Glendon Report post Posted May 11, 2011 Hello everyone, I'm a central Floridian transplanted to the big city in Boston first for college and now work. I was big into leather work when I was young in Boy Scouts. Now I'm starting to get back into the craft. I plan to start with some basic strap goods to get my tooling skills back up to scratch. I think I got the Leather Braiding book from Amazon and I think I'll play with that too. I'm thinking I might be able to sell some of these smaller projects at the local farmers markets. We'll see. I've been lurking here on LW for a couple of weeks and I love the community I'm seeing so I'll probably be around. Ultimately I'd like to start making some bags. I bought the first book in Stohlman's Leather Cases series so I have a bit of reading to do. I do have one question for you all. I would like to get a cheap work bench and set up a leather craft area for myself. I have a 68" strip of wall in my place I'm not using so I figure I have just enough space to set up a 60* bench. I'd like to spend $150 or less on a work space. Would the cheap metal frame benches you can get at Home Depot work alright for punching / stamping, or would I be destroying the thing pretty quick? If those wouldn't work, I'm thinking I might splurge for a bench I saw someone post here from Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com/60-inch-solid-oak-workbench-93454.html but I don't want to spend the money if it really isn't needed. Thanks everyone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted May 11, 2011 hello there. glad that you are amoung us, and get busy and start posting you work. Work Bench? i went to a used office supply and bought my very heavy desk, the top is 1-1/4" thick and it has all the drawers that i need for storage. You'll be much better off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King's X Report post Posted May 11, 2011 Welcome to the forum! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Blea Report post Posted May 13, 2011 Hello Gelndon, welcome to the forum! Regarding the bench, I wouldn't go with the one from Harbor Freight. I looked at one of those in person and the top on it was split a bit. It didn't look very well put together plus the main problem I saw was that I couldn't sit at the bench with my legs under the bench (like at a desk or table.) That kind of bench, and a lot of the ones you see at Lowes or Home Depot are designed for you to stand at, not sit under. I like Luke's suggestion to get a heavy office desk much better. The most important thing in a work bench (after how comfortable it feels for you to work at) is that the top is stable and does not bounce or flex. Good luck, and let us know how it's going! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
