Think of it as the sportsman?s “Transformer” ? those toys that could be twisted, turned, folded, disassembled and reassembled to switch from a truck to a monster. Only this is a useful workbench that Wes Nash of Perry Hall built for hobby work, tying flies, making lures, building rods ? anything to make, fix, clean or assemble fishing tackle.
I can envision the same thing cobbled together by a hunter for versatile gunsmithing, hand loading, arrow fletching, knife sharpening or more.
Nash, an avid fisherman retired after 13-1/2 years with Bendix followed by 27 years with the Baltimore City Police Department, has used his workshop skills to build an almost infinitely adjustable bench.
He started with a basic 2-foot by 6-foot bench top from Home Depot-style glued maple or oak boards, added legs and a backsplash to keep small tools and parts from getting pushed off. Neat, but so far no different from a million other benches.
Then came the modifications. By Dumpster-diving (as Wes readily admits) behind clothing stores he found thrown-out square cross-section telescoping tubing used for vertical clothing racks. By brazing or welding, he added flat iron cross pieces to lengths of the external tubing; these screwed to the underside of the bench.
The smaller internal tubing is fastened to the removable bench extensions that slide neatly into the under-bench tubing.
Thus, he has add-ons that provide bench support for his fly-tying vises (several and switchable right-hand to left-hand), a catch basket for tying scraps, rod wrapping supports for building rods, glue gun rack, jewelers vise for hobby and lure work, several extension bench areas when needed for a large project, and add-ons for lights (up to six, depending on the project). A center drawer for odds and ends, adjustable shelving for holding tools and supplies, and racks underneath for materials complete the set up.
He readily admits that anyone can do the same by buying square diameter metal tubing from a building-supply house, using wood shims to hold the square tubing in place and to avoid welding, then cutting down boards to square shape for the slide-in pieces attached to the add-ons. It is an idea that shows imagination, forethought, talent, and best of all, can be custom designed and easily built by anyone interested in hunting and fishing hobbies. It is probably good enough to patent. Just don?t try it ? Wes Nash thought of it first!
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally-known sportsman, award-winning author, and has written more than 20 books on fishing and hunting. He can be reached at [email protected].
