Worst Work bench

[phat46]

Ah! but you all know where everything is though don't you.        

Nice! Everythings within arms length reach! Don't even have to get out of the vehicle to grab a different wrench!  

[beatnik]

Can't be any worse then the mess in my small garage.

Somewhere in there is a wood work bench.

[Leon]

Ah! but you all know where everything is though don't you.        

I'd show you mine, but I know exactly where my camera is - the bottom of the pile on my workbench  

[OldSub]

You guys are making me feel good about mine.  Not good enough to post pictures, but good enough to put off cleaning it another couple years!

[BFS57]

Hello;
Mine is not as bad as some of yours but I don't have as much room.
I've noticed something in a couple of the pix. What I have noticed is if you all empty the trash can you might have a little cleaner bench!
But I know it's not fun to be organized because you won't be able to find anything!

Bruce

[GPster]

Our camera is on it's way back from California, but it's  only made it back as far as Columbus so far (and it's not at Goodguys). My work benches are all covered so I have to use what ever's available. I'd like to give you a little background to this story first. I bought the Jeepster in '93, two weeks after I got out of the hospital. I knew at the start it would need a new hood but I was not in any hurry (then either). In '94 my mother decided it would be nice to have a family vacation (and celebrate that I was still here) so we rented a condo in Wild Wood, NJ . Our seven families converged there. A year of reading Hemmings alerted me to the fact that there was a guy in NJ that billed himself as the " Jeepster Man " and he always advertised a lot of bigger parts (hood ?). I called him about a hood and he had several so we planned a trip. From Wild Wood, NJ to Lake Wood, NJ and back with a $90.00 hood. Because it happened to be the time of my birthday everyone kicked in to cover the cost. Then my birthday present came about 500 miles back to Ohio underneath suitcases and a weeks worth of dirty clothes. When my garage was built the hood was the first thing in the rafters for safe keeping. It has looked down at lots of junk and other vehicles that have taken its' rightful place. It even looked down on the flood of 2004. Well it's likely place has finally taken residence in the garage again. With the engine set back in the S15 frame I needed the hood on the body. I had to get the front clip on the body to see how much needed to be removed from the grill face to miss the offending power steering box. After a day of studying the plan of operation was established. Because the grill section is rather large and all of my borkbenches are full (and the floor is too) where do I operate? I layed the grill section up on the hood. That way it would be close to my measurements. I could check and re-check if I was afraid to masacrae something. It also would bring it up to within   bi-focal working distance and would also put it directly under an overhead light and within cords length of a receptical for my 4 1/2" grinder. So with a new cut-off disc in the grinder, a sharpened pencil, a freshly ground tip on a "scratch awl", two squares and three rulers, I begin. The marks are made and checked. The grinder is started and the piece is cut. Now I get in a hurry. The grinding sparks have ignited the sleeve of my "T" shirt (long sleeves, do to another malidy). Now with the shirt extinguished and the 2nd degree burn examined, I return to the operating field. All visable cut are "right on the money". The offending protuberance is removed. There, before my eyes, is a 3/4" long slot that the grinder cut-off wheel made in the front edge of the hood. Here's hoping you don't place any sentimental value to/on your work benches. GPster Got to get busy, The camera just called and it's on its' way home.

[chimp koose]

GPster I feel for you,last night I was reupholstering the kitchen bench on the floor of the living room. Put about 20 staples right through the backer board and into the hardwood floor!The marks are kind of hard to find but still frustrating.Should have taken it out to the shop .

[purplepickup]

For me it isn't just that my benches are a mess, which they are, it's the little projects that are buried and scattered in amongst the other clutter.  There's the rear end center section that I tore apart 3 years ago, the garage sale Honda generator that needed new fuel lines and carb cleaned 4 years ago, and so on.  They each have their own area of the bench and cleaning up is next to impossible for fear I'll disturb the little piles of parts.  Besides that, I've learned my lesson in the past with picking all that stuff up .....it just opens up more flat places to put different piles of crap.

[GPster]

Should have taken it out to the shop .

For me that would have been a terrible idea. Years ago I came to the realization that my garage is just a hobby shop. It will never be a drive in and park it for the night building. So the walk to it and the apron of it are design concrete that is tinted to match the color of the sandstone block foundation of our house.I built a 12' by 12' arbor close to the garage apron and it is covered with Trumpet Vines and overly (my description) ornate. The arbor served as the shelter for the Jeepster this past winter and it also served as the scaffold for its body change from frame to frame. Using the cut-off wheel in the grinder over tinted concrete leaves a fine residue of metal dust which promptly rusts and stains the color of concrete. Oh well it needed re-sealed anyway. But it will all have to be painted and it took four concrete trucks when they poured it all. GPster

[UGLY OLDS]

Hello;
Mine is not as bad as some of yours but I don't have as much room.
I've noticed something in a couple of the pix. What I have noticed is if you all empty the trash can you might have a little cleaner bench!

My trash goes in a can NEXT to the bench.. :?  The stuff ON the bench is the "keepers" ....


Bob........

[Carps]

I love a contest!

So, here's my entry.

[UGLY OLDS]

I love a contest!

So, here's my entry.

Gee.....Lookit that...All Carp's suff is stored upside down... :?  Strange..  Wonder if it has somthin' to do with his "part of the world"  :?:  :?:  


Bob.........

[t-vicky]

Well, I want to vote for the carnut as the winner in this contest since I have to go over there to work on his cars sometimes.

[Carnut]

Yeah, I have been waiting patiently for my award.

[GPster]

I'm still using the hood on the Jeepster for a workbench  (I'll never learn from that experience).I'm sectioning the grill rather than cutting only what's necessary to clear the steering box and the sway bar. To make straight cuts to weld (braze) back together I did the cutting with a cut-off wheel in my 4 1/2" grinder. Because of the height of the workbench (hood) and because I wanted the hood in my visual (bifocal) field I had the grinder throwing all the sparks at me. Jeans don't seem to catch on fire that easy so I wasn't worried. But with the height of the hood my long sleeved "T" shirt was right in the spark path. Burned a hole in my shirt just below the elbow about the size of a quarter. My arm was still in the shirt so I've got a 2nd and 3rd degree burn. I did this while Linda was still out west and I was able to keep it hidden until the night before last. I had to explain the dumb thing I've done. Well with everything cut and fit I was brazing it back together. While admiring my work I let my arm drop (the one holding the lit torch). Behind me was a 30 gal. trash bag filled with newspaper to use to start a fire for roasting marshmellows. When you hold a torch in front of you to braze with guess which way the flame is headed when you drop your arm.It's a good thing for open doors and long hoses on torches. You'd think all this burning would clear a path to the workbench. GPster