I got the chance while we were back east to check in with Dave Groh at Yesteryear in Michigan, I apprenticed under Dave in Highschool and College before moving to Mojave to join Nemesis and Scaled Composites.
The bench-top is butcher-block covered with a 1/8" steel plate with rolled edges on the working faces. It is built out of four 4" square steel uprights and 2" square runners for shelf support. The bench is between two building supports that end up being great places to hang tools that get used often. Centrally located between two high traffic areas the bench becomes a continual great place to work, which doesn't seem like it should work as well as it does. The loft above supports two fluorescent task lights that end up a little higher than you'd expect but they still do a great job lighting the work area. There is plywood shelving below, and a shelf above on both sides just tall enough for a standard aerosol can.
Dave's shop reflects his refusal to do the same task/operation/process longer than it takes to learn how to do it right the first time. Despite having several products in production, Yesteryear doesn't revolve around those production runs, instead the shop remains versatile, like Dave. A shop changes and grows with its operator, it grows organically, sub-processes leaning on sub-processes. When I worked for Dave his shop was one thing, as Dave has grown and learned new skills his shop has reflected those changes. Dave is now learning a new CNC mill and how to operate his new Magnaflux, like every other skill Dave has learned these new skills will change Dave, and therefore his shop. I like to think this will bring him (like any other builder) closer to some sort of absolute, some sort of master of fabrication, a monk in a temple of/to/for machinery. The center of this temple is this awesome workbench.
What are you working on tonight?
-Race 68
