Things are a Little too Perfect

The upstairs workbench is coming along nicely.

Today I received my Bondhus folding hex wrench kits, plus a Real Avid gun cleaning mat with little plastic parts compartments. The mat is a few inches shorter than the top of my workbench, so it covers most of it. Really nice.

I haven’t put the bench to much use yet. I’ve worked a lot ON it, but I haven’t done a whole lot WITH it.

That’s not completely true. Part of the bench’s purpose is to store tools in a handy way. It certainly does that. Today I had to rewire a couple of fluorescent fixtures and install LED tubes, and everything I needed (wire stripper, wire cutters, pliers, LED headband) was hanging on the pegboard. I’m so glad I’m not walking up and down the stairs every time I need a screwdriver or a pair of pliers.

Here’s a shot of the bench as it now stands. The mat is under the new Panavise. You get the idea. I can work on stuff in the vise, and if I drop something, it will hit the mat instead of denting the bench. The vise has a parts tray, and if I fill that up, there are the compartments at the end of the mat.

I still need a nice drafting chair so I can sit at the bench with a beer and watch Youtube.

I also need to set up a charging station. I have a Jobmax, a Panasonic drill and impact driver, an electric screwdriver, and an action camera. I have to work something out. Ten years from now, there will be true universal chargers that work with every major brand of power tool, but as of today, if you use 7 different brands, you pretty much need 7 chargers and 7 wall sockets. Time to dig out another power strip and look for a cheap shelf sort of thing.

My unbelievable Chinese workbench came with a power strip that charges USB devices. These people thought of everything.

I bought another item from them. A stainless table.

My dad can’t figure out the microwave at this house. I got one which resembles the one he’s used to, and I put it on the counter. Problem: it sucks a lot of power. When he turns it on while he’s toasting bread, the breaker pops. I needed a table or cart across the room from the toaster so I could put the microwave on a different circuit.

I bought a stainless Seville Classics table with rubber feet and two wire shelves. It’s as nice as the workbench. It weighs over 50 pounds. The shelves are solid. The top is beautiful. It doesn’t wobble. It’s even NSF approved. I stuck it next to the pantry, and I’m hoping the socket behind it has nothing to do with the toaster’s circuit.

Even if the breaker still blows, now I have three new horizontal storage areas, and I cleared a lot of junk off the counter.

The stainless table doesn’t have a particularly homey look. I thought about it, and I decided to go with it. My dad makes messes, and I need things that can take abuse. I also want things that can be cleaned easily. I’m a man, so a commercial-looking table won’t bother me.

This table will hold a thousand pounds. Not sure what that’s all about. Maybe some day I’ll use it as a shop table.

I will probably get to use the Panavise tomorrow. My set of “third hands” will arrive, and I want to use it to hold my old Dremel while I try to repair a wire on the armature. That will be sweet, even if I can’t fix the Dremel.

The table is great. There are cheaper ones on Amazon, but the reviews are lukewarm. The reviews for the one I got are like, “My GOD. I never knew a table could be this wonderful.”

I’m pooped. Carrying the table into the house and putting it together alone were more exertion than I expected. Then I had to go get a ladder and fix the fluorescent fixtures.

It’s time to sit in the indirect glow from my workbench light and relax. Maybe a little Forged in Fire.

I am trying not to think about the things I still have to do to get my machine tools up here and get the real workshops set up.