About The Bench
An all-too-little space out in the enclosed breezeway of our ca 1950 suburban house. Obstensively the house maintenance work area, but really is My Creative Space. That sounds much better than “out back”.
I have about 6 ft by 6 ft, crammed halfway up the walls with kitty litter buckets full of metal stuff, plastic stuff, and a few miles of wire in various gauges and configurations. I also have collections of discarded electronics, computer parts, and a half-ton (well, not really) of salvaged screws in nearly every imaginable size.
I don’t have a lot of tools, and those I possess are common – screwdrivers, pliers, socket wrenches, hammers and other sorts of things used for basic upkeep of a living area. (Basic to me, at least – but I have using screwdrivers and soldering irons since childhood).
I have three hard-core ‘goto’ tools – a bench grinder, a drill press which I use for a lot of things besides drilling, and a handheld Dremel. With these tools I build my dreams.
You can do a lot with only a few tools, though it will take you much longer than you want and the results will probably not be quite what you desired. But I’m not building cinematic props which will be “filmed” at a high resolution and show on a 40 ft high IMAX screen.
I’m reasonably proud of what I’ve done with the limited resources available. There is a symbiotic relationship between craftsman and tools. A hammer is not the optimal tool for dealing with screws – but combined with a pair of lock grip pliers, could be of assistance in the removal of a stubborn screw. Sort of an “off-label” use of a tool.
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Old proverb about how preconceived notions narrow our view and therefore options.
My response is: “If you have a big enough hammer, everything is a nail.” Or more properly, “If your hammer is of sufficient size and mass, then many things can be treated like nails with a reasonable expectation of a satisfactory result.”
Any questions? – ask Thor Odinson or John Henry.
But maturity is realizing that diversifying ones hammer inventory with different sizes, weights and head types is a worthwhile investment. And maybe, later on, consider diversifying your toolkit with a real screwdriver or three.
Shouter to Dead Parrots 