Ben’s Bench

This year’s just-completed whirlwind blitz through New England began with a day of photographing Ben’s bench in central Rhode Island.

It turns out that Justin, the son of some dear friends here in the mountains, knew a guy with a piano maker’s workbench.  The upcoming book on HO Studley and his tool cabinet and workbench will include a gallery of similar benches and vises, and Ben’s was certainly worthy of inclusion.

The bench featured a number of exciting revelations, not the least of which was the number “15” stamped perfectly on three of the adjacent parts.  I can only conclude that there are (or were) at least 14 other units of the same manufacture somewhere.

What was best about the visit was that Ben’s bench is still a working tool to this day.  He was apologetic about some of the accretions, but I was thrilled to see it still helping a guy make a living.

The motley crew, with Ben in the center and Justin on the right.