one of my early professors:
Michael Jerry. I just pass on what I learned.
Send me (directly) a picture or two of your bench. I’m working on a
gallery of “Sons of Frankenbench”.
Regards,
Brian Meek
I have rethought the cork lining and instead I think I'm going to use Envirotex coating. This coating is used on bar tops andis a very thick, slick, and durable epoxy that would provide a sweepable surface, yet soft enough to not damage dropped stones.
Have you considered a leather skin to catch filings instead of a
solid surface? I find it easier to scoop up sweeps and no chance of
damaging stones. Also gives plenty of leg room and can handle heat
from dropped rings. The envirotex is likely to burn and give off
nasty fumes.
Thanks for that Judy! I have a stainless tray that came off a
machine (who knows where) that I use currently, but it doesn’t fit
right, not covering the complete bottom of my drawer. I just empty it
out when I switch from silver to gold work. I will see if a cookie
sheet will fit tomorrow, with gold being the cost it is now days,
can’t afford to lose any! I always meant to refine the bottom of the
drawer with a proper sheet of metal, but the tray has this cool
sloped side that works great for sweeping into my little gold jar, so
I just keep putting it off. Congratulations on the battle with the
racoons, do you have a good one for getting the deer to leave my
hostas alone? Thomas III
Hi Thomas - We planted some beautiful hostas that the deer would not
touch until they were at perfection and then would steal in during a
new moon night and mow them down like a putting green. I bought a
product known as Panther Pee which s really wolf urine and has
nothing at all to do with panthers. As long as I kept spraying it on
fresh every couple of days, they left the hostas alone. Only problem
was no human wanted to be near them either - the smell was definitely
mind altering.
Barbara on another blue sky day on the island
This has been an interesting thread. Like Thomas III, I could use
Judy’ssuggestion of the baking sheet to better effect. I’ve been
using small metal baking pans (9"x9"), but there are times when I
can hear a small piece of metal fling past the pan. Fortunately, I
only work in silver (for the time being), so the lost little scraps
are not such a hardship.
As for the deer eating your hosta, Thomas, surely you know that
hosta are synonymous with deer candy? If you haven’t used
monofilament lines to keep them out, email me privately, and I’ll
give you instructions.
Linda incentral FL, where hosta won’t grow, but the deer love the
fresh green beans that will…
Hello Thomas III,
Oh, be sure to look for a cookie sheet with a shallow lip. That lip
both contains filings and slides into the side grooves.
On the deer front, earlier this spring I heavily peppered my tulips
and hostas, repeating after sprinkling or rainfall. I bought a huge
container of ground pepper for the purpose. Right now, the deer are
still browsing, but they seem to prefer munching the sweet potato
vine and I really don’t care if they do. That vine recovers with such
vigor, that the leaves are quickly replaced. I’m thinking that they
prefer eating the vine to the hosta, but don’t know.
Judy
do you have a good one for getting the deer to leave my hostas alone?
Thomas, spraying such plants with the stinky stuff (Liquid Fence,
Deer-Off, etc.) really does work.
Judy in Owego
Oh, awesome! I’m glad I know who put up the site. Thank you, Brian,
for that. I’m so pleased with the results. Like you mentioned in
your Frankenbench directions, most of the work is sourcing the
really good old desks. I got really lucky finding one.
Apologies if my email app messes up my letter spacing.
Rick Powell
Thanks for that, I’m willing to try anything at this point! For the
first few years we had hostas propagating all over our hillside
right up to the woods. We were giving them away to whoever wanted to
dig them up for at least two years. They slowly whittled them away
till they got to the patch we started with, now they are eating those
to the ground just before they bloom. I’ll give it a shot. Thanks
again, Thomas III
do you have a good one for getting the deer to leave my hostas > alone?
Thomas, spraying such plants with the stinky stuff (Liquid Fence,
Deer-Off, etc.) reallydoes work.
Judy in Owego
do you have a good one for getting the deer to leave my hostas alone? Thomas, spraying such plants with the stinky stuff (Liquid Fence, Deer-Off, etc.) reallydoes work.
Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. My wife and I both will be
looking for smelly stuff to try. I’m afraid that there isn’t much of
a year left to test that out. So I’ll try and remember an update in
the spring. I’ll also communicate about the fishing line to see how
involved that is. Thomas III
Hello Thomas - in searching for an online supplier of wolf urine, I
came across many products that I am so very happy I have no need of
– a yodelling pickle being one of them - and no, I have no idea what
this has to do with wolf urine but it was on Amazon on the same page.
However – here is a site where urine of all sorts can be bought if
one has a mind to… Coyote Repellent - Maine | Pee Mart - Shop Now!
Barbara on a sunny day on the Island - 103F and burning hot. The
lawn can wait.