An independent editorial desk for small workshops and repair benches
What the desk expects from a submission, and what happens to it after it lands.
These are the questions readers ask most often before sending a workshop story, a teardown or a market note.
Five recurring formats run through every issue. Each one is built for a solo maker working from a spare room, a garage corner or a shared yard, and each one is meant to be used at the bench rather than admired from a distance.
One bench task per column, walked through in order. Clamping a workpiece, drilling a clean hole, finishing an edge, setting up a vice so it does not fight your light. Steps, not theory.
Best for: makers starting a bench or fixing a habit that keeps costing them time.
Read a bench setup columnA used hand tool or bench machine gets opened up, part by part. Handles, ferrules and cutting edges fail in a fairly predictable order, and the teardown names the wear points you can check before buying or repairing.
Best for: anyone deciding whether a fix is worth the hours.
Field observations from flea markets and industrial-edge traders around Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. What turned up, what condition it was in, and how to ask for a part without wasting a morning.
Best for: sourcing bearings, belts, switches and odd fasteners.
Permits, invoicing, deposits and suppliers who go quiet after they take your money, written in plain language. A written quote, a deposit record and an invoice with the right details cover most of it.
Best for: keeping a one-person operation standing on paper.
The main source of published material. Repair diaries, teardown notes and market finds sent in by readers, edited for clarity and run with the details that actually help the next person.
Best for: readers who want their bench work to reach other makers.
Send a workshop story or tipIf you solved a bench problem, that is a how-to. If a tool failed on you, that is a teardown. If you found something useful at a market, that is a market note. If paperwork tripped you up, that is an admin explainer.
Not sure where yours fits? The editors will place it.
Five recurring formats, each built for people who work alone at a bench and need something they can use the same afternoon.
One bench task per column, walked through step by step. Clamping a workpiece, squaring an edge, setting a vice so it stops fighting the light. Written for a small surface, not a full workshop.
A used hand tool or bench machine opened up, part by part. We name what is inside and point out the wear spots worth checking before you buy secondhand or decide a repair is worth the hours.
What turns up at flea markets and industrial-edge traders around Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Plain observations on condition and price ranges, plus how to ask for a part and what to bring along.
Permits, invoicing and supplier deposits translated into everyday language. A written quote, a deposit record, an invoice with the right details: the paper trail a one-person operation still needs.
The main source of published material. Repair diaries, teardown notes and tips sent in by makers, then shaped for the next issue. If you have a story from your bench, the editors read every one.
Send a workshop story or tip / Start with the one-meter bench