Watch bench!!

[LittleWatchShop]

Well...it finally arrived from Montana.  It is my third AND LAST watch bench.  The wife put new grips on the frying pan, so...this is it...no more!  Did I mention that I have five WW lathes...ugh...mental illness.  I won't keep them all in the end though.

Now if my skill could only match my acquired tools...I would be king.  Hey...I am getting there...give me three or four more years.  Having loads of fun!

What you see here is not my final setup...just quickly setting it up for a picture.

[Nibbler]

Nice!

[luiazazrambo]

Ohh dear... i can see the smile on the face of that hungry carpet!  

[LittleWatchShop]

18 minutes ago, luiazazrambo said:

Ohh dear... i can see the smile on the face of that hungry carpet!  

Yeah...I have been scheming to rip it up and put down a laminate.  But my life is full of shiny objects and demands from multiple directions...not sure when I will get to it.  I will say this...I have a magnet sweeper and it has saved my butt many times for ferro things.  I have yet to lose a brass thingy or a jewel--crossing fingers.

[jdrichard]

51 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Well...it finally arrived from Montana.  It is my third AND LAST watch bench.  The wife put new grips on the frying pan, so...this is it...no more!  Did I mention that I have five WW lathes...ugh...mental illness.  I won't keep them all in the end though.

Now if my skill could only match my acquired tools...I would be king.  Hey...I am getting there...give me three or four more years.  Having loads of fun!

What you see here is not my final setup...just quickly setting it up for a picture.

Really nice looking bench. Some day I shall replace my setup with a bench. But for now I am surrounded with computer screens and it all works fine.

[HectorLooi]

3 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Well...it finally arrived from Montana.  It is my third AND LAST watch bench. 

I doubt it. 

[watchweasol]

A very nice bench, I fear the Wife will reciprocate and will require something,??????. either that or she is very tolerant.

[luiazazrambo]

11 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Yeah...I have been scheming to rip it up and put down a laminate.  But my life is full of shiny objects and demands from multiple directions...not sure when I will get to it.  I will say this...I have a magnet sweeper and it has saved my butt many times for ferro things.  I have yet to lose a brass thingy or a jewel--crossing fingers.

You only need to buy jewel and brass magnets from AliExpress.  I ended up using knee pads. 

[chrisdt]

One plus about having carpet....."Where it falls it usually stays" With laminate click springs and screws can bounce and end up yards from the bench and eventually get vacuumed up. Careful scrutiny of the seating are can result in finding all sorts of goodies lost in the past.....

[MechanicMike]

Nice bench. Hope to have one some day but until then the barn find roll top works good. I had hungry carpet too until I put a chair laminate down. Now they don't ping as far and are much easier to find. Course it helps that that I'm pinging less and less. Cost you a small fortune to ship from Montana?

[JohnR725]

On 7/14/2021 at 2:57 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

it finally arrived from Montana.

you didn't say how you got your bench? what I'm thinking is for other people looking for benches how did you know to look in Montana or specifically where did you look like eBay craigslist what?

[LittleWatchShop]

21 minutes ago, MechanicMike said:

Cost you a small fortune to ship from Montana

 

9 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

you didn't say how you got your bench

 

9 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

how did you know to look in Montana

Great questions...prolly won't like the answers...lol

I bought it on ebay for $500.  This after many messages with the seller who lived in a community of about...dunno...maybe ten people!  Closest town was 30 miles away.  Maybe a hundred people lived there??

We discussed holding the bench for maybe three months when I could drive there to pick it up.  Discussed hauling it to the nearest town with a UPS store.  Finally, the UPS store was the resolution.  Once at the UPS store, it took a month for them to crate it and find a shipper.  The shipping cost more than the bench (with the price of wood going up along with gas, I had no bargaining position.  $800.

It is here...I like it...the money is what they call "sunk cost." 

[JohnR725]

15 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

.prolly won't like the answers.

incorrect assumption

15 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I bought it on ebay for $500.

that was the answer I was looking for because occasionally have people asking about watch benches now I can say look on eBay except?

yes shipping is always an issue then yes there's probably better ways to do it but little tiny towns in the middle of no place would definitely be a challenge.

 

[LittleWatchShop]

3 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

that was the answer I was looking for because occasionally have people asking about watch benches now I can say look on eBay except?

Not all that rare on ebay.  Mostly a long way from here.  I spied one in Plano Tx nine months ago on craigslist...but I was too late to the draw.

The other bench I bought was shipped from maine.  A custom designed one made of cherry wood.  That set me back two grand total (including shipping).

No more benches...I am done!

[HSL]

On 7/15/2021 at 12:37 AM, LittleWatchShop said:

Yeah...I have been scheming to rip it up and put down a laminate.  But my life is full of shiny objects and demands from multiple directions...not sure when I will get to it.  I will say this...I have a magnet sweeper and it has saved my butt many times for ferro things.  I have yet to lose a brass thingy or a jewel--crossing fingers.

When I see this setup and that carpet the small shiny springing watch parts seems to be the smallest worry. I’m thinking of all the metal shavings collecting in it after a while using the lathe on there .

Guess you just staged it with the lathe onto there since it is also easier to look down at what you working on….

A super nice old bench, a feast for the eyes.

[MechanicMike]

On 7/16/2021 at 2:13 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

No more benches...I am done!

Are you running a shop? What do you do with them all? I picked up a watch cleaning machine for a 100 bucks and it cost 175 to get it from yep...Montana! I promise I will never whine about that again

I think I'll look for a bench that says "local pickup." Lol that's a great bench btw.  Are there any makers or trademark on it?

Edited July 17, 2021 by MechanicMike
Forgot a question!

[LittleWatchShop]

41 minutes ago, MechanicMike said:

Are you running a shop?

Lol...no.  My dad was a watchmaker and I inherited his tools.  Lay dormant for many many years until last year I decided to return to my roots.  I posted about it in my intro last year.  Anyway, I am addicted.  My dad taught me a lot, and a few things are coming back.  I am semi-retired EE with time on my hands and money in my pocket.

Non-sequitur--I am generally in the BWCA in Sep, but this year is bad news w/r to drought.  With the fires in the Quetico and one in the BWCA, they are beginning to close some entry points.  Rumors that they may shut down the BWCA altogether.  I see you are in MN...thus the comment.

[MechanicMike]

yes I knew your dad did. to have several benches-must be living the dream! I love the BWCA last time I went up, we spent a week portaging around and wound up at Burnside lake. Cant wait to go again.

[Graziano]

7 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I am semi-retired

I am not retired I'm just tired