Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Bench Changes of the Stubborn Kind

This is my Bench....there are many like it, but this one is mine.


I have a stubborn way about me at the bench...always have. I get comfortable with techniques, tools & layouts, to a point that I have changed little since 1989. New techniques for new materials I'm fine with. But the rest of the bench pretty much stays the same. 

I'm also partial to things of function given to me by friends & family. Not only do I still use the same core tools that I first purchased after my first tying class in '89, but I have several gifted to me, that I will not part with. One of which is a custom profile plate given to me by a good friend. This item has been with me for years and I love it. However, my clumsiness has broken it twice. Not due to the design....due to me needing to pull it, remove it & spin it countless times because of my workstation space issues. I had to come up with something different before I destroyed it. 



SO....remove it I did, and it is now officially my travel vise profile plate. Which would still be my main vise had my family not provided the new Medallion for my 50th Birthday. The cut down and modified Regal INEX did the job for 25 years.  I still use a brass Sheppard's hook for dubbing loops, that is 25+ years old, amidst all the fancy dubbing tools that are out there. I told you I was stubborn.


But what to do for a profile plate?  


Could the answer be right in front of me after all?


My trusty Cigar box?  Which has been on my bench for an easy 13 years. Picked up at a yard sale at my neighbors house. They were $.50 each. 


Formerly just my materials bin. But with 2 brass eyelets, some 550 cord and some white poster stock....It worked perfectly.



Problem solved!  

No more need to swing anything out of the way. 

Just close the lid. 


Now mind you I do realize, this is no giant leap in creativity, or engineering brilliance. It is however, a solution to a problem that did not require changing my bench in a major way. Nor did I have to give up my profile plate. And while I have looked at the aftermarket plates for years.....well, I told you from the beginning.....I'm stubborn.

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