Racers
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The 6 Personalities of Workbench Builders
- Thread starter Racers
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I am the cheapskate, but in an $800 of materials way.
I have a buddy who built a basement full of long benches with 2x4s and lag bolts only for joining, and he's still using the benches 20 years later and none have failed.
I have a buddy who built a basement full of long benches with 2x4s and lag bolts only for joining, and he's still using the benches 20 years later and none have failed.
Not fair! I'm not in there.
I made my bench from a reclaimed metal frame bolted to the back wall, T&G top, Hd chipboard shelves under and anything else that works but would frighten a traditionalist to death and make an engineer cry into his beer.
We need a number 7; if it works, just do it.
I made my bench from a reclaimed metal frame bolted to the back wall, T&G top, Hd chipboard shelves under and anything else that works but would frighten a traditionalist to death and make an engineer cry into his beer.
We need a number 7; if it works, just do it.
bugbear
Established Member
Long ago the Flat Response (IIRC) magazine did features on hi-fi owning types.Racers":30n492i6 said:
So they did "yer Linn Man", "Yer Naim man" "Yer Krell man" etc.
BugBear
thetyreman
Established Member
very funny and well written
NickN
Established Member
I agree with sunnybob - there should be a No. 7 - The Realist.
1) I'd love to have (some) better or high end tools, but can't afford to do so, so make do with what actually works just fine.
2) I'd love to have amazingly creative ideas, but believe that there's a reason tried and tested designs still work, and that furniture design isn't a strength of mine.
3) I'd love to have more knowledge and understanding about the mechanical properties and science of wood, but realise that I don't have time, so stick to methods that have been proven to get the job done.
4) If I don't have the time or money or inclination to follow a complex traditional design, I do what's needed to give me something that works, even if it means screwing, glueing and joints that definitely don't appear in any respected books on the subject. Which I did for my very first rudimentary workbench.
5) A project where I do decide to follow the design (like my current build) means I set no goals in terms of time, it gets finished when it gets finished.
6) If I can't find exactly what's specified in the design I'll do the research to find the next best thing, and live with it.
1) I'd love to have (some) better or high end tools, but can't afford to do so, so make do with what actually works just fine.
2) I'd love to have amazingly creative ideas, but believe that there's a reason tried and tested designs still work, and that furniture design isn't a strength of mine.
3) I'd love to have more knowledge and understanding about the mechanical properties and science of wood, but realise that I don't have time, so stick to methods that have been proven to get the job done.
4) If I don't have the time or money or inclination to follow a complex traditional design, I do what's needed to give me something that works, even if it means screwing, glueing and joints that definitely don't appear in any respected books on the subject. Which I did for my very first rudimentary workbench.
5) A project where I do decide to follow the design (like my current build) means I set no goals in terms of time, it gets finished when it gets finished.
6) If I can't find exactly what's specified in the design I'll do the research to find the next best thing, and live with it.
No 9. The avoider - the person who has something they can get by with and they're not building a better bench until they have to. That was also me. Followed by the lazy builder (running wood through the planer without jointing and then just gluing it together, and then lagging the end caps on).
The avoider and lazy builder probably go together, except where the avoider has ritualistic OCD.
The avoider and lazy builder probably go together, except where the avoider has ritualistic OCD.
I used to be an avoider, making do with the wrong tools that were always blunt, but in my defence, i just couldnt afford to be any other way, When i had enough money to buy the right tool for the job I was so happy you cant believe. Now i do stuff because I WANT to, not because i HAVE to.
I guess that's a different kind of avoider. I was the type (and many are) who was too cheap to pay someone else to build a bench, but it was never the project I wanted to do next.
No 10. would be the shop furniture only builder. That's the individual who reads all of the new amateur publications, builds all kinds of elaborate shop furniture (high effort chisel and tool cabinets, installation of dust collection, etc, drafted or blueprint type layouts for everything. Then said person spends gobs on materials for a bench and builds it so neatly that it could be furniture - with trim woods and all kinds of exposed joints to show off effort..
.. and then they spend 5% of the time over the next decade building things that aren't intended to stay in the shop.
My friend is in this category - also an engineer.
No 10. would be the shop furniture only builder. That's the individual who reads all of the new amateur publications, builds all kinds of elaborate shop furniture (high effort chisel and tool cabinets, installation of dust collection, etc, drafted or blueprint type layouts for everything. Then said person spends gobs on materials for a bench and builds it so neatly that it could be furniture - with trim woods and all kinds of exposed joints to show off effort..
.. and then they spend 5% of the time over the next decade building things that aren't intended to stay in the shop.
My friend is in this category - also an engineer.
No 11. is grandma's covered couch. An offshoot from above. Also known as "thing preserver".
Such a person ends up building a bench that's almost perfect, may spend over 100 hours doing it, and makes it tidy enough that they'll never be embarrassed by pictures.
Then, they cover it every time they use it and try to keep it perfect for eternity, just like grandma buying a couch and then covering it so that no part of it is ever exposed to potential dust, mess or wear.
When they come to your shop and see an over-strike (or 50) in the top of your bench, a spot of finish from a project or a spread out dot of glue that is yet to be scraped off they chew you out and ask you why you're so careless with your stuff.
Such a person ends up building a bench that's almost perfect, may spend over 100 hours doing it, and makes it tidy enough that they'll never be embarrassed by pictures.
Then, they cover it every time they use it and try to keep it perfect for eternity, just like grandma buying a couch and then covering it so that no part of it is ever exposed to potential dust, mess or wear.
When they come to your shop and see an over-strike (or 50) in the top of your bench, a spot of finish from a project or a spread out dot of glue that is yet to be scraped off they chew you out and ask you why you're so careless with your stuff.
Blockplane
Established Member
How about "the modifier" , probably a sub-species of cheapskate.
Buys a chunky s/h table from a charity shop and converts to workbench.
I did.
Buys a chunky s/h table from a charity shop and converts to workbench.
I did.
Blockplane
Established Member
edit to remove duplicate
Love that description of Ipe
Love that description of Ipe
Tasky
Established Member
Not noticed myself in there, but each one matches people I know!
Blockplane":2ixhalp5 said:
Years ago, I built RC airplanes (high school and college). Funds were limited, and our club told every person getting into the hobby to buy a hollow door at lowes and nothing more if you have something to put under it at each end.
I built all of my planes on it - it worked wonderfully.
For woodworking, i managed to use a sjobergs 115 pound 6 foot bench for 8 years until I was forced to retire it. I ballasted it, boxed the legs in with plywood, babied the vises. Ultimately, it still gave up - or was most of the way there, and I sold it to a woodworking instructor here for 50 bucks after making reasonable repairs to it.
I'd have repurposed something into a bench if I had something suitable, but, unfortunately, I didn't.
MarkDennehy
Established Member
So triggered by those blog posts.
The very idea that an engineer wouldn't have already sorted out the beer.... *RAGE*
The very idea that an engineer wouldn't have already sorted out the beer.... *RAGE*
Tasky
Established Member
Maybe they're Civil Engineers?MarkDennehy":qftx2k1g said:
Ours seem more concerned with biscuits and cakes than beer...
Tasky":alhrse3i said:
I can categorically confirm that this is untrue, biscuits and cakes during the day, sure that's fine but its all about the pub after 6pm!
(I'm a Civil Engineer)
(With a beer belly!)
