Bench Works

I went through a bit of what must have been a nesting period in 2007 when my work situation changed suddenly. I found myself out of my position with 11 weeks of severance pay and (blessedly) health care for that period as well. I wanted to take some time figuring out what I wanted to do next, and was doing some work along those lines at the Bredin Institute, but I also knew my capacity for indolence was practically limitless, and endeavoured to find productive distractions around the home Audrey and I had purchased barely a year earlier.

One of these projects was a workbench and toolboard, something I highly recommend if you have any love of organization whatsoever. The workbench itself, a chintzy Chinese-made jobbie from Canadian Tire, was no great whoop but at least gave me an elevated surface to work from, and a shelf to keep some larger tools off the floor. With some added pegboard and hooks from the local hardware store, I had ample space to arrange my modest collection of tools, including the big set of screwdrivers my sister- and brother-in-law had gifted me the previous Christmas.

I also wall-mounted the grey tool box we'd picked up from Costco shortly after getting married. Again, the tools weren't of any particular quality, but the socket set was decent enough, and it had a specific spot for everything, which I appreciated.

An old change table fit under the grey box as an additional workspace, and it made a good spot for the nuts and bolts organizer drawers I also got as a gift.

To be clear, I do not do a whole lot of handymannin' or project work, but when tools are needed to hang a picture frame, replace a car battery or jury-rig some barriers to isolate the winter tires beside the garage, it is gratifying not having to search too far for the right tool for that job.

And being without work at the time made this an even more satisfying project; lining up the hooks and tools and arranging the screwdrivers was like a mundane and Western version of a Zen garden. AT an unsettled time in my life, this bastion of organization and potential productivity was a genuine balm to my spirits. It made me wonder if Dad had felt the same way about his workspace in the garage in Leduc.

Dad's garage workbench was homemade, constructed out of sturdy 4 x 8 boards and long steel woodscrews as I recall. He mounted both a decent sized vise and a small electric grinder wheel  on it, as well as an overhead fluorescent light. The majority of his hand tools though, he tended to keep in a nondescript but tough canvas bag that I think he'd had since his days in the navy. His electric drill had a dedicated steel box and I recall a few wrenches on the wall, but I think my pegboard game might actually have been better than his. 

That workbench was some kind of solid though.

This weekend, two friends and I went out to their late mother's house in Leduc to get their own dad's workbench out of the basement, in anticipation of selling the home. It's a nice unit, with a treadplate-fronted cupboard and drawers containing that cushy mesh so your wrenches and such don't slide around or clank loudly every time you set them in there. Best of all though, it has a gorgeous, thick wooden top.

Neither of my friends recall this bench from their childhood, reckoning it came in after they'd left home, possibly after their father had retired. What had prompted the purchase? Was it for a special project, of just too good a deal to pass up? Regardless, neither of them had space for it, and I was grateful for the opportunity to give it a new home. 

In anticipation of its arrival, I had pulled the change table out of its niche and swept out almost two decades worth of dust and mouse droppings. I moved the old chest of drawers out of the corner so I could more easily reach the top drawer full of nails and screws, as well as the others with their miscellaneous collections. 

The Mastercraft bench is sturdy and awkward, so getting it up a narrow staircase with a 90-degree turn in it was a challenge, but we managed to do it without damaging the walls or ourselves. It fit easily enough in the back of the 'Lander once one of the second row seats was folded down, and unloading it my garage was a piece of cake for two people. 

When Audrey saw it, she observed that the beautiful wooden top could actually let it serve as a kitchen island if needed. I started to reply about treadplate being an odd design motif for modern kitchens, but stopped when I realized yeah, an incongruous industrial style like that could actually look pretty cool...

There is still some re-organizing needed, as well as a trip or two to the Eco Station and Reuse Centre, but even these initial steps of tidying and reorienting are a salve to my soul, similar to when I had initially set it up. Would that everything in my life could be sorted so easily!